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)

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