I have had an account with bank of america since 2005. I had gone on a trip to disneyland and charged it to my card. For 5 days after I checked my account to see if it had gone through and it had not. I went ahead and charged my card 4 times and checked my online banking at 5pm and the transaction still had not posted I then checked at 10pm and still no sign of the disneyland post. I then the next day used my card again for 5 more transactions and got declined for the last one. I went into the bank and was told I would have 3 overdrafts because of the disneyland transaction that had gone through the day before. I asked how that could be when I did infact check my account at 10 pm after the cloes of the days trasaction.(Their cut off is 8pm any given day except sundays will post on monday.) She told me the charges would be reversed since I am a valued customer but it would have to be done the next day since it had not shown up on my account yet and I should deposit the money for the items still peding to cover those. I did.

I then checked my account the next day and found the overdrafts went through first before any transactions and it caused 6 more overdrafts as a result. I called BofA and talked to a customer service reps who sounded more like he should be on the street dealing drugs than talking to customers, slang and all. I asked to talk to his manager and was transfered to a guy who told me i had a spending problem and its not their fault they are not the ones who charge and charge with no regard and he had already spoken to his associate and its not their error. I brought up the fact that no transactions will be posted untill the next day per their policy if it posts after 8pm that day and I had looked at my account at 10 pm and it was not there and I was told I was a valued customer and these charges would be reversed. He said there was nothing he would do to help me and again I "Have a spending problem." I asked to talk to his manager and he placed me on hold and transfered me to a full mailbox which leads me to believe he was not a manager at all.
I wrote to the complaints department and to the customer service and was given a generated email that probibly goes out to everyone.
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Thank you for your inquiry dated 3/12/09 regarding Customer Service. We
will be happy to assist you.

While we regret to hear of the experience you have described with Bank
of America, we are glad that you have brought this to our attention. Our
commitment is to provide the highest level of service possible. These
standards demand that we treat you and your requests with understanding,
integrity and respect.

You are an important customer to us and we look forward to your
continued relationship with Bank of America. You can be assured that we
will make every effort to avoid a similar situation going forward.

Our records indicate that several transactions were presented against
insufficient funds in your account on 3/10/09 and 3/11/09; thus, causing
an overdraft in your account. Overdraft fees were assessed based on this
information.

To avoid these fees in the future, please review the account records to
ensure that sufficient funds are available prior to issuing a check,
negotiating purchases, or any other transaction that will be processed
against the available balance. This includes ensuring that all deposited
items, whether direct deposit, transfers, or personal checks have been
posted to the account and are reflected in the available balance, and
that there are enough funds to cover outstanding checks.

We value you as a customer and appreciate your business. If we may be of
further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for
choosing Bank of America.

Sincerely,

Doris P*****
Bank of America

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Message text: This banking institution has really given itself a bad
name with me. I have banked with you since 2005 and I will never bank
with you again or pay all these overdrafts you have posted to my
account. I had checked my account as of the 9th of March and I didn’t
see the Disneyland charge post to my account. I therefore did not
deposit additional money as I thought I was good with the money I had in
there to cover my charges. I then found out the next day that after 10
pm the Disneyland charge had gone through and made 3 overdraft charges
to the smaller amounts that had already been pending to my account. I
deposited money to cover the additional charges not including the
overdrafts because I was told by a branch banker that those charges
would be removed as a one time grace. I then called and was told no that
the charges would not be reversed and I would get 6 more on top of that
because I made charges to the account. So a total of 9 $35.00 charges
for one thing t!
hat did not show on the online banking that I checked and was not there
the night before.
As I understood your policy to be that all charges before 8 pm would be
reflected that day and all charges after 8 pm on that day would be
posted the following day I figured checking it at 10pm and it was not
reflected so it would not be posted until the next day so I could
therefore make a deposit the next day.
I think what you are doing is fraud. I understand I should have money in
my account to cover charges but When that account was checked on and I
was told the next day the charges would be reversed if I called the two
things that should be upheld should be in fact upheld.

Also I did call on the 11th when the charges posted and there was some
gangster sounding guy that was a manager that was to transfer me to his
manager and gave me a voicemail that was full I think the guy did this
because he was not a real manager. He didnt care what I had to say he
told me these charges where my own fault and I should not spend so
careless and so much. I told him I was not being careless I was checking
my account to make sure everything was in fact okay because my husband
was sick and I had to attend to two kids.
I thought this bank cared and I loved banking here until now. I never
thought I would have a bunch of rude unprofessional customer service
reps.


