Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Honest Folks Finish Last At BOA


Folks this is a long one, but it's really good and Katrina's problems give you a great idea on how this company works. Definitely worth the time...

"Oh my God I can't believe there is a whole blog on how much they suck. I thought it was me! Here's our story...

In early September my husband and I received a check in the amount of $3229.45, we deposited it in our account through the ATM on Friday night and proceeded to pay bills and so on. Well, Monday morning came along, and I logged into my online banking and BAM: 6 overdraft charges. And why? Because BOA chooses how they process transactions; they chose to process all our debits (which in no way added up to our deposit) in front of our very large deposit (which came before the debits) and hit us with overdraft charges. As I looked down the page ... hmmm, no deposit. I was livid and sent my husband to the bank (I would have gotten myself arrested). The teller promptly apologized, refunded us the charges, and then took the deposit out of the ATM and processed it as a counter credit in the form of cash. So I think, "OK great, BOA is a decent bank." ... hahaha...

Tuesday comes along, I check my account and to my surprise another deposit of $3229.45 which brings my account to well over $7000.00 (including money already in there). I showed my husband and he went to the bank yet again to let them know we had a double deposit. BOA said no problem we will handle it and that amount will be out of your account in 2 days. So 2 days passes with agony because of course I want to say screw you BOA I'm going to spend it for the many times my deposits and debits disappeared then reappeared and the many overdraft fees you charged me before this incident for no reason, but my husband was the voice of reason and we left it alone.

Well on the 3rd day it was still there. My husband went to the bank again and this time she said I informed the ATM department and they know so it's up to them. Oh great so now we are stuck trying to figure out our balance. We never use cash and in our account the money is in-out, in-out, in-out. My husband and I make deposits and debits with out informing each other and this system works for us. Well now I'm transferring this supposed bank mistake out of out main account into our secondary account to try to make the numbers work, they never worked out. We never figured out our balance and it was a constant battle. The bills that I scheduled months in advance and knew were covered, somehow on paper were not covered with that money out of the account. So I told my husband they must have taken this double deposit out when they said they were going to. So now I transfer it back again and decide "Hey screw it I'm paying my bills and it's there mistake so let them deal with the consequences if they didn't take it out."

Ok this brings us to October 4, 2005. In the mail there is a letter from BOA and it reads like this:

Amount: $3229.45
Claim # *********SEP05
Account Number ending in: ****

Dear Blah Blah

We sincerely thank you for notifying us of the credit that posted to your account in error. In light of this information, your account was debited $3229.45 on October 3, 2005. Bank of America appreciates your business and values you as a customer. If we may assist you in the future do not hesitate to call.

ATM/Debit Card Operations DEPC01

OK see the "was debited" right? ... Well today is November 8, 2005 and I receive a phone call from my upset husband "Katrina we have a huge problem, check the account". I check the account and there are 7 negative items that were cleared between Nov. 5-7 (I checked the account yesterday they were cleared then, not pending) And now my account is negative and BOA squeezed a credit correction in before them in the amount of $3229.45! OMG It is well over 2 months of this, after a letter that told us in black and white 1 month and 4 days ago that it was already taken care of. Oh and the $433.00 deposit we made yesterday mysteriously disappeared from yesterday's register. Why wasn't their "credit correction" in pending? Why did they send me a letter saying it was taken out? Why do they think they can put that "correction" before my already cleared items and charge me overdraft charges? Who is going to pay my bills now that my account is negative $3223? And a phone call to them today produced this..."We can't help you, it wasn't taken out, you will have to go to a branch to sort it out, you got a letter really?, well your going to have to prove it."

OMG I definitely have the letter and I definitely am not eating that 3229.45 ... We tried to be honest and still got screwed. I will be closing all 3 accounts I have with [BOA]. And according to the NYS Banking Commission you were supposed to inform us of the "set back charges" along with a reason. You did not because otherwise we would have produced this letter then. What would have been your reason anyway? ... The moron behind the desk that should have done it but didn't and sent me a letter anyway will have to eat it! I WILL TAKE THIS TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW. You cannot do this to people and then say too bad.

That is our story and I really, really hope you post it because what they are doing to me is just plain wrong and I want people to know how bad they blow. BOA is apparently notorious for this stuff too bad I didn't find your blog before I opened up my accounts with them. Thank you for your blog!

Thank you so much (PS) We are going to the branch tomorrow."

