Let me first say that I believe that Bank of America is run by the devil himself, and the rest of the employees are his demons.
I have been a customer of Bank of America for over 10 years. Mostly because they have swallowed up smaller banks over the years (Baybank, BankBoston, Fleet, etc.). A few years ago I began to notice their 'questionable' business practices, but recently I have really felt the effects of these practices.
I was laid off from my job about a year ago and have had trouble finding a comparable position in my field. The positions I've held have been high-paying positions ($150K) so up until now, I never noticed overdraft charges since I was never overdrawn and had quite a bit of money in my BofA accounts. But let's just say that with no income for a year, money has become an issue.
At one point, after paying all my bills I had $12 in my checking account, and maybe $80 dollars of credit available in my Checking-Overdraft account. I bought a few things at a few stores (a few $5 charges), knowing that I had $12 in the account. I was on vacation at the time. When I returned and checked my balance online, I saw that not only was the $12 gone, but my checking balance was now at -$200!
I called the bank to ask what happened. They told me that their checking account charges ($13) had hit my account, wiping out the $12 and putting me into the negative. Since my account was 'overdrawn' by $1, I was hit with a $35 overdraft fee, and then each of my $5 transactions was also hit with $25 dollar fees.in addition, a couple Internet merchants (Netflix, etc.) had charged my account at the time, which BofA paid (from my negative account) but charged me $35 for doing it. The Netflix charge was $17, but it cost me twice that much for BofA to pay it. The other merchant charges were around $10 each, which also cost $35 each.
I asked the Bank about these charges. They told me that they pay these charges as a 'convenience' to me, but they also charge a fee for doing it. I asked why if there was no money in the account, why they would honor ANY charge that came into the account. She told me that if the charge was 'really important' customers would appreciate that the bank paid it and that if a merchant is authorized to make a charge against the account then BofA 'has to' pay it (as if they don't control the money in their bank). I asked her what amount they would pay. "If someone makes an 'authorized' charge of $10,000 would you pay it?" She said she didn't think so.
I told her that I was not aware of this policy and was not aware that there was no money in the account, otherwise I wouldn't have used the debit card. Because I have been a customer for over 10 years and at one point had a large sum of money in their bank, I asked if the overdraft charges could be reversed. She 'talked with her supervisor' and said she was authorized to refund 2 of the $35 overdraft charges. I thanked her and said goodbye.
I checked my account right after I got off the phone with her and instead of $70 being refunded into my account, only $42 was credited to my account. I had a few things going on, so I wasn't able to call them for a few days afterwards.
In between these calls, I at one point had to go to a physical bank to make payments into specific accounts because if I deposited the cash into my checking account, the money would instantly be applied to my negative balance, and I would have no money to make the payments I needed to make. So I went to the bank, told the teller which 2 accounts I wanted the money put into, and he did it. I was relieved that I had made my payments on time. I could not have done this at an ATM.
A few days later, I call BofA to discuss the $42 refund which should have been $70 dollars. Since one of the accounts that I paid at the bank was now 'late' (?) I was transferred to someone who could bug me about why the account was not paid. I told this account WAS paid and that I went to a physical bank and made a cash deposit directly into the account. He told me that there was no record of that transaction and that I should go back to the bank with my receipt to get it taken care of. I told him I would do that.
I look at my receipt from the transaction and found that the teller had put BOTH payments into the SAME account. How stupid can you be? Why would anyone DO that? Why wouldn't I just give him the total amount of cash if I wanted it to go into one account. It would be less time for me, for him, etc to just do one transaction.
So I call bofA back and tell for 2 reasons: 1 to discuss the $70 that should have been refunded (but I only got $42) and 2 to discuss transferring the payment that I made at the bank into the correct account.
The 'girl' that I spoke with sounded like she was 15 years old. I told her what happened about the refunded $42 and how it should have been $70. She asked me to hold, which I did. She came back and told me "I'm sorry, but I don't have the authorization to increase the refund." I told her that I don't know what that means and that I had just spoken with someone the other day who spoke with their supervisor and a $70 refund was approved by them. She told me that there was no record of that, or anyone's approval. She did see the $42 refund, though. I asked her if she could see who refunded the $42 and she said yes. I asked if she could contact that person because that person would obviously remember who she received approval from. She told me that yes, she could see who processed the $42 refund, but because they 'don't have extensions' at the bank (WHAT?) she wouldn't be able to contact her and she was sorry that she couldn't do anything about it.
Rather than start screaming at her, I told her 'whatever', and told her about my other issue: transferring a payment from one account to another. She transferred me to someone else. I explained my situation and the person told me that she would see if she could do that. She put me on hold about 5 times while she supposedly talked with managers. She explained that she was working on a 'new system' (how many 'new systems' can you have? Because every time i have ever called the bank, they pull out the 'new system' excuse). She told me what she would do was transfer the money into my checking account (which was what I was trying to avoid by going TO the bank) and then I could make my payment online. I told her that not only wouldn't that work (because the funds would be instantly absorbed by my negative balance) but even if it did work, my payment would then be late and I would be hit with a late fee of $39.
She then told me that she could cut a check and mail it to me. I told her, again, that doing that would make my payment late. The mistake was BofA's and I just wanted her to transfer money between accounts! Are they NOT a BANK? Isn't that what banks DO? Give me a break!
Eventually, she 'figured it out'. She asked me if there was anything else she could do, so I brought up the $42 refund issue. She eventually transferred me to some 'Manager' in 'Montana'. I told him the story of what happened with the $70 refund that turned into $42 and wanted to balance to be credited to my account. He asked me in a certain 'tone' if the charges were made 'in error'. I explained the situation and that I had spoken with someone a week earlier and that the $70 was approved. He told me that there was no record of any supervisor's approval. I asked if he could see the name of the person that completed the refund so that he could find out who approved the refund, and he said yes, but 'I'm in Montana and she's in Florida' so she's gone for the day and I have no way of getting in touch with her. (At least he didn't say the bank doesn't have extensions or he's on a 'new system'!)
He puts me on hold for little while and comes back and tells me that it's done. I check my account and it IS actually done.
This phone call alone took over 90 minutes.in the end, I got what they told me I would get, but it's little consolation since they only refunded $70 out of $200 of overdraft charges.
I HATE this bank and as soon as I can pay off all of my accounts (and overdraft charges) I will be taking my business elsewhere. I suggest everyone do the same. If they have no customers, then they have no power. There are PLENTY of other banks to choose from. This is outright fraud, loan sharking, stealing, lying, and other unsavory business practices. They prey on people who can barely keep their accounts up to date. If the person doesn't have the money to pay the bill in the first place, how are they supposed to come up with the money to pay overdraft charges or late fees or interest increases? The sad fact is that ALL of this is LEGAL. It may be hard to believe, but it is. The only way the laws will change is if WE change them. Write your state representative and Senator and tell them that you want to put an end to these deceptive business practices!
Disgusted1
Anytown, Delaware
U.S.A.
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