The other day I got a call from my bank about what they thought might be a fraudulent check. It was completely confusing, but after the lovely banker and I went through everything, we figured out that Bank of America had credited my over-the-phone payment of close to $7,000 to another person’s credit card. I was floored.
I have to preface this story by saying that the only reason I had to call the payment in by phone in the first place is because BofA can’t get it together enough to have a working online bill paying service. I mean, for goodness sake -- my Alhambra water account can be paid online...
Thank goodness for the sweet young lady at Citibank who caught the error. However, what ensued was a tangled web of communications with BofA that basically left me having to write a check to make sure that the bill I thought I was paying well in advance didn’t kick over to a “missed or late payment.” If anyone can explain to me how paying my bill over the phone, them making a mistake, and then me having to track down the mistake myself and repay the bill because of their error should lead to me accruing missed payment fees, I’d appreciate it. Silly me. I thought the bank was there to protect, invest, and save my money...
After relaying this mishap to my sister, she shared an unbelievable story with me about this poor guy, Ikenna Njoku. Through a series of really bad banking mistakes, he ended up in jail, lost his job, his beloved car, and his faith in the system.
My story doesn’t even compare to his, but it does make me pause. We put so much faith in our banking structure, and sure, mistakes happen, but when they put a guy’s life on the line like this, don’t you think it demands immediate attention? Shouldn’t someone have been on this right away and tried to correct these mishaps? It seems to me that Ikenna Njoku is a very kind and generous man for not suing the pants off of Chase. All he wants is an apology, which he deserves... along with his job, his car, and his reputation back -- thank you, Chase!
I’m really thankful that my bank caught the mistake on my side, because I’m sure if the payment had gone through to the wrong account I would have ended up out $7,000 and some serious wasted time... I just wish Mr. Njoku had been so lucky... maybe I should send him the number of my sweet Citibank rep...
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