I opened a checking account with Bank of America against my better judgment in January. Almost immediately I began having problems. The first incident occurred while I was traveling and they placed a hold on my account for "suspicious activity". Turns out the "suspicious activity" was me using my debit card to buy gas as I drove from Oklahoma to Tucson.
The next month, in March, I tried to pay for lunch and my card was declined. I went across the street and tried the card at an ATM and it said it was invalid. I called BOA and was transferred to their rude Risk Department and I was simply told that it was closed because I was an "at risk" customer. Turns out, being an "at risk" customer also translates into "you do not do enough for OUR bank financially to be our customer". NEVER ONCE during the time I was a customer of BOA did I have an overdraft (at least not one I caused).in the few months I was banking there I deposited nearly $5000 but I guess that since I also spent nearly $5000, they did not want me as their customer since the money did not stay in the bank long enough for THEM to benefit. I am also unemployed BY CHOICE and I suppose that may have scared them as well.
After the discussion with the Risk Department, I was told I would receive a refund in 7-10 days. It never came.
I also asked why I could not go into a local Tucson branch and get my money (remember, I was traveling at the time they screwed me and it left me with ZERO funds. Fortunately, my partner arrived in Tucson the same day and transferred a thousand dollars to my Paypal debit card so I could have some $ to drive back to Oklahoma.)
The only thing I did get from BOA was a letter dated March 7th telling me they closed my account. A few days after that, I started receiving OVERDRAFT NOTICES, the first for my account with BOA. It turns out, that since they had my account on "hold" for being "at risk", technically I had no money in my account and my balance showed that I was overdrawn $88,888.81, I guess that is their way of showing any teller you are a risk customer.
After balancing my account, it turns out they screwed me out of several hundred dollars in overdraft fees during the time my account was on hold.
I spoke to some idiot in Risk who could not speak English. He kept asking for my so-so. I asked him several times what he said and asked if that was English and he kept saying "so-so". Turns out he wanted my SOCIAL SECURITY number. I asked to speak to his supervisor and I got ahold of some arrogant ass named Jessie and he bluntly told me they were NOT going to refund my overdraft fees, as outlined in my agreement with them. After some screaming and yelling, he hung up on me and when I called back, I spoke to some nice girl who DID speak English and she told me that yes, she saw that I did have funds in my account at the time of the overdrafts and she would send an e-mail to some department and my refund would be issued. I will not hold my breath but if it has not arrived within 10 business days, I will file a Small Claims suit against them.
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