arontius | Well, That's Lame! (Reply)

.....So, I walk into the U.S. Bank branch located in the Albertson's in Silverdale. I've been using this branch to deposit checks into the account for The Crier now since September of 2004. The same primary name has been on the account. The stipend checks from SCA, Corporate have been made out to the same recipient for that entire time, 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier'.

.....So, like I said, I walk into the branch and I ask to deposit this stipend check. The teller takes the check and deposit slip and types the account number into her computer. She then asks me, 'Is 'The Crier' on the account?'

.....'Excuse me? Yes, 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier' is the name on the account.'

.....'I'm showing this account as belonging to 'The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.'.

.....'Yes, that is what the acronym, 'SCA, Inc.,' refers to.'

.....'But the check is addressed to 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier,' not to 'The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.' I'm afraid I can't accept this for deposit into the account.'

.....I blink in confusion for a minute or so. 'I've been depositing these same checks, made out to the same addressee, for several years now.' Then I pull out receipts of deposits from earlier this year. 'See, you've accepted deposits for these checks, from the same source, for even larger amounts, for a while now. Can you at least deposit this check into the account while you clear the confusion? There is enough in the account to cover the check if necessary.'

.....'I'm sorry, Sir. I cannot accept this check for deposit. The name on the check does not match the name on the account.'

.....'The checks in my checkbook here have that same name on them.'

.....'Anyone can have any name printed on a check. I'm sorry, but that does not prove anything.'

.....'What would it take to prove that 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier' is the same as 'The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.'?'

.....'Do you have the Certificate of Incorporation for either 'The Society from Creative Anachronism' or 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier.'?

.....'Um, I don't normally carry those documents around with me.'

.....'I'm sorry, Sir. I cannot deposit your check into this account.'

.....I'm just flabbergasted at this point. TBT was with me, witnessed the entire conversation, and was just fuming. I was rather irritated as well, and wanted to go away for a few minutes and calm down. So I just took the check back and walked away. Went home and grabbed a copy of the SCA Letters of Incorporation, a copy of the last bank statement (which had the same identical title on it as the checks, 'SCA, Inc.; The Crier') and went to the U.S. Bank Branch in Bremerton.

.....Whereat they accepted the check and deposited it without asking me for any further identification or proof of anything.

.....You know, I'm starting to doubt the sanity of any holdings in any bank. Maybe it is time for a complete overhaul of the institution of banking as an industry all together in the United States?

.....Only one more quarter of stipends for The Crier, than this job goes away. Starting to look forward to that with more and more eagerness. :-)

.....Although I still wonder what the future holds at SCA, Inc., and what their plans are exactly. We're looking at a revenue increase in Corporate of close to $75K to $100K a year due to no longer issuing stipends for the publishing of Kingdom newsletters. There hasn't been much talk of where those funds are going officially. I wonder if they are going straight to legal defense. I sure wish we'd hear more of what was really happening. Although I suppose that this might not be the best idea for legal reasons.

.....Maybe a shot of Don Julio or two might do the trick of taking away the irritation of the day instead. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.