Bank of America

[NOFX]

I've had a bank of america Checking account for a little over 2 years now. A small part of my paycheck is deposited into this account every two weeks and this account is used for nothing but my spending account. Beer, gas, food, gas, beer, gas... you know... Well, when I signed up for the account they talked me into signing up for a credit card, attaching it to the account and if I ever overdraft money will be taken from the credit card. Service is free of charge I was told by the manger. When in practice, they move $100 from your credit card and charge you $10 to do so. Also, I have never used this credit card once, I cut it up as soon as it arrived in the mail.

 

Well here is my problem, I was hit with my 3rd overdraft charge last week. Two of them, well in the past I had over drafted about .10-.15 cents. Since those incidences I have kept a close eye on my finances. I knew I was running low last week so I didn't bother to take a look at my account until payday on Friday. I log into my account and notice that I was hit with an overdraft charge. What? It doesn't add up, I have about $24 left in my account when the overdraft hit and my account was never below 0. Here take a look.

 

 

On the 2nd. I had $102 in the account. At the end of the 7th I had $24 after all the charges, why did they feel the need to move $100 into my account?

 

So after seeing this on friday morning, I call them. The phone representative must have the IQ of rock. He calmly explained to me that the overdraft protection kicked in because of all the charges that went through on the 7th. I calmly said the charges didn't put my account in the negative and he just said it was for my protection... After realizing this person would be no help I went straight to the bank. The lady I spoke to said the same as the phone representative. The overdraft kicked in because of the charges on the 7th. I made her get out a calculator and when it didn't add up, she looked surprised. So I sat there for about 30 minutes while she was on the phone with another BoA employee. They spoke for a while, she scribbled down some numbers, then marked them out. She then put in a request to reverse the overdraft, but it was then out of her hands. An employee in the actual office who clearly sees the mistake does not have the ability to fix the problem. I was told to wait until Monday(today) to see if it was fixed, which it is not. I was told to call the credit card company if it wasn't. I don't even have the number since I cut up my card. Also, this isn't a problem with my calculations, I knew how much money I had. Its a problem with theirs, its something they need to fix. I will be withdrawing all of my cash this week.

 

I believe Bank of America represents all that is evil with this corporate America. They are such a greedy corporation they are willing to manipulate your bank account so they can get an exta $10 from you. I assume most people wouldn't have taken notice of this and if they did, its only $10 why even bother.

 

You know its the principal of the deal that gets me. Sure I can afford $10, but what if they are doing this to everyone? What about the poor man who uses BoA has his primary account? If you get near 0, you get charged $10. Is this BoA's way of preying on the poor? I will move the $100 back over, but if they still want me to pay the $10 before I close my account, I will be very tempted to take them to small claims court, which they probably won't even show up.

Edited July 14, 2008 by NOFX

[stutters]

no joke, i've closed all my other accounts (except one i use just for inet purchases) to stick with bank of america. security is great, never had any bill pay problems, and my notifications let me know if i go under my minimum balance threshold.

 

...and there's not even a BoA branch in minnesota. they're that good. i'm surprised to hear you've had any trouble with them.

[Playaa]

I use US Bank and they do something similar. I have had multiple times where I get overdraft charges because my account "went negative" when at not time did my account actually go negative. It usually has to do with the fact that they process the deposits slower than the withdrawals.

 

Switch to a local mom and pop bank.

[Demoner]

I too know what your talking about with overdraft charges. I have wellsfargo for one of my bank accounts and even though I often have had money in my savings. I have had overdraft charges because there wasn't enough money to cover my charges. Once I move back to school I pay on canceling my account with them and just going to the local bank or Co-op instead. Plus like BoA they too give me the credit card deal too which I could care less to use except for some online purchases. I agree with Playaa go to your local bank or Co-op as they often won't hit you with CRAP overdraft fees.

[NOFX]

It usually has to do with the fact that they process the deposits slower than the withdrawals.

 

yep thats a trick they do also, but in this case, I never went below 0, even 5 days and a deposit later.

[Gond]

Yea, I got burned twice in the same instance by my bank...first because they do withdrawl before deposit so I overdrafted...then because when I signed up they said the "overdraft protection was free"...then the commercial kicked in..."unless you use it".

 

So, I took my lumps & cancelled the overdraft...stupid thing is that had I not had overdraft they would have simply retried to send the check the next day and it would have gone...

