My Deposit Was HOW MUCH?!

Years and years ago, I worked for a little shop in a city about thirty minutes from where I lived, which was in a little town way off the beaten path. Every payday, I would use the drive-thru bank in the city where I worked and then head home to avoid rush hour, which would add at least another thirty minutes to my drive. Once I got home, I would update my checkbook with my salary and do my budget.

One time, after making my deposit in the city, I could not find the deposit amount on my banking deposit receipt. The space where my deposit amount usually appeared just had my nine-digit checking account number instead, although, for some reason, it had a decimal point in the number.

I finally decided to call the branch where I had made my deposit to find out what my deposit amount had been.  

Me: “I’m calling because I just made a deposit and I can’t seem to find the amount on my deposit receipt. Can you tell me how much I deposited today?”

Teller: “Yes, ma’am, let me check for you. Here it is, your last deposit was nine million, eight hundred seventy-six thousand, five hundred forty-three dollars, and twenty-one cents.”

Me: *Stunned silence* “Ummm, that’s not right; that’s actually my account number. My deposit should have been around three hundred dollars. My deposits are never more than four hundred dollars.”

Teller: “If you are disputing the deposit amount, then you will need to come back to the branch to talk to a manager.”

Me: “You mean you guys made a mistake and gave me almost ten million dollars, but I need to drive back into the city during rush hour to get it fixed? I’m not doing that; you should be able to do something on your end.”

Teller: “I’m sorry, ma’am. All account disputes need to be handled in person at the branch.”

Me: “Yeah, I’m not doing that. Goodbye.”

Teller: “Thank you for calling [Bank]. You have a good day now!”

After hanging up, I debate for a while about how to find out what countries don’t have extradition agreements with the USA and wonder if my husband would be willing to move. I finally decide that, instead of emptying out my account and fleeing the country, I should probably take care of this now. I go to the tiny little branch located in my nearby town center.

Since I know the manager a little bit, I ask for her. She comes out and I ask her to take a look at my deposit slip, and when she does, her eyes just about pop out of her head.

Manager: “I don’t understand. Did you really just deposit nine million, eight hundred seventy-six thousand, five hundred forty-three dollars, and twenty-one cents? This can’t be right; a deposit of that amount requires [special forms and signatures].”

Me: “It isn’t right. I deposited around three hundred dollars. That figure is my account number.”

She begins to stammer a little out of shock.

Manager: “I-I-I don’t understand. H-how did this happen? A regular teller shouldn’t even be able to enter that much into the system; it requires overrides and double-entries. What’s going on? How could this happen?”

Me: “I have no idea.”

I then relate the entire series of events, including the telephone call.

Manager: *Apoplectic* “THEY WANTED YOU TO DRIVE BACK TO FIX THEIR NINE-MILLION-DOLLAR MISTAKE?! Hang on a minute. I’ll take care of this right now.”

She’s gone for a while and when she comes back, she bends over backward to apologize for the error, the inconvenience, the lack of customer service, etc.

Me: “You don’t need to apologize; it wasn’t your fault, I just appreciate that you were willing to help me and take care of this.”

Manager: “Yes, I’m sorry. Customer service is addressing how that call was handled right now. Again, I am so sorry, and we really, really, really appreciate your honesty in bringing this to our attention. We still don’t know how this happened, but obviously, we have an issue in our system; the checks and balances that are supposed to be in place didn’t work. Again, thank you for being so honest, and here’s your corrected deposit receipt.”

She walked me to the door and I merrily went on my way, nine million dollars poorer. The good news was that having nine million dollars in my account for a little while made my average daily balance go up high enough that I didn’t have to pay any checking fees that month!