Complaint Review: Bank Of America-Texas

i knew i wasn't the only one that this was happening to, your right, they are theives, they rake you over the coals and justify it by even lying to you about thier proceedures. they say they process the largest to smallest debits, and they do, when it suits them, but if you have 310.00 in your acct and you take out 300.00 of it, during the day before 5pm, then that night when they process the transactions if any way possible and beleive me they find a way somehow or another to charge you say a 35.00 fee before or even any fee of thiers before just so they show a balance less than the 300 you took out of the atm and then have the nerve to charge you 35.00 bucks. Does that seem fair? what happened to largest to smallest debit? not if they can make another 35.00 of ya they dont

BANK OF AMERICA IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST BANK IN AMERICA, THEY SHOULD BE CALLED THIEVES OF AMERICA CAUSE THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE

oh yeah and for those who are gonna tell me if i kept a register, well i do, doesn't do much good though, they seem to come up with some new way to screw me out of my money at least twice a week or more, hell its gotton so i wont even write a check off the account cause i never know what they are going to take out anymore. This is a neverending story, sure i would love to find a new bank, but they have me by the balls, everytime i get a positive balance in there so i can close the acct, they manage to screw me over again and put it in the negetative so i can't.

If i can have one and only one wish , it would be to see everyone who has ever been screwed over by bank of america to get all of our hard earned stolen money bank into our accounts and let those fat bankers go without for a change, wouldn't that be nice

I found out what was happening with my account if anyone cares. It's the way that bank does it (credit union).

If a merchant runs their batch at night or on the weekend, the items are soft posted to my account, are listed as pending, and are deducted from my balance. However, the holds still remain until the items are hard posted on the next business day. In essence, everything is being held x 2. Once as deducted from my balance for the "pending withdrawal" or soft post, then deducted again from that balance (still on hold) to reach my available balance.

Example:
Regular balance $200, available balance $200.
Make a $50 charge, regular balance $200, available balance $150 ($50 on hold)
Merchant runs batch at night or on weekend and item "soft posts":
Regular balance $150 ($50 charge deducted as "pending withdrawal" or soft post), available balance $100 ($50 hold deducted from regular balance after soft post). Item is still on hold because pending withdrawal doesn't lift holds, only hard posts lift holds.

So now, my available balance for the rest of the weekend is only $100 instead of $150 like it should be.

Then say a $120 direct debit gets run on the weekend. That puts my available at negative $20 (or zero as they call it, because you can't have negative available) rather than +$30 like it should be.

My CU kept trying to tell me the merchants were double running the items, but I checked it over a few months time with different merchants, using debit or credit. By the way, it even happened once with an ATM withdrawal.

SAME THING HAPPENING IN TEXAS, BOA IS CLEARING CHECKS THAT HAVE THE LARGEST AMOUNT THAT ARE DATED 2 DAYS LATER THAN THE DEBITS, THIS WAY BOA CAN MAKE MORE MONEY BY CHARGING MORE NSG

THE REP AT THE BANK TOLD ME THAT THEY WILL ALWAYS CLEAR THE DEBITS BUT THEY CAN PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT ORDER THEY CLEAR ...

SO IN OTHER WORDS, THEY ARE CLEARING THE LARGEST FIRST "AGAIN"
THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN 1 CLASS ACTION AGAINST BOA WITH OUT ANYONE CLAIMING FAULT
I SAY IT'S TIME WE ALL FILE ANOTHER CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!!

I don't know if anyone else is having the problem because I bank at a credit union and no one else I know does.

Last week, and again today, I took in all my printouts from this weekend showing each charge and each hold (I printed one out every couple of hours). EVERY time I made a charge, it came off my available twice. The bank manager told me she called the supervisor at the main branch who told her they do not double hold items. I asked her what was the explanation for what was happening and she said she didn't know. The branch manager said she can see it's happening because of my printouts.

Branch manager said she will fax my printouts to the supervisor (she didn't fax them from last weekend), only called.

When I left, I went to another credit union and opened a new account. As soon as my direct deposit and direct debits change over, I will be closing the account.

Hi Nikki,

I have some familiarity with the software that is used to process these transactions, and I am baffled as to what could cause the ongoing problem you describe. I was wondering if you knew anyone else that banks at the same place, and sees the same problem... or is it isolated to your account? It has me wondering if there is a corruption on your account record that is causing the problem.

Keep us posted.

