So I actually filed a complaint about a bank!!

[SFBayArea]

OK, I tried to dump a box of dimes (only $250) in clear plastic wraps at a Wells Fargo in San Jose.. I don't go there often but was there for a one day job. I had a feeling that this bank was going to be advesarial.

History: I recalled months ago I brought in $5.00 in pennies in clear plastic wraps to swap for a $5.00 bill. I found it unusual that the teller would pull them out of the rubberband and examine each roll. They were in clear plastic.. it's not like I put a block of cheese in there. Based on this, I knew this was going to be a problem bank for dumping.

So as I thought, the teller and the teller supervisor would not allow me to do it. They said I had to deposit and wait for it to clear before they can give me cash which would take a few days. It doesn't make sense to me since other branches of this Wells Fargo are fine with dumping. Many will put them in bags to be sent off for counting while giving me cash. They have my account number and address so what's the big deal? If it's off, they can make adjustments to the account. Apparently this bank doesn't see it that way. One of the tellers told me that this branch is very strict and seemed to understand where my view.

So, the head teller asked the branch Manager (Michael Lee) and the guy said no. I had a discussion with him about it. He didn't care. He said "well what if you closed your account? after depositing?" I said why would I do that? You guys have my address, call the police if there's an issue. He didn't seem to care, and said "what if you put in tokens"? I said they're in clear plastic wraps.. you can tell there's no tokens. He then said "what if the coins looked like dimes on the outside but are not dimes"? I said that it's not possible.. foreign coins have completely different rims. This guy thought he knew better. Real letter of the law guy. He was also filling out paper work for other things while talking to me. It was rude. You don't fill out other paperwork and not look at the customer while talking. Michael Lee is Asian and has an accent. My guess is that he is Chinese and perhaps doesn't understand the culture here. Some Chinese people from over there are strict as hell.

I just didn't get why this guy was so advesarial about it. So I called Wells Fargo and filed a complaint about Michael Lee having poor customer service. His gestures and filling out other work while talking to me. Even the guy on the phone thought it was common for them to take in coins for exchange but didn't know what the official policy was. This is the first time I filed a complaint on a bank. No problem for me. Lee knew I was going to complain about him too as I had told him. He could've been more friendly and apologetic about it and I probably wouldn't have called to complain.

My question is: Should I go back sometime in the future to try it again? Perhaps a smaller load of dimes? Say $100? Just to see if they changed. If not, I could just call back and call again to complain. I figure if I go there enough and they turn me down in exchanging coins, I can just keep calling to complain about the Manager. I wonder if it would change their policy. Who wants complaints on their record?

By the way.. for all you other CRHers in San Jose, it's the Silver Creek branch. Go there and try to exchange some dumps for cash. See what they say. If they give you a hard time, call Wells Fargo and complain.

CRHers unite!! LOL

 

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[SFBayArea]

I just wanted to update you guys. Downtown Berkeley Main Branch, Bank of America on the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Avenue just changed their policy this week to NOT allow coin deposits to post same day... It takes about 3 or 4 business days, or so I'm told..

I used to dump approx.. $1500 - $2000 in one transaction and exchange for cash on the spot. If it was short, my account would be adjusted (It never was short, nor was my account ever credited or debited). I did this kind of transaction no more than once or twice a month.. I would go in the bank, ask for coin bags and put $500 in each bag ($500 = 25 lbs). On Tuesday when I go to exchange $1500 in halves, I am told I cannot exchange for cash, nor can I deposit and withdraw immediately. Deposit is the only option and it won't credit for about a week. I lowered my deposit to $500 in halves and $12 in pennies.. We'll update when it actually post. I don't really need the money, so I don't mind going along with this for just $500. I probably won't go here anymore, except for maybe pennies and nickels where the amount of money is negligible..

Not sure complaining will get you anywhere. I think it's just your particular bank's policy. Go to another bank. I took the rest of my coin to another bank and got credited immediately.

P.S. I asked how much I could deposit and have it post same business day.. First I asked if I could deposit ONE $10 roll of halves and exchange for a $10 bill. The response was I could do that because she could count it out in front of me and give me cash.. Then I proceeded to ask if I could bring 10 rolls of $10 and exchange for $100 bill. Then she cut me off and said, it has to be sent out... She then said she needs to verify that I'm not bringing in fake coin.. Anyone else have similar experiences

btw, only found 1 40% half in the halves I was dumping today..

