[mike777]

matmat, on Feb 6 2009, 02:30 AM, said:

ah... the problems of people who actually have money...

Agree....sidenote I still think a 70% gift tax with no loopholes will be a good first step in solving this issue.

Sidenote2.....AFter ten years East Coast Bank of America computers cannot talk with Calif Bank of America Computers without many problems. Note this is same bank.

[Codo]

Banks seem to be the same everywhere.

My "nicestest" stories:

When I bought my company from my parents, I ask my bank to give me some credit, because I build a new company and our state always tells us that this is supported. No way said the bank manager, you buy an old company, so no money from that fund. Okay, I understood. Then I want to have a credit to pay for all the stuff I have to buy from my parents. No way said the manager, you are a newcomer, we don`t give credits to newbies.
So the same day he refused a credit because I had a brandnew company and because it was an old company.

Well it was family business,so we managed it without them. 6 month later, they saw that we tend to pay our invoices quite quick. They came and told us that they erred and we are no newbies- they will lend the money to us now.

Rats.

Some years later, we expanded quite quick and I needed a credit line. When they send me the invoice I did not belive in their calculation and asked them to hand me which interessts they charged for any single day.
This was impossible. They were just able to send me the total amount for 3 month but not what they had charged each day. They told me that they have a computer which makes all the math and this computer will not err. And the computer just gives the total ammount, not the every day calculation. (Something like "42"...)

I did not stop inquiring, so they asked me to give them my calculation.
I refused to make this calculation for every day and insists in the correcct numbers.
Some 6 month later, I got the calculation from them. They had to declare, that the computer erred and they gave me my money back.

It was around 20 € for 3 month. Not the biggest sum in history. But when their computer does so by each of their 10 Million customers, this is quite a lot.

So I stopped to have a credit line with a bank. Unluckily I still need an account.

Banksters.

[hotShot]

Quote

What is the burgling of a bank to the founding of a bank?

Bertolt Brecht: The Threepenny Opera (1928) Macheath, in Act 3, scene 3
(http://en.wikiquote..../Bertolt_Brecht)

[y66]

Bonnie and Clyde where are you?

Would definitely call my local bank manager about getting those fees waived and also discuss setting up overdraft protection on that second account (link it to the larger account).

Overdraft fees are a big source of income for banks ($17+ billion in 2007, according to Eric Halperin at the Center For Responsible Lending).

[helene_t]

mike777, on Feb 6 2009, 09:19 AM, said:

matmat, on Feb 6 2009, 02:30 AM, said:

ah... the problems of people who actually have money...

Agree....sidenote I still think a 70% gift tax with no loopholes will be a good first step in solving this issue.

Laffer would love that one

[PassedOut]

Codo, on Feb 6 2009, 07:33 AM, said:

When I bought my company from my parents, I ask my bank to give me some credit, because I build a new company and our state always tells us that this is supported. No way said the bank manager, you buy an old company, so no money from that fund. Okay, I understood. Then I want to have a credit to pay for all the stuff I have to buy from my parents. No way said the manager, you are a newcomer, we don`t give credits to newbies.
So the same day he refused a credit because I had a brandnew company and because it was an old company.

Wow, you are certainly right about banks everywhere! My wife's father (dead many years now) told me about his experiences with bankers.

When he started his precision machining company in the late 1950s, he needed a loan for machinery. All the big banks turned him down. Finally the owner of a small-town bank sat down with him, looked at his plans, and lent him all the money he needed.

When the US space program took off in the 1960s, his company became very successful. (Parts made by his company are on the moon.) Sure enough, the very bankers who had denied him the loan he needed to get started were tripping all over themselves to get his business. I'm happy to say that he told them all what they could do with their banks in language that would make Rahm Emanuel proud.

Fortunately we haven't had to borrow money for the companies we own now, but when I was a young man I did borrow for mortgages.

In 1971, a couple of years after I got out of college, I bought my first home at an interest rate a bit over 5%. A couple of years later, I decided to begin purchasing rental properties for investments and made an offer on a three-family parcel with a contingency that I get a loan at no more than 6%. When I took that to the same banker who gave me the home loan, he just laughed. He told me straight out, "When you make money, I'm going to make money too." I bought it anyway, but the best rate I could get anywhere was 8%.

[jdonn]

I hate when you open an account and banks don't let you access your original deposit for 9 days or something so that we can "develop a relationship". What the hell does that mean? I've heard that one from at least two different banks.

[kenrexford]

Just to be clear on one thing, also.

The bank in question is National City Bank.

The IOLTA account is at National City Bank.

The Checking Account is at National City Bank.

So, National City Bank withdrew the money from the IOLTA account on Tuesday for a check that National City Bank did not recognize as paid to my Savings Account until Wednesday. Then, despite having no doubt that the money was there, they waited until Friday at midnight to make sure that my check was good. In other words, to make sure that they themselves would honor a check that they already honored.

However, they explain this by noting that my transaction occurred through an ATM machine at a different bank. So, they had to wait to see if that other bank would recall the check, just in case National City did not honor the check. Of course, National City did honor the check, so this is just more BS.

More and more, I understand the under-the-mattress folks. If you put it in a bank, you get screwed. If you invest it in a company, you get screwed. If you buy gold, you might even get screwed that way.

I think the best financial advice one could receive is to spend way beyond their means and incur debt that can never be repaid. That way, you have the stuff and THEY are trying to get it back. Heck, you might even get a bailout. Of course, a bailout sucks, because it means that these people actually get paid. Better to have the stuff and then dodge calls, dodge subpoenas, and be generally uncollectable when they try garnishment. Heck, as garnishments are about 15%, who cares? That's better than many "minimum payments" anyway!

[kenberg]

All this complexity reminds of the advantages of I've Got Plenty of Nothin.

One of my fears is that someone will point a gun at me and instruct me to withdraw money from an ATM, and then shoot me because he won't believe I don't know how to use one.

[babalu1997]

jdonn, on Feb 6 2009, 10:15 AM, said:

I hate when you open an account and banks don't let you access your original deposit for 9 days or something so that we can "develop a relationship". What the hell does that mean? I've heard that one from at least two different banks.

what? no sex till the 9th date?

[Winstonm]

kenberg, on Feb 6 2009, 04:42 PM, said:

All this complexity reminds of the advantages of I've Got Plenty of Nothin.

One of my fears is that someone will point a gun at me and instruct me to withdraw money from an ATM, and then shoot me because he won't believe I don't know how to use one.

Worse yet, the robber catches you on business day 1 of a new account and shoots you because the bank won't let you access your own money.