Sunday, October 04, 2009

Square One

If you picked up your emergency VA check last week but your bank refuses to cash anything written hastily on the back of a cocktail napkin, the VA has a solution:

VA is soliciting the support of local and national banks to honor and cash these emergency checks written to our Nation's Veteran-students.

In many cases these checks are handwritten and could pose concerns of fraud from banks. Therefore, VA has established the following special customer service call-in numbers for banks to verify the validity of any US Bank check brought to them by a Veteran.

1-800-827-2166

Banks calling these numbers will be connected directly to a VA employee who can access to all necessary information to verify who the check was issued to, the check number and dollar amount of the check, and whether the check was previously cashed or not.


I hate to say I told you so, but opting for direct deposit would have eliminated this problem. Now veterans are not only relying on the VA, but the good graces of banks to make an exception to their own procedures.

Now excuse me, I have a betting pool to collect.

8 comments:

Pattie Matheson said...

LOL! Hope its a BIG one!

~P~

Pattie Matheson said...

PS: Love the new banner. Do we know them?

Alex Horton said...

If you've read a lot of my stories, you should. Matt is on the left and Bill on the right. Team leaders with short timer sensibilities! The only way I survived their leadership.

CI-Roller Dude said...

Some things will never change....the VA is one of them.
If there's a way to make it a soup sandwich, the VA will do it...
hand written checks? Holyshit...amazing.

Joe said...

Kind of glad I can't get a check. I think if I took a bunch of time to get a two-month late "advanced" payment, and then went to the bank and they accused me of trying to forge a check, I'd probably flip the fuck out.

Demeur said...

I'll bet the checks the banks got to bail them out didn't look like that. Nothing like support for the veterans eh.

Anonymous said...

At least something is being done now.

When I was trying to use my GI Bill a few years ago, they were perpetually 6 to 12 months behind on payment.

Trying to go to school full-time, carry 12-18 credits, getting by on one meal a day (no money), and spending hours every week on the phone with VA and/or the college veterans rep trying to get them to fix things... fun fun

Pattie Matheson said...

You know what - the government managed to take care of school for veterans after WWII.

Or did they? Any WWII vets out there who can fill us in?