Conference 7.286::dcu

    
    I, too, would like to understand why accounts with a zero balance
    still appear.  I have loan accounts from a year or so ago still
    showing up with zero balance.
    
    It doesn't make sense, and in my opinion, makes a sloppy looking
    bank statement.

        Have you considered taking your monthly statement to your DCU
        branch and asking them why the accounts appear?  Or have you
        mailed a copy of the statement back to the DCU, with the area
        containing the "closed" accounts circled, and asked why they
        are still appearing on your statement?  What answer did you
        get?
        
        It's EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that anyone who works in the DCU has
        access to this conference, so it's not likely that you'll get
        an authoritative answer in here.  You might succeed in getting
        a lot of speculation.  To that end, my opinion:
        
        DCU never really "closes" the account, unless, perhaps, you
        explicitly ask them to.  Or, perhaps whoever wrote the program
        and data base design that's generating the statement didn't
        correctly handle this case.  In other words, either it's on
        purpose or it's a screw-up.
        
        Tom

    Re: -.1
    
    Please don't flame at the people responding to this note.  The original
    purpose of the note was to determine if the same situation existed
    with other people or my situation was a fluke.  As for calling DCU
    and asking them if their system was programmed correctly and may
    I offer a suggestion to the system designer to drop year old,
    meaningless accounts; why the h*#l should I!?!?  In my own humble
    opinion ;-), I shouldn't have to waste my time to ask for something
    intuitively obvious.
    

	After balancing the latest statement, I checked back to see how
	long these "dead" accounts have been on my statement.  What I found
	was even more confusing.

			Balance		Balance		Balance
	Statement	CD1		CD2		Share 13

	 3-30-86	goes to 0	Opened		> 0
	 4-30-86     (doesn't appear)	> 0		goes to 0
	 5-31-86     (doesn't appear)	> 0		0
	 6-29-86     (doesn't appear)	> 0		0
	 7-31-86	0		> 0		0
	 8-31-86	0		> 0		0
	 9-28-86	0		goes to 0	0
	10-31-86	0		0		0
	11-30-86	0		0		0
	12-31-86     (doesn't appear)  (doesn't appear) (doesn't appear)
	 1-31-86	0		0		0
	 2-28-86	0		0		0

	So I have three accounts that randomly seem to be appearing and
	disappearing.  This was a bit too much for me to fathom so I called
	DCU and talked to somebody about it.  The person could not explain
	any of it even after talking to the "programmers".  She said that
	they purge dead accounts at the beginning of the year but they were
	running behind this year.  I said I'd wait a few months and see if
	they eventually disappeared (again).

	A couple of points:

	I certainly hope they didn't pay money for their software because
	they got ripped off.
	I hope they manage accounts with balances better than the way they
	deal with "dead" accounts.
	Calling DCU sometimes gets you no where.

I, too, called DCU to find out about my dead accounts (1 loan, 1 escrow to
said loan, and Xmas club).  Each of these accounts have been dead a minimum
of 8 months (Xmas club was closed over 2 years ago).  The girl there said 
she'd check with their programmers to find out why this was happening and try 
and get it corrected.  I haven't yet received my latest statement, so can't I
comment on if it was, indeed, corrected.  I'll be watching.

-Andy

    I got a letter last night from DCU telling me DCU is going to delete
    my CRT account if I don't send in the enclosed form!!!  Now here
    is an account that I had to apply for and keep as an emergency cash
    fund (as they advertise it) and they want to blow it away!!!  It
    just gauls the hell out of me to have to waste my time and $.22
    to keep this account open while I have three others that they should
    be worrying about deleting.  Not to mention their time and money
    (which is money that won't be distributed to members now) to send
    this crap out.

    I thought DCU was the greatest thing since sliced bread when I first
    joined.  The more I see, the less I'm impressed.

I just got my statement for the month and my closed accounts no longer show.  
Apparently they either removed them from my account at my request or there 
was, indeed, a programming error (hopefully corrected).

-Andy

    Yes, mine disappeared too, but they've done that before.  The question
    is have they disappeared for good???  Now the IRA which I "closed"
    is showing up with the interest from the period.  I have just given
    up trying to figure DCU's archaic system.  Maybe someday they will
    know what "close" means to the customer and not their assinine computer
    system.
    
