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Bank of America Overdraft Fees Consumer Reviews - Page 2

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Overdraft Protection?
By -

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- In early October of 2009, my Bank of America checking account dipped below zero and I remembered I had overdraft protection, from my savings account. I made a mistake by not being more diligent, and for that I'm accountable. After a day or two, I noticed my overdraft protection was not being initiated, so I twice transferred money online from my savings to checking account. My savings had over $2000, so that was not an issue to cover what had happened. I then contacted a representative from the bank, and discovered that because my savings account was opened in Arizona, the overdraft protection was not valid.

Funny thing is, I've never lived in Arizona! It was a shock to me, and had never heard anything like this, nor did I read this in the account terms. After listening to the rep, she put me on hold and apparently spoke to an on-duty manager. I had explained to the representative that I thought I had the overdraft protection, and requested Bank of America refund $245 in fees. Once the representative came back on the line, she informed me that based on my belief that I had overdraft protection, they would refund all fees!

Now you can imagine my relief, and I was certainly embarrassed by my mistake and allowing my account to drop to low. The representative mentioned that the refund would happen on October 12th, yet I believe she forgot it was a holiday. I waited patiently and never saw the fees refunded. I called another rep, and he had me speak to a manager. I've never been talked to in such a way, where I felt like an insignificant customer, and the manager was incredibly condescending. I questioned why he could not pull the phone call, so he could confirm what the representative specifically told me.

I mean this is Bank of America, so why would overdraft protection be valid in any state. He could not explain why my overdraft protection did not apply, since my account was allegedly opened in Arizona, and I have never lived there! I am a full time resident in Texas! Instead of being accountable, he continued on with his condescending tone, and only refunded one $35 fee! I badly need the help, and I'm hoping this posting is a start. I felt like a small fish, in the oceans of a big bank. I will continue my fight to have these fees refunded to me.

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New Overdraft Fee Policy Will Send You Reeling Into Debt!
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- Bank of America has implemented a new overdraft policy called "Signature Debit". What this means for us is all debit card transactions are now kept in "real time" so essentially you are allowed to overspend and swipe your card to spend money you DO NOT HAVE! Here's how it works (I finally learned this after spending $1500 YES 1500 in OD fees with this new policy) and it's not hard to get to that amount of fees.

When you use your debit card the money comes out immediately for 24 hours and is then put back into your account if a Merchant does not claim their money within that 24 hour period (mind you it takes approx. 4 days for a Merchant to claim the money). This will happen Monday-Thursday. On Friday,Sat, Sun. (and holidays) your may swipe your card and these holds DO NOT Fall off until MONDAY after 3pm (this is when the do processing).

At that point everyone that you have swiped for earlier in the week comes back to claim their money and now since you have been allowed to spend money you really didn't have you will have overdraft fee's that will send you soaring! They used to charge 8 per day now they have cut it down to 5. So essentially if you show a $300 balance that is NOT YOUR BALANCE REALLY. The only way to avoid this is to keep a paper register. You can and I promise you WILL spend money you don't have and I must say... this is quite an elaborate scheme. Now that being said, this IS MY LAST week with BOA.

I work way too hard (Nor am I rich) to give away $300-500 per week. So LONG BOA!!! And don't be surprised if the RUDE AND UNPROFESSIONAL rep you speak to cannot explain why you had $600 on Monday and - $2000 on Tuesday. It took me like I said ($1500) before I figured this theft tactic out... JUST LEAVE!!!

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Negatively Changes Their Policy On "Pending Transactions"
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Bank of America's policy of Overdraft Fees is nothing short of debilitating. As of this post (May 2008), BofA has recently changed their policy on PENDING TRANSACTIONS which - in particular - has resulted in numerous overdraft fees on my account. It took 3 calls to their "customer service" department, before someone admitted to me that their policy has indeed recently changed.

In the past, using my bank card (non-debit) on a Friday would NOT see those transactions post to my account until Monday. That meant I had until Sunday's "cut-off time" to fund the account to cover Friday's charges. As of this writing, BofA has CHANGED that policy so that (quote) "Pending charges may in fact pull the funds from the account that same day". To clarify, BofA is saying that I no longer can wait until Sunday - I must fund Friday's charges before Friday's cut-off time.

While this is a simple change of protocol for me, why was their policy change not made well known? HINT: Instead of the onslaught of advertisements upon logging into the BofA website (www.bankofamerica.com), such that often require my clicking a "Not Interested" button, why not post a message that says "Dear Valued Customers, please avoid overdraft fees by keeping your account funded Monday through Friday, as we have recently changed our policies in that we now post Friday's activity ON Friday."

Why didn't BofA make this well known? In my opinion, they make BILLIONS off of Overdraft Fees. It's a planned event, not unlike insurance companies who calculate who and how many people will die this year. This is one of their money-making scams... um, I mean schemes.