Thanks for the idea, but I have checked that too. It is ALL debits and credits I make anywhere, whether I use my PIN or just charge. It also only happens on the weekends or holidays. Last weekend was a real pain due to last minute Christmas shopping.

Right now I have some money in my savings account so the only inconvenience I have is not being able to balance my account. Now that I have figured out what is going on, I am able to balance too.

Soon my savings account will run dry when homeowner's insurance is due so I want this cleared up ASAP.

I guess no one else has had this same problem?

Happy New Year everyone!

Nikki, can you see any pattern as to where the purchases were made? Is it possible that it is one merchant having a problem consistently?

Beyond that, since it isn't much of a convenience, have you considered just using checks until this is solved?

Happy New Year

Earlier today I checked my bank account to find out my available balance. My husband then went to the grocery store and charged $36.23. A few hours after he came home, I checked my account and $72.46 was held off my available balance, exactly double the $36.23. I will be visiting my bank again on Tuesday to find out why.

Happy New Year!

First, we all know that charges sometimes do not post for a couple of days, even though they are withheld from our available balance. This is because some merchants sometimes wait a few days before they "batch out", run their credit batches to tell the banks to put the money into their account and take it out of ours.

If you charge gas as the pump on your VISA debit card, most gas stations only hold $1, $2, or $5 from your "pending area" or available balance. Then, when they batch out, they pull the entire amount of the charge. Because of this, the pending area, or available balance is not accurate enough to manage your bank account.

If you use your VISA debit card at a restaurant, some restaurants only hold the amount of the food. When you add tip and they run their batch, it is then posted including the tip. Because of this, your available balance may not be accurate. Sometimes they add 10 or 15% to the bill at the hold area. If you tip more or less, once again, the available balance is not accurate.

Some merchants may not run their batch for a week. They may place the hold against your available balance. Your bank will usually automatically release the hold after 2, 3, or 4 days if there is no charge posted. The next thing you know, the merchant runs their batch and the money is taken out of your account. You must either keep a register, or remember you made that charge and deduct it from your available balance yourself. If you don't, you will think you have the money in there.

I'm sure there are a lot of other factors not listed here which would make your available balance incorrect. Please, let's all stop paying banks these fees and stop using our available balances to manage our accounts.

Hope this helps with some of the reasons for overdrafts.

By the way, I used to work for a bank years ago, but no longer. I just try to understand the ins and outs of things to keep me from getting screwed or screwing myself, and I still make mistakes (many!).

I asked my bank about my dilemma posted earlier (doubling the holds). They can't figure out why that's happening and are "looking into it".

BofA has gotten me for over a thousand dollars in the past year. I think they should be investigated

My response is in regards to your comparison of yourself with a poor person on disability:

"am far from a BofA sympathizer as you claim. But think about it. If this was actually a bank policy and actual rip off, wouldn't my accounts be affected too? The answer is yes. However, I have never had this problem with my accounts in more than 15 years with BofA, therefore the problem lies in your account management skills"


While I agree that her problem is partially due to her lack of account management skills, I would say that BofA does hold money in limbo on purpose to collect nsf fees. You may never have a problem with your money because you most likely have a buffer of money in your account so that if something does go over what you thought you had, you have money in the bank to cover it.

this single mother, on the other hand, probably has to use every penny of her money to care for her child, so that when some unexpected fee doesn't go out right away and her math is off somewhat, she gets hammered with 10 $35.00 fees. This has happened to me, except I take full responsibility of my money problems. I should have plenty of money near the end of the month to cover my miscalculations, but I have a bad habit of wasting money.

But last month, I checked my account and I had gotten 5 $35.00 NSF fees, because I forgot about one thing that was directly being taken out of my account. I had a $159.00 bill that gets autodrawn out of my account each month, and it has pulled out prior to 4 charges varying from $2.00 for gum at a store and for $5.00 for something else. (yea, I use my debit card for everything). But where Bof A went wrong was that instead of pulling the small charges out first and then pulling the big $159.00 bill out, they pulled the big one out first, causing my account to go negative faster. Then I got charged 4 times instead of being charged only once.

One thing I can suggest is to call BofA right away when this happens. I called and the first guy was unhelpful, so I just hung up and called back. The second person was sympathetic and agreed that the small charges should have been withdrawn first, and he changed it in the computer and credited 3 of the $35.00 fees back. So call them again and again! And I would suggest doing what I did for awhile to stop this from happening. Pay everything you can with cash! Then you will know how much money you have for sure instead of having to do the math.

