Are banks in the US / UK also stuck in the 60's ?

Just had a weird experience with a bank

Hi there !

I was just wondering about this.

I’m buying a motorcycle (BMW R1100GS for those who are interested) and I’m busy organising the finance.

So now I needed to pay a deposit, but I’m 50miles from the dealer, so I decided to do a direct bank deposit at the bank that they’ve got an account with. To cut a long story short, I’m getting money on Friday and I wanted to use that as a deposit, so I decided to (now) pay it out of my credit card into their bank account.

This is where the fun started.

If I was at the dealer, they would have swiped the card through the machine, then they would have phoned the bank for authorization, I would have signed and that would have been it.

At the bank there is no way to get money out of the credit card into an account at the same bank other than doing a cash withdrawal. So now the teller make me fill in a withdrawal slip, phones for authorization, waste a little time, take money out of the little box behind the counter and ASKS ME IF I WANT R100 bills or R200 !
So I tell her she’s gonna take it right back so I’ll take it (R16 000) in 50c coins if she feels so inclined. Then she goes for R100 notes, count it twice, make me fill in a deposit slip and then she PUTS THE MONEY BACK INTO THE SAME LITTLE BOX that it just came out of…

I asked her if she needed to hand it over to me so that I can hold it before I give it right back to make it more official.

Banktellers don’t have a sense of humour before 10 in the morning…


Sheez.

What a schlep.
And this cost me R100 ('bout 14US$) to get R16 000 (about 2280US$) transfered in this way. If I drove over to these guys I would have payed almost nothing.

Isn’t it weird ?

Wihan

/end rant

Hi Wihan Stemmet:
Only musicians think the way we do… :O :laugh: :p

I know one thing, though…

Don’t wrile this girl up… She’ll get the security guy on you… You’ll wish you have figuered how to do all this another way…

Your money ain’t your money… you know that. I’m sure… They only let you hold it till you give it all back to them…

You may end up buying the bike and walking, at the same time… Careful…:stuck_out_tongue: ??? :laugh:

Bill…

:D :laugh: :laugh: :D

If you were running the deposit through your credit card anyway couldn’t the bike dealer just take your info (name, card #, expiry date) over the phone and charge it through at his end?

Not quite Wihan. My wife is the branch manager for one of the largest credit unions in the USA. They are very progressive about new technology. If you have the correct account number, you can electronically transfer funds almost anywhere from your own PC via a secure internet connection to the credit union. I could do the same task you had from home sitting in my underwear drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

Sounds like the banks over there ARE behind the times…

D

Quote (woxnerw @ Jan. 10 2007,07:58)
Don't wrile this girl up.. She'll get the security guy on you.. You'll wish you have figuered how to do all this another way..

Very true, Bill.

You wanna stay on the good side of these people. If you make the mistake of thinking She's just a teller... and get her ticked off at you she's likely got about 10,000 little things she can do to make your life difficult; things that really can't be traced back to her as deliberate but can cause you no end of grief.

Recently I was waiting in line at the airport to check in for a flight and the airline had only two people working the desk, one of whom was tied up with some unusual situation with one customer. The guy in front of me was getting very disgruntled at how long everything was taking - I figured: wait here or wait at the gate what's the difference - as long as I'm in time for my flight? But this guy started to verbalize his frustration and direct it toward the woman working behind the counter.

Bad move, in my view. An errant button click or pen marking could see your luggage wind up in Guatemala.

After she dealt with the guy and it was my turn I wanted to make sure she knew I had nothing to do with him so I complimented her on how well she had handled what was obviously a difficult customer. She took the compliment in stride but - Lo and Behold - all of a sudden I received a free upgrade to First Class.

These people have power, don't kid yourself. Nothing major or earth-shattering but they can make your life easier or harder.
Quote (Diogenes @ Jan. 10 2007,10:42)
Sounds like the banks over there ARE behind the times...

Mind you, this is coming from a guy living in a country where they still use checks :D
Quote (Diogenes @ Jan. 10 2007,11:42)
...My wife is the branch manager for one of the largest credit unions in the USA. They are very progressive about new technology...