    Phil

    The "Draft Account Summary" on my monthly statement lists all "Draft
    #'s" and the amount (as I'm sure it does on everyones).  Next to
    *some* of the draft numbers is an "*".  Does anyone else have these
    appear and do they know what they're used for?

    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    - Chris
    

    The draft account summary is listed in check # order.  The entries
    with a * are those that are not in strict sequence because of a
    missing check #.
    
    Larry
    

    re: .-1
    
    Thanks!
    
    - Chris
    

        
    	Perhaps I found the correct place to put this... The previous
    	replies, although ancient, refer to the draft account summary
    	at the end of your checking (oops, sorry.  Sharedraft) account
    	portion.  By some fate, my account statement is such that the
    	account summary is split between the bottom of one page of my
    	statement, and the top of the next page.  Not so bad, except
    	that this summary comes in four columns, and the checks are
    	listed in order down the columns.  So to read all my checks
    	in order I start at the bottom of one page, continue that column
    	on the top of the next, get to the bottom of the column (at
    	the top of the page) and I have to go back to the bottom of
    	the previous page to get to the top of my next column.  (Whew.)
    	Over and over again 4 times.  This is a nuisance, to say the
    	least.  
    
    	There has got to be a better way.  Perhaps the program can
    	be smart enough to know how many lines are left on the first
    	page, and either skip those lines if there is not enough to
    	fit the whole summary, or perhaps break the summary up into
    	two parts so that I can read the first half of the report 
    	continuously on the first page, and then the second half on
    	the second page or perhaps they can list the summary report
    	across rows instead of down columns.  Or simply put a form
    	feed preceding the summary and always force it to the top of
    	the next page...
    
    	Where is the proper place to make this type of suggestion
    	to DCU?
    
    	Joe Oppelt

    Joe,    
    
        I have had the same problem from time to time and wasn't sure
    if I could word it so anyone knew what I was talking about. It IS
    a major hassle.
    
    Wes

    This is an official response by Mary Madden of the DCU. The portion of
    that response, dated 30-May-1989, that applies to this note topic is
    included below. See note 2.22 for more information. 
    
    Your comments on this response should be posted here or directed to
    to DCU directly at Mary Madden's number (dtn) 223-6735 x207.
    (Note: New extension for Mary Madden)
        
    Carl Leeber
******************************************************************************
    
     RE: 13.13 (sharedraft listing on statements--draft account summary)
    
             We are working with our software vendor to have the account
             summary information presented horizontally.  Once this new 
             format has been programmed and tested, we will make the change 
             on our monthly statements.
         
             We continually urge members, with suggestions or 
             comments, to contact MARY MADDEN at DTN/223-6735 or 
             508/493-6735.
         
******************************************************************************

    The horizontal format will also make it clear (to me) where the
    missing sequences are because the  "   *   "  will fall between
    two numbers.  Otherwise I always find myself having to check the
    sequence before and after the "*" !
    
    	RMM
    

    	re .15
    
    	I DID IT!  I DID IT!!  Look, Mom, I changed the system;  I made a
    	difference!
    
    	Now that I'm on a roll, I would like to suggest that all interest
    	rates for interest-bearing accounts be increased by .1% for each
    	year as an active member...  
    
    	Joe Oppelt

    As soon as I get my monthly statement, I sit down with it and my
    checkbook to check off entries in the checkbook register as I match
    them to the monthly statement.  I start with the section toward the end
    of the statement which lists draft# and amount, in draft# order.  I
    check each amount against what's in the checkbook register, and make a
    checkmark in the register.  Then I go though the main section of the
    statement for anything other than checks (deposits, withdrawals,
    transfers, fees, interest) and check them off in the checkbook
    register.
    
    I do this to ensure that the bank's idea of my balance matches mine. 
    They didn't match on my last statement.  I spent quite awhile looking
    for a math error of mine, with no luck.  Eventually I noticed that
    check 619 was listed on the main part of the statement twice, about two
    weeks apart, for different amounts.  And check 629 wasn't listed, but
    one of the amounts matched the amount of check 629.
    
    I guess accidents happen.  Maybe what I expected was a line on the
    statement mentioning that two checks showed up with the same number.
    							Larry

    I forget which note brought it up, but my monthly statements are sent
    out pre-sorted first class mail.  So, it doesn't cost $0.29, it was
    somewhere around $0.235.
    
    Don