Good luck and HH

Mike

My main dump banks are fine with me dumping. The one that I've used the most.. I've given the head teller little gifts every so often so they're cool with it. Although it's only when I do get keepers.. It has been a while.

I know what you mean on the halves.. been really skunkish of late. That's why I'll add dimes or quarters in the mix to satisfy the hunger from the skunkage.

 

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[legend76]

This is kinda off topic, but not really though....

My brother will order a steak medium and send it back if it's the slightest bit off one way or the other. I once saw him send his steak back twice, once for being undercooked, the next time overcooked. I had finished eating and excused myself to the car by the time his third steak arrived. Myself, I'll order mine well and wouldn't raise hell unless blood ran out when I cut it.

If SF Bay area wants to bitch because they wouldn't give him $250 cash for his box of dimes, it's fine with me. Personally, if it was me, I would just go to the next bank and try it or dump them in my little boys piggy bank.

HH,
Legend

 

[Piledriver]

I just don't have the time or energy for complaints.
As far as I have seen, most complaining is just a waste of time unless you can prove they owe you money.

While others are marking their coins, making a fuss to get justice, or trying to sweet talk the banker into making new rules, I am two banks down the road making another buy or dump.

All I want to know is what their rules are, and how I can use their rules to the advantage of what I do.
There's just too many banks and and not enough time.

Keep on rollin'.

 

[legend76]

I just don't have the time or energy for complaints.
As far as I have seen, most complaining is just a waste of time unless you can prove they owe you money.

While others are marking their coins, making a fuss to get justice, or trying to sweet talk the banker into making new rules, I am two banks down the road making another buy or dump.

All I want to know is what their rules are, and how I can use their rules to the advantage of what I do.
There's just too many banks and and not enough time.

Keep on rollin'.

I was trying to click "like" comment like I was on facebook.... time to put the beer down

 

[db23]

As someone that complained after being given a hard time at a dump bank, I say stick with it and escalate the problem. I had 2 branches of my dump bank tell me I couldn't use their machine, after I complained to their district manager I was back using their coin counters the next week.

It's funny how some people want to say it's no big deal and you should just move on. Let's see what happens when it happens to them...

To me it's not just about getting a rude bank employee in trouble, it's about not losing a valuable dump bank.

 

[madwest]

. . . I tried to dump a box of dimes (only $250) in clear plastic wraps at a Wells Fargo in San Jose . . .

Ha, same thing happened to me this week when I attempt to dump at my bank, REGIONS bank . . .

. . . Downtown Berkeley Main Branch, Bank of America on the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Avenue just changed their policy this . . .

When I read between the lines, I see evidence of banks, multiple banks at that, making (or selectively enforcing) policy to quell the burden brought by CRH. The reasons they might give (make sure it is real, verify the count, etc) are just cover. We should be honest with ourselves and amongst ourselves that the hobby is only good for us. It is in no way, shape or form, good for the banks. It is natural and understandable that they would devise strategy to mitigate the onslaught.

We don't need to like it, we probably need to just lump it.

 

[timbobwey]

wow, that bank sucks. I know every branch of every type of bank is a bit different, but the over all policies are usually pretty much the same. I can't believe the hassle they gave you over 1 box of dimes. I wonder how they treat businesses that bring in large amounts of coin. Sounds like they need a new manager to me.

 

[Piledriver]

It's funny how some people want to say it's no big deal and you should just move on. Let's see what happens when it happens to them...

It HAS happened to me more times than anybody would care to read about.
To me it was a non-event.

When the rules don't please me, I play a different game. And in CRH'ing, there are MANY different games.
I added it up the other day, and my rollin' amounted to $9,850.00 in one town on one day.
Hassling managers gets me nowhere.

 

[SFBayArea]

It's funny how some people want to say it's no big deal and you should just move on. Let's see what happens when it happens to them...

It HAS happened to me more times than anybody would care to read about.
To me it was a non-event.

When the rules don't please me, I play a different game. And in CRH'ing, there are MANY different games.
I added it up the other day, and my rollin' amounted to $9,850.00 in one town on one day.
Hassling managers gets me nowhere.

