Has this ever happened to you?

denki | May 25, 2024 | 159 posts since 2019

Banks sure seem to make errors that favor them a lot, especially with fees, but has anyone ever had a situation where a bank made an error in your favor? Not something silly like a teller giving you a $5 bill instead of a $1 by mistake, but nice things, like a bonus received being more than it was supposed to be, or maybe incorrect reporting that wound up saving you a bunch of money, or your balance suddenly increasing for no reason at all one day, or maybe the interest rate applied to your CD was a higher rate than it was supposed to be, or a purchase you put on your credit card never actually showed up and you never got billed for it... or other such "nice" kind of errors in your favor?

For all the "Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, that fee was a mistake, gee, glad you, uh, noticed it" from banks, does it ever happen the other way around for people?

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Ally6770 | May 25, 2024 | 4,307 posts since 2010

It was not a mistake I found out later when I asked about it but when I spoke with them they said it was the way it was suppose to be for us. We built our home in the 70's and got a construction loan. We asked for a certain amount and they added $10,000 for a contingency fund that we had already added in. He said it was easier to get it now than to ask for more later and to pay it back if we didn't need it. It actually took us 20 minutes to get the loan, we signed the papers after reading the 2 pages had a copy and left. All in twenty minutes. They asked my husband where he worked and how much he made the year before and how much he brought home every week. That was it. But they knew when he would deposit his whole check for 3 weeks in a row and cashed the 4th week that he used was for room and board and food he paid his grandmother while living with her while I was in high school. He kept out money for the months gas and incidentals. No paycheck statement nothing. We were married at 18 and 20 in 1961 and had 30% saved for the down payment of our first house. But I was in there every week during school since grade school because I worked even in grade school. When I worked I put my paycheck in there and my future husband added his to my account after he graduated after he paid off his 1959 red Chevy Impala convertible. They knew us because one or both of us were in every week to deposit the paychecks and I did my pay check and part of my husbands paycheck after we were married. When we went in for a loan after we paid off our first home and paid for 58 acres with a half mile frontage, for our retirement, we parked around the corner in front of a grocery store after we decided to build the house on it then and went in for the construction loan. When we left my husband went in the store while I went to the car. I thought he was going to get a 6 pack of cold beer because I asked him to get me a cold coke. He came out with a carton of Camels and a cold coke. He had quit a couple of years earlier and when he got in the car he lit up and I was full of hives. We thought maybe we should not have done this. We put in the basement and paid the guy after inspections, bought the 2,000 oil tank and had it buried when the basement was dug and filled it etc. Had the house framed and moved in the basement that August just before school started. To make a long story short in 3 months we had the cash from our house we sold, used that money and much of our savings to finish the house and with the money from First Federal in the 2 years we lived in the basement. Moved in the basement the day they hit water with 2 kids just before school started. No hot water for nearly a year and a toilet with a shower curtain around it that was hooked up to the sewer pipe under the basement floor and we bathed in the double laundry tubs. I boiled water in a big canner pot on a stove that the oven didn't work and one burner worked on high and cooked on that burner and an electric skillet for those 2 years. We had to get a oil hot water heater and in the 70's it was hard to get things you ordered. We asked for the draws as we needed it as work on the house was done during those 2 years. Doing a lot of the work in the evenings and weekends and hiring what we could not do like plastering. They did not charge any interest on the loan, nor did we have to make payments until the home was finished. I went in to speak to Dick about it. He said you have been a customer with us since grade school, you got your first home loan with us and paid it off in 6-7 years and this is our pay back. We did pay this loan off in 7-8 years also. It was a savings and loan. In 78 I went to work for a bank and we were a training branch and the guys that we trained at the bank during the years I worked there, started their own bank when we were sold in 2006 when we were sold in the late 90's. and now have their corporate offices in the same bank where we got our 2 home loans. And they built a branch next door to a branch of the bank that they would not work for that bought us out. They are now 7 branches thought the state. They say every time they drive past those two branches next to one another even after all these years they smile. One is still on the board but the rest have retired. The chairman of their board was CEO of the bank when I was hired in 78.

