On Tuesday I just couldn't wait to write up a big ol' complaining post about what the bank did.  But I had to wait to see if it really was the bank, or was it me? Turns out, it was me. AGH. But I learned something, and isn't that what really counts?  Because thankfully, I had procrastinated on paying bills so there was plenty of money in the account and nothing bounced.

Speaking of which, I must remember to call the bank and get my checking account to link to my savings account in the event of an overdraft. They got panicky and closed down my $2000 line of credit last week, thanks Wells Fargo.

Anyhoo… last Thursday Mr. A and I drove through the ATM on the way home so we could put a draw check from his business account, into our personal account.  I looked over the check once more before I put it into the ATM envelope.  Oops, I noticed I hadn't put the account number on the back of the check so I wrote that in. Scanned the front and back and read over the instructions on the deposit envelope. Check, check, and check.  Okay, put the check in the envelope and deposited.

On Tuesday morning I was just getting ready to move over a very large payment to the credit card we use for all purchases. The draw check was $1000, so the payment was going to be $1000.  But on a whim, I decided to have a look at our personal account and just be sure of how much money was in there. I was mystified when I saw the balance was just over $700.  I scanned through the account records and saw that the draw check had been counted for on the day we deposited it, but on Monday it was reversed.

I started to panick, but I took a few deep breaths and tried to think of what to do first. I have to admit I panicked at the mere thought of what I had almost done – made a $1000 payment with only $700 in the bank!!! WhewWhewWhew. I had to repeat to myself no harm done, no harm done! Plenty of money in the bank, no checks had bounced. Breathe. Breathe.

After I calmed down enough to have a coherent thought, I worried that I'd made a horrible adding or subtracting error in the business check register and the check we'd drawn had bounced. Then I thought maybe a customer check had been returned for non-sufficient funds. I tried to log into the business account online, and I was sure I had the correct username and password, but could not get into the account. Next I thought I would call the bank we'd opened our account with since they know us. Well, they couldn't talk to me about the account, because we weren't on a secure line. Sheesh!! I had to call the main bank number and wait on hold for fifteen minutes before someone finally got on the line and asked me a dozen questions to confirm my identity.

When they finally believed I was who I claimed to be, I found that the account was just fine, there was more than enough money to cover the $1000 draw check and they could see no reason why the check was not put through.

So then I called Wells Fargo.  I tried to get my “personal banker” (she moved back!) on the line – she's so sweet and helpful – but she was with another customer so I asked the guy who answered the phone if he could help me. He said he would find out and give me a call back within the hour. He called me back within fifteen minutes and said there was signature missing on the check.

How very annoying!!  How could that possibly be!?  I took out Mr. A's business check register and examined the duplicate check copy… hmmm… uh-oh… it doesn't seem that he signed this check. But… I could have sworn I remembered handing him the check and asking him to sign the front, then handing it back to him and having it sign the back.  Plus, I'd double checked it prior to the ATM deposit!!

Ohhh!!! I was so irritated… I was just sure the signature was there, and I suspected that maybe the bank didn't think the signatures matched from when we originally signed up for the personal account. THAT had to be it. Just had to be.  I was just itching for that check to arrive.

It finally arrived in today's mail.

AGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!! No signature on the front side of the check!! Sheesh!! How stupid!!

I forced myself to look at the positive… no checks bounced, and we were able to get another check deposited on Tuesday. We'll void this one, or put it through when it's time to take the next draw.

What I learned: Always, always, always have Mr. A sign the check while it is in the checkbook, so that his signature shows up on the duplicate copy of the check. I sometimes will write out several checks, attach them to the bill they go with and have him go through a pile and sign them. But now I will make sure he signs them all within the checkbook. Now before you grow concerned that someone could see his signature and copy it if they happened to get hold of his checkbook, there is a black mottled line through the signature area of the duplicate. But Mr. A's signature is kind of big and sprawly and I can at least see some of it at the top or bottom of the black mottled area.

If I always had him sign the check on top of the duplicate, I would have been able to see that he had signed it, or not, and would have known without having to wonder for a couple days.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Do you have any True Confessions to share? 🙂

Yours Truly,