Nikki,

You use the word "charge" when refering to your debit card transaction. This leads me to believe that you are not using your PIN# which will cause the transaction to be treated as acredit transaction and go into a pending status as described earlier.

Also, the "holds" are usually the merchant, not the bank. For example, if you use your debit card at a gas station and do not put in your pin, some gas stations/convenience stores automatically put a $75-$100 hold on your account for several days until they batch the transaction. Even if you only bought $10 worth of gas!

USE your PIN# and the exact amount will post immediately.

Donna,

I am far from a BofA sympathizer as you claim. But think about it. If this was actually a bank policy and actual rip off, wouldn't my accounts be affected too? The answer is yes. However, I have never had this problem with my accounts in more than 15 years with BofA, therefore the problem lies in your account management skills.

Keeping an account register, and an NSF free account is a very simple task. I did it when I was 14. No problems. Stop blaming others for YOUR mistakes, and learn how to manage your account.

No ripoff here.

When I first signed up with the original bank, there was no deadline for deposits going in that very day, also keep in mind that they were open till 6 or 7 pm. There were NO HOLD on checks. Credits were posted before debits! So pardon me. Just because you "say so", doesn't negate what Bank of America has been and continues doing. In my opinion your comments are nothing but a doormat for BOA to get free verbiages!!

And "YES" 7 years is a long time... Amazing how hard it is to manage money after your husband (spouse) dies and you have a 9 month old baby girl!! Amazing how upside down my world is when my way of living has becomes reduced to disability and on a VERY limited amount at that...

Tell you what, why don't you live like the rest of us and walk, work, breath and be fed the same CRAP everyday from people just like you!

We all have the Freedom of Speech thing so here's mine. The TRUTH WILL PREVAIL! THE AVERGE PERSON GOES THRU HECK JUST TRYING TO KEEP FROM BEING SPOON FED EVERYDAY CRAP FROM CORPORATE AMERICA!

And please don't justify your position regarding BOA. In my opinion you have tagged yourself as a Bank of America sympathizer.

I know what you mean about the reg. and it not being to the penny... makes me crazy too.. And its also a problem keeping enough in savings to back track from what the back is doing, however.. I think your idea is very good. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you for your idea. (Not reserved for holidays only) Have a very Blessed year.

I do not have BOA, but some weird things have been happening lately with my account that may help you with your problem. I have recently changed bank accounts to a more convenient bank, but I'm not happy.

I will start out by saying I keep a checkbook register, and it drives me nuts when it is not balanced to the penny every month.

Let me give you an example. I have $400 in my checking account. I check online and my available balance is $400 because everything has gone through. I then go to one store and charge $100. Then I go to another store and charge $100. My checkbook register now shows I have $200. When I go online, my available balance should be $200, right? Well, it's not. When I go online, or call, my available balance is $0. This is because my bank has, for some reason, held both charges twice. Then when the charges do post, voila, I have $200 available according to online. Say I have a $50 check outstanding that tries to clear when my available balance shows $0? It would bounce, when in fact I really have $200 available.

This method has been a real pain this holiday season because every charge I have made this weekend has been deducted from my available balance twice. Luckily I have transferred money from my savings account to cover the double amounts, however a lot of other people may not have the savings to cover.

Try doing what I did to figure it out. Check your available balance before and after each charge to see if your bank is doing the same thing. Call the automated line on your cell. I was supposed to go talk to my bank last week to find out why this is happening, but I was so busy I forgot. I am definitely going Tuesday.

Good Luck!

I do not have BOA, but some weird things have been happening lately with my account that may help you with your problem. I have recently changed bank accounts to a more convenient bank, but I'm not happy.

I will start out by saying I keep a checkbook register, and it drives me nuts when it is not balanced to the penny every month.

Let me give you an example. I have $400 in my checking account. I check online and my available balance is $400 because everything has gone through. I then go to one store and charge $100. Then I go to another store and charge $100. My checkbook register now shows I have $200. When I go online, my available balance should be $200, right? Well, it's not. When I go online, or call, my available balance is $0. This is because my bank has, for some reason, held both charges twice. Then when the charges do post, voila, I have $200 available according to online. Say I have a $50 check outstanding that tries to clear when my available balance shows $0? It would bounce, when in fact I really have $200 available.

