Issue w/ my bank... what to do UPDATED

[Elganja]

bear with me, this is a little confusing and long...

short background... I have a bank of america account that I use to deposit checks, then I bill pay myself to transfer the money to my charles schwab checking account (bank of america charges to do a e-transfer)

Edited for clairty... hopefully:
*** 3/5/10 - Deposited Check through Bank of America ATM
*** 3/5/10 - Everything looked fine, so I sent a billpay as Schwab as the Biller (which is just me really)
*** 3/5/10 - Sometime later, the check was refused and said DEPOSIT CORR/ADJ FEE IMAGE on my bank of america account
*** I could not stop the billpay at this point, as nothing updated on my account until 3/8/10
*** 3/9/10 - Check posted in my Charles Schwab Account, it DID NOT bounce
*** This is where it gets crazy as I await for the returned check from Bank of America
*** 3/10/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/11/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/12/2010 - I got the check back from Bank of America, went to a teller and deposited it again, it was set to clear on 3/17/10
*** 3/12/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/15/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/16/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/17/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** At this point, the money in question (~12k) is in both accounts
*** The last 4 weeks, I have called every wednesday and talked to customer service representatives from both banks:
*** -- Schwab: "We got paid, otherwise the amount would not have posted, contact bank of america"
*** -- Bank of America: "We did not pay them, contact schwab"
*** NOTE: Only one billpay was ever sent

I'm not retarded and I'm not looking for free money. The amount in question is just under 12k that I will need at the middle of may. I don't know what to do at this point except wait it out and see if it clears it self up. Any advice? I don't want to be blamed by the banks for committing some kind of fraud(?). I'm thinking of maybe sending them emails to have a record of me trying to contact them...

update:

I was able to find the email addresses of some executives for bank of america. I emailed them, and promptly got called many times (called 5 times, leaving 2 messages between 5pm EST yesterday and 10am EST today)

The apologized for messing up, said schwab was in fact paid, and it was a mistake on their end. They took the money out of my bank of america account and the "case is closed".

 

[DivideBYZero]

You win.

/Thread

 

[Zorro]

Bank of America


/end thread

 

[guyver01]

-Charles Schwab: "the funds would not have posted if we did not get paid, call bank of america"
-Bank of America: "we have not paid them and if we did we will take it back (how? beats me, they wouldn't elaborate), call schwab"


Charles Schwab is wrong. Checks go thru a bank clearing house. It can take MONTHS for checks to be actually paid.

Don't believe me? Try deposting a fake check from one of those 419 scammers.. It will take your bank 4-6 months to call you telling you its fake.

 

[Elganja]

-Charles Schwab: "the funds would not have posted if we did not get paid, call bank of america"
-Bank of America: "we have not paid them and if we did we will take it back (how? beats me, they wouldn't elaborate), call schwab"


Charles Schwab is wrong. Checks go thru a bank clearing house. It can take MONTHS for checks to be actually paid.

Don't believe me? Try deposting a fake check from one of those 419 scammers.. It will take your bank 4-6 months to call you telling you its fake.

Really? I thought that was the whole point of waiting for a check to clear

 

[Azraele]

Try asking for a supervisor when you call if you haven't already. Be persistent and make sure you document everything.

 

[highland145]

The H&B crowd must not be up yet so....hookers and blow.

I agree with Azraele. Document everything, send certified mail to both with the details and don't spend the $$ twice.

BoA sucks IMO

 

[Elganja]

The H&B crowd must not be up yet so....hookers and blow.

I agree with Azraele. Document everything, send certified mail to both with the details and don't spend the $$ twice.

BoA sucks IMO

I have no intentions too, I'd rather not spend any of it until this is cleared up

I will call them again today and ask to speak to a supervisor, thanks guys

 

[highland145]

I have no intentions too, I'd rather not spend any of it until this is cleared up

I will call them again today and ask to speak to a supervisor, thanks guys

Your dilemma is understandable but can you let your $$ sit until they figure it out? If so, I guess that's the best option.

 

[ebaycj]

The H&B crowd must not be up yet so....hookers and blow.

I agree with Azraele. Document everything, send certified mail to both with the details and don't spend the $$ twice.

BoA sucks IMO

I'd do this. I'd also withdraw the entire balance of both accounts, move the banking to another bank, and move the investing to another investment firm. This way YOU have the money, and they can't just debit it from your account when you are not looking. If they want it, they can come and get it (as was said, don't spend it twice). If they don't come and get it, eventually you will get to spend it twice.

 

[allisolm]

I'd rather not spend any of it until this is cleared up

I will call them again today and ask to speak to a supervisor, thanks guys

I think you definitely need to get it cleared up before you spend it from either account because Murphy's Law says whichever account you spend it from will be the one that also removes it and charges you all kinds of fees for insufficient funds.

