At first, I thought that the loss of my driver's license was a stroke of bad luck, but its loss may have been a blessing in disquise. If it had not gone missing, I would have been ignorarnt that my safe deposit box--the box that was supposedly inpregnable to all others, was not so. It had been robbed!
How one might ask? Neither the Bank Vice President, the Irvington Police Department nor any other responsible party could explain how the theft was acomplished. Can You? My birth certificate, my pass port and $40,000 worth of United States Federal EE saings bonds, had all been stolen with apparent impunity.
Can Wells Fargo be trusted to protect our valuables? Is there any federal agency that will help in instances of safe deposit theft?
Upon realizing my loss, I of course, first informed the bank where my box was located of my loss. The manager was polite and even supplied me with a phone numbers where I could report my stolen bonds. Next, I contacted the Irvington police where I was told to go back to the bank inorder to procure a letter detailing my complaint. Without that written complaint, they would't even file a police report. Back at the Wells Fargo, the store manager told me that he would not put my complaint in writing- to do so would violate bank policy.
Back at Irvington Police headquarters, they refused to act without that complaint from the bank, so I provided the bank vice president's conact information. I have no confidence that either the police or the bank intend to investiate.
Please warn pensioners like me, to beware. Even nationally known banks are not invulnerable to inside theft. Staff can be tempted.
I'm so thankful that the bonds can be replaced and that I could protect my credit with all three agencies, but people need to understand that safe deposit boxes are not truly safe. They can be robbed and victimsy will not necessarily receive more than salatory help from any authority.
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