Thumbs Up to Elijah @Chase in Milford for Being Patient, Attentive, & Courteous After 24 Hours of Absolute Ugh

 

When I lived in Louisville, a break-in to my Old Louisville apartment resulted from much stolen, including checks, and then a day of seeing the thieves writing them from my account within just a few hours. I closed the account immediately, but it was too late. They move fast.

Welcome to the smear of 2020, that's still wiping its rear-end upon my 2021 carpet. Ugh.

Friday, I was checking to see what checks cleared and I noticed one that was large and that I didn't write. I called the bank immediately and they hooked me up with their fraud unit. I should note that waiting to get to the right person wasn't immediate, but I was patient. After being transferred quite a few times, I got to a man who said I should wait 24 hours to see if the check goes through. All I could see was a pending check. I kept looking until late at night, but didn't see it clear.

When I awoke yesterday morning, I immediately checked to see if it was posted and it was. Someone recreated a fake check from my account and wrote a check to another individual with my savings account. It was extremely alarming to see this, so I called Chase again, waited awhile and finally got someone who checked into it and declared, "Why, yes. That looks to be true." She suspended the account temporarily, then suggested I get to a Chase Bank immediately. I went to my local branch, sat patiently for an hour, when finally a teller came by to ask me if I needed help. I told her my ordeal and she said she had to take my number and would call if they had any availability.

I drove to the Milford branch. I sat there, too, and was told I needed an appointment. I said, "I will sit until someone has time to help me." Perhaps I was in shock, but I wasn't going anywhere until the ordeal was resolved. 

I am very thankful to Elijah, the considerate, sympathizing, very human banker who immediately approached me when he had a no-show on his appointment list. He was great, understanding, and very helpful. The account was suspended, new ChasePay was established under a new account, and he laid out very clearly what I needed to do next.

As I had a December dealing with medical facilities as a result of Covid-infected parental units, I became very accustomed to phone automation systems, waiting, and frustration. It's like trying to get in touch with cable representatives or even phone service companies (ironic, I know). It's a labyrinth of "press" this and "press" that, often with being disconnected and having to start all over again. I realize, too, that bigger corporations outsource phone operations and this is a 20th to 21st century reality. It is alarming and sad, but it is what it is. Nothing, however, beats an in-person, customer-conscious employee.

Elijah was that man and I was thankful for him. It didn't settle my nerves completely...I kept thinking, "How do people get away with creating fake checks with other peoples' names and accounts? Do they ever get caught? Are there agencies to look into it?"

With advice from many, I went to my local police station and filled out a report, where I was told that there's an agency that works between police departments and banks on this very issue. I just hope it gives them enough information to stop what probably is a larger operation. I'll never understand why people choose crime over civility, but that is the nature of being human. My Saturday was pretty much robbed from me and when I sat down to work, my mind was simply numb from, not frustration and anger, but sadness that people do this to other people.

Once again, ugh.