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Bank of America Checking Accounts Consumer Reviews - Page 2

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Fees Fees Fees And Lies Lies Lies
By -

PORTLAND, OREGON -- Bank of America will push you down, kick you while you are there and then steal your wallet and your baby's candy. Their policies on fees are so screwed up their own customer service reps don't even get it right, heck, the bank manager I spoke with couldn't even give me a straight answer. I had overdrawn my account $12 on accident, noticed it right away, called, the representative said because it was "pending" and just done if I were to put money in there to cover it I would not incur a fee, so I had him xfer money from my savings to my checking and he assured me I would be fine.

A few days later I come to find my account overdrawn again, by $20, but I know that shouldn't be, turns out I did get a $35 after all. I called again, a lady waived the fee (it was noted that I had been told I wouldn't get one) and said that 4 transactions had put me over by $20 and that I was going to get 4 more fees, but she couldn't do anything b/c they hadn't billed to my account yet. I wait, and call back once they did.

(I would not have ever overdrawn my account had I not gotten that fee I was told I wouldn't get, and had I known I was going to get, if I was told the right info in the beginning, I wouldn't have used my debit card at all). I spoke with someone else, they said that they would waive 2 fees, that wasn't good enough for me but I didn't have time to argue, they said I should just call back and speak w a manager. So I did.

The manager basically said ha ha, too bad, we're not doing anything for you. I asked him to listen to the call when I was told I would get these fees waived, he said he couldn't do that. My husband was severely injured and hasn't been able to work for over a year. He's undergone 2 major surgeries, and is on workman's comp, they pay 60% of his income. I am a full time student, a mother of a 2 year old and am pregnant. I can't quit school to work more or I'll have to start paying on my loans.

Bank of America has screwed us over so many times it's not funny. They have charged us over $4500 in the last year in fees by manipulated debit card usage, lying to us over and over, and holding deposits. I don't understand how they are allowed to “pend” a charge made on a Friday until Tuesday, and then put a charge made on Monday before the Friday charge so that you end up overdrafting your account twice, even though on Friday there was enough to cover that charge. It doesn't make sense and it's not fair.

If there is money in the account when the debit card is swiped, its not overdrafting the account, and shouldn't get a fee, transactions should be posted in order of when they were done, not in order that will get the bank the most fees. I don't see how they can get away with this. The news always talks about the economy, and credit cards, and interest being charged, but I've never heard about banks sucking the life (almost literally) out of people with their deceiving business practices. If their own employees can't figure their practices out how can we as a customer? I hate and loath Bank of America. Bank of opportunity my **. More like bank with an opportunity to rob the poor.

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How Bank Of America Bends The Rules To Deny Your Funds While They Use
By -

RENO, NEVADA -- Even though this may get a bit technical and boring it explains one way banks use the system denying access to your money while they profit from it. In order to illustrate the problem I will use a real life case that just happened to me. I will quote chapter and verse the banking regulations they both use and abuse to accomplish this. I will give you an example of how this works. Be patient my explanation is as confusing as Fed Reserve Regulation CC itself.

My example as some of you know I recently retired. Part of my financial plan was to pay all of my outstanding debts and retire debt free. To that end I took a large cash distribution from my retirement savings with the intent of depositing it in one of my checking accounts and paying all my debts. We will follow that check to my bank to explain how they do it.

To begin the story I have essentially two checking accounts which I use: one at Bank of (A) which is little used and in fact sometimes months with no activity. The second account at Bank of (B) I use for everyday activities and is always in use. In this case I decided that I would deposit the check at Bank of (A) and pay all my accounts of from there. This decision was based on the fact two of the accounts I was paying off were at the same bank so it would be convenient to do so.

On Dec 1 first I deposited the funds at the branch office via a teller transaction. When I did this I was informed that I would only have immediate access to the first $100 of the funds with access to the next $4900 by 5 PM on 12/08/2008 and the remaining tens of thousand after 5PM on 12/10/2008. I was told that this was "required" by bank regulations.

I at the time questioned it and essentially was told by the branch manager that was the way it was take it or leave it, so I had no choice but to go along with it. When I got home I called the big 800 number in the sky for Bank of (A) and spoke to a person there who essentially said it was the branches right to hold the funds and it really didn't matter what I wanted and in a rather rude voice told me I should read Federal Reserve Regulation CC.

