My husband and I are in the middle of an identity theft nightmare and Bank of america made it worse!
At the beginning of November we 7 fradulent internet charges on our account. We closed the account and submitted two claims to recover the stolen money.
On boa's affidavit claim forms there is a line to supply them with an alternative account number in which to refund money in the event the original account is closed, which it was. Please do not be fooled into thinking that boa pays any attention to the forms you fill out.
So, Nov. 22nd we recieve a letter from boa debit card operations stating that claim 1 had been resolved and the money refunded to the bank account that was CLOSED! Sure enough on-line banking shows a pending balance in our account. Oops, can't put money in a closed account. There is inconveniently no number for me to reach the debit card operations people, the letter just says call the customer service number listed on my statement if I have any questions.
I tried calling my friendly customer service operator who gave me the number for debit card protection. I call and select option #3 (responding to a letter) Rosetta Watson said she could not assist customers in Washington state and transferred me to Clifton Jones, who was also unable to assist customers in Washington state so he transferred me back to the customer service line. This time I was told to call back debit card protection but select option #1. O.K. Fine I try it and am back talking with Rosetta, this time she transfers me to Anne Cousins who is surprised that Rosetta thought she could help me. Anne gave me some bogus 900 number to call and HUNG UP ON ME. Fine back to the general operator... 3 more calls and no help.
The next day I visit the manager of the local boa branch to see if in person I can find help. He has to call the same 800 number I did and is put on hold indefinitely. He ended up telling me that boa's system is broke.
Boa handled claim 2 by sending another letter from debit card operations claiming that they had refunded the money to the correct account. Too good to be true, yes! On-line banking showed no deposit made to my account. Five days after the supposed refund the manager of my local boa confirmed that indeed no deposit had been made.
There is to say the least a black hole that exists at boa. The "Electronics division" and the "Special Services" have investigators (I use that term loosely) that I was repeatedly told were handling my claims. Every time they "handled" a claim they made a mistake or just did not do what they claimed to have done. Meanwhile I, as the lowly customer, had no way of contacting these investigators. They are shielded by a barrage of operators who either; can't, won't, or don't know how to help you.
Beware, if you bank with boa (sorry), and you experience fraud, go ahead and set aside a month of your life to spend countless hours on the phone. You also may want to get a rx for an anti-anxiety drug from your dr.
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