Consumer complaint received 2022-11-03
Company: ATLANTIC UNION BANKSHARES CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I made several deposits via the drive -through window at one of the banks we do business with in XXXX XXXX Virginia XXXX All were put in the same tube at the window. There was one check deposited to my sons, account, no deposit slip, " For Deposit Only '' written on the back, no account number. The other two deposits consisted of one check, with no deposit slip, written from our account at another bank, made out to me, with " For Deposit Only '' written on the back, without our savings account number written on the back, and a cash deposit of {$6000.00} WITH a deposit slip to our savings account. My sons check for @ {$31.00} was deposited in to his account, and my check for {$3000.00} made it into our savings account. The {$6000.00} cash, however, did not get posted to our account. 

The reason I did not put my two deposits on the one deposit slip is because I always use a separate deposit slip for each type of deposit in order to track my transactions better in XXXX. But when I arrived at the window I was dismayed to find that I only had ONE deposit slip left in my checkbook. 

I spoke to the teller ( a male voice there is no see through window at the drive up lane, and no tv screen monitor and the drive up kiosk, just a voice ) and told him I was submitting the deposit slip with the cash, and the {$3000.00} check ( made out to myself from an account at another bank ) would be endorsed with Deposit Only and my signature and to please deposit it in the same account that the {$6000.00} cash was being deposited in. I asked him to look up my son 's acccount number, and to use the account number of the deposit slip for the cash to deposit the check into.

I was extremely nervous in the drive-up lane at this branch. I had a large amount of cash, the right side is a very high hedge that blocks any view of the banking lane from the street, the lane itself is a good distance from the bank building.

I had to cram the white banking envelope thick with the cash into the tube, along with the two checks - a very tight fit. 

I distinctly remember receiving the deposit slip for {$6000.00} as that was my greatest concern. I dont remember whether I received a deposit slip for the {$3000.00} check or not. I was anxious not to linger at the drive through- it was close to XXXX XXXX  and not in a very good neighborhood. But I wouldn't have worried about because it was a personally endorsed check from our personal account at XXXX. As soon as I verified the deposit slip for the cash said {$6000.00}, I drove off. 

In late XXXX, when I was reconciling XXXX statements, I discovered my deposit of {$6000.00} was missing from my account. 

I leave my deposit slips in my car whenever I make a deposit at a drive up window. However, between mid-XXXX  and XXXX, the deposit slips got thrown away. 

As soon as I discovered the discrepancy, I drove to the branch and asked to speak to the branch manager. On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with the Assistant Branch Manager, to report the missing deposit. Apparently, the regular branch manager was in training for lending and had been out of the branch for the past several months. The assistant manager was very kind and helpful. His first question to me, however, was if I remembered whether I spoke with a male or a female teller. I thought it was a strange question, but one that might be helpful to him if he was to narrow down whoever might have assisted at the window. I told him a male. 

He then took down all the info. At the time when I first came into the branch I hadnt pieced together all the events of the day which confirmed the time and date of the deposit. I only gave him windows of time in the month of XXXX. But I assured him the deposit had been made. To help broaden the search, he said he would look for any discrepancy between {$5000.00} and {$6000.00}. 

He called me later to tell me that no discrepancies had been found for the month. 

That next Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I revisited the branch and spoke with the assistant manager again. I told him that I was now certain of the events/amount/and that the deposit was made on the XXXX. Heres why : 1 ) The cash had been withdrawn in XX/XX/XXXX from our saving account at Atlantic Union. We had withdrawn the money to be prepared for a cyber-attack on banks which many in the cyber-security world were warning about at that time. When we returned from vacation on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX, we had a housecleaning scheduled for the XXXX. I had been very nervous about the changing cleaning crews and decided it was time to get the money out of our house and get it back into the bank. 
2 ) The next day, on XX/XX/XXXX, I drove into XXXX, stopped at XXXX XXXX ( which is a couple blocks from the bank ) and picked up an item. While I was in the store I was very nervous about the cash in the envelope which I had hidden under the front seat and as soon as I finished at the store drove to make the deposit. 

