This has been happening for years and it seems I am the latest victim. Last week (on the 2nd of March, of the year 2009), my account was suspiciously overdrawn according to BoA email and their Website. The weekend prior, I had decided to buy a xbox 360, and went on the website to make sure I had enough money to do so. The site said I had a total of 274 dollars, which should have included all the items that were waiting to be processed in their system.

However, this sadly wasn't the case. There were 3 items, in my honest opinion, left out on purpose. They hadn't been processed for over a week, and for some reason never was accounted for when the system told me I had 274 dollars remaining. They weren't even on the web page when I looked at it. Even on the day prior to the overdraft, they weren't even there, leaving me to believe they had been taken care of.

On the 2nd of March, I get a notice, telling me I have insufficient funds in my account, even though I got an email that day telling me I had 10 dollars remaining. Turns out the first 2 items had been charged. The first item was a 16 dollar haircut and the second one was a 5 dollar fast food order. They took out the 16 dollar one first, then the 5 dollar one, so that I would be overdrafted, not once, but twice, to maximize profit.

All the while, I was told in emails that I had money still on my account. Then on Friday, March 6th, I was charged 10 dollars for an item I bought twice on paypal in the course of 10 mins, both 10 dollars. The first one I bought, went through the next day, the one that I just got overdrafted on took over 1 week. I had bought them on Feb 25th. This was also never on the account, or never taken in consideration on how much money I had left.

Today, March 9th, I went into BoA to discuss this issue with them. I brought proof of what I am saying with me, with printed emails, exact print outs from their site, emails from them, and all the receipts. I told them that I had been overdrafted unfairly, and wanted to discuss this matter. I asked the Employee why was the 16 dollar purchase first, before the 5 dollar one. She said it was in the system first, which is true. However, here's the kicker. The xbox 360 that I had bought that weekend, was processed before any one of these ever were.

When I pointed this out they told me that it was my fault for not keep track of what was going on with the system. I am 19 years old and in this day of age, most teenagers don't really keep track of how much they spend, they just go online to see how much is remaining and take it as is. So I asked to file a petition to have these fees reversed due to that. They told me I had overdrafted my account 3 months ago, which was a lie. I hadn't overdrafted the account for over 8 months, last time in July.

Before I forget, during this whole process, I asked her how long can a company not report any charges to a debt card. They told me 3 days and after that we don't consider the charge valid.

Soon after this, I asked them about the whole paypal thing and why was it not processed when the other was. They told me that paypal didn't report it...which would mean the 3 days were up right? No. They said you will need to discuss with Paypal, even though it was over the 3 day reporting period. They still charged me for the overdraft on that, even though what they said earlier contradicted this charge.

I was charged over 120 dollars for a 'system error.' I would have gladly paid for the 16 dollar overdraft fee, but they insisted it was all my fault and not theirs. That being said, I had clear evidence they were keeping things back and not showing them up on my account. Were they doing it on purpose? I hope not, but it really looks that way.

I am happy to say that I am done with them for ever. They obviously are more worried about getting money than keep customers, even though, they are the ones giving it to them in the first place.

Rates are high and their returns are too low.

I too found out this morning that the 3 credit card accounts had been closed without notice other than the denial when I tried to make a purchase. I have, make that HAD, 3 cards along with checking and savings accounts for 5+ years. My balances were a total o $10, 000 which I paid off last year and recently had an additional $10, 000 that I have paid down to $1300. So I am baffled as to why they would close all 3 accounts when I have an excellent history with them. However, I was laid off my job in December and recently filed for unemployment 3 weeks ago. Is it just me or does it seem possible that since the money is deposited directly into my checking account, that it sent a red flag of sorts thus causing them to close my accounts. If so, I find that to be extremely unethical for a banking institution and would imagine that they would some how come up with an excuse other than my deposit information. Am I crazy !?!?!

