I think that my Bank of America drama would make a lovely episode of a sitcom

This is getting ridiculous.

I closed my bank of America accounts several weeks ago.
Somehow I magically paid for something with my checkcard almost 3 weeks after everything was shut down.
I hope the sarcasm is evident in the sentence above.

Anyway, this $12 transaction then resulted in a nasty note from BOA saying that if I did not immediately transfer money to cover this cost, I would be charged a $35 overdraft fee.

So they want me to do what?
Re-open my closed account?
Pay for a transaction that could not have occurred?
Pay an overdraft fee on the closed account that could not have had a transaction?

AHHH.

When I tried calling the number on the note, the service repeatedly hung up on me because I could not type in my account number.
It is very difficult to type in an account number for an account that no longer exists..but I don’t think the automated system cared.

After 3 attempts (and 20 minutes on hold last night when an associate hung up on me by accident) I finally got someone in credit card services to transfer me internally to the correct department.

Oh, and it turns out that they have no idea why I received the note.

No charge or overdraft fee is noted.

Yet another reason to hate BOA

I know I ranted and raved about Bank of America a few weeks.

I swore that as soon as I paid off my credit card I would close all of my accounts.

Well, the credit card is now paid off and I'm switching this week.

Which makes the $4 finance charge on my account so..ironic? funny? expected?

No idea why it appeared.

When I close my account later this week and switch I'll be asking them to remove it completely.
I refuse to pay them one more dollar.
Especially a magically appearing finance charge on a now totally paid-off credit card.


Ahh.

Well, Chase gets knocked off the list..

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I just finished ranting about BOA and then boom, a friend tells me that Chase has forced her to close her credit card.

And not just her..seems that Chase is dumping thousands of former WaMu credit card holders.

No warning or explanation.
They just got a letter saying that their credit card was done.

They have to finish paying off any balances but they can’t make any more charges.

This would only be mildly irritating, except for the fact that having a credit card closed can impact your credit card rating.

For people like C (the friend referenced above), it also means the loss of the credit card with the highest limit. So if she needs to make a large purchase anytime soon, she’s just SOL.

I may be a little bit afraid of over using my credit card, but I haven’t yet hit Duggar territory yet (you know, 18 kids and counting..they don’t use credit of any kind..!).

I like having a credit card for large purchases, or at the very least for emergencies.

It’s SO FRUSTRATING that we have given so much power to these large corporations.
We need more oversight ASAP.

No one should be able to go in and mess around with your money (talking to you BOA), or impact your credit rating and financial stability by arbitrarily shutting down credit cards (Chase).
It makes me really distrustful of all of our financial institutions.

I think I’m still leaning towards opening a new account @ Citi, but I’m starting to wish I could just go off the grid and ignore the entire mess!

Open letter to BOA & the end of my banking drama

I looked at my BOA account this morning and found that my paycheck had been returned in full.

They even kept the original deposit date on the check, so to the casual observer, nothing untoward happened.

I'm very happy to have 3 weeks worth of money back in my account, and I know that I'm lucky that I only had to wait 5 day for everything to get fixed.

I am still going to write a formal letter of complaint and close all of my accounts by this weekend. I have already transfered my IRA to Vanguard and will be finding a new bank for my regular checking and savings account.

I do not trust them with my money, and am also investigating if there is a higher authority (not that high..like the better business borough perhaps!) that I can contact with my grievances.

Overall I feel that:

1. Bank of America had no right to debit money from my account once it had already cleared

2. If they did feel it necessary to place an extended hold due to concern about the validity of the check, I should have been informed immediately. When someone used my card for fraudulent purposes last summer, I received an email alert with customer service contact information. Something similar should have occurred in this situation.

3. When I called customer service after I noticed the initial debit, I was told that it could be cleared up in a branch. When I went into the 1st branch, I was told this was not true. It was only after I became upset that the manager bothered to call their internal service. I'm convinced that it was this phone call that eventually paved the way for an earlier release of my money...but I should not have had to beg for help.

4. Bank of America took advantage of my account and put me in a potentially perilous financial situation. Even though I know that I'm very lucky in that I can always turn to B, my family and friends if I need emergency money, the bank manager who 'helped' me did not know any of this information. Her casual disregard of my financial situation and possible ramifications made me very angry.

