This has been a very frustrating, more than one year experience.
I have spoken to everyone possible at Bank of America from executives in the Visa Card division to many people on the executive relations team at BOA corporate headquarters. They are very rude and not at all helpful.
At the suggestion of Office of Comptroller of the currency CC Nancy at ext 4312, on 8/9/05 I contacted
Bank of America - Nancy Condos at 877-898-5018. She was quite nice and seemed to want to resolve the situation, however, later in the day I received a call from on of her staff members to hear the same crap that I have been hearing for the past 10 months. I have tried many times to reach Mr. Liam McGee, president of small business banking at BofA corporate headquarters at 704-388-4179 and have spoken his secretary Gilda many times without resolution.
I left several messages for him to contact me but he has not called me back. It does not appear that they are interested to resolve this issue so I would like to file an official complaint against Bank of America. I have also received several threatening calls from members of BofA Coporate Security members telling me to quit calling "or else". They claim I am harrassing Mr. McGee by calling and asking for resolution of my issue. I am insistant. Not harrassing.
I have been a customer of the same bank since 1982, first as First Florida, then Barnett, then Nations Bank and finally Bank of America. Bank of America has been awful since the beginning. Terrible service.
The accounts involved with this complaint are my small business visa and small business checking account which are in both my business and personal name, Criss Cross Enterprises / Richard H. Francis. My accounts are based in Bank of America Venice, Florida main branch.
On Tueday October 12 I was scheduled to fly Continental Airlines from Las Vegas/Houston/Newark/Frankfurt where I had a 3 month stay. The arrival in Newark was late so I was diverted to Birmingham, England/Frankfurt to arrive the following day. My baggage was lost in the process for more than an additional day. My final destination was Cologne. I was not late for any flight, did not request any additional services or upgrades, nor did I change anything at all about the flight plan I merely followed the schedule set forth by Continental.
I paid my ticket weeks earlier through Jupiter Travel Co. Of Beverly Hills California. At check in, the lady asked to see the credit card that I charged the ticket to. I had already presented my drivers license and passport so I asked why the credit card was necessary. She said it was a requirement. I gave my card and she placed it on her counter and did some key strokes on the computer, then she picked up my card and went 5 or 6 stations to her right where there was another computer. She put my card on the counter and it appeared to me that she was looking back and forth at my card while she was typing.
After a few minutes she returned with my card. I asked her if she charged something to my card. She got red-faced and said no. I asked why she took it over there and what she was doing with it and she said nothing. I asked for a manager and asked an explanation. He told me that nothing had been done with my card and suggested that I be quiet or he would make a security report and I would not be permitted to board the plane.
I boarded the plane and proceeded to Houston, changing flights and eventually landing in Newark. The flight was late arriving and the connection to Frankfurt was missed. I was sent to try to get on a flight to England instead for connection the following day to Frankfurt. While in Newark I called my Visa Card company and asked if there was a charge made to it earlier that day.
They said that a $550 charge had been made. I immediately reported the charge as fraudulent and requested an email contact or a telephone number that could be reached from Germany. I was told that there was none other than the 800 number which cannot be called from Germany. I called my girlfriend in Las Vegas and asked her to contact the Visa Card department in the morning to do whatever reporting documentation was needed. She faxed, on my behalf, a form reporting the fraudulent charge. I continued on to Birmingham, England where there was yet another delay. I eventually arrived in Frankfurt to find my luggage missing and continued on to my final destination of Cologne without it. My luggage was found the following day and so I returned the 3 hours drive to Frankfurt to claim it.
There was little contact for the following three months, although the disputed amount of 550$ was removed from my bill for a period of time. I received a letter from Bank of America card services telling me the billing was for penalty fees for missing my out going flight and taking a later flight which required an upgrade in price plus change fee. I did not miss my out going flight. The letter says the airline has the right to charge my card at will without my permission or authorization for charges the airline feels I should pay.
The return flight to the US on January 3 was uneventful. Once I arrived home I immediately contacted the credit card division of BOA to inquire the status. They told me that a fraud investigation was never begun, that they did not consider it fraud and that the full amount was due. I requested copies of the charge record many times by certified return receipt mail, never to receive anything.
In several rude conversations I was given various excuses of why there would be no investigation. They said that it would be up to me to contact Continental airlines to request my flight record and to argue with them to get a credit. I attempted to get my flight record from Continental and was told that the record would probably not be available and that for them to research it I had to pay a fee which could only be collected by my giving my credit card number to the people who had already made an authorized charge to it.
I called several times to Continental customer service to find information about this charge. One lady told me unofficially that there was a passenger named RICHARD FRANGELLA who had a $550 charge related to his flight. I reported this to BOA and they said too bad that they would not do any more. I requested several more times to have a copy of the charge slip so that I could identify the person who did it.
BOA told me that when I give my credit card number to an airline that I give blanket authorization for them to charge it at will without my authorization, knowledge or signature. They said that the airline contract that comes with my ticket clearly states this. There is no such statement on the airline ticket or packet. I have written by certified mail requesting copies of these so called agreements. I have received nothing. I contacted BOA corporate headquarters many times to request assistance from the executive relations department. I encountered rude people who were of no help at all.
Eventually I noticed that my small business checking account was short. I checked my account record to see that BOA visa had gone into my small business checking account and removed $738.07 on June 20. They have offered no explanation other than they have exercised right of offset. I have no agreement in place with BOA that authorizes them to debit one of my accounts to satisfy another. I have not signed any addendums to any of my original agreements. BOA informs me that the agreement is implied?
I have complained to the OCC about this and received a reply that there are NO laws governing small business accounts and that the rules of Regulation E regarding unauthorized electronics transfers does not apply; therefore anyone, anywhere can legally steal whatever they want from your small business account without consequence.
I have since closed all of my accounts with Bank of America and continue to complain to them and demand they return the money that they stole from my account. Despite their threats I continue to demand $737.07. I have full documentation.
Richard
N. Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.
0 comments