Yes, I know that I can assign an overdraft account to protect myself, but that would not be necessary if they made their customer well-aware of policy changes... instead of tell me (as their Customer Service department did) that "Didn't you see the notice? It was included with a recent statement." So, instead of further insulting us with your videos **, why not spend the time and energy to keep your "valued customers" well informed? **

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Bank of America's Outrageous Overdraft Policy
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Consumers beware! Bank of America has a new overdraft "policy" that will have you reeling in the overdraft fees without a leg to stand on in your defense. A few weeks ago I looked at my account balance and although there were no overdrawn charges, there were 8 (yes count them 8) overdraft fees added to my account for $35 each. Now, me being a sensible person I called Bank of America to say that there must be some mistake because no items had been overdrawn.

The response was less than receptive. It seems that in the past when I made a purchase at the grocery store, and then went to the bank (or do an online transfer like I did) to make a deposit it was fine. However, RECENTLY (the agent couldn't give a date) Bank of America has changed their policy and now does all tracking of purchases, deposits, etc., in REAL TIME. So, even though the money was in the account when the charge "cleared," it was not available when the purchase was actually made.

Now, to a consumer who just paid Bank of America $280 (35 x 8 = $280) for things like Wendy's ($3), grocery ($15), etc., I was very disappointed in their logic. I asked if a notification was sent out, and the agent simply replied, "We don't have to." Well, since you obviously feel that BoA let you in on a cut of my overdrafts (which I'm sure they didn't Mrs. Agent since you still go to work every day too), I have nothing more to say. Also, since these overdrafts sent other purchases into virtual overdraft and I'm sure I'll pay around $700 this month in fees alone.

In essence, it seems that I now work for Bank of America and next week, once a few checks that are out have cleared, I'm going to quit. There should be a class action lawsuit brought against Bank of America for their practices.

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New Overdraft Fees On Pending Transactions
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SENECA -- BoA has started charging overdraft fees on pending transaction (not posted transaction) when you go into the negative in your available balance. This will occur even if transaction(s) fall off and you're really not in the negative. I have spoken with BoA several times and even the corp. offices in Charlotte, NC. I have spoken to the Federal Reserve Consumer Help and the OCC. At this point there is nothing we can do except write our congressmen and/or congresswomen and complain about this. This isn't a big deal if you are able to control what pending transaction and amount are in your account but we not always able to do that.

It is common practice for restaurants to authorize a high amount than what your bill actually is and later go back and enters the correct amount; you have no control over this. So if you go elsewhere and spend money and this puts you in the red, you're going to get an overdraft charge. If a merchant makes a mistake and you get a refund and have to redo the transaction (the refund does not show until it post) and you go in the neg., you're going to receive an overdraft charge. What I mean is.... you spend $50 and that's wrong. So the merchant refunds you $50 and then the correct amount of $30 is authorized, your available balance will decrease $80 until the refund of $50 post.

Regardless of what falls off, you will receive an overdraft charge. This is by far unethical! Even if it is not illegal. BoA response is other banks do this. So I urge everyone to write to their congressmen and/or congresswomen to complain so hopefully we might be able to stop this practice. I know there is a possibility that this will not accomplish anything but all we can do is try. The only other thing is to withdraw all your money but if too many people do that, it could cripple the American economy and we don'€™t want that.

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Overdraft Nightmare - One More Customer Lost
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Bank of America's overdraft policies should be illegal. I have been caught up in their "fees" previously, and I was shocked by how much they charge ($33 per transaction). At that time, I thought I linked all of my accounts so that this would never happen to me again, however, a change to my savings account caused overdraft protection to disappear. Imagine my surprise when $362 in overdraft fees later, I found out that I did not have overdraft protection and there was nothing that Bank of America was willing to do to help. I was charged a $33 overdraft fee for a $7 debit!

When I asked why my debit card wasn't cut off considering that I no longer had money in my account, I was told that it was a "courtesy" to their "best customers" that they covered charges when there was no money left in the account. How is $362 in fees to me a courtesy? Then the customer service supervisor had the nerve to tell me that they don't make any money on overdraft fees. Does that $362 they charged me magically vanish into thin air?

I made an unintentional mistake, and yes, I would have preferred if I went to use my debit card and couldn't because there was no money in the account. Then, I would have known that there was a major problem, and I could have taken steps to correct it rather than having to pay the unbelievably expensive "courtesy" that Bank of America provided.

I am leaving Bank of America after 5 years. Their lack of customer service is appalling. I realize I am not a very important customer to them since I don't have any major investments to make at the moment, but I do have 3 children that are going to need funds for college and I do have a home that is going to need improvements in the future. It would be nice if they understood that the day-to-day customers like me help to keep them in business, too.

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(%*#(% CROOKS!!!!!
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ROCKWALL, TEXAS -- Steer clear of BANK OF AMERICA!!! WE have had a checking and savings account with B of A for years, never noticed anything fishy going on until one day my husband was balancing the checkbook online and noticed there was an NSF charge for a check that had cleared 2 days before (he had it marked off in the check book as being paid). He called the customer service number and was treated like he was trash! He was told that the item had not cleared when he said it did and wasn't reversing any fees.

