Bank Of America Froze my account, wouldn't let me access my own money El Paso Texas

When I was moving down to Texas from New Jersey I had just had the proceeds of the sale of my house wired into my checking account where they would soon be used to close on the house in Texas. That meant there was a balance of about $170,000 in the account at that time.

Because I'd had issues with them before, I called good old Bank of America to inform them that I would be traveling and they should be aware they would see charges on my ATM/debit through the pattern of states between New Jersey and Texas. They congratulated me for having had the foresight to do so.

Somewhere around Arkansas they froze my account! Yup, despite having made that call and despite having a rather high balance I couldn't access my own money. They said it was a security precaution because it looked as if someone was on the road charging up things over a pattern of states between New Jersey and Texas. Duh!

It was a weekend and they claimed I would have to wait until Monday to straighten it out. So much for the alleged 24 hour customer support.

I get to Texas and it turns out that not only had they frozen the use of the ATM/debit card, but they'd also frozen the account altogether. That means each of the checks I'd written bounced -- despite having $170,000 in the account!

Then, just when you thought things couldn't get more surreal, they tell me that I can't wire money from the account because I didn't have proper ID. New Jersey was one of the last holdouts that allowed you to have a non-photo driver's license. I had one of those. I'd mislaid my passport during the trip, so I didn't have a photo ID.

I used to be VP of a credit union, so I know there is a book of acceptable forms of ID that shows what is valid in every state. It took me calling the police to report Bank of America STEALING MY MONEY to get them to find the book and then say, "Oh yeah, THAT IS an acceptable ID!"

Bear in mind I was offering them many reasonable solutions, including letting me sit and log onto my own account to show them I could get into it. I recited my account numbers by heart. I'd given them an accurate list of the last 10 or so charges to the account. No, rules were rules.

I eventually got them to remove the freeze, refund the bounced check fees, send several FREE wires on my behalf and send out letters of apology to all of the people to whom it appeared I was delinquent. Now they know better, right?

Wrong!

El Paso sits on the extreme southwest corner of Texas. From within the city limits you can literally walk into the neighboring state of New Mexico or the country of Mexico. One day on a trip into Juarez, Mexico to buy some art they did it again -- froze the account when I went to the ATM! I called them up and they said it was a matter of how far I travel from my home. Hmmn...Juarez is approximately 8 miles from my home. George Dieter (a major road on the other side of town) is about 20 miles from my house. I then asked if they would have frozen my account had I used my card on George Dieter. They said no. Well, obviously the geography argument didn't hold water.

I then reminded them that I'd used the card recently in Albuquerque (over 4 hours from my home) and it worked flawlessly. Finally they admitted that they have a large number of complaints coming from Mexico, so as a matter of course they freeze accounts when you are there. So there policy is to discriminate against an entire NATION???

Unfortunately, Bank of America ATMS are like cockroaches -- they're everywhere. My wife travels all over the state for work and wants access to ATMs. No one else has their penetration. It boils my blood pressure to know that these clowns still make money on me, but I keep my eyes open all the time for those offers from some credit unions and small banks that will refund the fees charged by outside ATMs. Next time I see one, I'm jumping ship.

Reese
El Paso, Texas
U.S.A.

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