 

[edro]

Really? I thought that was the whole point of waiting for a check to clear

Don't listen to him... he posts way too much opinion and not enough fact.

 

[soulcougher73]

I would try to contact a higher ranking supervisor by email if at all possible so you have a record of the converstations with both banks. As it stands now from what they said you are in the clear, but it was also a phone call which im sure was not recorded so you could get screwed later.

 

[pontifex]

bare with me

no i will not get naked with you!

 

[HardcoreRobot]

try to get something in writing so you have some defense in case they do try to accuse you of wrongdoing. maybe a registered mail letter that you keep a copy of. aside from that, I suspect eventually the money will get pulled from Schwab, try not to put yourself in a position where that is just going to cause MORE problems. too many people played monopoly growing up, I really don't think there is such a think as bank error in your favor. people always find a way to get their money...

 

[tk149]

bare with me, this is a little confusing and long...

short background... I have a bank of america account that I use to deposit checks, then I bill pay myself to transfer the money to my charles schwab checking account (bank of america charges to do a e-transfer)

Cliffs:
-3/5/10 deposited check through bank of america ATM
-3/6/10 appears all is well, so I billpay myself
-3/8/10 bank of american rejects my check, but billpay has already been sent
-3/11/10 charles schwab account shows the check as deposited
-3/12/10 get the check bank from bank of america, go back to bank of america and use teller and all is well, BUT the check won't post until the 17th
-3/15/10 bank of america charges me an overdraft fee, but quickly refunds it and my balance returns to 0 (as if the check was never deposited by schwab)
-3/17/10 check clears and is in my bank of america account AND my charles schwab account
-during this whole process, schwab tried (on my bank of america account, it shows as bill paid, then returned check) to deposit the check 3 times then never tried again (last attempt was on 3/15/10). they didn't charge me any bounced check fees
-money is now in both accounts

So here I am today... I have called both banks every wednesday for the past 4 weeks and each of them keeps telling me to call the other bank. Usually goes something like this:
-Charles Schwab: "the funds would not have posted if we did not get paid, call bank of america"
-Bank of America: "we have not paid them and if we did we will take it back (how? beats me, they wouldn't elaborate), call schwab"
-They both absolutely refuse to let me have a conference call w/ both reps on at the same time

I'm not retarded and I'm not looking for free money. The amount in question is just under 12k that I will need at the middle of may. I don't know what to do at this point except wait it out and see if it clears it self up. Any advice? I don't want to be blamed by the banks for committing some kind of fraud(?). I'm thinking of maybe sending them emails to have a record of me trying to contact them...

It's good that you're trying to straighten this out now, as opposed to waiting for the hammer to fall later.

I used to work in Deposit Operations at a bank, and your post makes my head hurt. If that's how you explained it to your banks, no wonder you're not getting anywhere.

From what I see, I'd guess that:
-3/5/10 deposited check #1 into BoA
-3/6/10 billpay from BoA to Schwab via check #2
-3/8/10 BoA rejects my check #1 , but check #2 has already been sent
-3/11/10 charles schwab account shows the check #2 as deposited
-3/12/10 get check #1 back from bank of america, go back to bank of america and use teller and all is well, BUT the check #1 won't post until the 17th
Why was the check rejected? Nigerian cashier's check? Forgot to endorse it?

-3/15/10 bank of america charges me an overdraft fee, but quickly refunds it and my balance returns to 0 (as if the check was never deposited by schwab)
It looks like this was where the error occurred. This kind of account correction must be keyed in manually.
Focus your efforts on finding out what happened around this date. I'm guessing that you called the bank and talked to someone on or after this date about the overdraft. Note that the bank can backdate transactions.

-3/17/10 check clears and is in my bank of america account AND my charles schwab account

I'd guess that your account showed a negative balance on the 15th and was charged overdraft fees. Then you called them, and someone noted that you had check #1 deposited but not cleared in your account, and accidentally set your balance to zero. Then the check cleared and you were credited for it.

Anyway, I'm guessing that it's BoA's error, not Schwab's. Good luck!

 

[Brainonska511]

Really? I thought that was the whole point of waiting for a check to clear

Yeah, I thought the time frame that they had to notify you if the check was fake was something like 14-30 days. Heck, with the whole electronic processing of checks these days, it should be fairly rapid and easy to do.

 

[Elganja]

It's good that you're trying to straighten this out now, as opposed to waiting for the hammer to fall later.

I used to work in Deposit Operations at a bank, and your post makes my head hurt. If that's how you explained it to your banks, no wonder you're not getting anywhere.

From what I see, I'd guess that:
-3/5/10 deposited check #1 into BoA
-3/6/10 billpay from BoA to Schwab via check #2
-3/8/10 BoA rejects my check #1 , but check #2 has already been sent
-3/11/10 charles schwab account shows the check #2 as deposited
-3/12/10 get check #1 back from bank of america, go back to bank of america and use teller and all is well, BUT the check #1 won't post until the 17th
Why was the check rejected? Nigerian cashier's check? Forgot to endorse it?