Now this is where I got upset or more precisely went to the full livid state of anger, for you see I have read regulation CC as well as something called Check 21 rules which are related and now this is how the game is played. Understand firstly that in Reg CC part 229 which covers this type of thing all references to holding funds use the terms "MAY" or "Not Later Than" so all holds by language are at the discretion of the Bank and not "Required" and the term "Reasonable" is also used in defining duration.

Because my deposit was a large one it was reasonable to place a hold on the funds that is not what is disputed. The duration and lack of professionalism on the part of the bank when dealing with it and me is the contention and my reason for pointing out this moneymaker for the bank. I will describe step by step what I think is wrong and invite any knowledgeable banker to point out my errors. I wager there will be no response.

First Reg CC does say that at least the first $100 must be available and the next $4900 "No later than" 5PM on the 5th business day and the remainder no later than the 7th business day. The bank can hold the funds for one additional day if the account has been overdrawn by the customer regularly (Note: this does not mean overdrawn by the banks imposition of fees in fact there is an exception for the bank to collect the overdrafts before the hold is released).

In any event the bank must notify the customer in writing at the time of deposit of the hold extension and the reason. Even further pre-printed deposit slips are supposed to have a notice that not all funds may be immediately available. Funds over first $5000 can be held for up to 7 days from deposit.

Now for how the banks get rich on your money I will use my case to describe what happens. The check I deposited was drawn on an Illinois bank so it clears via a different Fed Reserve Region and so it is a "Non-Local" item under the rules the bank teller deposited the check on 12/1 business. That night the check would have been transmitted electronically to clear the other bank.

(Checks for the most part no longer transit the country for clearing today imagery is used) by virtue of that I believe this is now an electronic transaction which under the rules should mean my funds were cleared probably on the 3rd or 4th of December. If in fact it was electronic the funds are required to be available on the next business day (5th). The bank however treats the transaction as an old fashioned paper transaction solely because it started with a paper demand.

Because of that banks place the hold at the maximum when deposited. That gives the bank up to 7 days of use of the funds which belong to the depositor. In my case the 6 figure number probably generated a couple of hundred dollars as well as by delaying the ability of me to pay the 2 other accounts off another couple of hundred if I had not spoken with those account managers and got them to wave the interest. This free use of the funds made the bank money denying me use of the funds. Now if I multiply Bank of (A)'s number of held deposits which on any given week would probably be in the thousands they make a lot of money at our expense.

Some other shortfalls in Reg CC. The regulation uses the language "MAY" when referring to placing holds as well as "No More Than" / "Not Later Than" and "Reasonable" when describing duration of the holds. That means that these items are at the sole discretion of the bank as to what the minimum time is. Banks by using the maximum get your money for the max time to use as they see fit prior to releasing it.

Appendix A defines which banks clears in which regions the consumer normally does not have access to this info so the decision on which bank to deposit in to get the most rapid service does not exist. Because the regulation has wide latitude banks take advantage by holding funds beyond what is necessary. In addition Managers differ in views and some are not as flexible with customers as they should be.

In fact consistency does not even make it through the example transaction. The teller told me the first $5000 would be available 12/08 but the customer service representative online email states 12/6 but they were not so I have no idea when the funds will actually be available. A perfectly good regulation with the designed intent to protect both the bank and consumer has turned into an instrument to take the consumers fund availability and give it to the bank for a period. Not fair in my opinion.

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Bank Of America Steals - Do Not Use Bank Of America
By -

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- Your branch at 4300 St. Andrews Road in Columbia, SC has ignored my letters from December 10, February 12, February 21, February 25, February 27, March 5, March 31, April 13, April 21, April 24, April 28, May 2, May 11, May 26, and June 12. I am writing to file complaints concerning this branch, ** I have been treated poorly as a customer. I have been lied to, called a liar, and have felt threatened.

All I have ever requested was to have my account fixed. I have also already called your corporate office two times this week at **, and I have not received a callback. I have already lost my car due to your negligence. I am now in the eviction process. I need my money in order to buy a car to get around, and to pay my landlord so I will not be evicted.