I have had an account with bank of america since 2005. I had gone on a trip to disneyland and charged it to my card. For 5 days after I checked my account to see if it had gone through and it had not. I went ahead and charged my card 4 times and checked my online banking at 5pm and the transaction still had not posted I then checked at 10pm and still no sign of the disneyland post. I then the next day used my card again for 5 more transactions and got declined for the last one. I went into the bank and was told I would have 3 overdrafts because of the disneyland transaction that had gone through the day before. I asked how that could be when I did infact check my account at 10 pm after the cloes of the days trasaction.(Their cut off is 8pm any given day except sundays will post on monday.) She told me the charges would be reversed since I am a valued customer but it would have to be done the next day since it had not shown up on my account yet and I should deposit the money for the items still peding to cover those. I did.

I then checked my account the next day and found the overdrafts went through first before any transactions and it caused 6 more overdrafts as a result. I called BofA and talked to a customer service reps who sounded more like he should be on the street dealing drugs than talking to customers, slang and all. I asked to talk to his manager and was transfered to a guy who told me i had a spending problem and its not their fault they are not the ones who charge and charge with no regard and he had already spoken to his associate and its not their error. I brought up the fact that no transactions will be posted untill the next day per their policy if it posts after 8pm that day and I had looked at my account at 10 pm and it was not there and I was told I was a valued customer and these charges would be reversed. He said there was nothing he would do to help me and again I "Have a spending problem." I asked to talk to his manager and he placed me on hold and transfered me to a full mailbox which leads me to believe he was not a manager at all.
I wrote to the complaints department and to the customer service and was given a generated email that probibly goes out to everyone.
*********************************

Thank you for your inquiry dated 3/12/09 regarding Customer Service. We
will be happy to assist you.

While we regret to hear of the experience you have described with Bank
of America, we are glad that you have brought this to our attention. Our
commitment is to provide the highest level of service possible. These
standards demand that we treat you and your requests with understanding,
integrity and respect.

You are an important customer to us and we look forward to your
continued relationship with Bank of America. You can be assured that we
will make every effort to avoid a similar situation going forward.

Our records indicate that several transactions were presented against
insufficient funds in your account on 3/10/09 and 3/11/09; thus, causing
an overdraft in your account. Overdraft fees were assessed based on this
information.

To avoid these fees in the future, please review the account records to
ensure that sufficient funds are available prior to issuing a check,
negotiating purchases, or any other transaction that will be processed
against the available balance. This includes ensuring that all deposited
items, whether direct deposit, transfers, or personal checks have been
posted to the account and are reflected in the available balance, and
that there are enough funds to cover outstanding checks.

We value you as a customer and appreciate your business. If we may be of
further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for
choosing Bank of America.

Sincerely,

Doris P*****
Bank of America

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Message text: This banking institution has really given itself a bad
name with me. I have banked with you since 2005 and I will never bank
with you again or pay all these overdrafts you have posted to my
account. I had checked my account as of the 9th of March and I didn’t
see the Disneyland charge post to my account. I therefore did not
deposit additional money as I thought I was good with the money I had in
there to cover my charges. I then found out the next day that after 10
pm the Disneyland charge had gone through and made 3 overdraft charges
to the smaller amounts that had already been pending to my account. I
deposited money to cover the additional charges not including the
overdrafts because I was told by a branch banker that those charges
would be removed as a one time grace. I then called and was told no that
the charges would not be reversed and I would get 6 more on top of that
because I made charges to the account. So a total of 9 $35.00 charges
for one thing t!
hat did not show on the online banking that I checked and was not there
the night before.
As I understood your policy to be that all charges before 8 pm would be
reflected that day and all charges after 8 pm on that day would be
posted the following day I figured checking it at 10pm and it was not
reflected so it would not be posted until the next day so I could
therefore make a deposit the next day.
I think what you are doing is fraud. I understand I should have money in
my account to cover charges but When that account was checked on and I
was told the next day the charges would be reversed if I called the two
things that should be upheld should be in fact upheld.

Also I did call on the 11th when the charges posted and there was some
gangster sounding guy that was a manager that was to transfer me to his
manager and gave me a voicemail that was full I think the guy did this
because he was not a real manager. He didnt care what I had to say he
told me these charges where my own fault and I should not spend so
careless and so much. I told him I was not being careless I was checking
my account to make sure everything was in fact okay because my husband
was sick and I had to attend to two kids.
I thought this bank cared and I loved banking here until now. I never
thought I would have a bunch of rude unprofessional customer service
reps.


************************************

So she needless to say never answered my questions and didnt read my email since it had nothing to do with transactions that posted on the 9th. She talked about the transactions that had gone through on the 1oth and 11th that where a domino effect since the one on the 9th went through past 10pm.

These people do not even play by their own rules! Frauds!

I have had a Bank of America Checking and Savings account for well over 15 years now. Why I have stuck with them so long is beyond me--maybe I'm just afraid to change everything over. Through the years, they have soaked me with overdraft fees probably well into the thousands. I always just thought I deserved the charges and figured that I was just a 'bad girl' who didn't know how to manage her money. Now that I am older and much wiser, I am realizing that I was not a 'bad girl' but that I was a VICTIM.

I was most recently violated by Bank of America when my income tax refund was direct deposited into my account. Upon receipt of the money, I paid off many bills to try to get ahead as well to get out of debt. This seemed to be to no avail because it all ended up costing me $520 in Bank of America overdraft and returned check fees! The first issue I faced was after a busy morning online and over the phone paying bills. After making about 15-20 transactions, I realized that my telephone payment to my oil company was declined! I panicked! Why would it be??? I had LOTs of money available in my account a few hours earlier. So, I immediately called Bank of America and after a long runaround, was connected with their fraud department. They themselves had FROZEN my account and weren't letting any transactions go through! How crazy! If there was a problem with my account I would have called them and told them so. After I had proved that I was who I said I was and that I was the one making all of the transactions they unfroze my account. So then I had to embarrassingly backtrack and notify those whom I had done business with earlier that morning and explain what had happened. What a morning!!

Then to make matters worse, just this past week, one of the transactions I forgot to record and it triggered an 'avalanche' of overdraft and returned check fees! I ended up incurring $520 in fees (12 in all at $35 a shot!) The bank refused to do anything about them. Generally, when I have a transaction go through that ends up putting me in the 'red', the bank will cover it and just slap me with a $35 fee and then I deposit the money and there's no embarrassment on my end. This time, they decided to play dirty and they not only charged me $35 when two items posted, but then had the gaul to slap me with another $35 when they returned them as unpaid! This sent me into a panic. Sadly to admit, one of the checks was to my church to pay for my daughter's choir robe!! If ever I wished that they had covered a check--it was that one. It was a very expensive banking week for me--GRAND TOTAL WEEK ENDING 2/27=$520 + EMBARRASSMENT

Wait--that's not the end of my soap opera with Bank of America. Just today, I had a local Kmart store call me, no not once, but three times regarding a check that I had mailed them to pay on a layaway for a new microwave which I desperately need. They attempted to process my $40 check and it was regected by Certegy Check Services. (another embarrassment) Therefore, today my evening was spent (all 3 hours of it) on the telephone. I called Bank of America SIX times, Certegy THREE, Early Warning Services TWO, Spoke with Kmart FOUR, Telecheck TWO, and Check Systems TWO more times to no avail. Finally I came to the conclusion that I'm better off getting out of the entire crazy system and going back to the 'good old days' of using CASH and MONEY ORDERS. Considering all of the embarrassment, harassment, stress, and MONEY--it is NOT worth the aggravation!

My husband has been after me for years, to get rid of them as my bank and I've always resisted. But guess what--I've finally had the last straw!! Let them report me to Certegy, EWS and all of the other acronyms--frankly I don't care. I don't need them and I refuse to be a host to their leech-sucking money grubbing frenzy any longer! If more and more American citizens get fed up with the 'system' and just stop patronizing it then they'll no longer be a system as we know it. I'm an American, but I DON'T need Bank of America--they give America a bad name.