We found several items they had cleared and then couple days later we were charged NSF fees for the items that cleared!!! My husband went ballistic with them on the phone, still to no avail, no reversed charges. So in Feb. we decided to close the account, we did or we thought we did and here comes this electronic debit that NO ONE knows about and NO ONE can tell us what it's for, the only thing they can tell us is WE owe THEM 249.00 for OVERDRAFT FEES!!!

Our current bank has put a hold on our whole account, we cannot draw out or put in our ATM card is no longer working, our direct deposits are not going through. In other words, if we don't bank BANK OF AMERICAS B.S. fees, we're screwed!

A friend of mine noticed her account with B of A was the same way, debits being moved around so they wouldn't clear and she was charged over 4000.00 in FEES, she contacted an attorney and was told she has a VERY good case against them. She was smart enough to print out all her online banking balances and could prove where her debits were being moved around where they would not clear! So... STAND clear of Bank of America. They are nothing more than CROOKS, THEIFS, LIARS!!!

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Bad Customer Service On O/D
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PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA -- I will be closing my account w/ BOA ASAP! I closed a checking account back in July and reopened one the same day due to multiple problems with the account. I sat with the person IN PERSON and closed an account, got a new check book, and put some money in a savings account and thought OK, start over should be fine. WELLLLLLL. Apparently a charge for $18.00 went through on the CLOSED ACCOUNT, and was paid, WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE. 5 months later, 9 overdrafts were charged because bill pay was attempted, charging my CLOSED account $107.00 in fees.

Now mind you, I had no clue that this was going on. I do my banking online and check the balances daily. When I opened my online banking I noted 3 accounts, 1 savings, and 2 checking, 1 w/ a zero balance. Thought nothing of it, just that it was listing all accounts I have had. One day I decided to open it and see if it said closed or anything and saw the $18.00 charge? I called and they advised me of it. I said I would move the $18.00 from one checking to the other to cover it, they said once it was done the account would be officially closed. I paid it.

1 week later, my current checking account was charged $107.00. I called them and fought and fought with the rudest people in the land. I asked how can they justify taking that money out when they could have taken it out 6 months ago ONLY $18.00??? They gave me the story of 120 days I had to pay it and then they reopen the account. I said it is way over 120 days, how come they had no problem taking $107.00, but when it was $18.00 they never touched it??? There was no satisfactory explanation!

I was so angry and demanded they reverse the charges, they said "NO WAY", that it was basically my problem. So, I am closing the account and will tell anyone and everyone, DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH B of A!!! YOU WILL SERIOUSLY REGRET IT WITH YOUR LIFE!!!

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Bank of America is a Greedy Fraudulent Company
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PORTLAND, MAINE -- This bank is the greediest bank I've ever encountered. Recently my work made a mistake with the payroll file due to our company not recognizing Veterans Day Holiday and they got the direct deposit in late to the banks. Because of this I did not have my paycheck in my bank account when I expected it. Today people pay their bills by automatic payments and scheduled payments online so I had quite a few transactions that were going to go through no matter what I tried to do.

I called the Banks customer service and the girl told me they had the file and it would be posted by 5pm that day. She stated that this would not cause any overdrafts. I asked her if she was absolutely positive and she said 'Yes'. If she had not told me this I could have borrowed some money and gotten it into my bank account in time so I did not bounce any transactions. The payment file never got posted when the customer service representative told me it would be. I did have the money in the bank to cover a few of the transactions but Bank of America re-ordered the transactions in such a way so that they could maximize the amount of fees they would get.

I called the Bank three times along with my employer and they refused to work with me. This bank is awful and couldn't care less about their customers. I hope all their customers will leave them and they go bankrupt. I think they forgot who bailed them out after all. I've gone with a Credit Union now and dropped this bank account. The Credit Unions care more about their customers and will work with them at times when occasional mistakes happen. Shame on you Bank of America!

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Scam
By -

I have owned (via the bank) this home since 1988 and have never filed bankruptcy or had a foreclosure. I married in 1999. My battle with cancer affected my family's income and financial stability.

My husband and I have been in the MHAP since Oct., 2009. They offered a modification of 2.75 from 6.25. We applied and while waiting for our approval, the mortgage payment was 500 less per month, which is what we could afford. I have sent all the information they requested. In early March, the bank representative said that by March 15 we would receive an answer as to whether or not we would be approved. That date came and went. Instead, they requested an updated copy of our bank statements. I sent them initially in Nov. However, since the process is taking so long the ones I sent were too old to consider. So I sent new ones.

In the meantime, we kept paying the reduced mortgage rate. In late April, I called again to check and the representative said that my application was in the process of being closed. They could not tell me why. I asked why we weren't notified. They stated that they did not have to send a letter. That week I had to accompany my husband's family to visit his sister who had less than a month left to live. So I put this on hold until I returned home and called again. This time they told me that the reason is because we did not provide proof of my income.

To which I responded that I sent it in Nov., 2009. They said, "Yes, but the information has expired." They will assign someone within the next 30 days to review the paper trail which was contracted to another company. In the meantime, they sent us a demand letter for $12,000+. What more can I say?

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74 reviews & complaints.
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