A 10-year-old girl earned $2,100 by selling chickens, but the bank refused to give her the cash and closed her account.
A 10-year-old girl named Kinley Maner from Arizona recently faced a surprising challenge after earning $2,100 from selling chickens.
Kinley, who raised the chickens herself, was excited about her earnings.
However, when her mother tried to deposit the check, things took an unexpected turn.
The girl started taking care of the animals at a very young age
Kinley lives in Thatcher, a small town in Arizona, about three hours southeast of Phoenix.
She started raising chickens because she thought it would be fun.
“I just thought that it would be fun because when they’re little, they’re so cute,” Kinley said.
With encouragement from her parents, Kinley learned how to care for the animals.
Her father, JR, noted that this experience taught her important lessons about responsibility and working hard.
“She really enjoyed it, had a lot of fun, learned a lot about chickens,” JR, Kinley’s dad, said.
“It really taught her kind of strict obedience of being out there and taking care of an animal.”
Kinley showcased her chickens at a local county fair, where she sold six of them for a total of $2,100.
The buyer paid her with a check, which her mother, Kalli, deposited using the bank’s mobile app.
The bank refused to give the girl money and abruptly closed her mom’s account
After the deposit, the family was shocked when Chase Bank abruptly closed Kalli’s account.
“So we cashed it,” JR said, adding, “Didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
“And the next day, Chase closed Kalli’s bank account.”
They received a notification that the check seemed suspicious.
Kinley’s parents were surprised and confused, as they did not think there was anything wrong with the payment.
Kalli spent hours trying to resolve the situation with the bank.
The reason the bank didn’t give money to Kinley
Chase told her that it could not verify the check because the Small Stock Association issued it.
The phone number associated with the organization was out of service.
The bank told Kalli they needed to confirm the check before Kinley could receive her money.
“Their ultimate response is that sorry, Kinley is not going to get her money back,” JR said.
“And there’s nothing we can do unless we can verify that check.”
Kinley was understandably upset about the situation.
She had plans for the money, which she wanted to use for her college fund.
“I was a little bit upset because I deserved that money, and it was supposed to be mine,” she said.
Her father expressed frustration over the bank’s actions, emphasizing that Kinley worked hard for her earnings.
Despite their efforts, the family struggled to get a clear answer from Chase.
They even contacted the Small Stock Association to verify the check, but the bank still refused to release the funds.
The situation worsened when the check writer visited the bank multiple times to confirm his identity and payment.
“The guy who wrote the check has gone into Chase three different times, saying ‘Hey, this is me. You can verify it in person,’” Kinley’s mom said.
“And they said the only way to verify it is through that number on the phone.”
Kinley and her family finally received the money
After months of back-and-forth with the bank, Kinley’s family decided to reach out to local news station KHPO-TV for assistance.
They hoped that media attention might help resolve the issue.
The news team contacted Chase Bank to inquire about the situation.
In a surprising turn of events, just hours after the news station reached out, Chase Bank contacted Kinley and her family.
They apologized for the confusion and quickly issued a check for $2,100 to Kinley.
When Kinley received the check, she was both surprised and excited.
“I was surprised when I got it, but I also was excited,” she said.
JR believed that the news team’s involvement resolved the situation quickly.