Complaint Review: Bank Of America - Wilmington Delaware

It sounds like you've been through some tough times, for which I sympathize, but I think you're placing undue fault at the bank's feet. First off you say that you were out of work and moved during which time the bank raised your rates. It would be common practice to raise your rates if you defaulted on a loan or line of credit, so I'm not sure why this would be a rip off. Now that you're in a better financial condition you're trying to pay back those obligations, but the bank isn't required to renegotiate your rates. They likely see you as a high risk of loss and so in order to offset that risk they keep you at a higher rate in order to make your loan profitable. After all, the bank is in business in order to make a profit. Let's put it to you this way. Two friends ask to borrow $10 for lunch. One of them has always paid you back in the past and you know he's good for it. The other one has borrowed a few times and has failed to pay you back on a few occassions. You only have $10. Which are you more likely to loan the $10 to? Most people would say the one that you know will pay you back. The bank is operating in exactly the same manner. It will loan greater amounts at lower rates to those in a better credit position because it knows the possibility of loss is lower. It may still loan to those in a worse credit position, but to justify the risk it requires greater profit because a larger percentage of those customers will create a loss. Secondly with regards to international transaction fees, this is a fee imposed by Visa, not any individual bank. I've worked in the financial industry for 5 years in both the credit and deposit worlds and this fee structure has been there since before I started. It's not a new fee, though it may be the first time you've paid attention to it. Visa charges the fee to offset the costs of currency exchanges. Consider that if you take US dollars to London, you're going to have to stop at a Thomas Cook or American Express currency exchange which will charge you a fee to convert your dollars to British Pounds. Visa does this same conversion, and likewise charges a fee for the service. While I appreciate you'd like the bank to be more forgiving, I'm not seeing a rip off here. PS - Jim, Bank of America actually did accept $25 billion of TARP money from the Treasury, however this was done not because they needed it, but because if some banks took it and others didn't it would make those banks taking the bailout appear weak and could cause consumers to lose confidence in those banks which would only make the situation worse. All the major banks participated in the bailout in order to prevent individual banks from being stigmatized.

It sounds like you've been through some tough times, for which I sympathize, but I think you're placing undue fault at the bank's feet. First off you say that you were out of work and moved during which time the bank raised your rates. It would be common practice to raise your rates if you defaulted on a loan or line of credit, so I'm not sure why this would be a rip off. Now that you're in a better financial condition you're trying to pay back those obligations, but the bank isn't required to renegotiate your rates. They likely see you as a high risk of loss and so in order to offset that risk they keep you at a higher rate in order to make your loan profitable. After all, the bank is in business in order to make a profit. Let's put it to you this way. Two friends ask to borrow $10 for lunch. One of them has always paid you back in the past and you know he's good for it. The other one has borrowed a few times and has failed to pay you back on a few occassions. You only have $10. Which are you more likely to loan the $10 to? Most people would say the one that you know will pay you back. The bank is operating in exactly the same manner. It will loan greater amounts at lower rates to those in a better credit position because it knows the possibility of loss is lower. It may still loan to those in a worse credit position, but to justify the risk it requires greater profit because a larger percentage of those customers will create a loss. Secondly with regards to international transaction fees, this is a fee imposed by Visa, not any individual bank. I've worked in the financial industry for 5 years in both the credit and deposit worlds and this fee structure has been there since before I started. It's not a new fee, though it may be the first time you've paid attention to it. Visa charges the fee to offset the costs of currency exchanges. Consider that if you take US dollars to London, you're going to have to stop at a Thomas Cook or American Express currency exchange which will charge you a fee to convert your dollars to British Pounds. Visa does this same conversion, and likewise charges a fee for the service. While I appreciate you'd like the bank to be more forgiving, I'm not seeing a rip off here. PS - Jim, Bank of America actually did accept $25 billion of TARP money from the Treasury, however this was done not because they needed it, but because if some banks took it and others didn't it would make those banks taking the bailout appear weak and could cause consumers to lose confidence in those banks which would only make the situation worse. All the major banks participated in the bailout in order to prevent individual banks from being stigmatized.

