So, here's what happened to me:I returned to my home state of Georgia from living in California, where I held my Bank Of America account for two years. For some reason, California accounts in Bank of
America (CA's still part of this country, right?) aren't linked to the systems here - a common problem for them, it seems (linking things via computer).
Because of the inconvenience, I closed my CA account and re-activated a dormant account here with another bank. Got a letter in the mail (note: at my new address; this will be important later) that the account was closed and all was well. Until almost a year later when I got a call from a collection agency saying I owed them $300 or so from a delinquent fee from BOA.
Long story short, after being passed around 1-800 numbers for an afternoon like a toothless male model in prison, they finally found the fee: it was on a BOA credit card, which was extra weird because I never had one. "Oh wait," a person several MORE 800 numbers later remarked, "This is an overdraft account".
As it turns out, they'd been sending notices to an address that had since been changed (with BOA) twice over. I contacted my home bank as well as every 800 number I could find... no sympathy. So, because I believe in the path of least resistance (and am lazy and also one day wish to be a homeowner), I paid it. There went my leverage. But I couldn't stand being harassed every other week while additional fees piled up.
Then, today, months later as I'm just clearing the $600 charge from my credit card (I'm not a rich man), having still not received a requested "all is well, account is closed" letter from them after multiple requests, I talked to my now-local branch manager who kindly said, "Well, that's a lesson, I guess, because maybe we could have done something if you'd have come and talked to me first." He was nice, but lessons don't mean dick when you're out $400 (that's the $600, minus the original $200 which they actually deposited into my account right when I was closing it).
So, I made this blog. For other people to pool our collective anger. Or, if no one
writes me, to at least provide a buncha links to all the other complaints out there (there are a lot). Hope it helps. Maybe together we can give them one of these:
