Title: Shocking Bank Mishap: Customer Loses Thousands Due to Security Box Hiccup
Content:
A Bank user claimed she lost thousands of dollars worth of cash, jewelry, and sentimental objects that she thought had been securely stored. Sheila Levy-Bencheton alleged that TD Canada Trust had wrongfully misplaced the prized possessions her father had put in a safety deposit box.
The Allegation: TD Canada Trust Mishap
Sheila Levy-Bencheton said a deposit box with valuables and money had been wrongfully cleared. She said her father had placed them in a box with TD Canada Trust. Levy-Bencheton said she visited the bank after her father passed away at age 103 in 2017. She went to their Toronto branch a few months after his death to empty the box but she discovered it had been clear years before, according to CBC News.
The Missing Items
Levy-Bencheton alleged that these missing items included her mother’s diamond ring, an 18-karat gold watch from 1947, gold and silver coins, and thousands in cash. She said that she complained to TD and asked for records that would show who accessed the box before it was allegedly drilled open. She said the bank did not have these and they gave her paperwork, receipts, some silver dollar coins, and an empty ring box.
The Dispute and Resolution Attempts
Levy-Bencheton said a bank manager initially told her that the deposit box did not exist when she first complained about the situation. The family later called TD’s customer service line and they revealed what had happened. She claimed that TD said it would not give her compensation as they were not sure what was in the box and offered the family a $250 “goodwill gesture” instead. Levy-Bencheton refused this amount and upscaled the complaint to the ombudsman who said there was a 50-50 chance the valuables were missing. TD then offered the family half of an $8,400 accounting estimate for the jewelry, but she also refused this.
TD’s Explanation and Attempt at Compensation
TD told CBC News that the box was accidentally opened in a “network wide reconciliation process,” where 16,000 deposit boxes were drilled for several reasons, including lost keys and overdue rent. The bank added that it had a million safety deposit boxes across Canada and they are very rarely drilled open. The U.S. Sun has reached out to TD Bank for comment.
In conclusion, this shocking incident of the security box mishap sheds light on the importance of trust and reliability in the banking system. The case of Sheila Levy-Bencheton serves as a cautionary tale for individuals who entrust their valuables to financial institutions for safekeeping.