REFUND REQUESTED: $53.50 charge reported, $30.00 charge to me for check 537 you returned, $0.20 late fee for check 539 I was charged, $30.00 charge to me for check 539 you returned, $105.00 three $35.00 fees charged on 2/5/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 2/6/2008, $30.00 charge to me for check 540 you returned, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 2/11/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 2/12/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 2/14/2008, $30.00 stop payment fee on check 542 that you did not stop payment on, $105.00 three $35.00 fees charged on 2/21/2008, $36.95 check 533 returned incorrectly.

$30.00 charge to me for check 533 you returned, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charges on 2/25/2008, $30.00 charge to me for check 541 you returned, $30.00 charge to me for check 543 you returned, $105.00 three $35.00 fees charged on 2/26/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 2/27/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fees charged on 2/29/2008, ($1,048.50) partial correction to my account (3/5/08), $35.00 one $35.00 fees charged on 3/5/2008, $4.00 refund for fees incurred when local BOA ATM did not have money to disburse, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 3/14/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 3/20/2008.

$35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 3/21/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 3/24/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 3/25/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 3/26/2008, $105.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 3/27/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 3/28/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 4/7/2008, $10.00 fee charged on 4/9/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 4/14/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 4/15/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 4/16/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 4/17/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 4/22/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 4/23/2008.

$175.00 nine $35.00 fees charged on 4/24/2008, $175.00 nine $35.00 fees charged on 4/25/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 4/28/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 4/29/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 4/30/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 5/1/2008, $10.00 overdraft protection fee on 5/1/2008, ($1,200.00) partial correction to my account on 5/2/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 5/6/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 5/7/2008, $105.00 three $35.00 fees charged on 5/12/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 5/13/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 5/16/2008.

$175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 5/20/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 5/22/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 5/23/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 5/27/2008, $105.00 three $35.00 fees charged on 5/28/2008, $175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 6/3/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 6/4/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/9/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 6/11/2008, $1,500.00 bill paycheck 5014 applied 6/11/2008 -- I called my local branch to cancel this on 6/9/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/13/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/16/2008, $30.95 NSF Charge on 6/16/2008.

$175.00 five $35.00 fees charged on 6/17/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 6/18/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/24/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/26/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 6/27/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 7/1/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 7/7/2008, $70.00 two $35.00 fees charged on 7/8/2008, $29.95 NSF Charge on 7/9/2008, $35.00 one $35.00 fee charged on 7/10/2008. $4,887.05 TOTAL REFUND REQUESTED.

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Ripped Off
By -

DALLAS, TEXAS -- On June 23rd, I deposited my stimulus check into my husbands checking account through the ATM. After checking the account later on the 23rd, the deposit was posted, not pending. I went to pay some bills online. On the 24th, the deposit was pulled out and the account was overdrawn. After calling the bank I was told that the signatures could not be verified and that the check would be mailed to me and that I would be charged no NSF fees for 7 days.

I was told that I would have my IRS check back in 7 to 10 business days. On July 3rd my husband called the bank and after being on the phone 2 hours, transferred 6 times we were told they would be mailing a certified legal, cashable copy of the check.

On July 10 there is still no check. I again call the customer service line. I was told the check was in the mail. It had mailed on July 3rd and we had to give it 7 to 10 business days. Mind you that I was on the phone 3 hours, transferred 4 times and had to repeat the story every time. On July 10 we went into the bank at 4:15 ( we didn'€™t leave until 6:30) and spoke to an associate that also called the 800 customer service. He was then told that the check was not mailed until July 9th.

Remember I called on the 9th. Mind you now, that my husband is disabled and we live on a fixed income raising a 6 YEAR OLD. At this point, we are without money and overdrawn 210.00 with the over draft fees. I explained to the associate again all this and his only response was for us to go get a payday loan @ 346% interest.

On July 18th still no check and another 2 hours on the phone we were told that the check had not been ordered correctly and did not go out. The associate would again order it and it would take 7 to 10 business days to process, not including mailing time. On July 19th we went to the bank at 11:00 (again not leaving until almost 2pm) explained everything to another associate.

