What do you do with dead people on your planet?

[Rib]

This stuff is comedy gold and America through and through!

A leading nationwide bank charged its annual service charge to an account just after the account holder, an elderly woman, had died. When the bill was not paid, the bank added late-payment fees and interest charges that increased the bill by $60 in three months.

The following exchange ensued between the deceased woman's great-nephew and the bank:

Nephew: “I am calling to tell you [my great-aunt] died in January.”
Bank: “The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.”
Nephew: “Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.”
Bank: "Since it is two months past-due, it already has been.”
Nephew: "So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?”
Bank: “Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!”
Nephew: “Do you think God will be mad at her?”
Bank: “Excuse me?”
Nephew: “Did you just get what I was telling you -- the part about her being dead?”
Bank: “Sir, you’ll have to speak to my supervisor.”

Supervisor gets on the phone:

Nephew: “I’m calling to tell you she died in January.”
Supervisor: “The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.”
Nephew: “You mean you want to collect from her estate?”
Supervisor: “[stammer] Are you her lawyer?”
Nephew: “No, I’m her great-nephew.” (Lawyer information is given)
Supervisor: “Could you fax us a certificate of death?”
Nephew: “Sure.” (Fax number is given)

After the bank gets the fax:

Supervisor: “Our system just isn’t set up for death. I don’t know what more I can do to help.”
Nephew: “Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don’t think she will care.”
Supervisor: “Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.”
Nephew: “Would you like her new billing address?”
Supervisor: “That might help.”
Nephew: “Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.”
Supervisor: “Sir, that’s a cemetery!”
Nephew: “What do you do with dead people on your planet?”

[Guru-Meditation]

Bet it was Bank of America

[guythp]

I bet it's made up.

[benedictw]

Its mentioned here:
http://www.snopes.com/business/bank/deadcard.asp

[Space Cowboy]

Damn, did you have to link to Snopes? I was enjoying that.

[DutchLlama]

Bet it was Bank of America

BOA have had one of their customers arrested when he tried to cash a check, which he didn't know was fake and out of protests hundreds of people closed their accounts with them.

http://boingboing.net/2006/11/15/bank_o ... _lose.html

They also have "talented" employees:
http://www.youtube.com/jp.swf?video_id= ... 1ia6Vm9jKL

[SilverBrumby]

When my father-in-law died, one of the banks he had an account with
refused to release details of the account until he signed some kind of
permission form. They were quite willing to accept that he was dead, they
just didn't see why they should change their procedures. They said it
was our problem, not theirs. In the end, my mother-in-law had to go to
court and have the will declared void because not all of the assets listed
on it could be found. It took about 3 or 4 years to finally sort out.
The bank still has the money, there's no way my mother-in-law can
get hold of it. We don't think there's much there, but we can't tell.
And I'm sure that if it gets wiped out by fees or something, they'll
suddenly discover that they can pass it on to my mother-in-law after
all.

[piku]

So the next time my grandma looks a bit ill I should hover around her with a bank account release form, just in case? Or should I instead be learning about witchcraft, voodoo and reincarnation?

[Stone]

When my father-in-law died, one of the banks he had an account with
refused to release details of the account until he signed some kind of
permission form. They were quite willing to accept that he was dead, they
just didn't see why they should change their procedures. They said it
was our problem, not theirs. In the end, my mother-in-law had to go to
court and have the will declared void because not all of the assets listed
on it could be found. It took about 3 or 4 years to finally sort out.
The bank still has the money, there's no way my mother-in-law can
get hold of it. We don't think there's much there, but we can't tell.
And I'm sure that if it gets wiped out by fees or something, they'll
suddenly discover that they can pass it on to my mother-in-law after
all.

I'm sure this is a totally obvious question, but I thought the executor gained the ability to sign for the deceased when the person in question died?

Stone

[ElfQrin]

They also have "talented" employees:

Could you please replace that long URL which breaks the layout (I wonder if phpBB3 does handle this issue, btw) with this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qAuqq1LFnU

[Stevo]

I still recieve a bill every month from the Child Support Agency
saying I owe my ex over $20,000 (including late payment fees).
She died January 2002.

I have repeatedly had conversationslike the above with them
asking them how they are going to send the money to her.
I also asked them if I could make a claim forher to pay me
support since I have been looking after my boy since she died
........they wouldnt let me.

