BANK GLITCH PARALYZE CUSTOMERS, GOLD COINS PROVIDE RELIEF

POSTED ON APRIL 3, 2018 BY CLAYTON SEEK

Remember a few of years back in 2012 with the big fiasco that left bank customers stranded because of computer glitches. The massive bank system failure included zeroing out balances and lost access to accounts. Unfortunately, I was one of the poor folks who could not access their checking accounts for at least 24 hours. The debacle caused me the inability to make withdrawals and missed payment deadlines. After going through that ordeal I vowed never to be this vulnerable again!

First Glitch

In 2012, I needed to pay some bills online. When I tried to execute the transaction there was a message that stated my account was disabled and to contact the bank’s customer service department for assistance. That was exactly what I did. Once I reached a bank customer service person, the agent told me that the bank was experiencing the same issue with other customers and they were working diligently to resolve the problem. Then they told me to be patient and to check my account in a few hours or call back if the problem persisted. While waiting for the bank to fix the problem, I decided to go to the ATM to find out if a withdrawal was possible. When I attempted to pull some cash out, the same message from before stated the account was disabled. With the bank down and no options I patiently waited for a resolution. After hours passed, my account was still disabled. The next day, to my frustration the bank was still down and customer service gave me the same rhetoric. Eventually, my account was reinstated by noon. Without access to my account I became delinquent with bill payments. I was upset and planned not to be caught in this position again. So I changed banks!

Second Glitch

Years after moving forward from the last bank glitch problem, I suffered yet another computer malfunction with my current bank last month. This time I was locked out of my checking and credit card account for 5 days. The problem began on March 29th when I received an email from the payroll department at work stating that there was a problem with my bank checking account. The email included a phone number for me to call and to speak to payroll personnel for more details. While on the phone, I was told that my bank did not accept the direct deposit from payroll and after multiple attempts the bank indicated that my account no longer existed. In order to pay me, payroll had to mail a check and said it would take 2 to 3 business days to receive it. The only problem with that was I needed the check to be deposited so that I could pay my mortgage and car insurance renewal which where both due on April 1st, it was 3 days out. If I was late on these bills there would be a harsh penalty for the mortgage loan and the car insurance would expire. I called the bank to find out why there was a problem with my account and they told me that they couldn’t locate my checking and credit card account in their database! They said their security department would look into resolving the problem. I couldn’t risk being late by waiting around for the paycheck to come in the mail and the bank to get their computer bugs straightened out but what options were available to me. During this mini crisis, the only income I had supposedly coming to me before the first of the month was the paycheck in the mail with still no access to my bank account. Time was running out and I needed some cash fast!

$20 Liberty Gold Coins

With very little viable choices left, I suddenly remembered that there was one more money option! It was in my gold coin collection, $20 Liberty gold coins to be specific. I had purchased these coins years back after the first bank incident for emergencies like this. It’s been so long since purchasing the coins that I almost forgot about them. The reason why I didn’t immediately think of the coins as a financial option to pay the bills is because this was the first time I was in a jam with them in my possession. That moment was the right time to use the gold coins. With one day before the first of the month and bank problems still pending, I took two $20 Liberty gold coins from my collection to the local gold exchange dealer. The dealer made me an offer and I was pleasantly surprised. So I sold the coins and was able to get fair market value for the two pieces. After getting the cash from the gold coins, I raced to the Post Office and bought some money orders to pay the mortgage and car insurance renewal. Getting the money orders from the Post Office also allowed me to mail the checks and have them postdated and shipped overnight, so the bills could be paid on time.

After accomplishing the tasks at the Post Office, I went home to search the mailbox, still no paycheck. Then I called the bank to only find out my account was still locked. On April 2nd my paycheck finally arrived in the mail at the end of the day. As for my bank account it was finally restored on the morning of April 3rd. During the problem, my bank account was inaccessible for a totaled of 5 days! Had I waited for the check and the bank, I would have been double dinged with late fees. Thanks to the gold coins, I was able to overcome the bank’s computer glitch crisis.

Technologically Dependent

Seems like the more we become “technologically advanced” the more we become helpless to computers that can paralyze us. As we move forward into the future with technology, we need to also seek methods to maintain and become independent from computer systems when they fail their functions.

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