Consumer complaint received 2023-06-03
Company: BOEING EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
In XXXX my manager came to me with reports that a few of my paychecks over the course of 2-3 years were deposited twice. Confused and understanding that this shouldn't even be possible, I immediately contacted my bank via online support ( text chat ) because when I searched my banking profile transaction history I saw no such thing. When I got in contact with a rep, I asked THEM to search the entire history of my bank account for duplicate deposits. He reported back to me explicitly stating that there were ZERO duplicate deposits, and I made sure to ask him to check the entire history of my employment ( 3 years back ). He said two things, he explicitly confirmed what I had already believed, which is that it wouldn't be possible to deposit the same paycheck twice via mobile, and that you'd be met with an error in attempting to do so. He also said that he checked not only the duplicated checks in question, but also the entire history of my account and found ZERO DUPLICATES. I share this info with my employer and I move on. 

However, a few weeks later, I notice money being withdrawn from my account under a memo along the lines of " duplicate deposit withdrawal '', and it is the exact amounts of the checks my employer mentioned to me. After I thought it was all settled, the money starts leaving my account all at once. So of course I contact my bank again, and I explain everything to them, including the fact that the money currently leaving my account was said to be not actually duplicated. Well, the NEW reps response to that was that it turns out there actually WAS duplicated checks, and he told me to download my " eStatements '' PDF to look. I downloaded the PDF, and sure enough the transactions in question were there, but NOT on my banking profile ( where you're able to search your history by date/transaction amount etc ). 

So the money WAS effectively there, but I just wasn't aware of it without going into my eStatements. 
A few problems with this is that if the first rep I spoke to was able to find out the truth and tell me there were dupes when I asked, then I would have been able to better prepare for the incoming ONSLAUGHT of withdrawals coming from my account. But he didn't. He probably was looking at my banking profile transaction history, like any normal person would do. But the 2nd rep I talked to basically brushed it off as the employee being wrong. However, with this new rep I was able to confirm some things in plain writing. The bank is AWARE of an issue where the online banking profile will have INCORRECT OR MISSING INFORMATION ( verbatim ), and that the only way I can be 100 % sure about accurate info is if I download the eStatements PDF file. 

This bothered me, but I took it and moved on. The money in question was removed from my account, I managed to get through the temporary financial hit, and I moved on with the new information that I can't trust my banking profile information. 

I thought it was over. Now weeks after this happened, out of no where I completely lose access to my bank account. No notice, no warning whatsoever. At this point it had been long enough since the incident that I didn't even have it in mind. When I called them to see what was going on with my account, she mentioned that it was due to the double deposited checks, and that the financial crimes department is investigating and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I can't call anyone, all I know is that I'm waiting for an unknown entity to contact ME, and in the meantime my bank has been locked without word for a week. Rent was due, I have other bills to pay, and each day from here forth will dig me deeper into a hole. 

As for why the duplicate attempts were made in the first place, there are several reasons and they all play an important role. The biggest overarching reason is that I was 100 % under the impression that depositing the same check, via mobile deposit, especially to the same exact account, would never work. To me that's like thinking you can use a giftcard twice, it's just completely senseless. Furthermore, I keep all my paychecks because my apartment requires me to. Lastly, when attempting to deposit a check at work it will sometimes not work due to bad lighting, blurriness, whatever. So now I'm left with a signed check that isn't actually deposited, pushed to the side to attempt at a later time/different setting. Over the course of 3 years, some of these signed/undeposited " fail '' checks get misplaced or mixed in with the other kept checks. 
So naturally, I grab the checks I'm unsure of, load up my banking profile, search my history for that check, see if it's deposited or not, and deposit it if it isn't. 

I would search the history and not find the transaction, so I deposit it. The first employee I talked to obviously searched the same way I did and also found NOTHING, so it's not like I'm ignorant to how the banking profile works. On top of that, the final rep I talked to confirmed in plain writing that it's a known issue that the banking profile will have missing transactions. Neither parties ( my bank reps I talked to, or my employer ) expressed any belief that the duplicate deposits were malicious in any way, but regardless about a week after everyone moved on my account gets frozen and locked up with no notice or no signs of getting it back. 

Is there anything I can do? Do I have any rights? This is definitely causing financial problems as I can't pay for the bills I have. LUCKILY I did download the entire conversation with all of the bank reps because I don't even have access to that conversation anymore. 

I've attached the conversation ( s ) I've had with the bank reps. Including the one where the rep told me I was clear of all duplicate deposits. If he looked and found none, it's pretty reasonable to assume a regular user would find none. 

The attached PDF includes almost everything, including me slowly figuring out what's going on. I believe it paints the entire picture quite well.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation