As you will soon read, I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Bank of America to resolve a matter that evolved out of hardship. I was arrested falsely back in December of '04. My wife had to bail me out so I wouldn't lose my job. This unknowingly created an over the limit situation on our card by mistake. As it turned out the false arrest was confirmed by the court. Unfortunately, instead of getting my money back from the bail bondsman, I have to file a civil case against Los Angeles County to recover the funds.
I received our statement yesterday, 4/8/05 and was shocked to see that the interest rate skyrocketed to 29.7 %. I immediately called customer service to address the matter. My request was to lower the interest rate to a more workable rate so we could actually make headway, rather than being punished for having made an honest mistake while dealing with a hardship. I was met with ambivalence and a lack of caring from all parties I spoke to.
I was told the “system” made the changes and since we were changed to the “penalty” (nice phrasing) interest rate, there was nothing they could do… blah, blah, blah. I became quite upset that a company that we have had a business relationship with for 4 + years would simply turn their backs and watch as a customer was put in a situation where there was no realistic outcome, but to fail and accrue more interest charges and over the limit fees. I was told that we only had one choice, for Bank of America to close the account, lower the interest rate and pay the card off. The only problem with this is that it has a negative effect on our credit. This was unacceptable to me, as we have worked extremely hard to maintain a positive credit rating. When I told the supervisor that, she told me to speak to the Collections Department. She told me that they would be able to work it out with me and lower the interest rate, but that department was closed for the day. I had to call “customer service” back, wait for a “live” person to find out what I could do since the collections department was closed. I was told to call them the next morning.
After stewing on this overnight, I called the collections department to fix the situation. I pleaded that there had to be another way to resolve it. I explained that under the circumstances, it would be a vicious cycle of the high interest rate putting us in a situation to fail. The interest alone was almost $400.00, and that's without the minimum payment. We would have been in the same situation every month. I was given the same single option of closing the account and hurting our credit rating. I was then told that I need to speak to the Collections Management Department, as they were the ones that could lower the interest rate and break the current over limit fee up over 3 months. Finally, it seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel. The gentleman I spoke to told me that he would stay on the line and explain to the person in Collections Management what needed to be done. He put me on hold and within a few moments, he returned and told me that he explained the situation to him and he would be able to help me. This was not the case. I was again told that I had only one choice, the same as was “offered” previously.
My credit would be affected either way. I explained what th elast person had told me about lowering the interest rate and breaking up the over limit fees, but he was unwilling, perhaps unable to help. I asked to speak to a Supervisor, and eventually was connected with one. After explaining the situation yet again, Suzette repeated the same “option” (what kind of option is it when you have no other choice?). I told her that I had no problem closing the account, but wanted to close it ourselves so it wouldn't harm our credit, then lower the interest rate and pay off the card. Same outcome for them, but doesn't permanently hurt our credit. Any rational person would think this was a reasonable solution. I was told that that was not possible. I felt like I was banging my head against a wall. That was the last contact I've had with Bank of America on this matter.
I am appalled at the manner in which Bank of America punishes people that have had an account in good standing for as long as we have. I was calling them to work this out. They didn't have to call, or look for us. Does this mean nothing? If their system makes all the decisions, and there isn't anything a “live” person can do to make the situation workable on both ends, then why have “live “people at all (I've put quotation marks around live because they don't seem it. They seem like robots reading a script). Does Bank of America think that the sky is blue, the birds are chirping, and flowers bloom all the time? People do make unintentional mistakes, and have bad things happen that are not necessarily their fault. Accidents do happen. I was calling to fix it and was treated like a criminal.
We unfortunately had to seek assistance from our elderly parents who gave us their savings to get out from under this uncontionable situation.
Larry
Carmichael, California