Another great thing the savings and loan did was when I would pay 12 payments ahead every other Dec or first of Jan for the following year when you could deduct more than 13 interest payments on taxes we would double up on the interest and property taxes and take the standard deduction the off year when we did our taxes. So one year I would make normal payments and in Dec I would make a years payments for the following year but they would put it on the principal. In Jan of the next year the interest was added on for each month on the lower balance for the past year but dated either Dec or Jan when we wanted to deduct it. So one year we could deduct two years interest on our mtg and the next year we took the standard deduction. Saved us a lot of money by charging interest on a lower balance after putting a years payments on the balance owed. We didn't need the extra $10,000 so we decided to build a 28 by 56 foot pole barn. After the boys went to college we had a house built closer to town. My husband was in a bad accident in 1984 and but could work for 10 years before they put him on 100% disability and we moved in 2011 to be closer to the doctors and hospitals. I worked 2 jobs from 1978 to 2008. Had to quit one job as he needed more care. Stayed at one for 23 years and the other for 30 years. He passed in 2012.

So marrying young but saving a lot for our down payment when I could not even sign for the loan at 18 but our lawyer did some kind of paper that he could not sell it without my signature in case our marriage did not work out. Our first child was born 9 months to the day after we were married.

me1004 | May 25, 2024 | 1,381 posts since 2010

A friend of mine was telling me about such an incident he had in the 1990s He had an account at a well known bank (I will avoid the name, I don't need them alleging libel). Once, he found they mistakenly deposited $100,000 in his account!

Well, he was an honest guy, so he went to the bank and told them that was a mistake, that wasn't his money, they should take it back.

So, they did take it back -- and charged him a $20 penalty for that action, the bank taking back the money they wrongly deposited into his account. You see, they considered that to he a withdrawal that caused one too many withdrawals from his account that month! He argued with them, of course -- to no avail, they held firm, they would not void or waive the penalty.

So, in anger, and intelligence, he closed all accounts with them on the spot, and refuses to ever do any business with them again for the rest of his life. And I respect he continues to tell the story, so some number of other people, hearing it, likely stay away from that bank too -- I'm sure they have lost more than $20 for that cheating.

If I said the name of the bank, it would be no surprise -- they have been in the news in recent years for a number other serious dastardly things -- yet they remain in business, people still trust them! It doesn't seem to matter how serious a violation they make, people still hand them their money.

racecar | May 25, 2024 | 628 posts since 2014

Just a wild guess here, but it sure sounds a lot like a certain bank with the initials "WF" (or more appropriately, "WTF?!") Kudos to your friend.

111 | May 25, 2024 | 672 posts since 2019

Only here, sadly - https://tinyurl.com/3hmk36v7

kcfield | May 25, 2024 | 188 posts since 2012

Our credit union assistant manager introduced us to the entire staff at the credit union when we first joined in 2007. She has since been promoted to manager and has often saved us time and money. When my bank debit card was lost, she had it reissued for same day pickup at the closest branch. I recently wrote the VP to speak of her exemplary service over the years, and the VP sent the letter to the Board of Directors so that they could acknowledge her as well. So, while no financial errors have gone in our favor, the outstanding service over the years has been far more valuable than that.

happyharold4 | May 26, 2024 | 392 posts since 2022

How about when you point out the error and they argue profusely with you that there is no mistake and you have to go over it with them multiple times until they finally see the light---No apology, no thank you for not taking advantage of us---But fortunately no fee as mentioned above for correcting it.

choice1 | May 26, 2024 | 371 posts since 2023

Let’s change the purported facts to protect the ….

Point/counterpoint…Assume you receive something of value and do not (in your unilateral opinion) deserve it and could receive a1099 before the dust “rightfully” settles and the consequent tax issues…what is another possible course of action
other than to clear up the issuer’s bad practices of shortchanging its shareholders, lenders, etc.? All w/o compensation ! I’m not paid to do that. A simple letter to the issuer saying your receipt of… is of a mystery and must be assumed to be a gift with a suspense date for any reply being…Keep the item separately in case of a late reply! Remember the power of offsets!

Don’t assume the evil in that entity not knowing what they are doing! You don’t know what you don’t know! How else do you reply to free items? You can’t read their minds!

HollyHolly | May 29, 2024 | 89 posts since 2015

Yes, I actually had about $22,000 put in my account that was not mine. I told the bank and they removed it.

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