Decent people are there to be eaten

[JustADude]

Cookies to whoever names the novel that mis-translation of "Nice guys finish last" came out of.


Anyway...

I recently was put into overdraft at my bank by a couple fraudulent transactions, which are making my life hell and putting me in serious trouble with house payments, etc, since I dropped all my reserves in the move. While the individuals I've talked to have been quite sympathetic, they've all told me that the crap is just going to keep piling deeper until the fraud investigation is completed, which could take up to 90 days, and in the mean time there's nothing they can do to throw me a rope. I know I could probably get things fixed by going into the main branch and demanding that they do something right now, before decide to change banks as soon as my account is zeroed out, and all the other typical power-play tactics but, honestly, I just can't bring myself to make a scene even if/when it's completely and totally justified.

Complete and total assholes scream and throw fits and get what they want, but guys like me that just want things fixed without having to give someone else a bad day get royally screwed. I'm going to have to beg, borrow, pawn, and sell plasma to keep my head above water because I'm a nice guy, and nobody ever seems to give enough of a shit to help you unless you threaten them with something.


This world fucking sucks.

[Bagga]

Go into the main branch and explain, not rant. Surprisingly enough, they will be so amazed that you are NOT screaming that they will probably do all they can to help you out.

[JustADude]

Go into the main branch and explain, not rant. Surprisingly enough, they will be so amazed that you are NOT screaming that they will probably do all they can to help you out.

Good point. I guess I got so caught up in trying not to be overly aggressive at people that I forgot about "calm and assertive".

It was still a good excuse to drag out an obscure Sci-Fi novel quote, though.

[symposes]

I recently went through the anti-fraud stuff. Long story short, possible scammer got ahold of a check of mine.

I just explained the situation, and my bank went through so many motions, that I thought they bent over backwards to help me out. It was great.

[Geek King]

Get back with your bank, if you have reported a fraudulent debit from the account, they have 10 business days to give you the money back, or tell you why they won't.

I havn't been able to find the exact law, but this fellow talks about it quite a bit on his radio show:

http://www.clarkhoward.com

On the left side of the page is a link to set up an appointment to talk to his consumer team, if you need more exact information, or just some help on what else you can do.

[Jewels]

Can't you place a freeze on your account?

[JustADude]

Get back with your bank, if you have reported a fraudulent debit from the account, they have 10 business days to give you the money back, or tell you why they won't.

That is, apparently, AFTER they've determined if there has or has not been a fraudulent charge on said account, and the investigation is what can take up to 90 days.

And, Jewels, the card in question is already deactivated, etc, but it doesn't help the overdraft fees the bank is charging me.

[Der Cute]

Ugh!!

Can you ask for a loan from your boss?
Panhandle?
Sell your soul?

... just kidding

[MadMike]

Wow, I thought it was bad enough when my credit card number got compromised last month. That was a pain to take care of, but at least the $600+ in fraudulent charges weren't something that could cause my checks to bounce.

Still, it happened just a couple weeks before we left for the beach, and if I hadn't caught it, we might have found ourselves unable to check into our room.

[Geek King]

That is, apparently, AFTER they've determined if there has or has not been a fraudulent charge on said account, and the investigation is what can take up to 90 days.

The bank doesn't get that option. They should have paperwork for you to fill out declaring it a false charge.

Like I said, I've not dealt with it directly, so you might want to call the consumer advocate I linked, or find one on a TV station local to you. You are not to be held at fault in any way, including overdrafts, for the bank allowing a fake charge in.

[Andara Bledin]

Wow, I've never had to even jump through a single hoop with Bank of America either of the two times my account was compromised.

The first time, I only found out when my card no longer worked. I informed them that since I had an ATM account, they had to actually try to reach me (they said they did, which was an abject lie since I had been in the house for the past 48 hours, and they only detected the fraud 24 hours prior) before deactivating my card.

The other time, some punk with a dummy card and who knows what else, found a 7/11 with an ATM that was out of sight of the clerk and managed to brute force his way into my account, did a bunch of balance checks, and cleaned me out. I spotted the activity while checking my online statement (I online statements) and called them up. All I had to do was agree to prosecute anyone they caught, and they immediately reversed everything and told me they would investigate. As far as I know, they never caught the guy, although they did get a good shot of him on the security camera for the ATM.

^-.-^

[JustADude]

The bank doesn't get that option. They should have paperwork for you to fill out declaring it a false charge.

Like I said, I've not dealt with it directly, so you might want to call the consumer advocate I linked, or find one on a TV station local to you. You are not to be held at fault in any way, including overdrafts, for the bank allowing a fake charge in.

Actually, that's all a moot point now, happily enough. This is the first time I've been able to sit down for five minutes without being so tired I fall asleep, but the bank fixed things back on the 19th. Apparently while the investigation might take up to 90 days, they credit the fees and transactions back as soon as the anti-fraud guys get all the paperwork completed to officially file the dispute and get the ball rolling, which takes 3-5 business days.

From what I was told by the person I spoke to at the counter, the guy I talked to over the fraud-report line was either 1) Incompetent, 2) Badly misinformed, or 3) Being told to play Cover-your-ass/Pass-The-Buck type games by his supervisor.

So, apparently decent people AREN'T there to be eaten.

EDIT: Still no cookie-winners for guessing the title. Guess I really am a sad, sad geek.

[sms001]

but the bank fixed things back on the 19th.

Glad to hear this JAD. When my card was compromised there was nothing incoming on the account, so a freeze didn't matter. Can't imagine the mess if the account was very active.

While we're on the subject - here's why it wasn't very active. I opened an account JUST for "at the counter", ATM, and online transactions that is separate from my "main" account. It's one of those free checking things with no minimum. If I know I'm going out to dinner, or if I plan to go crazy on e-Bay or Amazon or some such, I transfer money from the main account into it to charge it up. Has worked pretty well so far.

So, apparently decent people AREN'T there to be eaten.
EDIT: Still no cookie-winners for guessing the title. Guess I really am a sad, sad geek.

ok, enough pretending to care about banking My real reason for wanting to jump one this thread is to find out what this is from - I've been a pretty hardcore SFer since the sixties and don't even have the beginning of a clue! It's been driving me crazy for a week.

Give!

[Geek King]

ok, enough pretending to care about banking My real reason for wanting to jump one this thread is to find out what this is from - I've been a pretty hardcore SFer since the sixties and don't even have the beginning of a clue! It's been driving me crazy for a week.

Give!

Seconded. Its not driving me crazy, but I am curious. My best guess is one of Prachett's Discworld novels, but I've not read them in forever, so I can't confirm.

[sms001]

My best guess is one of Prachett's Discworld novels, but I've not read them in forever, so I can't confirm.

[THREADJACK]
Funny coincidence. I just filled in the gaps (was missing about five?) in my Discworld collection over the past couple of weeks and am in the middle of a re-read of all thirty plus. Haven't run into "Decent people are..." yet, but I'll keep my eyes peeled now.
[/THREADJACK]