Credit Unions have always lead the way with technology in the banking industry. Credit Unions were the first to introduce ATMs, telephone banking, and a host of other improvements. They seem to have a genuine belief in putting the needs of the client first.

We’ve got internet banking. The particular cc just wouldn’t let me create a ‘beneficiary’ directly from the credit card.


Bill, you are right. I just thought about it when you mentioned it.
I could have (of course!) phoned the details through…

Silly me.

Quote (teryeah @ Jan. 10 2007,10:58)
Quote (Diogenes @ Jan. 10 2007,10:42)
Sounds like the banks over there ARE behind the times...

Mind you, this is coming from a guy living in a country where they still use checks :D

Some chuckleheads still use checks... I can't remember the last time... anybody know where my checkbook is? :D

Seriously, no checks. Direct deposit, Debit card, online bill-pay etc... don't even carry cash very much anymore...

D

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Mind you, this is coming from a guy living in a country where they still use checks

I have my checkbook NOW…and someone else still has hers…ARGH!!! ???

That’s another story…but I do have one of my own.

I owed a friend of mine some money once for bass bins so I wrote him a check. He tried to cash the check but the bank wouldn’t take it because he didn’t have an account there. It was after all my bank not his. So, to get the check cashed I needed to go into the bank with him. I was there at MY bank - he was there with me. They still wouldn’t cash the check. They said he didn’t have a valid ID. He did, in fact, have a Virginia drivers license, but we were in NC - -where I was from and at the very branch where I opened my account. Still they wouldn’t cash the check. The only way I could get him money was to do a cash withdrawal – I wrote myself a check since there were not debit cards back then (1976 or so). To this day I don’t understand why they wouldn’t cash the check for him when I was there, and why a valid Virginia Drivers license wasn’t good enough of an ID.

The bank held my federal tax refund check for two weeks one time to make sure it wouldn’t bounce. That makes more sense if you think about it.

Banks got you by the nards.

I have a GREAT bank. I just call them up and go “Hi, it’s me. I got another stupid idea”. Their line is “OK, how much? We’ll fix it” :)

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Their line is “OK, how much? We’ll fix it”


The guy that ran the bank in the little town I grew up in got 20 years in the Federal Prison system for “OK, how much? We’ll fix it” :D

That’s why they are such a PITA these days… punish the innocent to catch the crooks and all that…

D

Quote (Diogenes @ Jan. 10 2007,16:35)
The guy that ran the bank in the little town I grew up in got 20 years in the Federal Prison system for “OK, how much? We’ll fix it” :D

Heh heh heh - better him than you :)

Nah, I have this relationship with them because they know who I am and they know that I always pay up, no matter how stupid things may look on a piece of paper/computer screen :)

Banks, phoowey, money sewn in a matress, now there’s a concept! :p

No Wihan, bank tellers have no sense of humor before or after ten!

Footnote, I do actually have all my money sewn in my matress that I sleep on every night.

I just wish it was paper money instead of coins! ???

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Seriously, no checks. Direct deposit, Debit card, online bill-pay etc…

Hey - you & I have some concrete in common :laugh: I still use checks on occassion but not very often.

Heck - I’m pissed when businesses/people won’t accept PayPal.

Heh. I once thought it was saving me money. You know… no cash… no checkbook… “Eh you don’t take debit cards? Well, I didn’t need it anyway.” Now that almost everybody takes debit/credit cards, even in my po-dunk town, I’ve about swiped the mag strip clean off! :D No money saving with that… :(

D

You know gents… There will come a day when Paper money will be NO-GOOD…

You’ll be paid by what will be know as “Credits” and you’ll pay for your everyday purchases by what will be known as “Credits”… Your “Net Worth” will be measured by whatever this “Credits” are worth… When you’ve used up these “Credits” you’ll be broke… As in NO Over Buying/Debt… or whatever… It could be a sad day not to have “Coin-and-Paper” in your pocket… or “Plastic”… :O ??? :(

Well, that’s what I think…

Bill…