She made some calls and told us that she was having the check expedited and we would have it overnight by July 22nd. Only July 22 there was not check. I called the customer service center and was told the original check had been mailed on June 25th and there never was a check copy made. That I needed to contact the IRS for a new copy. Which I had already done. (6 to 8 weeks to process). My husband called the local branch and talked with the asst. manager.

There would be another certified legal c copy mailed to the branch in 5 business days, Keep in mind we were told that they couldn't mail another check because a copy was never made. After not liking this answer I called the local branch asked for the bank manager. Was left on hold 30 minted, hung up on twice and was told, "I could not hold." she would have to call me back. An hour later, I had a return call saying I would get the check in a week, then told there was no cashable legal copy of the check what I would get is a copy of the transaction. That same day we received a letter from BOA stating they needed more information to file the claim.

When calling, left on hold several times we were told that a cashable legal copy would be at the branch by July 30. Keep in mind, on the 30th I will have no electric, due to not being able to pay the bill and now my husband has been without medication almost a month. I guess time will tell on July 30th if there is a check. At this point we have been lied to so many times who knows were the truth is. We have since opened an account at another bank and will never use BOA again, but they still have our 600.00 check in safe keeping per the bank manager. At this point we are looking to seek legal action over the money, time and stress this has caused.

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Check Made Out for One Amount Cashed Posted as Another
By -

First I must say that as soon as I can I will be closing our BOA acct and going to a credit union. We have had nothing but trouble with this bank and the customer service is useless.. My husband is a bartender and he also works for a local security system company, I receive unemployment due to being laid off of my customer service job. I find that important information so anyone who reads this can see we have direct deposits and also a lot of cash deposits due to the bartending job. (Also knowing that I worked as customer service is beneficial in understanding that I know how a call center works.)

When we make a CASH deposit either through the machine or the teller they usually are posted that day of within 24 hrs. I had made a deposit via teller, on Thursday of last week. Today being Wed. the larger portion of the deposit was cash w/ one small payroll check of $26. I had notice on the deposit slip that the balance on the acct was not where it should have been but I assumed that the rest would be posted within the 24hr time frame. Friday & Sat. the deposit still does not go through!?! Jump ahead to Sunday. My husband goes to the bank and deposits a large portion of CASH in the acct.

Being that it is Sun. and tomorrow is Monday M.L.K.J day.. I figured that Tuesday all the deposits should be there.. This was something I would naturally assume but the receipt from the machine confirms it as it reads "will post 1-22-Tuesday". I patiently wait for my money to post and sure enough on Tuesday when I check, all my deposits are STILL PENDING?!? CASH DEPOSITS STILL PENDING?!? Now I do have an auto loan that is automatically withdrawn from my acct. and has been this way since the loan was established. This payment came out on Tuesday and caused my acct to have a negative balance. This resulted in a $35 charge for o/d.

Had the funds been distributed properly this would not have happened. I called the useless customer service and the girl that I had spoken to advised me that since the $35 o/d fee is pending she cannot credit it back to me until the next day and that the deposits should go through by midnight that night... She also explained that credits go through first then debits. So I wait. 12:30a Wed morning I check my acct and everything is still Pending. The only difference is now I have my unemployment check added to the deposits that are pending... Wonderful. All this money and I cannot touch any of it! The debits pending are $35 o/d and my loan payment.

Wake up Wed morning and I get online. 3 checks have bounced and although the other deposits have been credited my unemployment check is STILL pending and I'm being charged $35 per overdraft. After further inspection of my acct I found that a check written for $100 was posted as $150.

I spoke to agents, supervisors and supervisor's managers... No avail.. They put a "ticket" through and stated it would take 5-7 business days to be corrected -- this is only for the check that was posted wrong. They would not discuss anything else. They wanted to explain their policies and had rebuttals for everything I had to say... They screwed up and still I got bent over! I have to say that the customer service is well trained in doing nothing!

I would be better off allowing my 7 year old son to hold our money. He would be more trusting!I Will take my money elsewhere asap. If anyone is planning on opening an acct, think of just how valuable your money, credit and sanity is. Don't do it!!!

