Consumer complaint received 2023-10-28
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
On XXXX, XX/XX/2023 I did an online wire transfer of {$3000.00} to a Bank of America trust account to pay a law firm I am working with for their services. However, for some reason, the wire transfer was rejected by Bank of America and I then saw that my checking account where the funds were pulled from was credited {$2900.00}. On that same day I called my bank ( XXXX XXXX ) about the {$45.00} that were missing when my wire transfer money was returned to me and they informed me that they believed that the bank receiving those funds had charged me a fee. They recommended I reach out to the intended recipient of those funds to see what they could do to get that fee refunded to me as the wire transfer was unsuccessful and I followed their advice. On XXXX, XX/XX/2023 I called the law firm and asked their billing department to look into this for me and to see if they were able to have their bank refund me that amount. After following up with the law firm assistant on XXXX, XX/XX/2023 I was told that their billing department contacted Bank of America but that because my wire transfer had been unsuccessful and their Bank of America account had never received the funds, the bank was not able to locate the wire transfer and subsequent fee that they were calling about. The law firm then recommended I reach out to Bank of America directly about the fee that was charged to my wire transfer return. 

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX at about XXXX XXXX  I called Bank of America and spoeke to a representative called XXXX about my failed wire transfer and about the wire money that was returned to me with the {$45.00} missing. He then transferred my call to a representative called XXXX. I explained the situation to XXXX and asked about getting my {$45.00} back and after having trouble answering my specific questions about the apparent fee that was charged to me she put me on a hold for about XXXX minutes. Then, she explained to me that the bank has something called a wire return fee that ranges between {$30.00} to {$50.00} and that I was charged a {$45.00} fee by Bank of America for sending back the money I wired. After trying to get more information about my specific wire transfer attempted on XX/XX/XXXX and trying to get Bank of America to return my money, she kept saying that she wasnt able to give me any specific information about my wire transfer because I wasnt a Bank of America customer and also wasnt the account holder of the account that I tried to wire the money to. I was frustrated and asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I then spoke with a representative who identified herself as XXXX from Tennessee who made similar arguments as XXXX about the {$45.00} being a wiring return fee and also refused to give me more information about my specific failed wire transfer of XX/XX/XXXX and also said that there was no way that Bank of America could return that {$45.00} that they charged me. She then began telling me that this {$45.00} fee was actually charged to my bank for sending that wire money back over and that my bank is the one that passed along this {$45.00} to me and that I should take it up with my bank. She also said that I should talk to someone at my bank to make a request for that {$45.00} fee to be returned. 

After getting off the phone with Bank of America I called my bank ( XXXX XXXX ) and spoke to a representative called XXXX. I asked how wire returns work, if they are returned directly to me or go through an intermediary bank first, if XXXX XXXX is charged a fee to return a wire transfer and if they are charged a fee, if this fee is passed on to me. XXXX explained that the wire money that is returned to me after a failed wire transfer goes into my account directly and does not go through an intermediary bank, and that XXXX XXXX is not charged a fee to receive a returned wire transfer and that subsequently XXXX XXXX does not charge me anything when money from a failed wire is returned to me. I then asked her whether or not XXXX XXXX would be able to make a request to Bank of America to return that so-calledwire return fee and she said that they dont have a way to do that. 

After doing my due diligence to get that {$45.00} returned to me I feel frustrated with Bank of America because its representatives were not willing to be helpful, seemd confused about what I was asking about and kept putting me on hold, and apparently even gave me misleading information. And, nobody even bothered to try to locate my failed wire transfer. I feel frustrated that this {$45.00} was simply taken from me so that I can have the privilege of getting my wired money back and charged a bogus wire return fee for no reason at all. I am at my wits end and so decided to reach out to the CFPB for help.

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