Is a Passbook entry considered a receipt for a savings account? Wachovia bank tells me it isn't.?

Question

I made a deposit yesterday in a passbook savigs account. I never get a receipt, just the passbook entry. The teller told me that the previous entry was wrong., crossed out the entry by pen and entered an amount by hand which was $400.00 less. When I protested, she said that the passbook is no more than a glorified typewriter and without a receipt there is nothing that I can do. Before I call the N.J. state dept of banking, does anyone know what the law is pertaining to this situation?

Answer 1

Was the deposit in cash? If it was a check or money order, obviously you could present the cancelled item for verification of the correct amount. Good luck. You would think that the stamp in the passbook, which the bank entered, would be as good as a receipt, but I don't know for certain. Actually, I didn't know they still issued passbooks.

Answer 2

I've worked for a major competitor of Wachovia for 4 years and here's what I'd suggest.

Have them print out your recent activity/statement. Take a highliter or a pencil and put a little checkmark on both the printout and the passbook that match exactly (the amount and what it's for). For example you see a $400 deposit on about the same day on your statement and in your passbook, put a checkmark next to both entries.

Now look at what items (if any) are unchecked on the statement and what items are unchecked in the passbook. If there are any, they will show you what happened. If there aren't, then the math in the passbook was wrong, since all the items show on the statement and the math is already done for you there.

So if you see something on the statement that is not in your passbook, then the teller didn't properly record something in your passbook, and that's why the balance was off, but the balance is right. If the entry shows in both places, but it is for a wrong amount, then as long as the amount is right on the statement, everything's OK, the teller just didn't record it right in the passbook.

If there's something in the passbook, that's not on the statement (like in your example, a $400 deposit), then something didn't get processed right and you need to give the bank all the details. Show them the enry in the passbook with date and amount and they'll have to locate this transaction through their Electronic Journal (it might be called something else there, but it's a tracker on their teller computer system to record all of the money in and out each day) to see how it was processed, perhaps the teller didn't enter it right or reversed it later because he/she thought they made a mistake, but then never re-entered it right. Either way, the teller supervisor should be able to look that up for you and find out. Just make sure you're talking to the same branch as the one that particular deposit was made at, they can't pull up another branch's electronic journal.

So to recap, get a printout of your account activity, check off all matching items on printout and your passbook (make a copy of your passbook and mark the items off there if you wish not to make extra marks in your book). If the missing items or items with the wrong amount show right on the statement, then there is no error except for the one in your passbook and as long as the balances agree now, you're good. If the statement is wrong, you'll need to check into it further.

Hope this helps. E-mail me if you have any further questions, in 4 years there's only been a couple of checkbooks I couldn't reconcile for a customer.

Answer 3

In all the years I've known, a passbook entry is only like a checkbook registar. You can get a receipt, but even then, if the receipt is wrong, they can correct the error at the bank and charge you.
It's like me putting a figure into the ATM, getting areceipt that says I put in $500 when I only put $50. Unless I have copies of the bills I deposited (cash), or the check that covered it, there is nothing to prove it.
ALWAYS get a hard copy receipt from the bank, not just what the teller wrote in your book.
SOrry