Bank customer needs help [1]
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 12:30. Updated on Monday, April 28, 2014 - 11:57.
Editor,
I am writing to you hoping that by publishing these documents someone might be able to come up with a favorable solution for my unusual situation. It will also warn bank customers with the same situation like myself to check their accounts before the bank slowly swallows their assets.
I opened a bank account with Bank of Tonga sometime in the 1980s before I emigrated to the United States of America in 1986. I left my bank transaction booklet (tohi pangike) with my mother so she can conduct all my banking activities for me. Bank of Tonga eventually changed its name to Wespac Bank of Tonga which is the current management. Unfortunately, my mother misplaced the booklet along with the account number and she can no longer make any deposits to the account. WBT started a policy which allow them to charge a large amount of penalties to any account that is not active.
My mother sent me documents to be completed and returned with a legal representative's signature, along with a letter from myself allowing my mother to be the executor of my assets in the WBT bank. All the documents were notarized by a state Notary Public before they were sent to my mother which she finally received a month later. My mother informed me via telephone that she took the documents to the bank and attempted to closed the account and deposit the money in another plan that doesn't penalize inactivity. However, the bank would not honor the documents for two main reasons:
1. A lawyer/attorney did not sign the document.
2. I did not state in my letter that my mother can close the account.
I am very disappointed and frustrated with the bank for their lack of knowledge and their inability to comprehend my will which I spelled out on the letter. I wrote the letter in English to the Bank Manager. A Notary Public is an officer who can administer oaths and statutory declarations, witness and authenticate documents, and perform certain other acts depending on the jurisdictions given to them by the state government. Notary Public services are recognized and practiced in England, Wales, Scotland, Australia, Zealand, and the United States of America.
At the salutation I used my title at my company to authenticate using my company's letter heads which has all my contact information including; e-mail, fax, telephone, and physical address. To date, I have not heard from the bank directly and the only information I received came second hand through my mother.
Please post the copy of my letter to the Manager of Wespac Bank of Tonga.
Respectfully
'Aisea T. Tu'ikolovatu
(Frustrated bank customer)
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