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Bank of America Promises to Pay $100 Within 50 Days, Does Not Do So, Charges Fees That They Said They Would Not, Wastes My Time
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CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA -- They said that if I opened a new checking account online using a particular offer code, it would have no monthly fee, with no direct deposit requirement, and no minimum balance requirement, and that if I deposited at least $25, then they would credit me with an additional $100 within 50 days of opening the account.

They charged a monthly fee twice (so far) without notice. Each time that I discovered that a monthly fee and called to complain, it was reversed, but if I had not happened to check my balance, I could have overdrawn the account because of the fee that they were not supposed to charge. Later, they told me that they do not have accounts that remain free of monthly fees forever, they only have ones that are free for a limited number of months, even though the offer said otherwise. They only told me this when I said that I closed the account; this information is withheld from existing customers.

They did not credit me with the $100 within the stated time period of 50 days. When I called to complain, they told me that they need 90 days, even though the offer said otherwise. I did not receive it within 90 days either. I received the money only after waiting approximately 5 months and filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. By this time, I had spent so much time on the phone (see below) that I wish that they had just said at the start that they would never pay me what they promised, because it was not worth the amount of frustration, effort, and time that it took just to get them to do what they kept saying that they were going to do.

Their Internet representatives and their employees in the branch refuse to help with any issues relating to accounts that have been opened on the Internet. The employees in the Internet chats say that they can only help customer open still more accounts, and cannot help with existing accounts. The employees in the branch say that they can help with existing accounts that are opened there but not with ones opened online.

The only way to get any assistance is to call on the phone, spend hours on hold listening to a recording that tells you to try the website, and then speak to someone who either says that the problem is fixed (when it is not) or says that they will look into the problem and get back to you and does not get back to you. One time, after I waited a month, we had to start over, because they said that they could not even find any record of the previous call that end with them falsely promising to investigate...

They opened at least one, and probably two, accounts in my name without my authorization. In one case, I actually watched the teller's computer monitor and remember that it said for them only to send information about a credit card account (not related to items 1-4 above) that I was considering, but they opened it anyway and now it is on my credit report. The other possible unauthorized account is a savings account that was opened along with the checking account discussed in 1-4.

I only asked for a checking account to be opened, but I did it online and might have accidentally failed to uncheck a box for a savings account. Also, it took too many tries to close the unwanted savings account. They should have closed it the first time that I asked, but they did not.

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Customer Retention Not Part Of B Of A Culture
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QUEEN CREEK BRANCH, ARIZONA -- I've been with B of A for almost 20 years and along the way they've made a few errors on our accounts, nothing to precipitate a crisis. But when my husband and I separated last fall, we went to B of A. I opened all new accounts in my name only and the bank manager deleted my name from my husband's accounts. We received new debit/check cards and separated our credit card accounts. That was November 2006. My husband and I do online banking, paperless statements, use the bill pay option and have very little "human" contact with B of A.

Almost 4 months went by and I noticed when I signed in and got to the account overview page, my husband's accounts were still showing on my account display. I checked with him and he was experiencing the same. Personal information going across the internet due to the bank's errors and negligence. We solved that without rancor and everything settled down.

Then this past week a $5.95 check charge shows up on my household account. The account into which my social security check is direct deposited. Like clockwork, on the 4th Wednesday of every month of ever year, my social security check is deposited and therefore I do not pay any charges for my account.

So I called them on this $5.95 charge and they said there was no direct deposit that month and the charge will stay. I wrote back giving them the date of the deposit and B of A replied to me that my social security check was deposited one day outside this month's opening and closing dates, so technically there was no direct deposit during what B of A considers a "month" and the charge was valid and would remain.

So I responded and logically explained that when I ran 22 stores in five cities in three states, there were times I would measure the net cost to my company for a small thing like a $5.95 fee, and that I understood perhaps he didn't even have the authority to make a $5.95 decision in his position with B of A and very soon I'd be taking my business elsewhere - 2 accounts with only a few thousand in them, but an inheritance of a quarter million was on its way to be put in a long term CD, but not at B of A anymore.