3 ) When I returned from making the deposit on the XXXX, I told my husband about the branch, the location, how nervous I was. He distinctly remembers that conversation. 

4 ) The deposit date and time were confirmed, and my presence at the drive thru were confirmed by security cameras on the XXXX, and both my check and my sons check were deposited correctly- on the XXXX. 

I related all to the ass't manager, and then he informed me that that week ( XX/XX/XXXX ) was his last week at the branch. His last day would be the XXXX. He also informed me that the bank was changing computer systems in XXXX. I asked him if that meant if this wasnt solved by XXXX did that mean all the data would go dark or be lost? He said unfortunately yes. 

I asked him about the video footage of the drive thru. He said the camera is positioned to show the inside of the car so as best to identify the action/items and doesnt identify the car. He told me I needed to make a police report to actually have a third party access the video if I needed/wanted to verify their findings. He said he made the request to his supervisor, and the supervisor would be calling me. I never received a call from any supervisor, ever, despite being told this several times.. 

Late in the day on XX/XX/XXXX, the assistant manager called and informed me that he had had all the tellers go through their batches of work ( searching for deposit slips/discrepancies ) for the month of XXXX and nothing showed up. He also reiterated there were no discrepancies found that neared the {$5000.00} - {$6000.00} mark. 

I asked him if there had been any staff turnover since XX/XX/XXXX. He said none. Remembering his initial question when I reported the discrepancy, I also asked him how many males worked at the branch. He said only one. Him. I asked him if he went through his batches and he said he indicated he sometimes was just working the drive-through for a teller who was occupied. 

I then made my first call to Atlantic Unions fraud department. Customers can not speak to anyone directly in that department- they only get as far as the XXXX number customer service operator. After patiently listening to my complaint, the rep said he was assigning it a case file number : XXXX. ( I am curious as to wether this was a computer auto-generated case number from their system, or whether it was a number someone - whether the customer service rep or someone he referred to as a " supervisor '' who he consulted periodically while he put me on hold - came up with on their own. ) I called the branch on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, and the teller told me the assistant manager had been transferred a day earlier than expected. The next week I drove to the branch and this time met with the manager who was now back at the branch. 

The manager assured me he was looking into everything and promised to keep me updated.He dutifully called the next day telling me he hadnt heard back from anyone in the other department researching the issue yet. However, another week went by with no updates. I drove back to the branch. The manager then made a call to the department while I was there and I listened while he requested over the phone once again ( the request had been made supposedly by the assistant manager weeks before, and again by the manager when he took over ) to view the drive thru video footage. He called me back later in the day and told me someone had viewed it and had determined that {$6000.00} cash had not been deposited. I told him that was a curious thing to say because you could not see how much cash would have been deposited. But you could certainly see if a thick white envelope was in the tube, which they were not willing to say whether they saw or not. 

I made my second call to the Atlantic Union fraud /customer service line on XXXX XXXX, and once again complained. On XX/XX/XXXX, the manager informed me they had closed the case. I again asked about the security footage. XXXX would not/could not be any more specific than saying that the viewer was specific saying cash in the amount of {$6000.00} had not been deposited. I asked about inside the bank the teller footage. Had someone reviewed that? he would not specify whether that had happened or not, only that they were closing the case. He directed me to a police incident report if I wanted a third party to view the footage. He would not provide me anything in writing about what the video footage showed. 

When I attempted to report it to the economic crimes division, the detective said it was an internal bank affair and that I should report to the banks fraud department as well as to the federal reserve. He also said that banks and other businesses often referred customers to make a report to access video surveillance footage - but that it was an internal bank issue and they could not help. 

Thank you for looking into this matter. Unfortunately, I do not have the deposit slip. A definite scenario of my word against theirs. But, there is nothing that states at the bank if you do not have your deposit slip you can not prove we have your money. I have always felt I would be protected by security cameras and other checks and balances. Im hoping you can investigate further any and all possibilities about how the bank or teller mishandled {$6000.00} and where it is which is not in my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation