In The Netherlans, but I suspect it is EU wide, they won't check the name at all when doing an ordinary transfer. And this is all banks.
How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
11–20 of 261 posts
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#12I especially like how in every case of being screwed by the bureaucracy the lowly citizen has only one option - go the the lawyers. And what are those? More bureaucracy!
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#13I had the same problem with one of the biggest french bank. I saw an important withdrawal on my account in a city where I wasn't. I called my bank and I explained the situation. They told me I'll get the money back in one day. I asked if I should change my credit card in case it was hacked, they told me calmy it was just an error on their part because another client had the same last name. I just couldn't believe it.
Ultimately, that's what happens when it's a human that gets the final sign off. You can put all the control and checks in place you need, either the human validates the case and events like this happens, or the computer has final authority and people complain about lacking human touch and comprehension and "they know me for decades but I can't get 20 euros out without several proof of identity".
I'm not sure which way I would consider best. I guess as long as banks are stepping up to their errors and fixing them immediately as in your case, I prefer that.
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#14Not sure if you have small claims court in America. In Canada for losses under 10000$ process is fairly straightforward. You should file and follow the process. If they don't give money back, go to the court and execute writ of seizure. One guy did this. http://business.time.com/2011/06/06/homeowner-forecloses-on-...
They would say "we had no choice, it was a court order. The sheriff's department is responsible for the mistake."
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#15Yet another reason not to use one of the big 4 banks. Credit unions and local banks are the way to go.
In case of a financial crisis the big 4 banks are going to get bailed out. Credit unions and local banks maybe.
Bailouts are irrelevant to ordinary customers, what matters is that your account is insured by FDIC or NCUSIF.
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#16Yet another reason not to use one of the big 4 banks. Credit unions and local banks are the way to go.
In case of a financial crisis the big 4 banks are going to get bailed out. Credit unions and local banks maybe.
It's more likely that the big banks will be bailed in, not bailed out. Which means your money is less safe there.
Also, credit unions have a different insurance scheme than the banks, which insulates them from this.
Finally, credit unions are more aware of possible jeapardy, and so tend to act more prudently.
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#17Don't mess around with the court, the whole thing is Bank of America's problem, don't let them make it your fault or the courts. They have debited the wrong account, you can prove this; in the UK if this happened and they didn't return me my money I would take them to the small claims court which can be filled in online. Surely California must have this?
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#18What I don't get: Why would he pursue some court order he's not a party to? The only logical counterparty to this dispute is BoA. They gave away your money without proper title. That shouldn't hold up in court? That they gave some money to the LA Sheriff’s Department, that would be BoA to recoup.
Trouble is, this guy is a random citizen who doesn't know much about how the law works, and so it hasn't clicked who the correct plaintiff would be for his case.
He'd probably get told who the right parties to lodge a complaint against, if there was any lawyer willing to talk to him for about 15 minutes, but the last half of the article is basically him being bounced all over California by legal professionals who won't speak to him, because he's out of their bailiwick.
It's the XY problem in legal form...
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#19Bank of America – what is a SSN?
Re: How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
#20What I don't get: Why would he pursue some court order he's not a party to? The only logical counterparty to this dispute is BoA. They gave away your money without proper title. That shouldn't hold up in court? That they gave some money to the LA Sheriff’s Department, that would be BoA to recoup.
> Why would he pursue some court order he's not a party to? The only logical counterparty to this dispute is BoA.
As someone very ignorant in how to handle legal issues, as the story went on I originally thought he had to go through the court system to get his fees returned. It didn't occur to me, until the very end, that it's something he needs to dispute with BoA.
Obviously the author needs to take BoA to small claims court but it took me a little while to realize that so I can understand.