In some ways I feel like BOA used my money as an unauthorized loan. I no longer had the money, and they could do whatever they wanted with the funds. I feel like they should pay me interest for 'borrowing' my paycheck for 5 days and then returning it without any explanation.

I also find it potentially unethical that they changed my account data to reflect the original deposit date. The check may have cleared last Thursday evening, but since it wasn't returned for a full business week, I think that the statement should reflect this data. For all I know they can't even trace the extended hold and debit now that it's been wiped from my account. Were I to follow up with my complaint, I have only my word and the branch visits to validate my story.

Again, I know I'm lucky. This was resolved (relatively) quickly, but I have no intention of staying with a bank that has so little regard for its customers. I will also be including the name and ID number of the bank manager who was so callous and displayed totally unacceptable levels of customer service in my complaint. I'm going to recommend that they withhold HER paycheck and then refuse to help her navigate their own system (just kidding..maybe).

Plan for the week: Pay of BOA credit card and promptly close ALL OF MY ACCOUNTS

I really dislike 2 things:

Worrying about money
Being taken advantage of/lied to

Thanks to last Friday’s debacle, Bank of America (BOA) has managed to totally lose my trust and make me feel very unhappy about money. I just schedule a final payment on my credit card (another story there!), and the second that clears I am immediately closing all of my accounts.

I think I’m going to join B’s bank. It will be more convenient, and hopefully they will not engage in seriously shady business practices like BOA.

If you think I’m ranting now, you should have heard me on Friday!

Reason for ranting:

I received a paycheck last Friday from my employer (large gov’t department).
It was for slightly more than usual ($200 extra) because of a payroll snafu from the following week.

I deposited my check at the BOA ATM on Thursday and went on my merry way.
The check cleared that evening as planned.

When I went into my online banking account on Friday morning to make my usual post-paycheck transfer into a savings account I saw that the ENTIRE paycheck amount had been debited from my account.

Not just labeled ‘pending’—but pending and debited.
I had no access to the funds, and NO explanation for why they removed money from my account after a check had cleared.

I was confused but not panicked.
I called the customer service line and spoke to an employee.

I began to worry when he said he wasn’t sure why the money had been removed.
He said I should go into a branch. They could fix it in person.
He also told me to bring documents proving the check wasn’t fraudulent, because it was possible it had been ‘flagged’ due to the larger than usual amount.

I went to a branch with my proof (thank you large gov’t HR person for being so helpful!)
I waited for a manager.
I explained my confusion and frustration.
Not only had my money been removed after it had already cleared, but I had received NO warning.
No email alert.
Or phone call.
I asked her “what would have happened if I hadn’t signed into my online banking account?”

She told me I would have received notice of the debited funds within 7-10 days!
I was even more concerned.
So I asked “What would have happened if I had written multiples checks? Or paid bills?”
She shrugged.

I wrote down her employee number so I could report her.
She seemed totally unconcerned.
She also told me that the customer service representative was wrong.
She couldn't’t fix it.

It had been referred to their liability company, and I just had to wait until at least the 31st for them to prove it wasn’t fraudulent.
She couldn’t be sure either why it was flagged.

When I asked if there was anything at all she could do, she said no.
I asked to speak to her supervisor.
She told me he was at lunch.
At 4:30 in the afternoon.

I took the subway 15 minutes away from my apartment and went into another BOA.
I met with another manger.
He at least was sympathetic.
He explained that my large gov’t department had either been the victim of fraudulent checks recently, or had provided employee checks they could not cover.
All paper checks from my department were being flagged.
He could not fix it, because he would lose his job if he overrode the debit from my account and it turned out to be actually fraudulent.
I asked if there was some way for me to speak to someone else. I didn’t want him to lose his job, but I wanted my paycheck!
His manager told me the same thing.
The bank could flag and debit funds, but they couldn’t fix things more quickly..no matter the situation! Even with proof!

After 2+ hours of feeling taken advantage of and frustrated I gave up.
I’m still waiting for them to put my entire paycheck back into my account.
As soon as that happens (and the credit card payment mentioned above) I’m done with BOA.
SO unfair and unethical.

The check had cleared..so it was my money!
Even if there was a question of validity, I should have been notified!
AND even if they had notified me before removing the money, there should be a way to resolve disputes in a timely manner.