It sounds like you've been through some tough times, for which I sympathize, but I think you're placing undue fault at the bank's feet. First off you say that you were out of work and moved during which time the bank raised your rates. It would be common practice to raise your rates if you defaulted on a loan or line of credit, so I'm not sure why this would be a rip off. Now that you're in a better financial condition you're trying to pay back those obligations, but the bank isn't required to renegotiate your rates. They likely see you as a high risk of loss and so in order to offset that risk they keep you at a higher rate in order to make your loan profitable. After all, the bank is in business in order to make a profit. Let's put it to you this way. Two friends ask to borrow $10 for lunch. One of them has always paid you back in the past and you know he's good for it. The other one has borrowed a few times and has failed to pay you back on a few occassions. You only have $10. Which are you more likely to loan the $10 to? Most people would say the one that you know will pay you back. The bank is operating in exactly the same manner. It will loan greater amounts at lower rates to those in a better credit position because it knows the possibility of loss is lower. It may still loan to those in a worse credit position, but to justify the risk it requires greater profit because a larger percentage of those customers will create a loss. Secondly with regards to international transaction fees, this is a fee imposed by Visa, not any individual bank. I've worked in the financial industry for 5 years in both the credit and deposit worlds and this fee structure has been there since before I started. It's not a new fee, though it may be the first time you've paid attention to it. Visa charges the fee to offset the costs of currency exchanges. Consider that if you take US dollars to London, you're going to have to stop at a Thomas Cook or American Express currency exchange which will charge you a fee to convert your dollars to British Pounds. Visa does this same conversion, and likewise charges a fee for the service. While I appreciate you'd like the bank to be more forgiving, I'm not seeing a rip off here. PS - Jim, Bank of America actually did accept $25 billion of TARP money from the Treasury, however this was done not because they needed it, but because if some banks took it and others didn't it would make those banks taking the bailout appear weak and could cause consumers to lose confidence in those banks which would only make the situation worse. All the major banks participated in the bailout in order to prevent individual banks from being stigmatized.

It sounds like you've been through some tough times, for which I sympathize, but I think you're placing undue fault at the bank's feet. First off you say that you were out of work and moved during which time the bank raised your rates. It would be common practice to raise your rates if you defaulted on a loan or line of credit, so I'm not sure why this would be a rip off. Now that you're in a better financial condition you're trying to pay back those obligations, but the bank isn't required to renegotiate your rates. They likely see you as a high risk of loss and so in order to offset that risk they keep you at a higher rate in order to make your loan profitable. After all, the bank is in business in order to make a profit. Let's put it to you this way. Two friends ask to borrow $10 for lunch. One of them has always paid you back in the past and you know he's good for it. The other one has borrowed a few times and has failed to pay you back on a few occassions. You only have $10. Which are you more likely to loan the $10 to? Most people would say the one that you know will pay you back. The bank is operating in exactly the same manner. It will loan greater amounts at lower rates to those in a better credit position because it knows the possibility of loss is lower. It may still loan to those in a worse credit position, but to justify the risk it requires greater profit because a larger percentage of those customers will create a loss. Secondly with regards to international transaction fees, this is a fee imposed by Visa, not any individual bank. I've worked in the financial industry for 5 years in both the credit and deposit worlds and this fee structure has been there since before I started. It's not a new fee, though it may be the first time you've paid attention to it. Visa charges the fee to offset the costs of currency exchanges. Consider that if you take US dollars to London, you're going to have to stop at a Thomas Cook or American Express currency exchange which will charge you a fee to convert your dollars to British Pounds. Visa does this same conversion, and likewise charges a fee for the service. While I appreciate you'd like the bank to be more forgiving, I'm not seeing a rip off here. PS - Jim, Bank of America actually did accept $25 billion of TARP money from the Treasury, however this was done not because they needed it, but because if some banks took it and others didn't it would make those banks taking the bailout appear weak and could cause consumers to lose confidence in those banks which would only make the situation worse. All the major banks participated in the bailout in order to prevent individual banks from being stigmatized.

DT, some thoughts for you. 1. There are no such thing as usury laws in the vast majority of states any longer, including yours. I would point you to any complaint on this website regarding Cash Call, where the interest rate on a short-term loan exceeds 99%. 2. All rates are disclosed in the account agreement and can be asked for at any point when you visit the bank. That charge you speak is in the agreement. 3. You're several years late to the class action lawsuit party. The bank won - that's why they can do what they can do. 4. Bank of America didn't get a bailout from the government. Yours is a tough situation to be in and I sympathize. I would seriously consider a credit counselor not affiliated with any bank to help you determine the right course of action to maximize the effect of your debt reduction strategy....

Were Discover and HSBC Credit Cards and what is the balance of those? What type of "loan" is the BofA account and what is the balance? What was the reason for your overseas trip?