My Bank of America rant

I am so pissed off at Bank of America!!!

Reasons being:

First, their soon-to-be $5 per month swipe-fee which I never agreed to 10-years ago. They will be making a PROFIT on it. They want to make money off of MY money! So it's not like this 'fee' is to recoup just an overhead expense.

Secondly, I still can't access my account on-line. Six days now.

Third, their complete ineptness and here's why:




I went to the bank on Monday to pull out all but 100 dollars!
I told them that I was very nervous/concerned about rumors of their site being hacked plus...this new fee coming down the pike which I never signed up for.

The teller asked me if I had time to discuss this matter with the manager to see if I was one of their customers (aka: victims) applicable for the fee.
I told him I didn't have time (Monday) and I'd talk some other time. I also needed a roll of quarters as well


Yesterday, I opened up the roll of quarters to find two nickles within the roll.
Now I am pissed. Not so much I was out 40 cents. It was the WHOLE situation. The nickles were just the catalyst.


So I drove 4 miles back to the bank (again, not just over the quarter discrepancy rather, their whole mitigated gall!)

I told the door-greeting Walmart-like woman ....holding the all important 'clipboard'.....who does nothing but smiles and says: "welcome to Bank of America" that I wanted to speak with the manager.

I proceed to the manager's office and inform her about my quarter rip-off, then the online debacle (and how I can't pay any of my NOW, late bills) followed by my displeasure about the 2012 fees.

This woman (girl) who was about 20 years old......who had a look of fright on her face (probably because everything I was complaining about, she hadn't learned about in class) says 'let me look at your account because these fees will only apply to certain customers'

So I gave her my card and she punched in my numbers and up pops my account.

This is where I HAD IT.
She looks at me, with a big SMILE and says "You ARE entitled to the fees next year"

Entitled? She thought it was a GOOD thing. She was absolutely clueless about what's going on.
So I corrected her and said, "you mean, subjected don't you?"

She paused, looked at her (what I assume to be) memos and said "Yes. I apologize".
Her smile morphed into a robotic frown within a millisecond! She was totally disingenuous.
She had no real feelings because she had no real grasp of the situation.



So with that, she gave me my .40 cents (from the roll of quarters) and apologized.
I walked up to the teller, pulled out the rest of my money (except $5.00) and walked out the door.
(I have automatic deposit set up that I need to update but as soon as that's done, they're history)


Everyone get out of Bank of America!!!!

reply to post by Human_Alien


Ah yes, Good 'ol BoA. I stopped doing business with them over ten years ago.

I think that this is the first to crash, soon to be followed by others as well.

I'm stocking up food for the winter like a squirrel.

Good rant.

And like all good rants, it has accusation without inspection.

Yes, the new fees suck and people will not like them. No, BoA didn't decide out of the blue to start charging this fee. Look into the swipe-fee reductions and other laws passed by Congress "for the people/for the small business" and you'll see that while they were good ideas in a vacuum, they essentially guaranteed that banks would start passing the cost onto their customers.

Edit: As far as the ineptness... well, that's a given

Change banks, it's not that hard.

Bank of America is our whole economic system in microcosm. They'll slobber all over you if you are rich with a big balance, and spit on you if you don't.

We closed our B of A accounts at the beginning of this year, as we could see the writing on the wall.

My own B of A story is that, back in 2002, I sold my house in California and *fled* (not left) to Texas. It was a bad time for me, nasty divorce, etc. Anyway, I neglected to file state income tax for Cali for that year. A few years later California was saying that I owed them $13,000 in capital gains tax for my house. I tried to tell them that I actually took a loss because I was in the middle of a remodel, but they said I owed the money unless I could prove otherwise.

I couldn't find my paperwork for that year. In the mean time, California froze my account at B of A and took all the money out of it, at a time when I had a bunch of checks out to pay my bills. The bounced check fees and various other punishments added up to almost $700. Basically, my account was robbed and then I was penalized double by the bank.

I found my paperwork eventually and proved to California that, not only were they not owed the money, but they owed me.

Long story short, California kept all my money and refused to refund it, and I had no bank account. I had to borrow the money to survive from family members. Later I met and married a gentleman who had accounts at B of A. He put me on his accounts. Within a few months, B of A had collected (without warning) the $700 in penalties they said I owed. Thank God we had enough money in the account that our outstanding checks did not bounce. I knew they were going to screw me but my husband had been a loyal B of A customer for 30 years and didn't want to change banks then. My efforts to clear it up through B of A went unheeded. They didn't care if Cali was in error for the rip-off, they just wanted their bounced check fees.

The house that my husband had was financed through B of A. We tried to sell it last year when we decided that it was too expensive to live where we were at. It was appraised at well over what we had it listed for. It never sold, so we left it and told them to go ahead and take it. It was in excellent shape, a beautiful house. They said they would foreclose last April. They sent notices saying they were taking it then.

We still get a bill from them every month, saying to pay the mortgage payments. They haven't taken the house. They are letting it get run down. They kept calling daily until we told them that we were recording their calls. They said we weren't allowed to record them, to which we said, You say you will be recording this conversation each time. Now that we are recording you, it's not ok? They would always hang up on us.

I don't think they have the paperwork for the mortgage. They are greedy, screwed up, and I will throw a party the day they fail, and THEY WILL FAIL. It is only a matter of time.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


No offense, but it sounds like you're just as at fault here.

Part 1: You didn't file taxes, didn't keep paperwork, and you got bit by it.