Again.. for me it was only a $250 box. I can see 10 k in coinage being a problem for banks.. Again, I don't over dump and spread it around. I just it's unreasonable for them to turn that down. I plan on going back in a couple weeks and dumping $100 face in dimes clear wrapped and see what happens.

 

[tgcougar]

It's funny how some people want to say it's no big deal and you should just move on. Let's see what happens when it happens to them...

It HAS happened to me more times than anybody would care to read about.
To me it was a non-event.

When the rules don't please me, I play a different game. And in CRH'ing, there are MANY different games.
I added it up the other day, and my rollin' amounted to $9,850.00 in one town on one day.
Hassling managers gets me nowhere.

Again.. for me it was only a $250 box. I can see 10 k in coinage being a problem for banks.. Again, I don't over dump and spread it around. I just it's unreasonable for them to turn that down. I plan on going back in a couple weeks and dumping $100 face in dimes clear wrapped and see what happens.

Perhaps you are not the ONLY one dumping at this branch which caused a change in policy? Maybe the manager wants a bonus this year and is controlling his costs? There are probably 50 other reasons than YOU and your box o' dimes, I'm just not going to spend the time thinking them up. And it sounds too late at this point for you to have a "grown up" conversation with the manager to find out why there was a change. Keep spinning those wheels

I used to tell my waitstaff, the customer is not always right, but we need to make them think they are. Do you see the corollary?

 

[SFBayArea]

It's funny how some people want to say it's no big deal and you should just move on. Let's see what happens when it happens to them...

It HAS happened to me more times than anybody would care to read about.
To me it was a non-event.

When the rules don't please me, I play a different game. And in CRH'ing, there are MANY different games.
I added it up the other day, and my rollin' amounted to $9,850.00 in one town on one day.
Hassling managers gets me nowhere.

Again.. for me it was only a $250 box. I can see 10 k in coinage being a problem for banks.. Again, I don't over dump and spread it around. I just it's unreasonable for them to turn that down. I plan on going back in a couple weeks and dumping $100 face in dimes clear wrapped and see what happens.

Perhaps you are not the ONLY one dumping at this branch which caused a change in policy? Maybe the manager wants a bonus this year and is controlling his costs? There are probably 50 other reasons than YOU and your box o' dimes, I'm just not going to spend the time thinking them up. And it sounds too late at this point for you to have a "grown up" conversation with the manager to find out why there was a change. Keep spinning those wheels

I used to tell my waitstaff, the customer is not always right, but we need to make them think they are. Do you see the corollary?

It's just strange that the guy is so strict with this branch when other branches are not that way. Although I don't know the official policy.. if there is one.. there is a letter of the law and the spirit of the law. There are people that are purely letter of the law are not well liked and will not last long.

 

[upstatejay]

My local bank, Citizens, is fine with ordering for you and dumping. They just ask that you do it Wed. or early Thursday so that it is ready to go when the armored car arrives and they don't have to store it.

For Wells, why should it be so hard to exchange cash for cash?

 

[SFBayArea]

My local bank, Citizens, is fine with ordering for you and dumping. They just ask that you do it Wed. or early Thursday so that it is ready to go when the armored car arrives and they don't have to store it.

For Wells, why should it be so hard to exchange cash for cash?

I didn't get that either.. that's why I complained. There was no real justification to what I can see why he couldn't do it.

 

[maipenrai]

Im not into CHR'ing yet, but sounds like it might be fun, but is if fun for the banks? I know they are in the Money business, and exchanging coins for paper is part of it, but as someone pointed out, the bank doesnt make anything off these transactions. At some point, they may say that enough is enough. Look at their point of view, the same people coming with their same bags of coins, or rolls week after week, not making any money for the bank, only using up the banks time. Lots of banks have different policies, and I dont think they are aimed at one particular customer. The banks dont owe CHR's a place to "dump". I also wonder what would happen to the teller, if she was always coming up short at the end of the day, because of the CHR'ing. Sure, it may be only small change, but her job is to be right on, not almost, its banking, not horse shoes.

But it sounds a bit over, if we should boycot a bank, because One of TN's members are not happy with it, or even boycot another member of the forum, because we are not happy with him. Did the fact that the manager was Chinese have anything to do with it? Did his name have to be mentioned also?

 

[jim4silver]

This thread seems to have morphed into "they wouldn't accept my dumps" thread, which according to the original post is false.

