Bank of America Customers Cheated By New Banking Practices
June 6th:4: 25pm
Charlotte, NC (Consumer Watch Dog) Eric Florio, 23 of Gainesville, FL deposited a grand into his bank account with Bank of America and went about his business of using his bank card for whatever he needed. About a week later Eric was surprised to discover that his bank account was over drafted although he had spent less than he had deposited in his bank account, when he went into his local Bank of America branch he discovered that the bank had put a month hold on half the money that he had deposited causing his account to bounce although his online register showed his money as being available in his account. Eric is just one of thousands of Bank of America customers that has set up an account online and does not get a statement that has been or may be affected by Bank of America's policy change on February 5th.
Under Bank of America's new policy credit transactions on your debit card go through immediately instead of when they actually post on their website which makes the online balance registry that many customers depend on to balance their finances inaccurate. Like Eric, anyone who does not get or use their mailed statement would not have realized this change of policy as it was sent out somewhere on bank statements.
After I spoke with Eric the stories about people who have been burned by Bank of America started to pour in as they say. Stories like that of Anthony Edwards, 42 of Farmville, NC, who followed his online bank registry until Bank of America started bouncing his account with money in his account on his registry, and now his account bounces every week because he cannot catch up from the initial banking error. Mr. Edwards says that he knows 15 people that this has happened to with Bank of America in his little area that I have not even spoken to yet, so the numbers are just rising without trying to find the story really. Then there is the story of Deborah Arrington, she left Bank of America after she claims they ripped her off on a transaction concerning a rental car.
I myself became a victim of Bank of America's recent policy change in March. My mother had just died in February and I was back and forth between North Carolina and Florida so that I could be with my family and I depended on my online statements being accurate as they had always been before February. If you will recall, Bank of America actually encouraged the use of their online banking, but they never posted visibly on their website any notice of this change so being in FL and not getting my mail I never received any notification of this change.
My story is much like Eric's, on March 12th Bank of America over-drafted my account with money in there to cover it according to my online register. Since then they have over-drafted my account a total of 18 times, $630.00 in two full swoops. I had the money, I even put more money into my account even though some was in there to cover what was being bounced when they were bouncing my transactions, so that my car payment would go through and they bounced my car payment with $60.00 bucks more than my total car payment in my account.
The last thing we need in today's economy is a loss of trust in banking; we will be living in the 1930's all over again. I was shocked and appalled when this happened so I called Gail Brown, VP of the Kernersville, NC branch who was very helpful to me in the past the last time that Bank of America returned transactions when there was money available, and she blew me off for a week. American's today cannot afford this sort of breach of trust from their banks, just being blown off when it's our money and Americans are living tuff with rising fuel costs. After a week, yesterday, I finally got to speak to Gail. She informed me that since their policy change in February their online statement was no longer accurate so it was my fault even though I was not home in NC to get a mailed statement with the notice of this change somewhere in it. So, since then I have not depositing another dime into that account because I am afraid to use my own bank account, I simply cannot afford to pay Bank of America charges that are not legit. I will probably never use Bank of America again.
Bank of America made a change of policy that has affected many, and yet they did not make it clear, they did not put in on their website. Bank of America is entitled to change their policies yes, but they should make sure they are taking care of their customers and not ripping them off in the process. They should have realized that people depended on an accurate online registry as it has been ever since I have been with Bank of America, and they need to send out special notices and post changes this large on their website. Personally, I think Bank of America owes many people a refund. Can we really trust Bank of America with our money when they practice banking like this? Does Bank of America overcharging their customers with fees for doing nothing other than balancing with their online checkbook registry which was always accurate until February have something to do with the fact that Bank of America's market value fell below that of JP Morgan Chase & Co this week?
This situation makes me wonder how many other people out there really have been affected by this change, how many more of you are out there? If you have had a story similar to any of these about Bank of America contact me at: [email protected] and share you story with me.
Shawn N.
Charlotte, NC
Snacona
Charlotte, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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