Part 2: You can't just say "take my house" and stop paying your mortgage. They don't want the current value of your house; they want you to make payments on it so you end up paying twice or thrice what you "bought" it for.

The banking system is screwed up far more than it should be, but cases like this just prove that it really isn't a one-sided issue.

10 years ago I was a new BofA cust and they issued me a large tax refund check....I deposited it in my account and was told the funds would be on hold for ten days while the check is verified...it was their own check....i closed the account and have used local credit unions since then. and USAA.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


I have actually read those fine print account disclosure statements, and they actually state that they will seize money from your account if you even own another bank. Bizarre i think.

reply to post by Human_Alien


As I was reading your rant....after the first 3 paragraphs I thought.....this person needs to exit out...and go to another bank....but you are already doing that....and I say...good for you!

The question is....which bank will you go to now?

reply to post by type0civ


Firstly, it's standard practice for a new account to experience checking verification for several days.

Secondly, why would BoA be issuing you a tax refund? Doesn't that come from your state or federal government?

" The nickles were just the catalyst. "



Not to be insensitive, but this had me rolling with laughter. I hear you dear!!! It would have been the catalyst for me as well! After a certain point, it only takes a few cents to really put me over the edge as well. I am also an increasingly ticked off Bank of America customer. I am going to attempt to withdraw all my funds today, if I have a problem I will lose it for sure!

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

Ah yes, Good 'ol BoA. I stopped doing business with them over ten years ago.

I think that this is the first to crash, soon to be followed by others as well.

I'm stocking up food for the winter like a squirrel.

That's my feeling as well. But let me add too, this young manager also thought it was proper to tell me 'all the other banks will be charging a fee next year too'

To which I told HER.....'why doesn't Bank of America then set an example then???"
I also informed her, Palm Beach Credit Union won't charge a fee....and that's where I plan to tell everyone to take their business to!

Again, no real response.

I really think this manger was hearing BoA's problems for the first time from me yesterday. I really do.

They're due for a little 'after-school meeting' so the boys and girls working in these branches will know how to handle more & more pissed off customers as the year comes to a close!

End rant!

Originally posted by TurkeyTots
Good rant.

And like all good rants, it has accusation without inspection.

Yes, the new fees suck and people will not like them. No, BoA didn't decide out of the blue to start charging this fee. Look into the swipe-fee reductions and other laws passed by Congress "for the people/for the small business" and you'll see that while they were good ideas in a vacuum, they essentially guaranteed that banks would start passing the cost onto their customers.

Edit: As far as the ineptness... well, that's a given

edit on 5-10-2011 by TurkeyTots because: (no reason given)

Thank you for your post

Here's a great re-cap of what's going down from Senator Dick Durbin

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

As I was reading your rant....after the first 3 paragraphs I thought.....this person needs to exit out...and go to another bank....but you are already doing that....and I say...good for you!

The question is....which bank will you go to now?

No more corporate banks for me. It's bad enough I have to pay the government the 'right to earn an income' (via income tax) I am not about to pay a bank the 'right to borrow my money'

Credit Union for me!

reply to post by Human_Alien


Here's a little more background into the swipe-fee issue (unable to watch the video at the moment, so I'm not sure if it's covered in it or not):

online.wsj.com...

TL;DR version: Banks used to charge merchants 44 cents per debit card "swipe", now it's capped at 21 cents. They weren't just going to take that hit to their profits, so they were forced to find other ways to make up the difference.

Originally posted by type0civ
10 years ago I was a new BofA cust and they issued me a large tax refund check....I deposited it in my account and was told the funds would be on hold for ten days while the check is verified...it was their own check....i closed the account and have used local credit unions since then. and USAA.

How is it BoA issued you a tax refund? From what?

Originally posted by ValentineWiggin
" The nickles were just the catalyst. "

Not to be insensitive, but this had me rolling with laughter. I hear you dear!!! It would have been the catalyst for me as well! After a certain point, it only takes a few cents to really put me over the edge as well. I am also an increasingly ticked off Bank of America customer. I am going to attempt to withdraw all my funds today, if I have a problem I will lose it for sure!

Please let me know how it goes. And also tell me if it was your impression that they even KNOW what's going on. Because here in BoA North Dixie Hwy in West Palm Beach, they haven't a clue!

Also, my other side-rant is: they have two tellers (one for people, one for drive thru) and yet they have a Door-Greeter? Is that really necessary? We are already warmly greeted by the guard with a pistol in his pocket before we get to the door!

Originally posted by Human_Alien
Please let me know how it goes. And also tell me if it was your impression that they even KNOW what's going on. Because here in BoA North Dixie Hwy in West Palm Beach, they haven't a clue!

Also, my other side-rant is: they have two tellers (one for people, one for drive thru) and yet they have a Door-Greeter? Is that really necessary? We are already warmly greeted by the guard with a pistol in his pocket before we get to the door!

Not only does my branch have the guard and greeter but, as soon as you step in line for a teller a "Personal Banker" who's job it seems is to merely to harass the people in line will approach and demand to know what you need help with. Surely if I needed the services of a "Personal Banker" I would sign up on the sheet and sit in the comfy chairs they provide. I guess they do not feel their members are smart enough to get in the correct line!

I use PNC. They even refund it when OTHER banks charge me ATM fees, etc.

I do have a side account with Bank of America, just a savings account, that I use to buy stuff for the wife without her seeing it in the bank statement. I may drop it though, if I see charges like you mention.

reply to post by Human_Alien


Rapid refund type deal....if i remember correctly it was a promotional offer. they suckered me in but I bailed and now favor the locals.