I Declare A Thumb War
The banking system as a whole really didn't need any more bad press, but it just got some. Steve Valdez entered a Bank of America branch inTampa, Florida where he lives. He was there to cash his wife's check, as she has an account there. Bank of America requires non-account holders to provide a thumb print to cash a check. The problem is Steve was born without arms so he has prosthetic ones. The teller informed him of the requirement then stated, "Obviously you aren't going to be able to give us a thumb print." Ya think? Steve then produced two picture I.D.'s at which point he was told by the manager that he would have to open an account or bring his wife in to cash the check. The manager said it was bank policy. Steve just left the bank. Now Bank of America has apologised for the incident and stated that an alternative requirement should have been offered in such a situation. Again- ya think? Just another example of common sense not being all that common as well as the death of independent thought in this country. To quote comedian Ron White, "You can't fix stupid." http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090904/oddities/us_banking_offbeat
Comments
i do mourn the death of independent thought. zero tolerance and a lawsuit culture has made people loath to make any exception to the rules for fear of backlash. but this is beyond ridiculous.
ps- sorry i haven't been posting much lately, but my mom has been in the hospital. we're hoping to bring her home soon though. 😊
ps- sorry i haven't been posting much lately, but my mom has been in the hospital. we're hoping to bring her home soon though. 😊
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 09/05/09 at 11:26 AM
Having been the manager of a financial institution I can commiserate with the teller but the manager SHOULD have had enough sack to authorize the transaction.
HOWEVER
By the time I got out of the game the "heavy thinkers" were taking over the upper positions and as they never had an ounce of real, live experience in any field other than "how to get a PhD" they were instituting polices that were job killers if they weren't followed to the letter. Of course, no one hires anyone smarter than themselves so..... Ah, hell... you do the math I'm going to bed!
HOWEVER
By the time I got out of the game the "heavy thinkers" were taking over the upper positions and as they never had an ounce of real, live experience in any field other than "how to get a PhD" they were instituting polices that were job killers if they weren't followed to the letter. Of course, no one hires anyone smarter than themselves so..... Ah, hell... you do the math I'm going to bed!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/05/09 at 01:40 PM
Actually, it was a Bank of America which is a U.S. Bank. Not to mention that Bank of America is mention twice in the original article.
Posted by mdb777 on 09/05/09 at 07:25 PM
I went over to Tampa Bay Online http://www2.tbo.com/home/ in hopes of getting more info. Not much else was there but it seems that the manager dropped the ball as there seems to be other ways to verify identity in their system. I also got an ear full of American Disability Act and BOA bowing and scraping. Anyhow.....
Slee, the check had to be endorsed if the bank could/would even consider accepting it so your point about cashing someone else's check is a bit moot.
However......
There are two things here that strike me as a bit off:
1) If the bank can verify the endorsement, and it's one of their checks then what right do they have to refuse it? IIRC, AmExUSA got in trouble over crap like this some years ago and the Feds came down hard on them. I'd think or boy and his wife should be screaming about service in general not to mention the following!
2) A bank gets to gather fingerprints????? I don't think so!
Slee, the check had to be endorsed if the bank could/would even consider accepting it so your point about cashing someone else's check is a bit moot.
However......
There are two things here that strike me as a bit off:
1) If the bank can verify the endorsement, and it's one of their checks then what right do they have to refuse it? IIRC, AmExUSA got in trouble over crap like this some years ago and the Feds came down hard on them. I'd think or boy and his wife should be screaming about service in general not to mention the following!
2) A bank gets to gather fingerprints????? I don't think so!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/06/09 at 05:50 AM
look, the man had TWO PICTURE I.D.'s. also if he takes it to his own bank they hold it till it clears her bank (generally 5 days). if he needed the money NOW that screws him. i understood it was a check off of her account at b.o.a. written by her to him. the point also remains that if a thumb print gets it done for anyone else they MUST aford him a way to cash it without thumbs. that is not only the law (americans with disabilities act) it is common sense and common decency. what the teller said to him was ignorant as well, he was mistreated due to his disability. not cool!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 09/06/09 at 03:44 PM
Sarah, "ignorant" does not imply stupidity. It only means that the required knowledge was not possessed by the individual.
From the Random House Dictionary: lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact
In this case, however, I've got to vote for stupidity and/or lack of common sense!
From the Random House Dictionary: lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact
In this case, however, I've got to vote for stupidity and/or lack of common sense!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/07/09 at 12:09 PM
now that's funny! of course it didn't happen to me though.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 09/07/09 at 04:55 PM
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