Originally, the OP said they would not give him instant credit for the $250 in rolls of dimes that he wanted to exchange for cash. Instead, they would send them off and credit his account later.

This is fairly common in banks here that don't have coin counters especially for what is a fairly large amount of change under normal circumstances in the non-CRHing world (not like he walked in with one roll of dimes).

I guess one of the tellers was supposed to count the 2500 dimes by hand while the OP waited. Or the other option was for the bank to just "trust him", since after all it is ONLY $250 and nobody would ever try to short the bank over such a small sum according to some posts here (not saying the OP would short the bank, but how are they supposed to know that, and why should they even have to take the risk simply because the depositor wants his cash now).

I guess it sounds more dramatic to say the bank "refused" the coins instead of saying the bank refused to give instant credit before the coins were properly counted.

Jim

 

[SFBayArea]

Im not into CHR'ing yet, but sounds like it might be fun, but is if fun for the banks? I know they are in the Money business, and exchanging coins for paper is part of it, but as someone pointed out, the bank doesnt make anything off these transactions. At some point, they may say that enough is enough. Look at their point of view, the same people coming with their same bags of coins, or rolls week after week, not making any money for the bank, only using up the banks time. Lots of banks have different policies, and I dont think they are aimed at one particular customer. The banks dont owe CHR's a place to "dump". I also wonder what would happen to the teller, if she was always coming up short at the end of the day, because of the CHR'ing. Sure, it may be only small change, but her job is to be right on, not almost, its banking, not horse shoes.

But it sounds a bit over, if we should boycot a bank, because One of TN's members are not happy with it, or even boycot another member of the forum, because we are not happy with him. Did the fact that the manager was Chinese have anything to do with it? Did his name have to be mentioned also?

I mentioned the guy's name so if CRHer who read this and go there will know exactly who the manager is. I was decribing the guy and my speculation of why the guy is so strict. Not much different than anyone going there and meeting the manager. The guy has his name on this business card.

Banks do owe customers a place to exchange coinage. That's part of being a bank unless they force everyone to use plastic. Also, tellers are allowed to be short by a small amount by the end of the day. As explained before many times.. if they are worried about it, they can send it off to be counted and deduct from my account if off. So what's the big deal?

I've gotten rolls from dime boxes that are short or have foreign coins in them. Dime boxes are notorious for this. I just exchange them there at the bank on the spot. I've asked what they do with the shorted rolls, while some say they send them back, some also say they just give them to their customers.

 

[SFBayArea]

This thread seems to have morphed into "they wouldn't accept my dumps" thread, which according to the original post is false.

Originally, the OP said they would not give him instant credit for the $250 in rolls of dimes that he wanted to exchange for cash. Instead, they would send them off and credit his account later.

This is fairly common in banks here that don't have coin counters especially for what is a fairly large amount of change under normal circumstances in the non-CRHing world (not like he walked in with one roll of dimes).

I guess one of the tellers was supposed to count the 2500 dimes by hand while the OP waited. Or the other option was for the bank to just "trust him", since after all it is ONLY $250 and nobody would ever try to short the bank over such a small sum according to some posts here (not saying the OP would short the bank, but how are they supposed to know that, and why should they even have to take the risk simply because the depositor wants his cash now).

I guess it sounds more dramatic to say the bank "refused" the coins instead of saying the bank refused to give instant credit before the coins were properly counted.

Jim

Jim,

You don't have to refer to me by third person. I'm here.

Again, if they are worried about it. They can just send it off to be counted and give me cash up front. If the amount is off, they can deduct it from my account. It would be called a "Coin Bag Adjustment". They have my info and account number. What's the big deal? It's been done at other branches so why not at this one?

You don't know this guy but it just seems as though you really want to stand up for his policy which doesn't make sense to me.

When I buy items at Costco, they write my Costco account number on the rolls. They can find me if there are problems. This is no different.

 

[jim4silver]

This thread seems to have morphed into "they wouldn't accept my dumps" thread, which according to the original post is false.

Originally, the OP said they would not give him instant credit for the $250 in rolls of dimes that he wanted to exchange for cash. Instead, they would send them off and credit his account later.

This is fairly common in banks here that don't have coin counters especially for what is a fairly large amount of change under normal circumstances in the non-CRHing world (not like he walked in with one roll of dimes).