I just clearly wanted someone to see that "yes, you earned $5.95 for your bank today and made your point", but you lost my business that would have generated far and again that $5.95. And that I would strive in any publication or forum to spread my experience with Bank of America to as many people who would read and listen. I ended by asking him to please not respond to my emails as I would hate to see his department going into overtime mishandling a $5.95 company error. The customer is no longer important to the culture of Bank of America. That is my message.

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Avoid Unless You Like Winged Monkeys
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SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- I've had business & personal checking accounts with this sad excuse for a financial institution for over 3 years now. During that time, it's been nothing but problems. You will find that if you even try to find a customer service number, it will take you at least 20 minutes from the start of your "adventure" to finally speak with someone (this is a low estimate). When you do speak to an alleged human, you will wish you were again talking to their phone tree because it is actually far more responsive.

When I signed up for these accounts at their Freeport location in Sacramento, the very nice woman signed me up for absolutely free checking for both accounts (because I'm a business customer). I got her to repeat the terms to me more than once so that I'd be in for no surprises: No minimum, no strings, ever. I only had to pay for checks.

After about a year I noticed that they'd been charging me $12.95/mo. on my business account. After the requisite 10 minutes finding an actual number to call, being on hold only to be told I had to call a different number, and the subsequent minimum of 10 minutes hold time, I was told that my "agreement" said that I had to keep at least $4000 in my account. I disagreed & told them the terms that I had actually signed up for. As usual, it fell on deaf ears and more than a year later it's never been straightened out. It cost me approximately $100 in fees & since then I've just kept $4000 in the account even though it's not what I agreed to when I opened it.

This is not usually a problem, but it's really annoying that on an INTEREST FREE account that usually has at least $10K in it, they will charge me if my account goes to $3999 for one day. Recently I looked at my personal checking account online only to find that they'd been charging me $5.95/mo service charge for the last 7 months. I've used this account TWICE since I opened it. In fact, I was talked into this account by the Freeport person who assured me there were no strings, so why not?

After spending 20 minutes trying to get through, I was disconnected by their "customer service" rep who apparently didn't want to deal with "customer service" that day although she's being paid to do so. I spent another 15 minutes getting through, only to get a robot on the other end. She insisted that I had to have a direct deposit on the account in order to qualify for free checking. Even though I told her again & again that I didn't sign up for this, and further, why would such charges have only begun 2.5 years after opening the account? Also, why would a small business owner ever sign up for such a thing when one does not have a paycheck to direct deposit?

The Robot just kept repeating the same things. These people could give John Cleese a run for his money in the skit "Argument Clinic". Finally, she mentioned that I could cancel the account by going to a zero balance online & calling them back to cancel. I said "hold on I'll do it as we speak." She then had to transfer me to a "supervisor" who wanted to rehash the whole thing again with me. This one was a Triple Robot with an IQ of perhaps 80 or so.

By the time these folks were through with me I went from a calm, happy person who had been preparing for my enjoyable work day to a shaking, angry person who wants to move to a country where corporations aren't given more power than the people. I started this mess at 7 a.m. this morning before my work day began. It took me 1.25 hours to get nowhere with B of A. Additionally, I'm so angry that I'm planning on contacting my attorney later on today. Some of us are SICK & TIRED of these huge corporations (and the winged monkeys that work for them) just having their way with us.

Despite the fact that my accounts have had an average of $10-$15K in them (INTEREST FREE) all these years, these Bank of America checking accounts have cost me over $135 in bogus "service charges" that are in violation of what I signed up for when I opened them.

The 2 main points that I'm trying to make about B of A is this: 1) beware if you sign up for a "free" no minimum account. They will change your status whenever they feel like it w/o contacting you. Soon you too will be spending inordinate amounts of time trying to deal with their Winged Monkeys to no avail. Save yourself the hassle & take your business elsewhere; 2) they have some of the most moronic "customer service" reps I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Either B of A specifically chooses them for their low IQ/highly belligerent combination, or these people are so badly treated by their employer that they just act that way.

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Erroneous and Outrageous Check Fees
By -

I recently opened a BofA checking account, even though I work in the Banking and Cedit Card Industry and had heard many horror stories. But I needed a new checking account. Also I was enticed by the $25.00 sign up reward.

