I wrote a check to Chase mortgage to correct an error that they had made (paying my home owners insurance twice). I wrote the check on my TCF Bank checking account This account is in no way associated with my mortgage. (My mortgage is paid electronically from an account at another bank. (It is not only current, it is actually one payment in advance.)
TCF paid Chase by electronic payment (ACH) even though I had written a paper check and there is no agreement between myself and Chase regarding my TCF account. TCF paid Chase an additional $1000 over the amount that is clearly written in the legal line (words) and on the amount line. I have the duplicate check copy to prove this. TCF says that they did nothing wrong, even though they paid the check without ever receiving a scan to prove the amount or the fact that I had written a check at all!
TCF insisted that I come into the bank, even though I was hospitalized with pneumonia, and then when I did, they said that there was nothing they could do. The following day they called me in again, and again said that there was nothing they could do. They claim that they can pay an electronic request for a paper check without ever verifying the existence or the amount of the check. This is a regular TCF checking account, not an e-checking account.
When I asked that the error be corrected TCF said that there was no way to do it, and the branch manager commented "gee its a good thing you had the money in there to cover it." Never mind that I wrote other checks and need that money for other things like food and heat. TCF denies responsibility and refuses to correct the problem, though they did eventually concede that the problem may require them to "check into it".
I have five TCF accounts, all in good standing, including 3 savings accounts. One of the checking accounts is a joint e-checking account. TCF routinely manipulates deposits and electronic bill payment items in order to make balances appear higher or lower than they actually are. For example, a deposit may not be credited for several days, while transfers between accounts that were scheduled in advance and actually took place after the deposit appear days before. Also TCF might show a payment as completed but not deduct the amount from the balance until days later. Since they do not give running balances there is no way to know this. TCF also may deduct an automatic (echeck) bill payment item as much as a week in advance of making the payment. They have various excuses for this, but from my point of view these all look like attempts to charge NSF fees or for TCF to have use of the money while people to believe that there is less (or more) money in their account than there is.
TCF has done nothing to recover the money they gave away without my authorization. They even refuse to admit any wrong-doing or error on their part. What is the point of writing a paper check if it can be paid without the bank even seeing it?
0 comments