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So she needless to say never answered my questions and didnt read my email since it had nothing to do with transactions that posted on the 9th. She talked about the transactions that had gone through on the 1oth and 11th that where a domino effect since the one on the 9th went through past 10pm.

These people do not even play by their own rules! Frauds!

I have had a Bank of America Checking and Savings account for well over 15 years now. Why I have stuck with them so long is beyond me--maybe I'm just afraid to change everything over. Through the years, they have soaked me with overdraft fees probably well into the thousands. I always just thought I deserved the charges and figured that I was just a 'bad girl' who didn't know how to manage her money. Now that I am older and much wiser, I am realizing that I was not a 'bad girl' but that I was a VICTIM.

I was most recently violated by Bank of America when my income tax refund was direct deposited into my account. Upon receipt of the money, I paid off many bills to try to get ahead as well to get out of debt. This seemed to be to no avail because it all ended up costing me $520 in Bank of America overdraft and returned check fees! The first issue I faced was after a busy morning online and over the phone paying bills. After making about 15-20 transactions, I realized that my telephone payment to my oil company was declined! I panicked! Why would it be??? I had LOTs of money available in my account a few hours earlier. So, I immediately called Bank of America and after a long runaround, was connected with their fraud department. They themselves had FROZEN my account and weren't letting any transactions go through! How crazy! If there was a problem with my account I would have called them and told them so. After I had proved that I was who I said I was and that I was the one making all of the transactions they unfroze my account. So then I had to embarrassingly backtrack and notify those whom I had done business with earlier that morning and explain what had happened. What a morning!!

Then to make matters worse, just this past week, one of the transactions I forgot to record and it triggered an 'avalanche' of overdraft and returned check fees! I ended up incurring $520 in fees (12 in all at $35 a shot!) The bank refused to do anything about them. Generally, when I have a transaction go through that ends up putting me in the 'red', the bank will cover it and just slap me with a $35 fee and then I deposit the money and there's no embarrassment on my end. This time, they decided to play dirty and they not only charged me $35 when two items posted, but then had the gaul to slap me with another $35 when they returned them as unpaid! This sent me into a panic. Sadly to admit, one of the checks was to my church to pay for my daughter's choir robe!! If ever I wished that they had covered a check--it was that one. It was a very expensive banking week for me--GRAND TOTAL WEEK ENDING 2/27=$520 + EMBARRASSMENT

Wait--that's not the end of my soap opera with Bank of America. Just today, I had a local Kmart store call me, no not once, but three times regarding a check that I had mailed them to pay on a layaway for a new microwave which I desperately need. They attempted to process my $40 check and it was regected by Certegy Check Services. (another embarrassment) Therefore, today my evening was spent (all 3 hours of it) on the telephone. I called Bank of America SIX times, Certegy THREE, Early Warning Services TWO, Spoke with Kmart FOUR, Telecheck TWO, and Check Systems TWO more times to no avail. Finally I came to the conclusion that I'm better off getting out of the entire crazy system and going back to the 'good old days' of using CASH and MONEY ORDERS. Considering all of the embarrassment, harassment, stress, and MONEY--it is NOT worth the aggravation!

My husband has been after me for years, to get rid of them as my bank and I've always resisted. But guess what--I've finally had the last straw!! Let them report me to Certegy, EWS and all of the other acronyms--frankly I don't care. I don't need them and I refuse to be a host to their leech-sucking money grubbing frenzy any longer! If more and more American citizens get fed up with the 'system' and just stop patronizing it then they'll no longer be a system as we know it. I'm an American, but I DON'T need Bank of America--they give America a bad name.

Today more than ever it is important to recognize the existence of and relationship between customer service and sales. Oftentimes we fail to see that a person in our business establishment is there for a purpose. Specifically to do business and most of all in person; the highest form of social contact a bank and a customer can have.
Perhaps the most disturbing observation of this would be a person who enters a bank with that bank's cashiers issued check in hand, but because the person has no account with the bank they refuse to accept it. However the greatest tragedy is the removal of the greeters who are able to meet and direct a person to the best resources at the bank.
I am not over exaggerating on this one, the clerk, his manager, and his Assistant Vice President cited that they could not cash the cashier’s check, Mr. Amurao had to be asked to come from behind his desk to answer a question, which was "Do you have documentation in writing to indicate the procedure for this action you are taking?"
He said, yes but it is internal bank policy and we are not allowed to give it out. I promptly asked for his manager, keep in mind that at this point the only stance taken by the manager is reactive not proactive. Imagine a proactive conversation like, "I am sorry that we are unable to directly cash this check, perhaps you would like to visit with our managers and discuss opening a account with us, perhaps they will have additional solutions.
So, his poor response cost me my consulting time ($600/hr) but the fact that the service was so rude, and in economic times like these; we all know that the consumer represents profit, where poor service begins to erode overhead, I decided to wait and wonder how much a Vice President at Bof A makes these days? Well we waited to find out.
Once we got to the desk, I politely asked for his card, and explained my situation. His response was equal to Mr. Amurao, but since I had a goal in mind far beyond Mr. Lu, I asked him to check with his boss, and find this mysterious document that he could reference to for customers obviously concerned.
Here is what we were looking for: When a customer comes into the same bank that issued the cashiers check, what is the proper way to handle the customer.
1. Do verify what type of customer he is?
2. Do we ask our supervisor if unsure?
3. Do we call customer service for assistance?
4. What we don’t do is to make the customer feel like he is fighting a losing battle, especially if he is someone else’s bank customer.
Here is a man living in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in San Francisco, (in 2008, of the cities in California that raised the most money for Obama, my zip code was number 6).
The resolution came by way of the website of course after the very stern lecture on what was being done was out of the normal course of business for him but in this case he would be kind enough to print out and highlight the area concerning "Business, Corporation, Organization, Agency, Partnership, or Association"
After again thanking him without looking at the document,
I reminded him that
1. At no point did anyone ask to see my form of business structure, my identification (business) or any other identifying material I had brought.
2. Secondly, I was a profit for the bank that day, or at least not a further deduction by having my client become aware of the trouble, and thus delay future work because it, (imagine they might move their long-term account).
3. At each stage of the discussion, this could have been resolved by simply asking if I would like to become a customer and find ways for me to become one.
I understand that the economic climate has us all a little shaky, but for those of us who have a job, need to be on top of things like service more. We can all and have in the past borne the brunt of recessions, if we all learn how to treat each other a little better.
I would appreciate Mr. Lu proving a apology, and if this is a matter you would like to discuss further please contact me.

A few days ago I called Bank of America to see if I could have the interest rate on my MBNA credit card lowered. They would not do it. Today I got an email from a merchant stating that my AAA credit card would not allow a charge for $100 for a purchase that I made. I looked up my account on the internet and discovered that my AAA credit limit had been significantly lowered to just above what I currently owe, and my MBNA credit card limit was also lowered significantly to just above what I owed. I called the bank to find out what had happened and they told me that based on my phone call a few days earlier to try and lower the credit on my MBNA card, they did a credit review on me and apparently determined that I was a poor risk for them and consequently lowered all of my credit limits. I pointed out to them that I have always paid more than was required on my MBNA card and I have always paid off my AAA credit card in full every month. I also pointed out that I have never been late on any payments. I told them that I could live with a credit limit of $3500 on my AAA account since I pay it off every month. The limit that they lowered me to on my AAA account is terribly inconvenient and has put me in a bind. I could not understand why they could not accommodate me on this one card since I was paying it off every month.
The bank was not interested; it was as if I were talking to a stone. They made a decision and they were sticking by it. I asked why they would do this to me without prior notification. They told me that a letter was on the way and that I had just not gotten it yet.
I am on disability and in the late stages of prostate cancer and I can fully understand that based on my annual income at this point, I may not be falling within their new guidelines. However, I have been a long time customer in excellent standing. My credit is excellent and I have always taken care of my debts. For the bank to take such a punitive action on me just for asking to have my credit rate lowered on my MBNA credit card is mind boggling. I have no words for what I feel now. I supported the bail out of Bank of America for billions of dollars and this is how they treat “good” customers?
This is not a peoples bank. They are a predatory and ruthless financial institution. I wish that I had billions of dollars in their bank, because I would transfer all of it over to another bank and never look back.

While in New Orleans for Mardi Gras I discovered, in that embarrassing way, that my check card wasn't working; it was declined while making a transaction. This was not due to insufficiant funds. Bank of America had put a block on the card because I was making purchases out of state. When I called Customer Service I was told that I could remove the block by going to a branch with two forms of ID. Problem: there is no B of A branch in New Orleans.

Two customer service reps told me the same story; that the only option was to go into a branch. Finally I got through to one who said I could fax to them two forms of ID (front and back), my phone number, and three signatures to verify my identity. I have traveled extensively while relying on Visa/Mastercard check cards from other banks and have never had this problem. They said the hold was for my protection (read: lost and stollen cards cost them millions every year). Now I'm stuck in New Orleans with no access to my funds and waiting for a call back from customer service for which, because of my earlier dealings with them, I hold little hope of being helpful.

It is obvious to me that Bank of America doesn't give a darn for their customers. Their "services" are designed to protect them and make a profit off of YOUR money.