Every thing was fine until the fourth month of the account... I do not like to carry cash and the Debit Card was an ideal means for me. I also followed my account online. The balances between my checkbook and the on line account were very accurate. That is until the 1st week of September of 2007. Labor Day Weekend had resulted in multiples uses of the credit card, of which I always keep receipts. My last transaction had shown an availability of $270.00 after an $80.00 withdrawal.

The next morning I checked my account... I was amazed to see a negative $132.00. Apparently the airline ticket I purchased on Monday and appeared on Tuesday had reappeared on Friday with no other listing for the Tuesday appearance. It was not the airline's fault of a double bill. They got the first call. Needless to say at $35.00 for 7 overdraft items... (four of which were $2.00 ATM Fees) I was a little shocked, because by the time I had checked the account later in the day I was now around $300.00 short.

It appeared as if something was triggered when my Account approached $40.00 remaining. On that day 9/6/07,10 charges showed up that had been done three days earlier... All by debit (which is immediate withdrawal) per management.

Well that was bad enough but I thought that B of A would like to handle a new customer correctly and hear them out and come to a solution where both parties are satisfied. But I was given the chance to enter my complaint in a computer and if the computer said no refund, then it is no refund. Guess what? No refund... I then asked to speak to the manager and was told the same thing. Once the machine makes the judgment there is nothing we can do to stop the transaction. I asked if he could override, I would even accept some of the charges... But he said no, once the computer makes the decision we are bound by it.

I then asked if he would like to earn my business and he said his hands are tied. I no longer bank at BofA and this may cause me to be listed in Chexsytems, but I will take the chance and get another account quickly, than to be treated like a fool and not even have the courtesy of the Branch Manager offering to make some type of amends. I spent too many years in the Customer Service and restaurant Business to let a customer leave angrily... But Buyer Beware. I never got my $25.00 sign up fee but they would have only been late 30 days in giving it to me. No Charge from me for that disservice... Except losing my business as the result of your disservice.

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B of A - 'Legalized?' Rip-Off Warning
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While I don't own a large corporation, I do own a small company, and unfortunately I too made the mistake of doing business with Bank of America. Like many of us, I had an account with B of A (hereinafter I will refer to them as BS of A) when I was young. I must be slipping in my old age, because after about 25 years, I had forgotten just how ridiculously bad BS of A was (and still is), and I opened a new account with them.

I have retired from the Fire Dept., and part of my small business is in Asia. I opened my BS of A accounts to have my retirement checks deposited and to allow me to wire money over to Asia and back when needed. At the time it seemed like a good idea because BS of A had branches located close to a couple of houses I own in California.

Anyway, the latest SNAFU (and the last, because I am DONE with BS of A for good) involves a $60,000 check deposit. I needed to send this $60,000 over to Asia. I don't keep the majority of my money in BS of A because it doesn't pay decent interest, and the bank I do business with that does doesn't do int'l transfers or electronic ones.

Anyway, this check cleared the issuing bank in about 3 days, but when I called from Asia to get the funds released, I was told there was a 15 day 'out of state' hold. When I advised them that this check had already cleared, they told me that this hold was 'automatic' and that they couldn't release the funds until the 15 days had elapsed. I asked them to check their 'computer', so they could see for themselves that the check was cleared. They then told me their 'system' won't show them when the check has cleared.

I do remember from 25 years ago, the minute they can create a situation where they can NSF (bounce) a check they will happily do so, and the fees start piling up like crazy. So their 'system' is really good at knowing (and actually creating) situations when you are supposedly overdrawn, but it mysteriously has no capability to actually know when a deposit you have made has cleared. The BS of A customer service rep advised that this was all 'according to the law', which I found even more irritating. In the end, BS of A camped on my 60 grand for 15 days. During this time, they loan this 'funny money' to some poor schmuck for an outrageous interest charge.

My advice to anyone who is even thinking about doing business with BS of A is simple. DON'T, DON'T, DON'T. It will cost you countless dollars in ridiculous fees, not to mention unending headache and frustration, and perhaps worse, the feeling that your bank is really a semi-legal criminal racket designed not to serve you, but to systematically steal your money slowly but surely. STAY AWAY FROM BS of A.

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