 

Does not appear to be what happened in your case...they just burned you plain & simple.

[lazarus]

I had a BoA account a while ago, but after a similar incident decided to take my money elsewhere. And really that's all you can do. Let them know why you're leaving, tell them where you're going to take your money (Chase for me), and get the heck out. Even if they fix the problem immediately, like you said, its the principles behind what went wrong. Any company that practices business like that, you don't want to be a part of, ESPECIALLY with your money.

 

 

Also, one trick i have done with deposits, esp if you have the check in hand. I would cash the check at BoA, then get back in line and go to a different teller (or branch), then deposit the money. Bc cash shows up as immediately available, i had no worries about a slow deposit time.

 

I'm not sure if they have somehow corrected this loophole, but sometimes when I needed money there to be in my account THAT DAY. I would do that, and it always worked.

[Bermudian]

I've had a bank of america Checking account for a little over 2 years now. A small part of my paycheck is deposited into this account every two weeks and this account is used for nothing but my spending account. Beer, gas, food, gas, beer, gas... you know... Well, when I signed up for the account they talked me into signing up for a credit card, attaching it to the account and if I ever overdraft money will be taken from the credit card. Service is free of charge I was told by the manger. When in practice, they move $100 from your credit card and charge you $10 to do so. Also, I have never used this credit card once, I cut it up as soon as it arrived in the mail.

 

Well here is my problem, I was hit with my 3rd overdraft charge last week. Two of them, well in the past I had over drafted about .10-.15 cents. Since those incidences I have kept a close eye on my finances. I knew I was running low last week so I didn't bother to take a look at my account until payday on Friday. I log into my account and notice that I was hit with an overdraft charge. What? It doesn't add up, I have about $24 left in my account when the overdraft hit and my account was never below 0. Here take a look.

 

 

On the 2nd. I had $102 in the account. At the end of the 7th I had $24 after all the charges, why did they feel the need to move $100 into my account?

 

So after seeing this on friday morning, I call them. The phone representative must have the IQ of rock. He calmly explained to me that the overdraft protection kicked in because of all the charges that went through on the 7th. I calmly said the charges didn't put my account in the negative and he just said it was for my protection... After realizing this person would be no help I went straight to the bank. The lady I spoke to said the same as the phone representative. The overdraft kicked in because of the charges on the 7th. I made her get out a calculator and when it didn't add up, she looked surprised. So I sat there for about 30 minutes while she was on the phone with another BoA employee. They spoke for a while, she scribbled down some numbers, then marked them out. She then put in a request to reverse the overdraft, but it was then out of her hands. An employee in the actual office who clearly sees the mistake does not have the ability to fix the problem. I was told to wait until Monday(today) to see if it was fixed, which it is not. I was told to call the credit card company if it wasn't. I don't even have the number since I cut up my card. Also, this isn't a problem with my calculations, I knew how much money I had. Its a problem with theirs, its something they need to fix. I will be withdrawing all of my cash this week.

 

I believe Bank of America represents all that is evil with this corporate America. They are such a greedy corporation they are willing to manipulate your bank account so they can get an exta $10 from you. I assume most people wouldn't have taken notice of this and if they did, its only $10 why even bother.

 

You know its the principal of the deal that gets me. Sure I can afford $10, but what if they are doing this to everyone? What about the poor man who uses BoA has his primary account? If you get near 0, you get charged $10. Is this BoA's way of preying on the poor? I will move the $100 back over, but if they still want me to pay the $10 before I close my account, I will be very tempted to take them to small claims court, which they probably won't even show up.

 

Well I see you when to McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. Sheetz and Walmart and Riley's...I mean how do you go to 3 fast food places and walmart in one day..come on man!!! They must of thought you were going on an all fast food diet..even though you never came close to the $0 mark..did you read the fine print..you need to next time read over the contract a few times..I caught my bank here trying to do something similar and declined it right there on the spot.

[farmerisme]

lol above...

 

But anyhoo... every big company will make a mistake every once in awhile... and sometimes it takes a bit to fix. Concerning banks, if you think that you can move to another bank that will not make errors or try and squeeze money out of you... I say go for a switch. I think you will find that they are all about the same. There is a reason why people have been watching their statements and balancing books since time began.

[Kruten]

Not directly related to this, but it's about Bank of America. It's a hot topic over on Slickdeals.

