I can't believe I'm writing something like this in the year 2011. 30 years ago, 40 years ago? Ya! I can see things like this happening. But today???
It all started with a wedding and the happy couple trying to cash the cheques given to them as gifts.
Most of the checks were made out to “Mr. and Mrs. Peter Iorizzo.” I endorsed them, designated them “for deposit only” and gave them to my wife. She planned to deposit them into our joint account.
Sounds easy enough right? Nope! According to the bank, because the "wife" didn't take her husband's last name, they wouldn't cash the cheques! Even after the "wife" offered to show them the marriage licence, the bank refused.
Had she opted to change her last name to Iorizzo, Bank of America would change the name on our joint account and take all of our checks. But because she kept her name, a name that did not appear on the checks, the bank would not accept checks made out to “Mr. and Mrs. Peter Iorizzo.”
In the words of one bank employee: “Mrs. Peter Iorizzo does not exist.”
According to the bank, the only way around it was for them to contact each guest and request another cheque. Request, the Manager said, that it be made out to "cash".
When Iorizzo went higher up the food chain he kept getting the same answer. But what shocked me the most was this comment.
Surely many of these women receive checks as wedding gifts. And surely many do business at Bank of America – the largest bank in the country.
“I’ve only seen this once in my 20 years in the business,” the manager told me.
WTF???
The problem was finally solved by driving to another bank and depositing the cheques there. The teller offered up their congratulations.
The story that I can't quite believe....but do.