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  • Report: #147183

Report: Bank Of America

Reported By: (Orange City Florida)

Bank Of America ripoff, dishonest, taking advantage of the little people, stealing with overdraft fees Nationwide

... I've also found a solution...

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1Author 3Consumer 0Employee
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Bank Of America

www.bankofamerica.com
Nationwide
U.S.A.
Phone:  800-900-9000
Web Address:  

Category: Banks


Submitted: Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Last posting: Wednesday, July 06, 2005
I opened my account with Bank of America when they were Nation's Bank. I moved from state to state a lot so I loved banking with them because it was convenient and they always went above and beyond to take care of me. That was of course until they decided that customers were no longer important.

I had an account with them for 8 years or so and the last year with them was more of a hassle than they are worth. I probably paid over $2000.00 in NSF fees or Overdraft fees during the last few months that my account was open.

Here is what they do. I would go to my online banking and pay all of my bills. It would be a bunch of small bills for $150 or less. I would write a check for my rent and health insurance. All of the bills paid online would clear the account and sometimes if I was waiting to get paid I would be short a couple of hundred to cover the larger rent check. I was ok with knowing that I would have to pay the $33 fee for them covering the rent check. I get paid every two weeks so every now and then I wouldn't have the money in the account until my direct deposit on pay day.

Anyways, I would go online to check my account balance since my paycheck had been deposited and most of my paycheck was gone to $33 fees. They would clear the larger check and bounce all the others and charge the fee.

At first I didn't realize what they were doing. Then, one month I printed a copy of my online statement that showed all of the smaller bills had been withdrawn from my account. When the rent check came in and they cleared it and bounced all other payments again charging me 10+ fees @ $33 I printed that too.

I took both print outs to the local branch and asked the manager to explain to me why this was happening. Why is Bank of America paying the online bills and then bouncing all of them when the rent check comes in and causing all of these fees? all she did was talk in circles about how that is the way they do business. She said that they will always pay the larger amount first even if it comes in later.

I showed her the documents from my online account and she said it didn't matter. She said that online banking isn't 100% accurate and that they could pay the balances in whatever order they wanted, and would continue to do so. She said that it didn't make a difference that the smaller bills were scheduled to be paid a week in advance before the larger checks.

I called the 800 number and tried talking them, but they were less helpful than she was. Bank of America basically said that they don't care. I tried to get some of the fees back and they said that they only refund up to 2 fees a year. They have to get their money from the little people somehow.

Oh, by the way, this all occured last year when Florida got hit by 4 hurricanes. Money was tight, hurricane supplies had to be bought, food had to be replaced after it spoiled from not having any power for weeks, work hours were lost, and my apartment had it's roof ripped off.

Bank of America's response when I asked if any of that stuff mattered was that they didn't care about the hurricanes because it only affected a small amount of customers. And that even though I lost most of my belongings and my home, the 2 WEEKS since the hurricane hit should have been plenty of time for me to recover financially. (It took my insurance company 3 MONTHS to process and finish my claim)

I finally opened a new account with another bank and I don't have to deal with Bank of America's ego. If anyone decides to file a lawsuit against them I will jump right on board that wagon. They need to be put into check and they don't deserve to use "America" in the title of their company.

Deana
Orange City, Florida
U.S.A.



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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author 3Consumer 0Employee
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#1
Consumer Suggestion
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POSTED: Thursday, June 23, 2005
These banks think they're smart! Stacking up the checks the opposite way. They think they're pulling a fast one over on people.

But, I'll let you in on a little secret that only a small percentage of the population knows about.

I found a secret method where you can have a bank account and cash all your checks, but never pay one red cent in overdraft fees.

No one knows about this except me and two other people. But, I'm willing to tell you if you promise to keep it a secret.

First, you open a savings account, not a checking account. That way, you never will be writing any checks. So, there's no way to ever go below your account balance.

Next, you decline the offer of the ATM card. That way, you can never withdraw any money from a machine. Again, there's no way to ever go below your account balance.

You need to walk into a branch and go up to a teller window to get money. You can find out right away how much is left. They won't let you take more than that out.

Plus, you can still cash all your paychecks.

I know this all sounds hard to believe. But, as you see, it is possible to beat the bank at the overdraft game.

A financial research scientist working for nasa developed this amazing concept on a mainframe computer back in the 70's.

Try as they might, even large banks have never been able to stop customers from doing this.

Don't tell the bank that I told you this. They don't want this secret to get out into the general population.
#2
Consumer Comment
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RE: Savings account teller visits

Willard - Norcross (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, July 05, 2005
I've seen this on a couple of posts about Bank of America's practices.

It is true that you can open a savings account and never do more than that. However, banks now charge these things called teller fees.

It usually does not kick in until about the third visit, but nevertheless, its another way to make money.
#3
Consumer Suggestion
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I've also found a solution...

Richard - Chalmette (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 06, 2005
...which took me years to learn. However, I haven't paid an overdraft fee in years.
The solution is to not write checks if you don't have money in your account to cover them. Assume that any check you write will hit your account the same day you write it. There isn't any such thing as a float anymore.
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