 

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?threadid=871390

[NOFX]

I didn't eat at all those places on the 7th. Those were charges built up friday-monday and they all went through on the 7th. That is why some of the idiots over at BoA claim I overdrafted.. because so many charges came through that one day and just in case I might overdraft, they went ahead and did it. I'm surprised they don't call it overdraft overdraft protection.

 

like I said, this is my account where I buy food and beer from. I've had Suntrust for about 8 or 9 years and they have never once charged for over drafting when I really didn't. I know that the people in the suntrust office have the ability to remove overdraft charges. BoA is so corporatised they don't even allow their desk employee's to use their judgment and remove charges when the bank is clearly in the wrong.

[NOFX]

So I arrive in the branch office early today to close my account. I was handled by the vice president of the branch. I explained what happened and said I want to close my account. So she said she would "fix" it instead, so I agreed.

 

What a bunch of lamers.. They didn't reverse the overdraft charge. She just pulled $10 out of her donkey and put in my account and then we paid off the credit card. So she doesn't have the ability to reverse charges from the BoA CC and their system is still broken. Now I am expecting the credit card to have a few pennies of interest built up. I pay of the amount and regardless of what it is, I will always owe a few cents.. Much more trouble than its worth, Im just opening up another suntrust account to help manage my finances.

[EbilDustBunny]

Well I see you when to McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. Sheetz and Walmart and Riley's...I mean how do you go to 3 fast food places and walmart in one day..come on man!!! They must of thought you were going on an all fast food diet..even though you never came close to the $0 mark..did you read the fine print..you need to next time read over the contract a few times..I caught my bank here trying to do something similar and declined it right there on the spot.

 

lol that was the first thing i noticed to.. Idk I don't do much complicated stuff with BoA so they don't bug me much, but that is pretty stupid.

[NOFX]

So I log into my account... Once I paid off the credit balance, it seems the Credit card company went ahead and credited me $10 for the banks mistake. So I now sit with a -10 balance on the credit card.

 

See the problem with corporatism here ladies is that when everything is running smoothly it's efficient as hell, but once we hit a glitch in their system, or something malfunctions, it's extremely complicated to get it fixed, especially in a timely manner. Even if it does get fixed, they still end up messing up and giving me a free $10.

Edited July 19, 2008 by NOFX

[farmerisme]

So I log into my account... Once I paid off the credit balance, it seems the Credit card company went ahead and credited me $10 for the banks mistake. So I now sit with a -10 balance on the credit card.

 

See the problem with corporatism here ladies is that when everything is running smoothly it's efficient as hell, but once we hit a glitch in their system, or something malfunctions, it's extremely complicated to get it fixed, especially in a timely manner. Even if it does get fixed, they still end up messing up and giving me a free $10.

 

Hah, you will probably have the account for 20 years and then in 2028 they will notice the mistake and charge you 20 years of interest on $10.

[Tek-Almighty]

I've used US bank for a few years for a play account. And they immediately sign you up for a credit card. I cut the card up too, never used it...so after the first year I get a $26 annual fee on a card I didn't even activate. So I ignore it...bad Idea. They sent me a couple more notices, then straight to collections.

 

I called customer service...explained I didn't activate card, and that I told the clerk I didn't want one, but was given one anyway.

 

He cleared it right up, no charges.

 

So...that was nice.

 

 

Wells Fargo on the other hand...they used my %19 interest Visa as my overdraft, and they do so quite liberally...

 

not a big wells fargo fan.

[TheFirstMonk]

Judging from this post, it looks like all kinds of banks are getting sloppy and/or greedy. My Chase credit card recently screwed me over. Claimed I was late on a payment (I didn't believe I was, but I had no evidence to prove it), although I think it's more likely they cashed my check late. Proceeded to increase my Effective APR from 0.00% to 121.82% and added a finance charge of $1.00. I've had this card for more than 5 years, always paid on time, and never had a problem until now.

 

Bogus.

[Demoner]

Solution Local Co-op or Bank FTW!

[Unclean]

Proceeded to increase my Effective APR from 0.00% to 121.82% and added a finance charge of $1.00.

Is that a typo? 121.82%? Man, I thought that 99.25% APR Gary Coleman was pitching awhile ago was bad enough.

[TheFirstMonk]

Not a typo unfortunately. It is literally 121.82% as printed on my statement.