kyounge1956
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2008
- Messages
- 2,171
I'm closing my account at Chase Bank due to the outrageous $10/month service charge they slapped on checking accounts earlier this year, so today I went and emptied my safe deposit box at Chase and went looking to rent another one at B of A, where I still have an account. Well, I had to wait 45 minutes at Chase to get into my box, and while canceling the rental discovered that I would not get a refund for the 6 months remaining of the year I paid in advance. Then I went to B of A to rent a new box. At first the banker said the only one she had was a larger (and of course more expensive) box than I need. Can you see if they have the size I'm looking for at other nearby branches? No, not on the computer, you have to go into the branch and ask. (Which century is this again??) After several efforts to sell me other bank services, extended perusal of computer records and three or four trips by the banker into the vault, I was told there was a box available the size I want. So I filled out the paperwork to rent the box, got the keys, and went into the vault to put my things in the box. Lo & behold, the box I've just signed for is only half the size I was expecting, and definitely not wide enough to store a legal-size document flat, which is what I said I wanted. The banker said this had happened to her before, which is why she made so many trips into the vault—to see if the box was actually the size the computer said it was. By this time it's at least 15 minutes after closing, so I crammed my stuff in the box, and the banker promised to have someone find a box the size I was offered and contact me so I can move my things from one to the other (she's on vacation next week). The crowning blow is she now says the rental she quoted for the size box I wanted is really the price for the undersized box I actually have. I'll end up paying half or more of what I save by eliminating Chase's exorbitant service charge in higher box rental. What a pain in the neck!
All of this has me wondering about buying a home safe. No more box rental, no more waiting to get in, and I know what size it is before I pay for it. So, does anyone have a home safe in addition to or instead of a safe deposit box? Has it ever been put to the test by burglars, fire or flood, and if so, did it do the job of protecting its contents? Some of what I need to store is literally irreplaceable—original family documents and the like.
All of this has me wondering about buying a home safe. No more box rental, no more waiting to get in, and I know what size it is before I pay for it. So, does anyone have a home safe in addition to or instead of a safe deposit box? Has it ever been put to the test by burglars, fire or flood, and if so, did it do the job of protecting its contents? Some of what I need to store is literally irreplaceable—original family documents and the like.