In August of I opened a Business Personal and Savings Account with Liberty Bank on 460 South Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut. At first, everthing was great. Two debit/credit cards were issued to my account, one for me, the other for my oldest daughter, Deborah, from Newington, CT. The reason for Deborah having a card was in case anything happened to me she would be able to control the account and also the business if she had to. If nothing else, she would be able to withdraw my money and do as she pleased. I was just protecting myself and my family. I got my card and it had to be activated at the bank on an ATM machine the "Bank Rules." But Deborah's was stolen, she never received it at all. We never received the card at either address, which would be the Wallingford store or Deborah's home in Newington, CT.
Deborah is not an employee of Just Good Foods, she runs her own cleaning business in Newington, CT, and works 70-80 hours per week. (She does not time to come to Wallingford to my store or for any other reason. Deborah's car is a small economical car that does not use that much gas per day that was being used on the credit card daily and also she was away on a cruise out of the country for almost two weeks while the card was still being used.) I think the card was stolen from my store by a person who was and was going to be an employee but never did become one.
In the winter and spring of 2001 and 2002 I had tremendous truck problems that I had to take care of first over all other projects. No truck on the road, no business, so the truck becomes #1 priority. I noticed a couple of problems on the bank statements during this troublesome truck time that I was going through, but I had no time to investigate them.in June of I found out there was a problem with "no money in the account." I went to the branch office of Liberty Bank on South Main Street and worked with Christina Wilson, she looked up on the computer my account and informed me that the account activity from my Daughter's card, that she never received or got activated by the "Bank Rules". So she started checking out the statement on line at the bank with me standing right behind her, she was pulling up all the transactions being made on my Daughter's card. There was no way I could tell one from the other on this sheet on the screen of the bank computer, she told me it was in code on the bank employees would be able to tell which card was being used where. She came up with fourty five or six accounts that were not mine but possibly my Daughters. She told me I had to fill out 46 sheets to dispute these sales one for each one in dispute.
So I took the bank forms home to fill them out. I did this in a couple of nights and brought them back to the bank. I was then informed not to worry, you are covered by the bank on inusurance or something, I don't remember, she said it would take several weeks for the bank to make a decision on these matters, this was from February 1-June 3. No May statement had been sent out yet. April was the only month that I never checked out.
The first time in all the years of being in business that I never did check the statement. I did also confront my Daughter about all of this. She said she didn't do this, or know anything about this, plus she was out of the country while the card was still being used. She never saw or used this card and that it was never mailed to her attention or home in Newington. The girls at the bank said that the card was mailed to my store in Wallingford where my daughter only visited once with her husband and family in the ten years I owned the store. She remined my about the cruise her and her husband were on out of the country and the card was still being used - big time.
At first only used small, I didn't notice this except for once or twice, but again because of truck troubles and Lawyer problems I didn't have time to check into it more closely. So now, Libery Bank after only a couple of days tells me that I might only be covered for some of this not because of the amount of time gone by without finding this out. Then two days later, I was informed I wouldn't be covered at all. From you are covered completely to some coverage to no coverage at all.
I asked the girl Christina Wilson who in this bank made this quick and hasty decision on these 46 disputes she told me Paul Young made them. I called Paul and asked him, he knows nothing of this but yet he is supposed to be the man in charge of this decision making but yet knew nothing of it but was done by someone under him and he was told nothing about it. The next thing I was dealing with was Bob Hepinstep the top man at the bank. (Who was very rude, nervous and couldn't get me off the phone fast enough he interrupted me 50 or 60 times in a 10 minute conversation, very rude for a bank official.)
Meanwhile, I called the Wallinford Police (something the bank was supposed to do, but did not do, also FBI is supposed to be notified if over $5,000 which I was told be someone, but the bank never did this either) I did notify the Connecticut Banking Commission but I feel I notified the wrong branch I should have notified the Banking Commission Credit Card Fraud Division instead. The police were a little upset that the bank did not contact hem. I also contacted as many busineses in Wallingford and other areas for help with this matter only to get no help from anyone.
One place in Trumbull told me they had a signature an possibly a photo but they were not allowed to discuss this with me only the bank or the police, maybe this person could have been caught if my bank was more helpful. I talked to Bob Hepinstep two or three times on the phone about the matter again he was very rude and interrupted me and wanted to get rid of me on the phone. Now I learn Bob Hepinstep and Paul Young no longer work for the bank. I had talked to other branch managers, they all say that "I am getting screwed" (not only from Liberty Bank but other banks also.
Many, many people including bank friends say that this should all be covered by insurance but this was never mentioned to me once at all by any bank official working on this. I also went to the Middletown police and got a little help from there, not much. I was told by Det. Robert Barone that the bank just hired a new guy to handle fraud and credit cards his name was Gary (something), but I never talked to him in person only nervous "Bob." Nobody did much at all. I still have not seen any signed receipts from the bank. I don't know how much money was stolen all total. There is no way of checking my statements, you can't tell which card was used where.
I checked with more branch managers on activation of this card, they all say the same thing that the card had to activate on ATM on camera with a bank employee there. My card was activated in this manner, but hers wasn't. I now in May started working with Deb Bosain, Angelia, Lou Demeo, Fransquetta Russell who with know nothing or looking at nothing say my Daughter used the card. Liberty Bank on two or three ocassions stated that my Daughter has been using this card. I metioned to Fransquetta about my Daughter being out of the country on a cruise for almost two weeks but still be used she says, I thought your Daughter runs a cleaning business, yes, she does she went on vacation, but she went with her husband.
This Fransquetta also said we would sit down face to face at the bank and talk this matter over and for me to bring in all my records of these transactions which I agreed to do. She also said she would get copies of all the signatures which she never did. Today is July 19, she calls me with only one signed document and there would be no sit down meeting, CASE CLOSED, DONE DEAL. I never did see the one signed document or any of the other 45 documents that I was promised.
In closing, I to this day, do not know exactly how much was stolen from my account by the person that did this. I have never seen any receipts as promised, all business done over the telephone not in person like promised. I have asked many times about bank insurance or FDIC Insurance and I have never received any information on anything. I notified the police, the bank should have handled that. I contacted stores and businesses in Wallingford in person about this credit card fraud to no avail. I feel that I was really used, or screwed in this matter with almost no help from anybody to do with the bank. I would like to find out if insurance covers this so that I could possibly get my money back. They blame this on me because it was a business account not personal which (makes no sense). My business did not steal the money by using the card, a person stole the card and used it. I did go see a Lawyer about this, but I was told that this was too small of a case. I was advised to take the bank to small claims court which only goes up to $3,500 which I plan on doing. I am going to notify the Middletown Press (City Briefs) regarding this matter.
This is the official "Rule of the Bank on activating card"
You must use your card in an ATM to activate it before you can use it make puchases. Questions? Call us at (800) #-#. Oh and by the way, this phone number happens to be an entrance into a porno site.
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