Bank teller asks the wrong question

[leftcoastjayhawk]

;...Taken aback, bewildered that the teller was being so nonchalant and blunt, I politely and calmly replied, "That's none of your business". She says "Sorry"? I politely and calmly repeated myself for her.

Is this typical for other folks that still walk into their local bank?

If I ever get asked something like this, my response will be something along the lines of: "I'm going to buy a yacht, and a private jet. The rest I will just spend foolishly!.."

Also a good response if I ever win the lottery.

 

[Spock]

If I ever get asked something like this, my response will be something along the lines of: "I'm going to buy a yacht, and a private jet. The rest I will just spend foolishly!.."

Also a good response if I ever win the lottery.

"I spent half on wine, women, and song
and the rest I just wasted."

 

[a60dan]

I’m grateful I don’t have to go to w*rk anymore.

I could never survive in sales….

 

[msanniee]

Sold my house and needed to deposit the settlement until I closed the escrow on my next house. Got a lot of some what eye rolls from the teller, who showed the deposit to several people.

Then I got a call telling me I couldn’t deposit that much money into my account. In the same call, they pushed investments.

Needless to say, I shut them down with a no nonsense response. Write a couple of large checks within a few days, including one for the new account I opened at a different bank.

Was happy to close out that account.

 

[Car-Guy]

"I spent half on wine, women, and song
and the rest I just wasted."

+1, except I don't like much singing.

 

[disneysteve]

No, the greatest banking invention ever was the ATM! For the first time in history, you could get cash without setting foot inside the bank.

Online banking is great, but the ATM was the best!

Fair point. I suppose the ATM was pretty revolutionary. It was a big step in taking banking outside of the bank.


Still, mobile deposit was huge to me. I used to do work where I was paid by check by multiple vendors and often got 8-10 checks/week. Having to constantly go to the ATM to make deposits was a huge pain, even worse when they switched to the newer ones that scan each check individually rather than just putting them all in an envelope. I'd be there forever when I had a stack to deposit. I always felt bad when others were waiting so sometimes I'd deposit a few, then let other people go, then deposit more. Being able to do that without leaving the house saved me a ton of time.

 

[davidfin]

I’ve had similar experiences with BoA. Trying to get added to my 90+ age mom’s checking account. What a nightmare. Two forms of ID plus they run a credit check except I keep my credit frozen so they couldn’t check and so simple request denied. My mom’s been a client at the branch for over 60 years and the service was an abomination. She closed her account. BoA sucks.

 

[Koolau]

No, the greatest banking invention ever was the ATM! For the first time in history, you could get cash without setting foot inside the bank.

Online banking is great, but the ATM was the best!

An interesting take. I personally much prefer the in-person contact with a teller at a bricks-and-morter bank. Old school I guess (or just old or maybe a dinosaur)

 

[Spock]

Fair point. I suppose the ATM was pretty revolutionary. It was a big step in taking banking outside of the bank.


Still, mobile deposit was huge to me. I used to do work where I was paid by check by multiple vendors and often got 8-10 checks/week. Having to constantly go to the ATM to make deposits was a huge pain, even worse when they switched to the newer ones that scan each check individually rather than just putting them all in an envelope. I'd be there forever when I had a stack to deposit. I always felt bad when others were waiting so sometimes I'd deposit a few, then let other people go, then deposit more. Being able to do that without leaving the house saved me a ton of time.

It's been a long time and maybe corrections have been made since. But once when putting in a deposit at an ATM it hadn't registered after a couple of days. Went inside to inquire. When investigating the opened the closet door into the ATM room and eventually discovered that the trash can had been placed under the deposit slot....
I've never used an ATM for deposits since then and I always count any cash withdrawals right infront of the ATM camera before walking away.

 

[OldShooter]

I’ve had similar experiences with BoA. Trying to get added to my 90+ age mom’s checking account. What a nightmare. Two forms of ID plus they run a credit check except I keep my credit frozen so they couldn’t check and so simple request denied. My mom’s been a client at the branch for over 60 years and the service was an abomination. She closed her account. BoA sucks.

Actually, elder financial abuse by family is a huge issue. It doesn't surprise me that they were belts and suspenders on a request like this. Did she appear in person to agree to the addition? My guess is they may have requested that as a means for a simple check of competence.

 

[Spock]

... Did she appear in person to agree to the addition? My guess is they may have requested that as a means for a simple check of competence.

Doctor's can't/won't diag mental competence. If they're not naked in the front yard barking at the moon the medical procession here won't touch it. "They're still making decisions, they're just bad decisions" is what 3 different doctors and a hospital social worker told me when Dad tried to give a house away to his home health aide and get himself discharged "AMA" (Against Medical Advice) from the hospital with a skull fracture.
If they're having a good enough day to go out in public what's a banker going to use to test competence when the executive functions are gone?

 

[OldShooter]

Doctor's can't/won't diag mental competence. If they're not naked in the front yard barking at the moon the medical procession here won't touch it. "They're still making decisions, they're just bad decisions" is what 3 different doctors and a hospital social worker told me when Dad tried to give a house away to his home health aide and get himself discharged "AMA" (Against Medical Advice) from the hospital with a skull fracture.
If they're having a good enough day to go out in public what's a banker going to use to test competence when the executive functions are gone?

I dunno. When DW was a megabank SVP in Trusts & Estates it was fairly routine for her, one of her assistants, maybe some family, and a doctor to meet with the client for a determination. Serious business of course, but I don't recall that it was any kind of a drama like you describe. I think DW did involve the courts sometimes. Re a bank, obviously they can't make a medical assessment but they can certainly ask for proof of competency if they suspect there is an issue. Whatever they do, which will probably vary from bank to bank, is simply a good faith effort to check whether their client/depositor might be getting scammed.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I worked in health and human services and some of my responsibilities included adult protective services and public guardian.
Staff actually did training with bank employees and other entities that have a lot of contact with the elderly on what to watch for in regards to abuse and/or fraud.
It sounds to me like the bank was doing due diligence.

You can’t take away someone’s civil rights, such as having them conserved, without a judge saying that you can. That includes family members. As someone unthread said- people have the right to make decisions that family and friends don’t agree.
Even in an emergency- danger to self or others- that’s a 72 hour hold in California. It can be extended but the courts are approving that extension.
My experience is strictly within California.
Knowing how difficult it is to have someone conserved is what drove me nuts about the brittney spears case.

 

[Texas Proud]

I dunno. When DW was a megabank SVP in Trusts & Estates it was fairly routine for her, one of her assistants, maybe some family, and a doctor to meet with the client for a determination. Serious business of course, but I don't recall that it was any kind of a drama like you describe. I think DW did involve the courts sometimes. Re a bank, obviously they can't make a medical assessment but they can certainly ask for proof of competency if they suspect there is an issue. Whatever they do, which will probably vary from bank to bank, is simply a good faith effort to check whether their client/depositor might be getting scammed.

A trust relationship is much different than a checking account... they will not go out and see the person for a checking account...


But, to be fair the rules have changed a lot over the years on what a bank can do... some of us have not yet gotten the memo... so a 60 year relationship does not mean much, especially with a big bank that has a lot of turnover...

 

[MarieIG]

I’ve had similar experiences with BoA. Trying to get added to my 90+ age mom’s checking account. What a nightmare. Two forms of ID plus they run a credit check except I keep my credit frozen so they couldn’t check and so simple request denied. My mom’s been a client at the branch for over 60 years and the service was an abomination. She closed her account. BoA sucks.

Years back, DF had me added to his checking account at BoA. We went in together. I don't believe that they ran a credit check on me at that time. I am not surprised that it has become more difficult.

 

[DrRoy]

DW used to work as a teller and they had quotas for services beyond basic accounts.

 

[Spock]

I dunno. When DW was a megabank SVP in Trusts & Estates it was fairly routine for her, one of her assistants, maybe some family, and a doctor to meet with the client for a determination. Serious business of course, but I don't recall that it was any kind of a drama like you describe. I think DW did involve the courts sometimes. Re a bank, obviously they can't make a medical assessment but they can certainly ask for proof of competency if they suspect there is an issue. Whatever they do, which will probably vary from bank to bank, is simply a good faith effort to check whether their client/depositor might be getting scammed.

At one point Dad had somebody drive him to the bank to pull all of his money out to give to some guy in the parking lot for safe keeping. It was the final stages of a "your social security number has been compromised" scam. The bank (WF) asked Dad if they could call me (I was joint on the account) and for whatever reason he agreed. I spoke with the banker, got their name and number, etc. She assured me they were putting alert notes on Dad's file. Crisis averted. Good job WF.



Fast forward about 6 months and we had an emergency competency hearing where the judge appointed me as temp conservator. The exact same banker who put the "alert notes" on Dad's file helped him open a new checking account to replace the one I had taken over with the court order. When I met with the same banker a week later, WF would not recognize the court order for conservatorship and would not open a conservator checking account... we had to go back to court to get a court order to get WF to comply.

Today March 16 is the 3rd anniversary of the emergency competency hearing. I'm still having flashbacks of the "fun" trying to open a conservator account at various banks that had just shutdown for c*vid. I went so far as to attempt to open an account through the drive-up window because they wouldn't me inside.

We still have one bank (Discover) refusing to acknowledge the court appointed successor trustee on the trust savings account.

I appreciate the banks sticking their nose into Dads business can be a filter to prevent scams the system is haphazard at best. While they avoided one scam overall the banks intrusiveness did more harm than good.

 

[Music Lover]

I’ve had similar experiences with BoA. Trying to get added to my 90+ age mom’s checking account. What a nightmare. Two forms of ID plus they run a credit check except I keep my credit frozen so they couldn’t check and so simple request denied. My mom’s been a client at the branch for over 60 years and the service was an abomination. She closed her account. BoA sucks.

So, you would have preferred that the bank would have allowed someone without ID to add their name to your 90+ year old mom's checking account?

 

[wolf]

So Common. At my local Credit union. Teller asks the same question. Management instrusts then. Goal, steer you to invest in CD's, etc........

Do not get upset at Teller. Not their fault.

 

[badatmath]

BoA gave me a lot of hassle to add a POD to my account.

 

[Koolau]

These last few posts remind me of the "good old days." Our business and personal accounts were at a small "home-town" bank. We knew every teller and most of the bank officers by name. If anything weird happened (returned check or lost check etc.) someone would call and help straighten things out by phone.

Then after almost 50 years with them, the bank was bought out by a big regional bank. Most of the people stayed with the bank, so we got a reprieve. But soon, the "new" bank started streamlining, adding fees, getting rid of old empl*yees, etc.

The last straw was when the bank started charging $3 for night deposits. So DW or I would take the day's checks and cash to the bank just before closing. THEN they started charging $2 to their commercial accounts for every deposit. It's true that our deposits would have been cumbersome as there were always dozens of checks to deal with. But our checking account balance (zero interest) averaged between $35K and $50K.

We tried to negotiate the fees away. Couldn't even reach someone to talk with about it other than "that is our policy." SO, we closed the account and transferred every penny to the last bank in town that was still a home-town bank. Got the same great home-town service there for several years (heh, heh, some of the folks we knew at our original bank had moved over there)

(Six months after closing the old account, some regional bank exec. called us to ask us why we had closed our account and was there anything he could do to get us back? DW took the call and I won't tell you what she said. Needless to say, the guy never bothered to call back.)

Unfortunately, home-town banks were all going the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. Eventually, the final home-town bank was snapped up by a regional and the fees, hassles, bad service all started again - but not to the same degree. Once again, there were a few years of reprieve as the old tellers and middle management remained loyal to customers. I recall a lady we had know for 35 years who w*rked at that bank as its manager. She was slowly moved out of that position until, to get her pension and her needed paychecks, she ended up as a teller for a couple of years before retirement. Sad - but typical of the era.

But, the old days are just that. They'll never come back. Now, we just have to learn the game that the consolidated banks play and, hopefully, beat them at their own game. Sigh.

 

[aja8888]

These last few posts remind me of the "good old days." Our business and personal accounts were at a small "home-town" bank. We knew every teller and most of the bank officers by name. If anything weird happened (returned check or lost check etc.) someone would call and help straighten things out by phone.

Then after almost 50 years with them, the bank was bought out by a big regional bank. Most of the people stayed with the bank, so we got a reprieve. But soon, the "new" bank started streamlining, adding fees, getting rid of old empl*yees, etc.

The last straw was when the bank started charging $3 for night deposits. So DW or I would take the day's checks and cash to the bank just before closing. THEN they started charging $2 to their commercial accounts for every deposit. It's true that our deposits would have been cumbersome as there were always dozens of checks to deal with. But our checking account balance (zero interest) averaged between $35K and $50K.

We tried to negotiate the fees away. Couldn't even reach someone to talk with about it other than "that is our policy." SO, we closed the account and transferred every penny to the last bank in town that was still a home-town bank. Got the same great home-town service there for several years (heh, heh, some of the folks we knew at our original bank had moved over there)

(Six months after closing the old account, some regional bank exec. called us to ask us why we had closed our account and was there anything he could do to get us back? DW took the call and I won't tell you what she said. Needless to say, the guy never bothered to call back.)

Unfortunately, home-town banks were all going the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. Eventually, the final home-town bank was snapped up by a regional and the fees, hassles, bad service all started again - but not to the same degree. Once again, there were a few years of reprieve as the old tellers and middle management remained loyal to customers. I recall a lady we had know for 35 years who w*rked at that bank as its manager. She was slowly moved out of that position until, to get her pension and her needed paychecks, she ended up as a teller for a couple of years before retirement. Sad - but typical of the era.

But, the old days are just that. They'll never come back. Now, we just have to learn the game that the consolidated banks play and, hopefully, beat them at their own game. Sigh.

Hometown banks....when I applied for a mortgage for a home I was going to build in Southbury, Connecticut in 1976 as I had just taken a job in the area, the loan officer called my new boss during the application process to verify what I had told him. Apparently, the loan officer knew almost everyone in town and many of the people at the plant where I was going to work.

Those days are gone...and so are the banks.

 

[Koolau]

Hometown banks....when I applied for a mortgage for a home I was going to build in Southbury, Connecticut in 1976 as I had just taken a job in the area, the loan officer called my new boss during the application process to verify what I had told him. Apparently, the loan officer knew almost everyone in town and many of the people at the plant where I was going to work.

Those days are gone...and so are the banks.

My Granddad had even better stories about the home-town banks he dealt with back in the day. At a church social or at a chance meeting at the local lunch counter, Granddad would seal that year's farm loan with a handshake with the bank president. Lots of reasons I'm glad to be living in this age, but not everything is better - including certain aspects of banking. Heh, heh, my Granddad was banking before the FED came into being.

 

[MichaelB]

A community bank is where you can talk with the bank president and the people working there are more concerned about keeping your business than just about anything else.

A big bank is where the people working there are more concerned with pleasing the branch manager than losing your business, you’ll not likely get a chance to speak with the branch manager unless there’s an issue, and then it’ll be to tell you why what you want can’t be.

There are still more than 2000 community banks in the US. Problem is they are like independent bookstores and hardware stores. They can’t compete with the breadth of services offered by the big guys and are slowly fading into history.

 

[Car-Guy]

There are still more than 2000 community banks in the US. Problem is they are like independent bookstores and hardware stores. They can’t compete with the breadth of services offered by the big guys and are slowly fading into history.

Sort of like gas stations, pharmacies, etc... Still plenty of small ones today but the big boys are taking/controlling more and more.