Consumer complaint received 2022-10-31
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with balance transfer

Complaint:
XXXX. On or around XX/XX/2022 I responded to a Bank Of America mail pamphlet offering a credit card with a promotion for 0 % on balance transfers and purchases. Nowhere on the pamphlet did it clearly and expressly state that there will be a 3 % " transaction fee '' on balance transfers. I proceed to apply online using the offer code provided. I was accepted and offered a credit line of upwards of {$19000.00} USD. I entered on the application 3 entries to initiate balance transfers to my other credit card accounts with other financial institutions, a d as follows : ( a ) XXXX XXXX for {$6500.00} ( b ) XXXX for {$720.00} ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  for {$470.00} XXXX. On XXXX XXXX 2022 I received an email to confirm the above, stating " Your Balance Transfer will be completed in 11 - 14 business days in most cases ''. This is pertain ing to the new credit card with account number ending in XXXX. See attached Exhibit # XXXX. On XXXX XXXX 2022, I had not received the actual credit card nor the terms and conditions. 

XXXX. On XX/XX/2022 at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) I called Bank of America credit cards on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX an d spoke to female named " XXXX '' based in XXXX, Georgia. I asked her to cancel all balance transfers on my new card ending in XXXX. XXXX said no balance transfers are showing yet on this account. She took my complaint to pass it on to a manager to call me back to dispute the 3 % balance transfer transactions fees which i refuse to pay as thats not expressly clearly stated on the credit card pamphlet when I was lured by it to open the new credit card account. XXXX gave me a complaint reference number of : XXXX. 

XXXX. On XX/XX/2022, I received an email from Bank Of America stating " Your Balance Transfer couldn't be completed ''. See attached Exhibit # XXXX. When I received this, I assumed the request I made to XXXX on XXXX XXXX 2022 had been actioned ( to not allow the balance transfers to go through ) seeming they will take 11-14 business days to complete, so my request to cancel all balance transfers is in hand. I did nothing as I felt this was taken care of and actioned by the bank. 

XXXX. On XX/XX/2022 and spoke to a male named " XXXX '' based in XXXX, Arizona to explain all the above. I was transferred to his colleague " XXXX '' in the " fraud dept. '' where I was bizarrely told this issue relates to fraud, but is clearly not, and the bank was incompetent in handling the request I made on XX/XX/2022 to their staff member named XXXX. A manager was tapping away feverishly on their keyboard and without any courtesy or respect towards me waiting for a resolution, she connected me to a recorded message that stated " a hold is placed on the funds in my account and the account is now frozen ''. An audio recording of the conversation between me and XXXX and me and XXXX is available on request. The audio recording shows both XXXX and XXXX accepted I am recording the call my end, seeming they are recording it on their end. The call is available for CFPB to review, as Exhibit # XXXX. Baffled by this fraud misdirection, I left the issue, assuming ( again ) this is now being taken care of by Bank of America and no balance transfer will now be initiated, because the bank has frozen the account. Nowhere did XXXX or her colleagues ever contact me again to give me assured CLARITY what exactly is the status of the balance transfers. They just left it hanging, as a mystery for me to decipher. This is totally unacceptable by a bank of this size and notoriety. Had this been the other way round, the bank would have sought absolute WRITTEN clarity and would never allow me to fob them off with a voice recording, like they did to me. Its totally unprofessional, discourteous and ghetto behaviour, and not commensurate with the " reputation '' that the bank boasts. 

XXXX. Dissatisfied by the lame way XXXX handled my call and ran away ( leaving me with an inappropriate and irrelevant automated fraud recording ), in addition to me receiving on XX/XX/2022, an email from Bank Of America stating " We've Processed Your Balance Transfer Request '' ( and seems the fraud dept. changed my credit card number from XXXX to XXXX ). See attached Exhibit # XXXX, I called the bank immediately and demanded to speak to a supervisor. I was put through to a woman named XXXX XXXX XXXX - customer relationship manager - located in XXXX, Georgia - I advised XXXX XXXX that seeming calls are recorded their end, I am recording the call on my end so we can see eye-to-eye. She accepted I am recording the call. The call is available for CFPB to review, as Exhibit # XXXX. XXXX XXXX had a superior obnoxious and distasteful attitude and was very difficult to talk to. Contrary to my SEVERAL requests ( explained above ) to cancel all balance transfers, XXXX XXXX advised that the balance transfers were NOT cancelled and they went through. She only managed to " salvage '' canceling ONE balance transfer to XXXX XXXX  ( see attached Exhibit # XXXX ), but the ones to XXXX  and XXXX XXXX had already went through. I advised her this is utterly incompetent, unprofessional and unacceptable that a bank of your size and notoriety is so inept that they can not action such a simple and straightforward request, and I accused the bank of using their size and stature as hegemony to FORCE upon me a transaction against my will ( so as to benefit the bank by imposing fees ). XXXX XXXX offered to waive the transaction fees if I just accept the balance transfers, and I refused this, stating the bank is imposing upon me a transaction against my will. This is dictatorship. She said a REVERSAL of both balance transfer transactions IS POSSIBLE, but it will take XXXX DAYS and there is NOTHING further for me to do and no paperwork for me to complete or sign. The Bank will take care of reversing the transactions and getting the monies back from XXXX XXXX and XXXX. I explained to her that I already paid off my XXXX balance of {$720.00}, and by Bank Of America sending {$720.00} to XXXX, I will now be {$720.00} in credit, which will ultimately lead XXXX to issue a check payment for this credit balance and I will be inconvenience even further, just because Bank Of America is impotent and inept in actioning a simple request back on XX/XX/2022 to their staff member " XXXX '' - most likely as a result of the bank 's greed and hope that I will let this balance transfer through, so the bank can sponge off transaction fees from me. This deceptive dishonorable behavior is utterly unacceptable. For grown adults who work at such a bank it must be really difficult for them to follow the simple basic rules of common courtesy, honour and respect for a customer who has been their customer for almost 12 years. 

XXXX. As of today, XXXX XX/XX/2022, the balance transfer sums remain on my Bank Of America Credit card ending XXXX ( previously XXXX ) and I owe {$7400.00}, which includes $ in transaction fees ( {$6500.00} + {$720.00} minus {$7400.00} = {$210.00} in transaction fees ). 

XXXX. There is a mandatory minimum payment the bank has imposed of {$74.00} to be paid by XX/XX/2022 and this is unacceptable given the shambles the bank has self-created. The bank needs to remove this and restore the account back to XXXX, just like how it was before the balance transfer fiasco they themselves created. 

XXXX. I have notified XXXX NOT to issue a check payment for the credit balance of {$720.00} and gave the reason that Bank Of America will be reversing the balance transfer any day now. 

XXXX. As promised by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/2022, I demand both balance transfers to be REVERSED back to my Bank of America card ending XXXX as follows : {$6500.00} to be reversed from XXXX XXXX before BEFORE any payment due date of XX/XX/2022. 
{$720.00} to be reversed from XXXX before BEFORE any payment due date of XX/XX/2022. 
{$210.00} to be reversed as fees for these balance transfers BEFORE any payment due date of XX/XX/2022. 
Any other fees or hidden charges to be removed before BEFORE any payment due date of XX/XX/2022. 

XXXX. A non-negotiable {$250.00} check payment to me as a measure of good faith and redress in light of the time and attention IU spent on this case and for the utter inconvenience, stress and anxiety the bank has self-created, and to also restore my faith in the bank. Otherwise, I will go to the press and media to expose how the bank 's greed, ignorance, incompetence and hegemony has created this fiasco.

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