I have a Bank of America account. I deal with the bank nearly always by the Internet or telephone as I travel often. Awhile back I ordered a CD that paid 5%
interest. I knew roughly the date when the CD would mature, but not exactly when, as the bank didn't include details of it in my bank statements.
I received a letter from the bank that my Cd had matured and the bank had rolled it over to another CD paying only 1.59%. I hadn't asked the bank to roll the CD over, they do it without asking.
I could see on the Internet that the Bank of America was at this time offering interest rates of 2.5% on CD's. I applied online for another CD with the higher interest rate. Knowing that if I changed the CD that the bank had given me within 10 days there wouldn't be a penalty.
After a wait of several days the bank emailed me that I couldn't apply for a new CD online, but had to contact my personal bank for one. Seems the online offers are for attracting new customers. I contacted my representative by email asking for the CD to be changed for one with the going interest rate. There wasn't a response from her, I inquired again a few days later and was told that I had exceeded the time limit and would be penalized three months interest if I changed CD's.
My sister, who also has a Bank of America account, had the same experience.
The bank must save a lot of money by paying less than the current interest rate.
Another thing about the Bank of America is their horrible computerized telephone system. It's very difficult to get to speak to a human, and when you do they never know anything and can't help. They say they need to transfer me to another person to help. I plead with them not to put me back on the telephone computer system, but they mostly do.
I really dislike this bank and am searching for a better one.
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