Thanks for all the great responses about what constitutes an emergency. It certainly made me think we did make the right decision- and will save the EF $$ for those real emergencies!
Miriam had suggested that the bank should pay for the mistake, not us, since it was there fault. Thanks Miriam! It truly had not crossed my mind at all that they might take on some of the responsibility. I can't say I have had much success, but here is what happened.
1. I called telephone banking immediately since the branch was already closed. The representative there said that I should phone the branch because they may be able to help compensate for the mistake (he said this with very little prompting from me).
2. I called the mortgage person we dealt with at the branch this morning. He no longer works there. I then called the branch manager and talked with her instead. She was MOST unhelpful. She pointed out repeatedly that I should have noticed the mistake and that we were responsible since we had signed the papers (which showed an inadequate amount being taken off for taxes). I agreed with her that it certainly was partly my fault, but that I felt it also was the fault of the mortgage person. I emphasized that I had never had a mortgage before or bought a house and I was trusting that the mortgage person was completing the paperwork correctly.
The result at this point is that the branch manager agreed to pay the $72 interest we would incur because of this mistake, but she does not see how she can pay any more than this amount. She said she would get back to me next week after she looks in to this issue further.
In the mean time we are in the process of switching banks to a local credit union. I met with a representative there 2 weeks ago and I was pleased with her knowledge and willingness to help us as small business owners. I have also found the email address of the bank's ombudsman and I think I will start writing a letter outlining some of the difficulties we have had with CIBC over the past few months.
I truly do not expect any more compensation, which just means that it is all that easier for me to push hard if I get a "no" (if I have nothing to lose) from the branch next week. Will let you know though!
If I had any guts, that's what I would say. :)
Oh well, at least you won't have to pay the interest. I can't believe they would sic that on you! They should have waived it in the letter!
Hope everything goes well. Definitely keep us updated.
Lol, I just read the thing about wooly, cause I always imagined wooly mammoths, and the BC area, it kind of made sense to me that way. Then the whole "clawing" your way to financial health, I kind of figured that wooly mammoths have claws to boot.
Just noticed that you put environment/forestry/forest fires as your interests--I'm actually studying in a program not too far from that!