Patrick Combs deposited a check he received in a junk-mail letter from a get-rich-quick company for $95,093.35, as a joke. He expected the false check, bearing the words “non-negotiable for cash” clearly written on it, to bounce. Instead, the bank cashed it.
Weeks later, Mr. Combs got some angry, threatening phone calls from the bank’s senior security officer. The bank demanded the money back yet refused to take any responsibility for the mistakes they made throughout the debacle. Combs insisted had he received a polite phone call stating obviously there had been a mistake, he would have promptly returned the money, but the bank sent their attack dog with no courtesy to speak of, so he fought it.
“Banks don’t do business like the rest of us do business. Banks don’t do lunch to resolve an issue. They send a lawyer. Banks don’t care about your rights. They care about their rights. (Read your bank’s provided explanation of your banking rights, if you don’t believe me.) Banks don’t care about your bank balance. They care about their bank balance. And what banks really don’t do is take responsibility for their mistakes. They enforce penalties for ours.”
