We’re always told not to worry about our bank failing because our deposits are insured up to $100,000 by the FDIC. Well, in case you were wondering what happens when a bank actually does fail, look no further than the great state of California, where IndyMac has been taken over by federal regulators and its customers are getting a taste of all the FDIC has to offer.
We’re hearing reports of customers being kept outside of the banks for ours, forced to line up in the sweltering heat, and being threatened with arrest if they get upset about it.
From the L.A. Times “L.A. Land” Blog:
For the third day in a row, the federal government this morning appeared unprepared to deal with bank customers who simply want their money. Frazzled, anxious and angry Californians — many of them elderly — are waiting on blazing sidewalks for the third day in a row, while security guards block the doors to the bank’s branches. An elderly woman fainted while waiting in line in Pasadena. Depositors were threatened with arrest yesterday in Encino. This is how the government treats its customers?
In exactly which manual of customer service does it say the following: When your customers arrive at your place of business, do not open the doors and invite them inside. Instead, guard the doors and tell your customers to wait for hours in the sweltering heat outside. If they grow restless, threaten them with arrest.
Good work, FDIC.
The IndyMac fiasco: a three-day run of federal incompetence [LA Times]
(AP Photo/Nick Ut)
More From Consumerist
-
Undercover TSA Inspector Gets Through Airport Security Just Fine With Fake Bomb In His Pants
-
10 Highlights From Frontline Report On Why No Wall Street Execs Are In Jail Over Mortgage Mess
-
L.A. City Council Votes To Repeal Ban On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
-
New York’s Gov. Cuomo Warns Utility Company CEOs: Get The Power Back On Or Else
-
American Airlines Finds More Planes With Loose Seats, Blames Installation Problems
As per the OP, really, what do you expect the FDIC to do? A bunch of people are clamoring to get their money out of the bank. What do you want them to do? Let all the customers barge in a giant mob and fight each other to get to a teller just so they don’t have to stand outside?
A lot of people are trying to use a limited resource at the same time. Of course there’s going to be a long line. You can’t safely fit them all in the bank at the same time, so where do you expect them all to wait? They’re going to have to wait outside.
Guards blocking the doors? Gee I wonder why. There’s a bunch of people, some of them stressed and possibly frantic, trying to get in. What do you expect them to do? Just let them all try and squeeze themselves into the bank?
This just seems like silly criticism to me. From looking at the video I’ve seen on TV, it more or less seems to be handled in a very orderly fashion.
This doesn’t sound like federal incompetence (yet). A lot of people want their money and they all want it at once so it takes time to properly close out accounts and document everything. I wouldn’t be thrilled to have to stand in those lines, but I suspect most of those “anxious and angry” customers were already feeling none too thrilled when they got up Monday morning.
It’s kind of strange really. No one seems to shocked to have to stand in line for an iPhone or any other popular product, but “Oh noes, we have to stand in line to get our money at the bank the FDIC took over!”
I can totally sympathize with folks who really need to get their money ASAP, but once you have hundreds of people converging on any given branch, I don’t see how you could be surprised if long lines formed. Factor in people who have strange/non-standard situations (and therefore might eat up some extra time) plus the learning curve for the people working there (if they’re bank employees they’d need to learn how to do things the way the FDIC wants, if they’re FDIC employees they’d need to familiarize themselves with the bank) and it’s really not surprising just given the sheer volume of people and money involved.
The blog that this article points to seems sensationalist at best.
Well, why should the government be prepared to have good CS? The FDIC isn’t there to make sure you have a great banking experience, it’s to make sure you get your money when a bank goes belly up.
Yeah, I can’t imagine why mobs of angry and frantic people would cause a bank to station guards outside and enforce limits on how many people can come in at a time. It’s not like each of these people are walking out with what could potentially amount to $100K each in cash and the bank would like to make sure they at least make it to the parking lot alive.
Seriously, people trample and kill other people on Black Friday for cheap DVD players, computers and video games. I’m surprised the bank customers didn’t comed armed (if this would have happened in Arizona instead of California, they probably would have).
I’m glad I keep my money in a safe buried on my shed.
Did I say shed, I meant “in a bank and not in a safe under my shed”.
Heh heh… I wish i had to worry about losing more than $100,000 in my bank account.
I wish I HAD $100,000 in my bank account…
hell, $10,000….
WELL CRAP! I wish I had some damn MONEY left over from the previous MONTH!
Gotta go… have to get back to &%$#@ work….
i will be sure to shed some tears for those guys…
Haven’t these people heard of electronic transfers?
/unless they disabled transfers
/has accounts at 3 different banks
I once took a financial class in which the instructor claimed the
F.D.I.C. had 10 years in to pay out on insured funds. At the current
rate of inflation a customer’s $100,000.00 might be worth $100.00.
Good deal for the F.D.I.C.
That’s why I trade in all my cash for gold and keep it in a small bag around my rottweilers collar. You laugh at me now, but we’ll see who’s laughing when you are burning your worthless bills to keep warm.