(Enokson)
Some of us were born with one name, and whether through deliberate choice or the tendencies of friends and families, end up being known by a nickname. Our reader Nicholas found out recently that apparently some nicknames are just unacceptable — according to Ally Bank, “Cole,” the name he’s gone by his entire life, won’t fly.
Nicholas writes in with his tale of nickname woe, which all started when he deposited his first “e-check” with Ally, via a scan and email. It was written out to “Cole [Last Name],” (with, of course, his actual last name in there).
I called them up and they let me know that they do not deposit checks “written out to third parties.” I was confused but recognized that the check had been written to “Cole [Last Name]” as opposed to my legal name “Nicholas [Last Name].” They informed me that they would never accept a check written to Cole, ever, not even if I put it in writing that NOBODY calls me Nicholas and would therefore never correctly write checks to me.
This conversation escalated to Daniel (Dan) and we had a heated discussion. According to Dan, Ally can accept checks written to Dan in place of Daniel because that is an acceptable nickname. When pressed for the definition of acceptable nicknames, he restated that Cole was not acceptable (despite it being the second syllable in Nicholas). I asked about Elizabeth that goes by Lisa or Lizabeth. Those work. C’mon Dan!! Seriously?! I closed my account today and made sure they sent my check to the appropriate address to Cole [Last Name].
It’s not like he was trying to go by Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bear — as he points out, the nickname is an actual sound in his full name. We’d like to see your probably arbitrary list of “acceptable” nicknames, if it exists, Ally.
Woe betide the person who ever addresses me as Mary, by the way. I will accept checks made out to her, however.
More From Consumerist
-
Deadline For Foreclosed-Upon Homeowners To File Claim In National Mortgage Settlement Is This Friday
-
Sen. Warren Introduces Bill To Lower Rates On Student Loans To .75% For One Year
-
Dear Best Buy: This Is Why You Are Failing Online
-
Report Rips Treasury Dept. For Giving Out Raises To Execs At Bailed-Out Companies
-
Hey, Readers! We Want Your Best Mall Santa Meltdowns For Christmas This Year
Yeah, my bank won’t let me sign Daddy Fat Sacks. Craziness…..
I guess he didn’t have much of an ally in Dan.
Doh! Duh!
ALWAYS use your legal first and last names unless the “field” you are filling is
specifically labelled or explained as a nickname. How dumb can you get!!
Even using Bob for Robert is OUT. Unless your legal, official relationship is
based on your nickname (baddddd idea) don’t even think about using. This
amount of naivete always amazes me. The business world isn’t some informal
party like Cheers where everyone knows your name; and what is this foolishness
about “putting it in writing” that you should take the time to figure out that it is
REALLY ME. Argh. Need chill pill.
I had a similar issue; the bank simply made my account a ‘joint’ account. With myself.
This isn’t really relevant to the article, but while we’re on the subject of names, when Mary Beth was posting as “MB Quirk” I would always picture a British guy in a hoodie spinning dub… “Oi, I’m MB Quirk, and this is my partner DJ Strange,mand we’re up the apples and pears to give you the music!”
First-world problem.
I guess he didn’t have much of an ally in Dan.
Hmm. I can see his point, but this seems like it would be easier to ask people to “make the check out to Nicolas” instead. I can see why they wouldn’t accept checks that are non-obvious nicknames.
I’ve used “Joshua” nearly every time I’ve written my name, for at least the last decade.
Everybody still shortens it to “Josh”.
BOTH my parents use common nicknames. I’ve not once had a problem writing checks to either of them. I always wondered where the line was, though…
I have a name that is commonly misspelled as one sounding similar. For years, all I’ve had to do was endorse it as:
“SpelledWrong, one and same person as SpelledRight,” then sign it (to cash it), and of course show I.D. if unknown to the teller
or to deposit it, put
“For Deposit Only to Account #123456 N/O SpelledRight, one and same person as SpelledWrong”
But I guess with increasing fraud, banks are getting pickier and pickier, and maybe that doesn’t work anymore, at least at SOME banks (like BoA – see my post in their WCIA thread).
I have a name that is commonly misspelled as one sounding similar. For years, all I’ve had to do was endorse it as:
“SpelledWrong, one and same person as SpelledRight,” then sign it (to cash it), and of course show I.D. if unknown to the teller
or to deposit it, put
“For Deposit Only to Account #123456 N/O SpelledRight, one and same person as SpelledWrong”
But I guess with increasing fraud, banks are getting pickier and pickier, and maybe that doesn’t work anymore, at least at SOME banks (like BoA – see my post in their WCIA thread).
Typical big bank bullshit!
Easy fix. Have your checks printed “Nicholas “Cole” [Last Name].”
But, yeah, change your bank….
I blame the OP.
Nicolas = Cole only in his world.
When he starts working at a new place that doesn’t have any of his other friends or family working there, he’s going to ask people to call him Cole. Because no one outside of his world would jump to the conclusion Nicolas = Cole.