Imagine a courier service and a bank doing you out of your hard earned money, how would you feel?? What if that amount happened to be $846, 000, would that be enough to blow your top and see red??? That’s exactly what happened when the United Parcel Service lost this Canadian man’s draft of $846, 000 of the TD Canada Trust bank. The amount was part of a Father’s inheritance sent to him in Cornwall, Ontario by his sister in Georgetown.
If you thought losing the money was atrocious, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Much to the irritation of the man and his wife, UPS offered to pay $32 in compensation and the bank??? TD Canada Trust made them run for 10 months unwilling to return their money. For Louis Paul Herbert, his sister Lorette Taylor and her husband John, it was the most harrowing time of their life.
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As if their Father’s death wasn’t grief enough, what UPS and the TD Canada Trust made this brother and sister go through is appalling to say the least. It all began in February when Lorette was left in charge of disbursing the inheritances as dictated by her Father’s will. It was her duty to disburse the amount to her sister and her brother Louis in Cornwall, Ontario.
Lorette and her husband John went to the local TD Canada Trust Branch on Brant Street in Burlington to get certified cheques. The bank advised them to make a draft instead as that was the wise thing to do. Lorette also had the sense to ask what steps would the bank take in the event of the draft being lost or even stolen.
John said "I was told there were procedures to deal with that," He added that they were informed by the bank that in such circumstances, it only required some formalities and documentation to get a new draft. That seemed to be famous last words!! 10 months passed and Louis still waited for the money.
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Louis mentioned that he had gone down to the UPS branch in Cornwall, Ontario as he was expecting to receive Lorette’s letter and the draft of $846, 000. It never came!! In an interview with CBC news who investigated the loss, Luis says. I’m waiting at the UPS store, around 3 p.m. because that’s when they said the guys came in, nothing shows up,” “I came back in the evening. Nothing shows up … and I’m wondering, ‘what’s happened to my inheritance?'
Lorette had just sent the money through UPS from her lawyer in Georgetown Ontario which was 270 miles away. She thought it best to courier the draft to save Louis the trouble of driving all the way down to pick it up. Herbert regretted the fact saying “I should have just driven, it’s something I kick myself in the rear over every day.”
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The United Parcel Service lost a Canadian man’s draft of $846, 000 and was only able to track the document till a parcel distribution center North of Toronto. They admitted that they had no idea further than that. UPS slogan is “What can brown do for you?” Well, you can certainly start taking more care of people’s hard earned money for once.
The courier company nonchalantly offered to pay $32 and issue an apology letter. Isn’t that hilarious?? As for TD?? They did not offer to replace a dime for the bank guaranteed draft. This is what started a nightmare for the couple leading to several trips to the courier service and bank. According to Lorette “many a night of lost sleep, and gnashing of teeth and anger. Frustration, unbelievable frustration” for both brother and sister.
Lorette said “They said a bank draft was more appropriate” for that amount of money, never in my wildest imagination did I think something like this would happen.” The bank had also assured her that if the money was lost, she could retrieve it immediately.
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The spokeswoman for UPS Nirali Raval told CBC, “While UPS’ service is excellent in our industry, we are unfortunately not perfect. Occasionally, the loss of a package does occur,” She also refused specific questions put to her concerning the responsibility of people’s packages. She went on to reveal that the search and operations team undertook an extensive and thorough checkup for the draft but were unable to locate it.
Get this!! TD agreed to refund the money only if Lorette signed an agreement saying she will return the sum if someone encashed the draft. Now isn’t that absurd because every bank should have a stop check or draft policy in place as items are liable to get stolen. Wouldn’t the data of the draft number appear on screen if someone tried to encash the draft?
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Not just Lorette, if she expired, her spouse, children relatives and executors would all be indebted to the bank to repay the amount.
After much deliberation, Lorette signed the agreement. In fact the bank went as far as to demand an indemnity in which case her house in case the check was cashed but Lorette refused saying that it was UPS who should provide such a thing. Louis, of course, was in a huge dilemma as he was short of money and his credit cards had been exhausted. He didn’t even have money to survive.
“TD has the money. The money is actually sitting in an account with TD. Nothing has been stolen. It’s there. That’s my inheritance,” he said, adding that if he had the cash, “I would have been retired.”
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After their story had been covered by investigative reporter John Lancaster CBC News, the bank seemed to have got cold feet. However, it took them 10 months to realize this and just last week finally relented in what has now appeared to have become a David-Goliath struggle. The TD Canada Trust even went as far as issuing an apology and it released the money.
After UPS lost this Canadian man’s draft of $846,000, it took 10 months for TD Canada to finally realize what they did was wrong. Said bank spokeswoman Cheryl Flicker “We understand that we've reached a resolution with our customer, It's clear to us we didn't get this right along the way and that there was more we could have done to come to a resolution faster."
As for Lorette Taylor and Louis Herbert, the brother and sister couldn’t be happier "It was a total surprise" she said about the nightmarish struggle “Never in my wildest imagination did I think something like this would happen." Power to the media as always.
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