skarydrunkguy said:I know very little about safe deposit boxes, but I assumed that the price you pay for them includes insurance of its contents. Isn't there some kind of form you fill out with valuations or anything when you open one? Speaking of which, how much does a safe deposit box even cost these days? Like $100 a month or something for a standard 6x6 size? $100 a year? I just have no idea.

My renters insurance covers the contents of my safe deposit box. I'm sure people who own houses can find a similar mechanism assuming you insure said property.

Or is the point that you have things in your box that you don't want people to know about?

It seems to me that if they can charge my account the fee for the box yearly, they can not drill it.

I think I'm covered on all three of the above scenarios.

We should get Martha Stewart here so she could advise if it is better to use baking soda or baking powder.

The safety deposit boxes I've seen have two locks that are set to require two (different) keys:

1. The bank's master key, for which multiple boxes may be set, and
   
2. the customer's key, of which the customer has been given all (two) copies. (Don't keep the spare in the same box!)

The bank will drill if:

1. the customer loses all copies of the key and requests (and pays a fee for) calling the locksmith, or
   
2. the customer forfeits throungh non-payment.

The customer should be permitted to take the unopened box to a private space for access, so the bank personnel never need know what is kept in the box or even if it is empty. If no smells waft out of the box, You could write 'baking soda' on a bag of innocuous white powder and nobody should know, except through what wafts out of the box. I've heard that a lot of $100 bills are tainted with traces of some kind of drug powder... maybe it's a myth...

(If the ziploc bag is airtight, it won't absorb odors either! If the bag is leaky, you might want to make sure to protect the metal from corrosion in case of high humidity.)

It would require the bank and locksmith to work in cahoots to drill a box (which isn't a fast process), and then the customer lock is destroyed. Under proper operation, most items to be secured are secured under 'dual control', e.g. lock or locks requiring two exclusive pieces of information, where one person (e.g. management) has access to only part of a combination or pair of keys and another person (e.g. teller) has access to a second part or key. The system is designed to eliminate the need for any individual to have complete access.

When the lock is replaced after drilling, the customer's key most likely will not fit. That said, the customer key may still fit in a special case: if I recall correctly, a locksmith said something about a very expensive machine that could be set to try all key patterns to pick a lock over some lengthy period of time--just consider how many boxes are available at your bank.

Edit: I missed seeing that article. Possible solution: Install a homing beacon type device with activation delayed after the box is opened. Allow enough time for a reset code for normal box access. Maybe a lo-jack device would work? Of course checking the box on a regular basis would be much less complicated. And set things up with another trusted person, so that the trustee can access the box if the regular person can't.

Please. I worked in a bank for years and was bank examiner. The speculation here is crazy. Bank personnel do not open the boxes--customers due. Even in cases of death, a guardian/personal representative or lawyer opens the boxes. Think how random would it be as a bank person, you would take something, be subject to being searched or hiding it if the customer was there. Or the next day you disspear with you new found wealth? Yeah, that wouldn't raise any eyebrows. You know most people that work in banks are people like you. Your mom, your sister, your neighbor. Hardworking honest people that are rarely overpaid. Think people!

davidaexp1 said:Please. I worked in a bank for years and was bank examiner. The speculation here is crazy. Bank personnel do not open the boxes--customers due. Even in cases of death, a guardian/personal representative or lawyer opens the boxes. Think how random would it be as a bank person, you would take something, be subject to being searched or hiding it if the customer was there. Or the next day you disspear with you new found wealth? Yeah, that wouldn't raise any eyebrows. You know most people that work in banks are people like you. Your mom, your sister, your neighbor. Hardworking honest people that are rarely overpaid. Think people!

So what happens when your lawyer opens your safe deposit box and finds the cocain? Will he have to report it to the authoritites and therefore incriminate his own client?

$25 per year PNC bank

They are just going to try snorting it and get pissed off when they find out its not coke.