Dear John: My 71-year-old grandmother, who relies upon her Social
Security check, went to TD Bank [recently] in White Plains to cash
the check. They gave her three $100 bills at the branch office.
A few days later, with the same bills that she immediately put in her
billfold, she went to her local Chase branch in White Plains
.
The Chase teller stated that the bills were fake and that they had
to confiscate them from her.
Since she relies upon this money for her day-to-day spending, she was baffled and livid.
The Chase branch manager stated that it is mandatory that they take the bills and
gave her a form that she can use for her IRS filing to get a $300
her 2012 tax return. However, she is still out the cash
she depends upon for her weekly spending.
With the form, she then went to the TD
Bank branch that gave her the bills. She spoke with the same
teller and even the branch manager. The manager stated there was
nothing they could do to make her whole on her money. The White
Plains police were then called to create the case against [report] the bank.
My grandmother has the police report and the tax-filing form from Chase,
and she looks forward to reading what you write in the nation’s best paper about
how [her experience with] the piece of paper we call “legal
tender” made her feel like it was downright worthless.
As a good grandson, I called the branch manager at TD in White Plains
to hear him out, and he stated there is nothing they could do. M.G.
Dear M.G. I placed a call to TD Bank, and after I contacted the bank, they gave her real money to replace the counterfeit bills.
I guess we should all start carrying around those yellow highlighting markers cashiers use, so we can check our bills.
Send your questions to Dear John, The N.Y. Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.