March 08, 2006
An open letter (also mailed) to Bank of America
Dear Bank of America,
You and I have been together for a while now. Oh, sure, I was originally with some of your competitors -- Bank of Boston first, which then became Fleet -- but you gobbled that up and so here I am, a loyal customer. We’ve developed a routine, you and I. You might say we keep in touch well. Every month, you charge me $25 for my account. When I get the monthly statement, I call one of your representatives to remind you that, in fact, I’m not supposed to be charged that fee. After some research, the representative agrees and refunds the money. The following month, I’m charged the fee again, and the cycle repeats.
Your people are always friendly and helpful. They thank me for banking with you. That’s nice. But honestly, I need some space. I’d rather not do this all the time. It’s been happening for months now, and I’m a bit tired.
Let me explain.
I live in Massachusetts. A few months after you bought Fleet -- which I was with at the time -- I happened to be in Florida and went to a Bank of America branch to buy some CDs. Between the CDs and the money I had in my checking and savings accounts, I qualified for your advantage account. It has a bunch of special features I don’t care about, and then one that I do: free checks. Hey, free checks! I like that. I signed up.
That’s when the problem began. The month after I signed up, I got the $25 fee. I called, and a representative explained that, even though Fleet and Bank of America had merged, the computer systems hadn’t been integrated yet. Therefore, my CDs were in one system and my bank accounts in the other. Together, they didn’t achieve the minimum balance necessary for the advantage account. They told me to go back to the regular account, and upgrade again in the summer of 2005, when everything would be merged. I did, and I did.
And sure enough, the fees kept coming. I kept calling. I kept getting refunds. Oh, I also got excuses and explanations, and promises of fixes. One time, I was told the problem was that my CDs and checking/savings accounts were actually considered two completely separate accounts, even though they were both registered to me. They were merged, and I was told the problem wouldn’t happen again. Another time, I was told a higher up was supposed to make some simple change in the system but -- oops! -- it didn’t happen.
Yesterday, March 7, brought a fascinating and new excuse. After keeping me on hold for about 20 minutes, the customer service rep told me that the problem is geographic: I opened the checking and savings accounts in Massachusetts, but the CDs were opened in Florida. And somehow, even though they’re both under the same account, that means the computer system won’t recognize them as both counting toward my advantage account. But hey, it was my lucky day: The representative had some account specialist on the other line, and she said that person gave me a six-month waiver for the fee. During the next six months, she said, I should wait until my CDs mature (which may require bending space and time, considering one is a nine-month CD), cash them out, and then buy the CDs again in Massachusetts. Then, she said, it’ll work.
Listen, Bank of America: That’s ridiculous. If a bank named after the entire damn country can’t reconcile items opened in two of its states, there’s something really wrong over there. You need some fixes.
At this point, I had enough. I told the representative that, in fact, I’m done. Forget it. Put my account back to where it was months and months ago, back to the account in which I don’t get free checks and don’t get charged a monthly fee, back to basics. And do you know what she said? It’s a little funny, actually.
She said no.
She can’t, because I already have the six-month waiver. “Well, ok, just take the waiver back,” I said. That can’t be done, because the waiver is non-revocable, she said. “So, just change the account back and the waiver won’t matter,” I said. That’s impossible, because I already have the waiver, she said.
It’s hard to argue with that logic.
Her advice: Wait six months. Then call back and, with the waiver expired, I’ll be able to make the change to my account.
There are many words for this, but I’ll give you only a few. “Ridiculous” comes to mind. “Annoying” is another. Also: Frustrating, absurd, confusing, makes-me-want-to-change-banks. (Ok, so that last one isn’t really a single word, but you get the idea.)
I can’t imagine that a bank of your size really has a computer system so completely imbecilic. Instead, I suspect I’m reaching representatives who, while friendly and pleasant and verbally thankful for my patronage, don’t actually have any idea what the hell is going on. Please, Bank of America. Fix this problem. Tear down this wall. I’m getting really annoyed here.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Jason Feifer
Posted by Jason Feifer at March 8, 2006 12:00 AM
Comments
Good letter. I keep planning to do a post on Bank of America on my blog "Things that Suck" but they haven't done anything new to annoy me since I've had my blog.
Although come to think of it, I am still very pissed that the 2% reward on my credit card suddenly turned (retroactively) into 1% without any notice. Fought them a while on that, but gave up.