-3/15/10 bank of america charges me an overdraft fee, but quickly refunds it and my balance returns to 0 (as if the check was never deposited by schwab)
It looks like this was where the error occurred. This kind of account correction must be keyed in manually.
Focus your efforts on finding out what happened around this date. I'm guessing that you called the bank and talked to someone on or after this date about the overdraft. Note that the bank can backdate transactions.

-3/17/10 check clears and is in my bank of america account AND my charles schwab account

I'd guess that your account showed a negative balance on the 15th and was charged overdraft fees. Then you called them, and someone noted that you had check #1 deposited but not cleared in your account, and accidentally set your balance to zero. Then the check cleared and you were credited for it.

Anyway, I'm guessing that it's BoA's error, not Schwab's. Good luck!

Just to address the bolded point, for some reason they thought it was a check written out to a business, not to a person (long story). In anycase, once I went to a teller, there were no issues

For the rest, let me try again (your guess in incorrect):

*** 3/5/10 - Deposited Check through Bank of America ATM
*** 3/5/10 - Everything looked fine, so I sent a billpay as Schwab as the Biller (which is just me really)
*** 3/5/10 - Sometime later, the check was refused and said DEPOSIT CORR/ADJ FEE IMAGE on my bank of america account
*** I could not stop the billpay at this point, as nothing updated on my account until 3/8/10
*** 3/9/10 - Check posted in my Charles Schwab Account, it DID NOT bounce
*** This is where it gets crazy as I await for the returned check from Bank of America
*** 3/10/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/11/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/12/2010 - I got the check back from Bank of America, went to a teller and deposited it again, it was set to clear on 3/17/10
*** 3/12/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/15/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/16/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/17/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** At this point, the money in question (~12k) is in both accounts
*** The last 4 weeks, I have called every wednesday and talked to customer service representatives from both banks:
*** -- Schwab: "We got paid, otherwise the amount would not have posted, contact bank of america"
*** -- Bank of America: "We did not pay them, contact schwab"
*** NOTE: Only one billpay was ever sent

 

[Gooberlx2]

I'd guess that your account showed a negative balance on the 15th and was charged overdraft fees. Then you called them, and someone noted that you had check #1 deposited but not cleared in your account, and accidentally set your balance to zero. Then the check cleared and you were credited for it.

Oh good call. So I see it as:
- OP had -$12k balance (due to check #2 being sent out to Schwab), + overdraft fee
- OP complains to bank
- Teller see that check #1 is pending, wipes fee and sets account to $0
- Check #1 clears, and now OP is +$12k

This part is definitely a screw up with BoA...though I see OP sent check #2 (via billpay) to Schwab before check #1 cleared (same day). That's his own fault (and what caused this whole mess). When I was with BoA, any checks over a few thousand $$$ always took a few/several days to clear. It was their policy and they wouldn't change it even when I complained about it.

 

[MrPickins]

Just to address the bolded point, for some reason they thought it was a check written out to a business, not to a person (long story). In anycase, once I went to a teller, there were no issues

For the rest, let me try again (your guess in incorrect):

*** 3/5/10 - Deposited Check through Bank of America ATM
*** 3/5/10 - Everything looked fine, so I sent a billpay as Schwab as the Biller (which is just me really)
*** 3/5/10 - Sometime later, the check was refused and said DEPOSIT CORR/ADJ FEE IMAGE on my bank of america account
*** I could not stop the billpay at this point, as nothing updated on my account until 3/8/10
*** 3/9/10 - Check posted in my Charles Schwab Account, it DID NOT bounce
*** This is where it gets crazy as I await for the returned check from Bank of America
*** 3/10/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/11/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/12/2010 - I got the check back from Bank of America, went to a teller and deposited it again, it was set to clear on 3/17/10
*** 3/12/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/15/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** 3/16/2010 - ###### Bill Payment - Bank of America
*** 3/17/2010 - RETURN OF POSTED CHECK/ ITEM - Bank of America
*** At this point, the money in question (~12k) is in both accounts
*** The last 4 weeks, I have called every wednesday and talked to customer service representatives from both banks:
*** -- Schwab: "We got paid, otherwise the amount would not have posted, contact bank of america"
*** -- Bank of America: "We did not pay them, contact schwab"
*** NOTE: Only one billpay was ever sent

That's still pretty confusing (to me).

Maybe you should use prose instead of a list...

 

[Elganja]

update:

I was able to find the email addresses of some executives for bank of america. I emailed them, and promptly got called many times (called 5 times, leaving 2 messages between 5pm EST yesterday and 10am EST today)

The apologized for messing up, said schwab was in fact paid, and it was a mistake on their end. They took the money out of my bank of america account and the "case is closed".