Being honest about their error and it came back & bit y'all in the ass, huh? That sucks bigtime. That'd be like finding someone's wallet, calling them up to return it, and meeting up with them only to find that they've brought a posse to beat the crap out of you and steal your wallet too. Good luck, Katrina!

And this is a reminder to folks out there, if you get screwed, do something about it. Write every website you can (see our links). Call every consumer watchdog in the media. Make it hurt them. And for future reference remember: You can't play nice with a cheat.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Transfers Just Happen


Thanks to Diana for explaining how BOA can just move your money around without notice...

"I just had a very unpleasant conversation with Bank of America. I had received 3 Advice of Debit papers from Bank of America. I called to find out what these were about. I have 2 accounts there. One account I am dealing with because I had some withdrawals from an on-line website that I have been trying to deal with. So until it is solved I opened up another account for my Direct Deposits to go into.

Well these Advice of Debit cards were to tell me that they transferred $308.78 to go toward my old account to make it so I owed no more money on that account. I still had an account with them and told the lady when I opened up a new account that the other account would be solved as soon as I could get in contact with the company that took out the money out of my old account.

So I asked the lady on the phone why they did not contact me either by phone or mail to let me know that they were going to withdraw $308.78 out of my account. She said that they do not have to. I think it would be common courtesy to one of your customers if you were going to transfer funds out of there account to let them know. Don't you?

So I have written 4 checks out for bills thinking I had money in my account. Now all are going to bounce and on top of it have $34.00 fees for each one. All the lady could tell me was sorry. I would not have cared if the money got withdrawn but all you had to do was notify me ahead of time.

I have also been waiting for my ATM card. I lost my wallet so ordered a new one at the bank in Lowell, MA about two weeks. The lady also told me on the phone that it was never ordered. The teller told me it was. It wasn't even cancelled.

So I will never do my banking again at Bank of America. All they had to do was send a letter or make a phone call. It's common courtesy."

For human beings, Diana, it is. But this is BOA we're talking about. They suck the blood of children. At least, I'm pretty sure they do.

Size Matters?


Thanks to Sharon for sharing her nightmare story, a similar one to the two below it, about BOA's curious "largest charge first" policy...

"On August 30th, I was charged two overdraft fees of $31.00 each because of an error at a local store chain. I called the 1-800 number and was told the reason for two overdrafts is that they deduct the largest amount first and then the smallest.

Example: If I have $100.00 and use $40 that is covered (at the moment), but [later] if I go and use $105.00 ... what the bank will do instead of having one overdraft is take the $105.00 and say it was an overdraft (which it is) and then go back and say that the $40.00 is an overdraft also. They will not give you credit for the $40.00 which they could, but instead they want two overdraft fees and not one."

Exactly. Didn't know BOA were such size queens, but I guess they really believe bigger is better. Just wish the 'effects' went the other way, don't you?

BOA Takes Its Sweet-Ass Time


Thanks to Max for sharing his troubles with BOA's clearance times...

I am soo Tired of BofA overdraft charges.

I just recently deposited a check into my checking account and it took BofA 5 days to actually deposit it into my account. It actually "posted" after 2 days and told by the customer service representative over the phone that the funds were available. I then wrote checks out and they posted them on the third day. Everything was ok until the fifth day when I pulled up my account and notice that all the checks I wrote were all returned and I had accumulated an overdraft of $186.00.

I called the Customer service line and was told that there was a hold on my deposit for 5 days because my deposit was not a BofA account. I asked why then sis the customer service person tell me it was ok to write the checks against my deposit. She couldn't give me an answer except that there was a 5 day hold. Now I'm stuck calling everyone to tell them that I need to send another check and have to pay BofA all that overdraft money.

I don't understand why BofA's customer service people can't get it right!

Makes them money, doesn't it? A little from this poor person, a little from this poor person, makes BOA richer. Thanks for sharing, Max. You're not alone!

Thieves


F. Williams was pretty angry in the comments below, and rightfully so, about the order of overdraft charges...

"Bank Of America Are thieves and they live off of getting fees from you. I am going through a situation where now I am being charged four overdraft fees for only one transaction that was overdrawn. This sneaky institution holds all of my transactions for over 5 days and then when they do clear them they clear them not in the order that they are made but they are cleared from the highest to the lowest.

Well it just so happens that my last ATM withdrawal withdrew me by $30.18. I understand and take all responsibility for that, but when they change in the order of how they post them instead of me getting overdrawn for 1 fee I am getting overdrawn 4 times because four smaller transactions that were done 5 days before the ATM withdrawal. I hope that damn bank burns in hell."

Hey, me too! :)