I've experienced some weird things with banks, but this takes the cake. It's not even so much what is happening, but how their public relations people are (not) handling it.
First, I heard at work that any direct deposits going into TD Bank accounts weren't showing up. It wasn't a problem in our payroll department, it had to do with TD's computer system. The first employees to call about it were offered $25 for their trouble.
Later in the day, you had an extremely long wait to get through on their customer service line, and when you did get through, no more offers of $25. Latest reports are that the customer service number is no longer working at all.
First, the problem was going to be solved by 4 p.m. yesterday. Then by 6 a.m. today, then by 8 a.m. today. This morning TD put out a statement saying they were caught up with Wednesday deposits, so my paycheck should have shown up, but it hadn't. So I went over to the branch, where I was told the statement wasn't accurate and that things should be caught up by 4 p.m. today.
In the meantime, some people are being given the option to have their direct deposits manually put into the system, some are not. Some people report being limited to $250 withdrawals, some report $50. Deposits are not showing up, but apparently withdrawals are--so people are racking up overdraft fees. TD is refunding them, but it's still a hassle for folks to deal with it. Some people are reporting odd, random withdrawals being taken from their accounts.
Personally, here's what I did: 1) Canceled some automatic bill payments and scheduled them to be paid from a checking account at another bank; and 2) Changed my direct deposit instructions so nothing goes to directly to TD anymore, so this won't happen again next week. I think we'll be closing our TD account within the next month. If they can't even handle processing deposits, what does that say for their ability to maintain a secure system, where account and social security numbers are even safe?
As my mother always says, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool my twice, shame on me."
This news story is especially good because there are a lot of comments from TD customers at the bottom, and a link to Twitter postings.
TD Bank Mess--Thousands of Angry Customers
October 1st, 2009 at 04:20 pm
October 1st, 2009 at 04:55 pm 1254416143
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October 2nd, 2009 at 07:56 pm 1254513406
Jerry
December 1st, 2009 at 03:15 pm 1259680505
December 13th, 2009 at 07:14 pm 1260731684