A Florida man born without arms says a Tampa bank would not let him cash a check because he couldn't provide a thumbprint. It was supposed to be a quick stop at the Bank of America."I said, 'I'm going to run over downtown on my break, cash the check and bring the cash back.' No big deal," Steve Valdez said. "It turned out to be a very big deal."
Valdez said he was cashing a check from his wife, who has an account at Bank of America. But the teller told Valdez she needed a thumbprint in order to cash it — it was company policy.
It's not that Valdez didn't want to provide it. He couldn't provide it, and the teller even acknowledged it.
"'It's obvious that you can't give us a thumbprint.' She goes, 'Let me go check with my supervisor,'" Valdez recalled the teller told him.
Valdez was born without arms and wears prosthetic devices. While at the bank, Valdez said he provided two photo IDs. And still that wasn't enough. The bank supervisor offered him two options.
"One is, you can bring your wife with you. And the other one, you can open up an account with us. And I said, no, I don't think so," Valdez added.
They never let Valdez cash his check, but he said days later he received a phone call from a bank regional manager with an apology.
1 comment:
Yet another example as to why BofA is the worst bank in the history of human civilization:
When I moved from Boston to SF, I received notification from my HR manager that BofA wasn't accepting my direct deposit checks. I went to a branch to investigate.
"Oh," said the BofA representative, "That's because your old account was based in Massachusetts."
"I don't follow you."
"Well, the Massachusetts accounts are on one computer system. The California accounts are on another."
"That seems a bit archaic."
"What we need to do is close out your Massachusetts accounts, and open up new ones in California."
"Wait... this is Bank of AMERICA, right?"
"Yes sir."
"And you'll agree that both California and Massachusetts are part of America?"
"That's right."
"Then why are you operating like a regional bank? How could your computer systems not be nationally integrated in 2007? You're one of the biggest banks in the country!"
"Umm... I... I don't know. I can probably grab a manager for you."
"No, no. Just tell me I won't get charged for this."
"Oh, absolutely not."
Of course, three weeks later a $15 overdraft fee appeared on my account. Can you imagine what I would have gone through if I didn't have thumbs?
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