This method has been a real pain this holiday season because every charge I have made this weekend has been deducted from my available balance twice. Luckily I have transferred money from my savings account to cover the double amounts, however a lot of other people may not have the savings to cover.

Try doing what I did to figure it out. Check your available balance before and after each charge to see if your bank is doing the same thing. Call the automated line on your cell. I was supposed to go talk to my bank last week to find out why this is happening, but I was so busy I forgot. I am definitely going Tuesday.

Good Luck!

I do not have BOA, but some weird things have been happening lately with my account that may help you with your problem. I have recently changed bank accounts to a more convenient bank, but I'm not happy.

I will start out by saying I keep a checkbook register, and it drives me nuts when it is not balanced to the penny every month.

Let me give you an example. I have $400 in my checking account. I check online and my available balance is $400 because everything has gone through. I then go to one store and charge $100. Then I go to another store and charge $100. My checkbook register now shows I have $200. When I go online, my available balance should be $200, right? Well, it's not. When I go online, or call, my available balance is $0. This is because my bank has, for some reason, held both charges twice. Then when the charges do post, voila, I have $200 available according to online. Say I have a $50 check outstanding that tries to clear when my available balance shows $0? It would bounce, when in fact I really have $200 available.

This method has been a real pain this holiday season because every charge I have made this weekend has been deducted from my available balance twice. Luckily I have transferred money from my savings account to cover the double amounts, however a lot of other people may not have the savings to cover.

Try doing what I did to figure it out. Check your available balance before and after each charge to see if your bank is doing the same thing. Call the automated line on your cell. I was supposed to go talk to my bank last week to find out why this is happening, but I was so busy I forgot. I am definitely going Tuesday.

Good Luck!

I do not have BOA, but some weird things have been happening lately with my account that may help you with your problem. I have recently changed bank accounts to a more convenient bank, but I'm not happy.

I will start out by saying I keep a checkbook register, and it drives me nuts when it is not balanced to the penny every month.

Let me give you an example. I have $400 in my checking account. I check online and my available balance is $400 because everything has gone through. I then go to one store and charge $100. Then I go to another store and charge $100. My checkbook register now shows I have $200. When I go online, my available balance should be $200, right? Well, it's not. When I go online, or call, my available balance is $0. This is because my bank has, for some reason, held both charges twice. Then when the charges do post, voila, I have $200 available according to online. Say I have a $50 check outstanding that tries to clear when my available balance shows $0? It would bounce, when in fact I really have $200 available.

This method has been a real pain this holiday season because every charge I have made this weekend has been deducted from my available balance twice. Luckily I have transferred money from my savings account to cover the double amounts, however a lot of other people may not have the savings to cover.

Try doing what I did to figure it out. Check your available balance before and after each charge to see if your bank is doing the same thing. Call the automated line on your cell. I was supposed to go talk to my bank last week to find out why this is happening, but I was so busy I forgot. I am definitely going Tuesday.

Good Luck!

Donna,

First let me tell you that I do not work for any bank. However I have been a BofA customer for over 15 years in several states with multiple accounts, and I have NEVER paid even 1 NSF fee.

It always comes down to proper account management by the proper use of a check register. It appears that you put items in your register after they post, instead of when you make the transaction, and that you use money on the float before the deposit actually posts.
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You wrote:.."I check my account make my adjustments from the pending amount which is supposedly shows you a balance of what you have with that money gone"....
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Forget looking at the pending transactions! LOOK at your CHECK REGISTER!! That is what it is for! ONLY use your register. Money in, and money out. very simple.

And, FYI..MOST banks process checks and debits BEFORE processing deposits/credits. You will need to get used to this and understand it.

Now, as far as debit transactions, they are processed 2 different ways.

1. You swipe your card and DO NOT input your PIN#. This transaction is initially treated as a credit transaction and will be in a pending status until after the merchant does a batch of transactions.

2. You swipe your card and input your PIN# on the keypad. This is a true debit transaction and will post immediately, or by the start of the next business day.

Also, the account you now have is not the same account you have had for the last 28 years. the account# may be the same, but that is all.

Furthermore, all of these procedures and costs are clearly described in your terms and conditions, as I am with BofA and have a copy in front of me.

Therefore they are not "stealing" anything. it always amazes me how people always want to blame someone else for their mistakes and poor account management.

7 years paying these same fees? Its time to change how YOU do things at this point! It is obviously NOT the bank.