Complaint Review: Bank Of America

Ok, you say that BofA is a For-Profit organization. This is true.

However, when Banks try to sell the general public on how they're so great, how well they treat their customers, and how fantastic and friendly their staff are, then once you get drawn into the web, you find that getting a straight answer is like trying to pull teeth ... out of a HIPPO... and the Customer Service Reps treat you like 3-week-old trash?

I'm sorry, but Citizen's Bank is MUCH better than BofA in the Customer Service field... I don't know about Chase, or any others, but I know there are a LOT of companies out there who genuinely DO care about their customers. I chose BofA because of all the ATMs near where I work, and the proximity of an actual branch office.

I should have taken a hike out into the middle of the Atlantic before choosing BofA...

I don't care who tries to defend them, I just don't like their business practices. Charging fees for not having money in your account may be standard practice, but not when they decide to lump them on at random, and then don't know what they're for!!

Allan,

Banks are for-profit institutions, not social service organizations. That is how it's been since the bank was invented in the Renaissance. When you sign up for an account you are given a deposit agreement, and if you cannot abide by the terms of the agreement then they will charge you for it as laid out within the agreement. You say that Bank of America would skin their mother for $5, but keep in mind that BofA is the number 3 bank in the country. I'm sure Citibank (#1) and Chase (#2) would be even worse in your estimation. Here's the thing: A checking account is a privilege, not a right. If you sign up for a checking account you are agreeing to a contract, and if you fail to abide by it then there are penalties. It's not some mysterious capricious action by the bank, it's all spelled out pretty clearly.

Stiles-Phoenix,Arizona

What you say is true per law.

I have a real problem with this.

Companies as well as people who are well off
(for lack of a better term) should try to look out for the people who are not. I see companies every day that do this.
Bank america would skin their mother for $5. They
take from the people who are in most cases , the
have nots. I have letters from people who put their SS check in Bank Of America and still owe the account money . Because of fees.
Sure you say, they don't need a checking account, if they can't handle one. Do you want to take every thing from them.
BOA has so many law suits pending that its hard to see how they stay in business.
They just lost one in Cal. for charging noncustomers $5 to cash payroll checks. The judge put a fast stop to that.
I could go on and on, but I won't.

Stiles-Phoenix,Arizona

What you say is true per law.

I have a real problem with this.

Companies as well as people who are well off
(for lack of a better term) should try to look out for the people who are not. I see companies every day that do this.
Bank america would skin their mother for $5. They
take from the people who are in most cases , the
have nots. I have letters from people who put their SS check in Bank Of America and still owe the account money . Because of fees.
Sure you say, they don't need a checking account, if they can't handle one. Do you want to take every thing from them.
BOA has so many law suits pending that its hard to see how they stay in business.
They just lost one in Cal. for charging noncustomers $5 to cash payroll checks. The judge put a fast stop to that.
I could go on and on, but I won't.

Stiles-Phoenix,Arizona

What you say is true per law.

I have a real problem with this.

Companies as well as people who are well off
(for lack of a better term) should try to look out for the people who are not. I see companies every day that do this.
Bank america would skin their mother for $5. They
take from the people who are in most cases , the
have nots. I have letters from people who put their SS check in Bank Of America and still owe the account money . Because of fees.
Sure you say, they don't need a checking account, if they can't handle one. Do you want to take every thing from them.
BOA has so many law suits pending that its hard to see how they stay in business.
They just lost one in Cal. for charging noncustomers $5 to cash payroll checks. The judge put a fast stop to that.
I could go on and on, but I won't.

Stiles-Phoenix,Arizona

What you say is true per law.

I have a real problem with this.

Companies as well as people who are well off
(for lack of a better term) should try to look out for the people who are not. I see companies every day that do this.
Bank america would skin their mother for $5. They
take from the people who are in most cases , the
have nots. I have letters from people who put their SS check in Bank Of America and still owe the account money . Because of fees.
Sure you say, they don't need a checking account, if they can't handle one. Do you want to take every thing from them.
BOA has so many law suits pending that its hard to see how they stay in business.
They just lost one in Cal. for charging noncustomers $5 to cash payroll checks. The judge put a fast stop to that.
I could go on and on, but I won't.

Ok, first off, I don't pretend to understand banks, and for good reason... they're confusing, and only want your money.

I was TOLD originally that I'd have Overdraft Protection, because I was using Direct Deposit (and my Direct Deposit went through at Noon on Friday, not midnight... my co-worker's Direct Deposit goes in at Midnight the night before (Friday at 12:00:00am etc)

Now, I don't know what kind of Overdraft Protection I was supposed to get, but a $34.00 fee for ANYTHING in the account doesn't seem like protection to me.

With regards to the $1.50 fee, as I said... my wife and I were out of Town. We did not, and COULD NOT, have accessed our Bank Account from the Metro Credit Union, because we were not there.

Oh, also, they DID put it through twice (or try to)... they told me over the phone that it didn't go through the first time, at 9:22am (or so - unsure of specific times) and so they tried it again at 11:05am (again, not sure of specific time) on that same day.

As you (the first reply) said, they shouldn't do that. EXACTLY.

Then when they DID cash it, and charge me the $34.00 fee (which I accept - my fault for writing the check, whatever, who cares) they decided that they WEREN'T going to honor it, so it bounced.