I guess one of the tellers was supposed to count the 2500 dimes by hand while the OP waited. Or the other option was for the bank to just "trust him", since after all it is ONLY $250 and nobody would ever try to short the bank over such a small sum according to some posts here (not saying the OP would short the bank, but how are they supposed to know that, and why should they even have to take the risk simply because the depositor wants his cash now).

I guess it sounds more dramatic to say the bank "refused" the coins instead of saying the bank refused to give instant credit before the coins were properly counted.

Jim

Jim,

You don't have to refer to me by third person. I'm here.

Again, if they are worried about it. They can just send it off to be counted and give me cash up front. If the amount is off, they can deduct it from my account. It would be called a "Coin Bag Adjustment". They have my info and account number. What's the big deal? It's been done at other branches so why not at this one?

I believe the bank has a right to set its policies as they wish. If you open a bank, you can run it how you desire. Under your theory, if you deposit a check into your account the bank should give you instant credit for the full amount, even though the check may bounce later.

Maybe the bank doesn't like to have its account with the fed be short due to someone depositing rolls that are short when they gave said depositor full credit before the rolls were counted? I think your suggestion of waging a complaint-fest are not wise and might cause a newbie CRHer to burn bridges unnecessarily if they follow your lead and try to do the same in their town in a similar circumstance.

Just my opinion.

Jim

 

[SFBayArea]

This thread seems to have morphed into "they wouldn't accept my dumps" thread, which according to the original post is false.

Originally, the OP said they would not give him instant credit for the $250 in rolls of dimes that he wanted to exchange for cash. Instead, they would send them off and credit his account later.

This is fairly common in banks here that don't have coin counters especially for what is a fairly large amount of change under normal circumstances in the non-CRHing world (not like he walked in with one roll of dimes).

I guess one of the tellers was supposed to count the 2500 dimes by hand while the OP waited. Or the other option was for the bank to just "trust him", since after all it is ONLY $250 and nobody would ever try to short the bank over such a small sum according to some posts here (not saying the OP would short the bank, but how are they supposed to know that, and why should they even have to take the risk simply because the depositor wants his cash now).

I guess it sounds more dramatic to say the bank "refused" the coins instead of saying the bank refused to give instant credit before the coins were properly counted.

Jim

Jim,

You don't have to refer to me by third person. I'm here.

Again, if they are worried about it. They can just send it off to be counted and give me cash up front. If the amount is off, they can deduct it from my account. It would be called a "Coin Bag Adjustment". They have my info and account number. What's the big deal? It's been done at other branches so why not at this one?

I believe the bank has a right to set its policies as they wish. If you open a bank, you can run it how you desire. Under your theory, if you deposit a check into your account the bank should give you instant credit for the full amount, even though the check may bounce later.

Maybe the bank doesn't like to have its account with the fed be short due to someone depositing rolls that are short when they gave said depositor full credit before the rolls were counted? I think your suggestion of waging a complaint-fest are not wise and might cause a newbie CRHer to burn bridges unnecessarily if they follow your lead and try to do the same in their town in a similar circumstance.

Just my opinion.

Jim

1. Your check theory is not the same. Apples and Oranges here. If a check bounces, they lose the full amount if they gave out money early. This is a box of dimes. With all the rolls being there, and even if each roll was short by ten cents, the box would only be short by $5.00. They can deduct from my account. There are no tokens or foreign coins there. Pluse I weighed all the rolls for accuracy. It's obvious that the bank would not be losing out like a bounced check.

2. Wells Fargo has their own vault and own contracted facility to do the sorting. They do sort them for accuracy. Nothing to do with the FED. Also in my years of CRHing, I did get an error by them sorting my coins once. They said I was short by $10.00 from $500 in dimes. They did an adjustment on my account. I complained about it and they cleared it up because I do weigh all the rolls. So that is them doing their job to make sure everything was accurate so they've done it that way before. Nothing to do with the FED.

3. I mentioned that this is just one out of many others. Most branches are fine with dumping. This is one of the few that aren't. I mentioned one up the street that are much friendlier. This isn't going to cause any new CRHer to burn their bridges. It had no effect on me as a CRHer. The ones I normally go to have no problems with me.

Perhaps we need a thread list of hostile banks to CRHing throughout the country posted here.. LOL