Complaint Review: Bank Of America

I work for the processing company BOFA uses to process their bill payments and handle billpay inquiries. Okay if everyone would read the service agreement before using the billpay service I think things would run smoother. First of all the way BOFA processing payments is basically you have to pay for your check before it's mail, why?? So that no one writes bad checks, and no one can get a hold of your banking info from the check if the wrong person happens to have it stuck in their mail box. Now Bofa does not always mail checks, the 2 BUSINESS days means electronic payments and 5 BUSINESS days is a check. These lead times do work if you use them correctly! If you are charged a late fee you are covered up to 50.00 as long as you scheduled all your payments 5 BUSINESS days before the ACTUAL due date NOT the grace period, this is all in the terms and conditions everyone has to agree to before signing up with the service. Okay and if you don't schedule your payments correctly and you call the billpay dept. the customer care associate will call your payee for you while you are on the phone and work with them to hopefully have your late fee removed, even if it was your fault, how many companies do you know that will do that??? Probably none. We have now upgraded the site so that hopefully everyone that doesn't read the instructions before scheduling payments now understand how payments need to be scheduled, there is now a handy calendar feature, and if you use it I am sure you know what I'm talking about!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!!

Here's the way it works in a nutshell. You ask Bank of America to write a check on your behalf to a company. The money is debited from your account and the check is issued and mailed to the company on your behalf. When the check gets to them and when they cash it is beyond the bank's and your control. I've had this explained to me in high detail by the online banking area. Extreme convenience is not perfect, but we as customers sometimes forget that. I hope this helps to simplify this.

I read your rebuttal... and then I read it again. Then I read it to a couple friends. I would like to clarify a few things. I never implied that you were trying to "float" checks as the term goes. I was simply letting you know that the day the payment posts to your account is the day the payment is dropped in the mail. At that point the payment is at the mercy of the U.S. Postal Service. The lead time that Bank of America provides is suggested and based on past experiences mailing to that area. They have no more control over that payment then you would if you dropped it in the mail yourself. Sorry that you don't think I read your comment and that my comment wasn't constructive, but I tried. I don't intend to fight with you over this since I don't represent Bank of America. I was just trying to be helpful.

There was nothing of a "Hot Check", only a payment that was scheduled within the correct amount of time, which is predetermined to be 2 days. You can't write a "Hot Check" with online banking, or at least BofA, unless you write a paper check to drive the "e-Check" or "Account" into a negative. When something is done according to the banks online policies(i.e. - lead-times, etc), and they miss the payment date due to negligence on their behalf(Or Their Systems Faults), they should take the responsibility and pick up the bill for late charges imposed by other companies to us as individuals that store our money in their banks, utilize their system/forms of payment, so they can "Gamble" with our funds to make money.

There is nothing confusing at all about online banking, well, maybe not for most of us! Maybe if you read the initial complaint again, located in quotes -- "Anyway, payment posted to my bank account on a certain day, but actual payment didn't post to the payee until a day or two later." -- There is no such thing as a pre-posting payment. If I made am online payment right now, it would post on Monday, therefore, it should be paid on Monday to whomever the payment was for! So in my case, there was a total of 4 days real time before HouseHold had received their payment, versus the 2 day lead-time the BofA requests, and sets as their standard.

FOR EVERYONE:
Just be aware in the future, give yourself at least double the lead-time with BofA online banking, they do not support their system. Otherwise, stick with what's best, 5 days through the standard delivery service, the US Post Office.

I am a customer of Bank of America. Here is how the online banking works. You tell them to mail a check and then they do. They take the money out the day they mail it (it's wrong to write hot checks) and mail a paper check to the company which, should arrive at the company in so many days (designated by the lead time). It was a little confusing at first, but you have not been defrauded.