Organizing for America | kathleen daniel's Blog: The Bank

The Bank

By Kathleen - Nov 4th, 2009 at 3:03 am EST

Also listed in: Americans Abroad for Obama

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Tags: account, banking, business, cashier´s_check, citibank, Foriegn Policy, lied, payback, policy, refused, whistle_blower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59AxxLc9WSw

This is a true story that takes place in Germany, Lübeck area. In 1993, Kathleen, an American, was denied a Citibank account because she did not have a 9 to 5. In 2006 she applied and was told the same thing. In 2008 she was told the same thing, but this time she wrote Comptroller of the Currency (CCO) located in Texas. The customer service, overlooking national banks. All Americans are entitled to a bank account. Germany has the same law.

Kathleen was given an account, but being a foreigner and "whistle blower", payback was on the horizon. Regarding cashier´s checks, she now needs a drink just to deal with Citi´s German-branch.

The facts:

February 9, 2009, she mailed a letter to the local Citi branch, requesting two cashier´s checks in US dollars. Her account # and address were included. A week or so later was told that she needed to re-send the order because they don´t know where it is. She refused, so someone from headquarters in Duisberg got the info and put in the order. Weeks later the checks arrived.

April 14, 2009...she sent in another order, and the same thing happened: The order was lost so someone from the Duisberg office put it throuh, checks arrived weeks later.

In May, she phoned the Banking Online to order. They sent one check in euros, and the other in US dollars, the currency she had requested. The next time, the person correctly processed the and it arrived, weeks later. Again Kathleen phoned Banking Online, but was told "we don´t do that," and was told to call or go to her local branch. Meaning no online banking service.

July 24, 2009: Kathleen received a letter from Duisberg, instructing her to send orders for cashiers checks to their office -- considering she refused to send orders to the local branch where her personal info is floating around somewhere and they don´t know where... So on the end of July and August 11, Kathleen mailed her next orders to Duisberg.

Beginning of September, she still has still not recieved those checks -- and phoned Duisberg ... couldn´t talk to no one except the phone-girl who gave another telephone # to call. The person at the other # said the charges for those cashier´s checks were listed on her account August 13th.

Come September 8th, when her bank statement arrived, she noticed there were no charges for those checks...at all. She called the local branch and was told by Christine, the order for those checks did not arrive until end of August/beginning September. Which means that order sat in Duisberg from end of July to September. But Christine said the order has been sent.

Beginning of October. Kathleen noticed that the charge for the cashiers check was also not on the October statement. She called the local branch...a trainee answered the phone. No one else would come to the phone. The trainee said to wait until Christine came back from her weekend, this was Wednesday.

The following Monday, Kathleen spoke to Christine ---Christine said she would call her back. Kathleen said, "Today." But Christine didn´t call back until the next afternoon and said: For Kathleen to cancel the order and put it through again, because although they had ordered the checks, they don´t know where they are.

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