In news:482e5a82$0$1026$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au,
Sylvia Else typed:
> TomTom wrote:
>> In news:482e2fc0$0$17507$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au,
>> Sylvia Else typed:
>>> jag@nowhere.com wrote:
>>>> Maybe I've got too much time on my hands but........
>>>>
>>>> Just got a letter from my bank saying;
>>>>
>>>> "We have been advised by ANZ BANK that the above deposit was
>>>> credited to your account in error. Accordingly, ANZ BANK has
>>>> requested us to refund this amount to them so that they may in
>>>> turn refund their client.
>>>>
>>>> To enable us to comply with this request, we require your authority
>>>> to reverse the amount from your account.
>>>>
>>>> Please give your authority by completing and signing the eclosed
>>>> authority and returning it to us in the enclosed Reply Paid
>>>> envelope or by facsimile to ............"
>>>>
>>>> They include a screen dump of a computer screen with my name on top
>>>> and a dated entry with the "error" deposit. They also include a
>>>> typed authority......
>>>>
>>>> "To Whom It May Concern
>>>>
>>>> I/we__________________________________________
>>>> having authorityto operate on account number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in
>>>> the name of MISSPELT give consent to "bank" to debit this account
>>>> with the amount of "carton of beer" representing a refund of an
>>>> amount credited in error on "2 months ago".
>>>>
>>>> ..... and a window envelope with Postage Page (not Reply Paid XX)
>>>>
>>>> It looks genuine enough on apparently official stationery and my
>>>> name and account details on it.
>>>>
>>>> But, I'm feeling slightly playful (and I don't like the ANZ blood
>>>> sucking vulture parasite vermin that they are). But I need to be
>>>> nice to the Bank that is my account keeper. And of course I've got
>>>> no problem returning money that's not mine, but if I can get some
>>>> payback in the meantime, well that's a bonus.
>>>>
>>>> It's a small amount so I'm curious firstly why at the apparent
>>>> request of the ANZ BANK, my bank has typed a 3 page document to me
>>>> after searching for my account details.
>>>>
>>>> Are they doing it for free, simply because the ANZ asked them to?
>>>> Yeah right, Is the ANZ doing it for free for their "client", yeah
>>>> right!!.... when the priggs charge me $35 for being 1 day late
>>>> with $4.95 on an ANZ card payment!!!
>>>>
>>>> I don't yet have the account statement from my bank that details
>>>> the error deposit, (they're 6 monthly), so obviously I'd need to
>>>> check that it did in fact happen first.
>>>>
>>>> So I'm thinking of simply acknowledging their letter, stating that
>>>> I do not have any bank statements which verify the deposit but
>>>> would be happy to refund any error following payment of a $35
>>>> investigation and processing fee.
>>>>
>>>> Since I do not have the verification at hand, I need to search it
>>>> out and confirm before I authorise anyone to take money out of my
>>>> account. Comments, ideas suggestions ????
>>>>
>>>>
>>> I really don't see why the bank would think they need your
>>> permission.
>>
>> It's because, otherwise, the bank would be relying solely on the
>> say-so of the ANZ bank.
>>
>>> A bank account is nothing more than a bank's record of
>>> the bank's indebtedness towards you. It's not as if they're guarding
>>> a box that contains your cash.
>>>
>>> If they are under the impression that they have incorrectly stated
>>> that indebtedness, then they can correct it.
>>
>> That is not the situation. It is the ANZ that has asked the bank to
>> refund an amount from the bank's client's account.
>>
>>> This might at a later
>>> date result in your having an issue with the bank when they refuse
>>> to pay you money that you consider is owed to you, but that's a
>>> separate matter.
>>
>> The bank apparently has no legal justification for taking its
>> client's money from the client's account without the clients express
>> consent. Acting on the ANZ's say-so is not good enough.
>>
>>
>
> This reflects exactly the misunderstanding about bank accounts that
> is rife.
> A bank account does not contain money. When the bank says you have X
> dollars in your account, when it really means to say is that the bank
> owes you X dollars.
Agreed.
But the bank would be acting foolishly if it responded to the ANZ's request
and refunded the money claimed by reducing the client's balance of dollars
owed. When the client demanded the full payment, the bank can hardly defend
itself by saying that the ANZ asked for the client's money, so it simply
handed it over!
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