I saw a nearly identical story posted today from another Bank of America customer in North Carolina. I deposited a payroll check from my employer of three years. I've had the account for 18 years--first when it was Barnett Bank, then merged with NationsBank, and finally Bank of America. I have had problems before regarding the order in which payments are posted and drawn on the account, etc., but this takes the cake.
I've deposited several checks, ranging from $1600 to $9000-ish from the same employer, and Bank of America has never had any incident receiving the funds from my employer's bank. I've also never had one of their checks held before, despite having deposited in the ATM on many occasions.
After depositing a check in the ATM on Friday morning, I found out that I'd won the hold lottery on a check for a little less than $5,000. But this wasn't until I had already setup automatic payments to be drawn on my account for my car payment and other bills. I called Bank of America's customer service number and was told that nothing could be done about the hold until Tuesday at 5pm, when the funds would be available to me. I was also assured that anything electronically drafted for less than the amount of the check would be covered.
Today I received an email stating that my account was at risk for additional fees. "Additional?" I wondered, so I checked my account online, and sure enough--there were five overdraft charges. After talking to someone at my company (a perk of working at a relatively small startup), he checked and found that the funds were drawn on the account yesterday. I called BofA around 2pm and was told that they would reverse the fees, but that i had to wait until the charges were finalized tomorrow, as the charges were all showing up as "pending." Foremost in my mind, however, was the status of my pending electronic drafts. When I asked, I was assured that they had, in fact, received the funds and that they would be available to me at 5pm. I was also assured that the pending charges were all being paid.
So 5pm rolled around, and I again checked the status of my account, only to find that--while the funds were in fact available--the two larger payments (the ones I was most concerned about, car payment and credit card) had been re-credited to my account, as BofA had refused payment... no more than three hours after I was assured precisely the opposite and was told that BofA had, indeed, received the funds from my employer's bank.
Naturally, I called BofA and asked to speak to a supervisor. Don't waste your time; I was transferred to a smug little snot who not only did nothing to remedy the situation, but also insulted me and refused to credit the five $35 overdraft fees that I was assured (three hours prior) could be--and would be--credited to my account.
I am in law school now, and if it's the only thing I ever do with my law degree after I graduate, I promise to be the bane of Bank of America's existence. If I didn't have important outstanding checks in the mail, I would have closed my account today.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
D
naples,Florida,
U.S.A.
Why.......
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, June 25, 2010
Why didn't you have direct deposit for your paychecks?
And why did you spend the money before it was in your account?