Inconsumercomplaints.com » Miscellaneous » Review / complaint: Bank of America - Lied about cleared check | News #117091

Bank of America
Lied about cleared check

On May 15th i went to my former lasalle bank, which is now bank of america, with a cahier's check from New York that i was skeptical about. I explained this to the teller and asked her how long it will take to clear. She told me that they take two days at the most to clear, also explaining that it was a good choice because they are the safest form of payment. I cashed the check, not depositing the money because i was using it for something and was assurred that it was no problem. I then held on the monies and went went back the described two days later that i was advised to wait for and asked if the check had cleared and if there were any holds on my accounts. After the teller checked he asked the branch manager to come over and also check because i again explained the situation and my uncertainty about the authenticity of the check due to it being an internet introduced transaction. The teller and branch manager both assurred me the that check had cleared, that there was no hold on the account, and that there were no checks pending. They then thanked me for taking the extra step and i explained that i had to because i did not have to funds to back this up should anything go wrong. Still feeling the need to wait the normal two weeks for any check to clear. After waiting upwards of three weeks i then felt it was safe to disperse the monies seeing as i thought i took every step possible to protect against fraud or anyother bank problems by: Explaining the situation to both a teller and manager, coming back to check the clearing of the check with a manager, and waiting more than two weeks before dispersing the money. I then find out on June 6th by looking at my bank statement as i do every day, that i was getting a charge back from that check. I immediately called the customer service line and they had limited information and recommended that i go back to the bank that cashed it for me. After meeting with a personal banker on June 7th I was able to explain the problem and repeat my story. She then called over the branch manager that i had spoken with when i came in to make sure the check cleared, the one who promised me that everything was fine and that it had cleared. They said they didn't have much information because the check had not come back and they would have to wait till monday for more information and verification. Still they spent most of their time trying to assure me that it was not there fault or that they had no liability. The problems i have start out from the day i brought in the check. After talking to the personal banker again, today, the 8th, she explained to me that the teller should have never cashed the check for me because i did not have the funds available to back up the check, which were my first concerns that i expressed. The second problem is that they told me it would clear in two days and after coming back to make sure a manager assurred me that there were no problems and that it had cleared. And my third problem is that it took the bank about four weeks to charge back the account and find a problem with the check considering even personal checks take 7-10 business days to clear. If the teller would have seen the signs that i did not see and refuse to cash it i would have trusted my bank and declined the transaction. The defense the bank is giving me is that all they can do is read the screen that says the funds are available, but they didn't say that, instead said that it had cleared and everything was fine. Another defense is that they have no control over when another bank sends back the check, my inquiry is why would it take four weeks? The bank could have told me that is had not cleared until they get confirmation from the other bank, they also could have told me that it could take up to four weeks to clear. Any of these precautions on the bank's part could have prevented this. I feel that the bank misinformed me and lied to me. In turn i am left with a 3, 950 dollar debt that i cannot pay.


Company: Bank of America

Country: India

Category: Miscellaneous

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