When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton reportedly replied, Because that's where the money is.
Sometimes, banks turn the tables.
Of course, because they have home-court advantage, they know the ins and outs that enable them to be more discreet than those who brandish a gun.instead, they use small print to obscure their brand of thievery.
To wit: see the below letter that I helped write for someone who was trying, politely, to get Citizens Bank to do the right thing which, yes, entailed going beyond the bare minimum of what they were required by law to do and actually behaving in an ethical, responsible manner. (See the excerpt of the letter that is in bold.)
Citizens Bank refused the request.
While their decision was disappointing, it was, sadly, not surprising.
I'm sure it was nothing personal.in fact, it was quite impersonal—$imply a bu$ine$ deci$ion for those fine folks.
That sure was penny-wise well, 1,750 pennies-per-month wise month after month, year after year.
If this blog captures the attention of a few people who opt to steer their funds clear of Citizen$ Bank, I suppose pound foolish would also be an apt description of that institution.
Read the below letter and decide for yourself. Is this the type of bank where you want to entrust your hard-earned money? If so, be sure to read the small typ and beware of accounting errors the bank just happens to make in its favor!
December 8
Heather Campion
Group Executive Vice President
Citizens Bank
28 State Street, 38th Floor
MS 3845
Boston MA 02109
Dear Ms. Campion,
My husband and I have been account holders with Citizens Bank for the past 12 years.in that time, we have been pleased to entrust our funds with you. Through a mortgage, an equity line of credit, and other major transactions, you have been a reliable partner in our journey as we have raised our four children.
We thank you and your colleagues for providing such excellent service all these years.
My husband has overseen our accounts all these years. A few weeks ago, I questioned him about a monthly fee that appeared on our statement. He replied that he had assumed that it was a proper charge. However, when I inquired further with Salem, NHs branch, I learned that the fee ($17.50) had been mistakenly assessed, based on our having Circle Gold Checking. The fee would have applied if we had another checking account service.
A few weeks later I was speaking to Debbie Elliott, branch manager in the Windham, NH branch about some other matters and she reiterated what the Salem branch told me. I found Ms. Elliott to be professional, thorough and earnest in our conversation.
She noticed the credit to our joint checking account, $52.50, covering the previous three months. She also accurately pointed out that under the terms of our account, spelled out in what some might call "small print" language, the bank is under no obligation to reimburse us for the previous period of time when this fee was improperly assessed, month after month, year after year.
While you have no legal obligation to render credit for that period, I would like to believe that we are entrusting our money with an institution that doesn't seek merely to abide by the law to avoid prosecution, but holds itself to a higher standard of operating in a highly ethical manner to engender trust and respect.
Therefore, please consider this a formal request for full credit to the account for the entire length of time that the fee was incorrectly assessed.
Thank you for your kind consideration of these requests. It's my hope that you preserve our faith in entrusting our funds with you, and that I have a story of high corporate ethics to share with others in my life.
Sincerely,
(Name was furnished to Ms. Campion, but is not included here for privacy reasons.)
Cc: Debbie Elliott, Citizens Bank branch manager, Windham, NH
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