Posted by Cranky Blogger at March 8, 2006 10:40 AM
You know, I've never had any problems of any sort with Wainwright Bank, a resolutely independent bank with strong community roots in these parts.
Just, you know, if you were to consider switching away from BofA because they treat you so badly. Customer service at Wainwright is *excellent*.
Posted by Aaron Weber at March 8, 2006 01:38 PM
Harvard Trust bought by Bank Boston bought by Fleet bought by BofA. Each change broght higher fees, worse service. So I decided to close my account.
Guess what? It is virtually impossible to do that. I have been working on this for a year. I have spent hours and hours, face to face across a desk with a customer service rep. I have been told countless times that the accounts are closed. But it never quite happens. Which allows them to charge me a fee that I can't pay because I can't access the account and don't know about it which allows them to charge me a late charge. grrrrr I hate BofA.
Good luck.
Posted by BofAgrrrrr at March 8, 2006 07:02 PM
Theres a lot of bankers in my family and none of them have anything good to say about BOA. There are still plenty of banks, though there wont be soon, just switch its not very difficult.
Posted by adam at March 8, 2006 09:49 PM
Dude. B of A SUCKS. The only positive thing I can say about it is that at least if I travel to other states (which I rarely do these days) I can usually find a B of A ATM. You can even usually find them around these parts, but why on earth has B of A in Boston decided to get rid of all their drive thrus??
Posted by UmmZaid at March 19, 2006 03:47 PM
Me! Me! I have a fun story! I used to do a direct withdrawl for my carpayment and one month they took it out twice- when I went in to see WTF had happened the teller said "Oh well you just won't have to pay it next month!" Um no. Hello? It took me another 5 WEEKS to get my money back in between which time they took out ANOTHER payment. Account closed.
Posted by samalee at March 21, 2006 12:58 AM
Jason,as a Supervisor for Bank of America customer service, I can tell you that I do agree that there are still a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out of the Bank of America/Fleet Merger, but let's not forget about all of the benefits that Bank of America offers that lots of other banks don't. Everytime Bank of America comes out with new technology and services,all of the other financial institutions follow suit:online banking, bill pay, even credit and debit cards were the product of Bank of America inginuity.As far as your Advantage relationship, it is true that all of the accounts(CDs, checking, etc.) have to be opened in the same state to be linked to the Advantage relationship, and it sounds as if the Bank has offered a solution in waiving the fees until your CDs mature, then we can permanently correct your issue. I think you will find that no matter what financial institution you deal with, thereare hidden fees in one respect or the other. Whether it's maintainance fees, interest rates, or whatever, in the end banks are a business and they are there to make money.Try going three or four states over and finding an ATM from the "hometown bank" the earlier fellow spoke of-it won't happen. The fact of the matter is, with a smaller bank ,the opportunity to open a CD in Florida and a checking in the Northeast would not even be a possibility...
Posted by haywood at March 27, 2006 08:17 PM
Jason,the reason people like you have problems wit banking is that you are an idiot. You made the choice in a financial institution over an order of free checks, something you can get for $5.00 in one of those mail flyers. Everyone is always out to get something for nothing. Why do you think banks offer free checks, or a free CD player, or $25 to join their bank? People they know the kind of morons that would change banks for a stupid reason like that are the same type of morons who can't keep track of their money, and will overdraw, or won't keep enough in the account to avoid a monthly fee. So that $5.00 free order of checks ends up costing you a whole lot more in the end. Let's face, in the beginning, you were offered all of the details in the fine print, but you, just like most other jackasses, chose not to read it. Now you are whining because your lack of care in the beginning has caught up with you. Why don't you grow up, and stop blaming everyone else for your laziness, and remember what you parents always said, "Nothing in life is free".Jackoff.
Posted by Johnny Bendoverandkissmyass at March 29, 2006 08:13 PM
Yup, the "I can't hear you with my hands over my ears" response is exactly what I just got when I tried to close a Money Market account with BOfA due to cheesy 0.5% rate when others give >5%. OF course, the online response was a form letter saying: 'we wish you would reconsider, we could convert the account, blah,blah". No confirmation, no denial. Sure enough, one month later, charges for 'acct maint fee' start showing up. I'm livid. Can't get resolved online, natch. Guy on phone has the brass to try to pitch me CDs as I am unloading on him! Also, as much as admitted they ignore on line requests on purpose in order to get you on line and pitch you. And this is my trusted banker? Disgusting!
Posted by some dude at December 14, 2006 08:58 PM
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