Consumer complaint received 2016-10-12
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (CA)

We had set XXXX letters out to be mailed that had checks made out for bills. A woman, we have security cameras so we could see her, stole the mail. She then signed and cashed the checks. The name she endorsed on the checks was not even close to the payee names. We filed the fraud with our local US Bank branch. We also filed a police report including giving the officer a video of the woman taking the mail. The checks were cashed on XXXX XXXX, 2016. I notified our branch on XXXX XXXX, 2016 after I noticed the fraud. I filled out affidavits for both checks, gave the police report number, and was told we had to open a new account, which we did that Friday. The contact person at the bank said she would turn all paperwork into the fraud department. After a few weeks, she was calling saying how we had to have a copy of my check register showing the XXXX check had been altered. The numerical amount had a XXXX put in front of the other numbers. The spelled out amount stayed the same. Another reason that check should not have been cashed. We were told it was under a certain monetary amount so they do n't check for those things or the endorser.The copy was taken down to our branch and handed to the contact person there about the middle of XXXX. Since then we keep getting told that we have to fill out new affidavits because the bank person filled it out incorrectly, which I did. I then received another request to fill out another affidavit. This time I called the Fraud dept & asked exactly what they wanted me to mark on it. I then faxed it to them. At a later time a call was made to the fraud dept to ask if they had everything. We were told yes they did, it was in review and we should here something in about 20 business days. Today, XXXX, 2016 we received letters stating they needed another affidavit filled out by us and one from the businesses that were the payees. We had told them before we could not get the businesses to fill out the affidavit and they told us they would wave that requirement. When I called them I was then told by the XXXX person, XXXX, that they never waved that requirement and they never received a copy of the check register. When asked why they really needed it he said to prove it was altered. To me all they had to do was look at the check. I 've sent the same amount to the same business every month for about 7 years now. When I told him we had given a copy of the check register to the contact at the bank he put me on hold so he could call the branch. While I was on hold I heard a ringing like he had transferred me then it hung up on me. When I called back I got another person & had to start all over explaining things. She in turn tells me they never received any paperwork on the fraud case. No affidavits, police reports, check register, nothing. I told her to talk to XXXX. She came back on saying that now we were missing paperwork, she did n't know what all, but she did know the affidavit for the altered check & proof that it had been altered. I argued that it was endorsed by someone who it was n't payable to but she said it did n't matter. She said the contact person at the bank did not do her job by submitting the paperwork we gave her. We do n't understand 1 ) how these checks were even cashed 2 ) why we keep getting the runaround 3 ) why they wo n't give us our money back when it was their fault not ours. How can they continue to change their story as to the reason we ca n't get our money back? How can we be told for 3 weeks they have everything they need from us but then say we do n't have anything, and then change it to we still need a XXXX affidavit for the same check & proof the check was altered. No 2 people can give us the same answer. It 's like they are purposelessly making it difficult for us hoping we will give up. We did nothing wrong, the bank did when they paid those checks.