Now, think about this: If you're charged $147.00 to cash a check, and it GOES THROUGH, then when they arbitrarily bounce it on you, wouldn't you think you'd get that money back??

Instead they just left the deficit in there, cancelled the check, and I had to pay my co-worker ANOTHER $113.00 for the tickets, PLUS $8.00 for the cancellation of the check itself.


Seems wrong to me. If someone understands what happened, please let me know... because Bank of America doesn't have a clue, and neither do I.

Ok, first off, I don't pretend to understand banks, and for good reason... they're confusing, and only want your money.

I was TOLD originally that I'd have Overdraft Protection, because I was using Direct Deposit (and my Direct Deposit went through at Noon on Friday, not midnight... my co-worker's Direct Deposit goes in at Midnight the night before (Friday at 12:00:00am etc)

Now, I don't know what kind of Overdraft Protection I was supposed to get, but a $34.00 fee for ANYTHING in the account doesn't seem like protection to me.

With regards to the $1.50 fee, as I said... my wife and I were out of Town. We did not, and COULD NOT, have accessed our Bank Account from the Metro Credit Union, because we were not there.

Oh, also, they DID put it through twice (or try to)... they told me over the phone that it didn't go through the first time, at 9:22am (or so - unsure of specific times) and so they tried it again at 11:05am (again, not sure of specific time) on that same day.

As you (the first reply) said, they shouldn't do that. EXACTLY.

Then when they DID cash it, and charge me the $34.00 fee (which I accept - my fault for writing the check, whatever, who cares) they decided that they WEREN'T going to honor it, so it bounced.

Now, think about this: If you're charged $147.00 to cash a check, and it GOES THROUGH, then when they arbitrarily bounce it on you, wouldn't you think you'd get that money back??

Instead they just left the deficit in there, cancelled the check, and I had to pay my co-worker ANOTHER $113.00 for the tickets, PLUS $8.00 for the cancellation of the check itself.


Seems wrong to me. If someone understands what happened, please let me know... because Bank of America doesn't have a clue, and neither do I.

There are three products which fall under the category of overdraft protection (lower case). They are Automatic Transfer (which Stiles describes), Overdraft Line of Credit (a type of loan product, which you apply for) and Courtesy Pay, where the bank pays the item, but charges you a fee, and in effect makes a short-term loan for the amount of the overdraft.

Reading your description of what happened, you either arent getting the correct story from your friend, or you are mistaken.

She didnt walk into a branch and cash teh check and walk out with $113, she obviously deposited the check in her own account at her own bank. If this were not the case there would have been no way for BoA to return the check and get the money from her bank, unless of course, she also banks at BoA.

This also explains multiple charges on your account, when the check didnt clear the first time, it was re-deposited, and didnt clear a second time either... you get charged twice.

Under the Uniform Commercial Code, if you write a post-dated check, and it is negotiated, you take the hit, not the bank. When a check is deposited, no one actually ever even looks at the date, so you have no protection there. Even when a check is given to a teller to cash, it is hit-or-miss whether they will pick up on the date. Once you hand over that check to someone, you are liable for the funds, regardless of what date you wrote on the check.

Anyway, based on what you describe, you don't have any of the three kinds of overdraft protection with BoA, and that's why you got hit so hard. If you are going to stay there, you might want to ask about getting some OD protection. If not, ask about it when you open a new account elsewhere.

Metropolitan Credit Union might be a good bet for you.

Go SOx!

Overdraft protection is when you have a savings account, credit card, or line of credit set up as a backup to the funds in your checking account so that if an item is presented and there are non-sufficient funds, then the funds are pulled from the funding source, sometimes with a nominal fee.

What you are describing is an overdraft fee, which is a penalty for drawing funds off of an account where funds are not available. And if you are incurring $34 fees, then this has happened multiple times in the past year.

Now, when you write a check, the date you place on that check is the date you would LIKE it to be cashed, but your friend may deposit the check as they please. It is up to your friend's bank as to whether or not to honor the check based on the date, and if they choose to disregard your post date then that is their prerogative. If your friend's bank attempted to present the check, even though it may have been before the date on the check, then Bank of America (or any bank for that matter) is required to attempt to honor the check.

Now, there are a couple of inconsistencies with your story. No bank attempts to present a single check multiple times in the same day. If it doesn't go through at 10 o clock, why would they think it would go through at 11? More likely, there were some checkcard transactions that you had made a few days prior that posted on Friday that caused the additional fees. Now, since your payroll didn't go in until midnight Saturday morning, this meant that your ending balance on Friday was overdrawn, and all charges made while the account was overdrawn will cause overdraft fees.

Now, the $1.50 fees from the "balance inquiry." I happen to know that Bank of America charges $2 for using a non-Bank-of-America atm. They charge $1.50 for an ATM denial. This means your wife tried to withdraw money that wasn't there, and that is why you were charged $1.50. So, if your wife was attempting to make overdrawn ATM withdrawals, then again the bank was within its rights to charge you overdraft fees.

Now, I realize that you wrote the check believing that the funds would be available when the check came to be cashed. A generous soul would call this practice "float." Prosecuters call it check kiting. The end result is that you spent money you didn't have, and the bank charged you fees in accordance with your deposit agreement. It doesn't sound to me like the bank is to blame.