[gilesgoat]

They also have "talented" employees:

Could you please replace that long URL which breaks the layout (I wonder if phpBB3 does handle this issue, btw) with this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qAuqq1LFnU

Isn't that in Italy a law that in this case would simply redirect any debt
or such to the closest relatives ?

I think if your grandad dies and he leaves debt around his family has to
continue to pay for them, the fact one person is dead does not extinguish debts ...

That's why when you get loans and such you also need someone else
to grant for you (i.e. your dad, your mum, your brother, your sister, whatever .. the bank
will always found someone that has to pay for you .. )

[Governmentyard]

I'm sure this is a totally obvious question, but I thought the executor gained the ability to sign for the deceased when the person in question died?

Stone

If they apply for grant of probate, yes.

Here's another 'stupid banks' thread anyway. I usually post a bunch of stuff to illustrate the opposite view from my time in banking when these threads arise and give explanations for the stuff which to the layman can seem daft but a: this is an American bank and the script looks fake and b: I'll give customers the benefit of the doubt when their husband has just died and they do summat thick. Not mean enough to laugh at that stuff on here.

Suffice it to say that as a bank holding potentially many hundreds of thouands of pounds of someone's estate, we need proof from the claiming relative that they are who they say they are, that they are related, proof that the customer is deceased and proof that the relative has probate and can administer the estate. Tell my old empoyers that someone has died and they'll hand over or post a out a list of the things you need to bring to do the administration. About 35-40% of claimants bother to read that properly, then it is our fult when they can't have the hundred grand there and then. And yes, if we don't know that someone has died, we'll maintain the account as if they were alive and no, we can't take your word for it that they are dead. You could be anyone. Whart the law says is always the bank's fault, somehow.

Even funeral homes and hospitals only deal with a certain number of deceased people per day. My job used to be talking to the relatives and I'd have to deal with about fifty recently bereaved people each day, none of who are interested in the obligations that they have, just as the bank have, in this circumstance. Funnily enough, banks have to force people to do that job because no-one will do it voluntarily. I faked mental illness to get a transfer.

[PFVA]

They also have "talented" employees:

Could you please replace that long URL which breaks the layout (I wonder if phpBB3 does handle this issue, btw) with this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qAuqq1LFnU

Isn't that in Italy a law that in this case would simply redirect any debt
or such to the closest relatives ?

I think if your grandad dies and he leaves debt around his family has to
continue to pay for them, the fact one person is dead does not extinguish debts ...

That's why when you get loans and such you also need someone else
to grant for you (i.e. your dad, your mum, your brother, your sister, whatever .. the bank
will always found someone that has to pay for you .. )

Definitively not in the USA. Debts can only be collected from the Estate of the person who died.

I'm not surprised about Citibank. I was perfectly happy with an At&T card when Citibank took them over and decided that i didn't leave where i did and insisted in sending my mail to another address. After 4 phone calls i closed the account and 6 months later they notified me they had corrected the problem.

[SilverBrumby]

When my father-in-law died, one of the banks he had an account with
refused to release details of the account until he signed some kind of
permission form. They were quite willing to accept that he was dead, they
just didn't see why they should change their procedures. They said it
was our problem, not theirs. In the end, my mother-in-law had to go to
court and have the will declared void because not all of the assets listed
on it could be found. It took about 3 or 4 years to finally sort out.
The bank still has the money, there's no way my mother-in-law can
get hold of it. We don't think there's much there, but we can't tell.
And I'm sure that if it gets wiped out by fees or something, they'll
suddenly discover that they can pass it on to my mother-in-law after
all.

I'm sure this is a totally obvious question, but I thought the executor gained the ability to sign for the deceased when the person in question died?

Stone

That's how it worked for all the other accounts. It took weeks for all the
paperwork to grind through the system, but it got sorted out. This one
bank refused to even start the process, and I don't know why. I don't
speak to my mother-in-law any more, so I can't ask her if she ever
found out why they did it.
It was very frustrating though, the legal fees involving in finding out what
could be done, and then getting the will broken were much more than
what we suspect is in that account.

Hmmm. Thinking about it, my father-in-law didn't trust my mother-in-law with
money. (and for good reason) I wonder if he left the bank instructions
not to let her access that account, and didn't realise it would mess things
up.