Consumer complaint received 2017-02-04
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: WI
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Making/receiving payments, sending money

Complaint:
I have maintained my checking account with Chase Bank ( formerly Bank One ) in good standing since XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited a check in the amount of {$1800.00} to my checking account at the local Chase Bank branch located on XXXX in XXXX, WI. The check came from someone I had sold an item to over XXXX. It was over the amount of the item sold by {$1600.00}, the buyer was moving to where I live, and I was asked by the buyer to send the remaining amount back to the buyer 's moving company. The buyer repeatedly asked me if she could trust me with the extra money, and I told her that she could trust me as long as her check cleared. 

Since I did not know the buyer, I wanted to be certain that the funds were in my account before I sent any money. I visited my local branch on XX/XX/XXXX and explained the situation to the Bank Manager, XXXX, and asked for his advice on when it would be safe for me to send the money. His advice was to not send any money until Chase Bank had collected the funds, and funds had been deposited to my account. He told me to check back later in the day or the next day. I called the Chase Bank toll free number the next morning and was told that funds had been collected and deposited into my account, and it was safe for me to send the money. I then visited my local branch where a teller ( XXXX ) confirmed this information. She explained that she could now verify that funds had been physically collected from the issuing bank and been deposited into my account. She assured me that it was now safe for me to send the money. Upon getting this confirmation in person, I withdrew {$1600.00} from my checking account and sent it to the moving company via XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX 

The next morning, XX/XX/XXXX, I found out that Chase had withdrawn the money from my account as the check had bounced. I immediately visited the Bank Manager to inquire about what had happened. After looking into it he informed me that the check was indeed fraudulent and had bounced. He said that even though they had confirmed that money had been collected and deposited into my account, the bank had a right to withdraw funds from my account. He told me that the bank bears no responsibility for bounced checks, and that there was nothing further they could do to assist me. I asked him why I was not provided this information earlier when I had repeatedly asked for it. He had no answer for me, and instead scrambled to look for bank policies. After discussing with other managers, he provided me with highlighted bank policy, which he said was given to me when I opened the account, which was almost 30 years ago. I later filed a complaint with Chase Corporate office, and after a few days I was informed that everything was handled appropriately, that bank policies are listed in the deposit agreement, and that bank officials were not obligated to provide me with the information I had repeatedly requested. 

I believe I did the due diligence on my part to protect myself from this fraudulent transaction. I trusted my bank to protect my interests, but even after my repeated inquiries, the Bank Manager and rest of bank staff failed to inform me of applicable bank policies. They only looked for bank policies after funds had already been sent and the check had bounced, and informed me that it was my responsibility to be aware of the policies. I believe that it was bank staff 's responsibility to provide me this information, especially after I had repeatedly asked them for bank policies on when it would be safe for me to send the money. I believe the reason I was not provided this information is because the Bank Manager and rest of the bank staff were either not aware of these policies themselves due to inadequate training on bank policies regarding fraudulent transactions, or they dealt with me with negligence.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation