Consumer complaint received 2023-03-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Trouble using the card
Sub-issue: Trouble getting information about the card

Complaint:
I applied for MD XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. I was issued a prepaid debit card with Bank of America with my benefits on it. The problem is that my account was unexpectedly frozen in XX/XX/XXXX. I called Bank of America but they were unhelpful. They said they did not know why my debit card account was frozen. They sent me a letter in the mail listing vague reasons why my account was frozen. I knew that there was some sort of error and tried to find out what had happened but the customer service representatives were completely unhelpful. They hung up on me, transferred me around for no good reason, they chewed food in my ear while I was talking to them. They lied about submitting forms to research my account. They lied about sending me a check in the mail for the balance of the account. They told me they would research my account and to call back in a few days when they had the answers. I called back after a few days and they said they did not know anything about the research request that I was told would be done. I called Bank of America dozens of times but they just hung up on me or lied about doing something on their end to fix the account. 

This did not just happen to me. Maryland was also frustrated with Bank of America 's customer service and cancelled the debit card contract with them. That caused all the debit cards to be cancelled, leaving people who received their unemployment benefits through a debit card wondering how they could get their funds. This did not just happen to me. This has happened to hundreds of thousands of people around the country since Bank of America was responsible for distributing unemployment benefits in 12 different states and it turned into a debacle. 

Bank of America made false promises to send me the balance of my prepaid debit card in the mail in the form of a check. I waited and waited for the check to come in the mail but it did not arrive. I then contacted XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX office and his office was able to get Bank of America to send me the balance of my account in the mail via check in XX/XX/XXXX. I also received an email from the Department of Labor with a new case number. It is XXXX. 

I have had to borrow money from family and have not had my basic needs met over the last 18 months because of Bank of America. I have suffered every day emotionally and financially since they withheld the money from my account. That was my life savings. I was already hurting financially since I was on unemployment benefits and then to lose what little money I had was devastating. 

I was already in bad financial shape but they made it worse by confiscating my bank account without any justification or recourse to get it resolved. The fact that the only people who could help me with my account refused to do so left me in a bind. I did not know what was happening with my account since Bank of America did not know either. They refused to do even the most basic things like mail me a check for the balance of the account. They said that the only way they could give me the money from the debit card was to mail me a check then they did not do it. I had to contact XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX office to get Bank of America to send me a check for the balance of the debit card. This happened in the middle of a national emergency which makes it even worse and the damage more severe. The fact that they would send a check out when XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX office contacts them but not when I contact them shows that they just do not care about their customers. They continue to do this to people even in XX/XX/XXXX long after it was brought to their attention. 

Bank of America closed my personal checking account that I had with them because it was overdrawn. I could have paid my bills with the money I had on the MD debit card but Bank of America was withholding that money from me. This caused my personal checking account to be overdrawn and closed. This caused me to lose access to basic services and my accounts were closed at other companies. This has damaged my credit and is causing a cascading effect of financial damage to me. 

My car broke down and I was unable to get it repaired since I no longer had access to my MD unemployment benefits. I was unable to get basic repairs done on my home either since I lost access to my account. I was unable to seek employment either since I no longer had a car or drivers license. This was emotionally and financially devastating to me.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation