Consumer complaint received 2021-12-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TN
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
I live in XXXX, TN. I was doing contract work in XXXX XXXX from XXXX. On the night of XX/XX/XXXX my phone/wallet was stolen. I reported this to my bank, Bank of America, and they closed my account and shut down my debit card. The fraudulent charges I reported to them are listed below and police report is attached. 

My complaint that I would like to file is that they declined my fraud claims. I sent in the police report so they opened the claim for reconsideration but then they declined them again. That is my main complaint. 

The reason they gave for declining my XXXX  claims was " the transactions were done from my device '' which is obvious because my device was stolen as shown in the police report I gave them. The reason they gave for declining my debit card claim was it was " inconsistent with fraud '' which they said meant because they only spent about {$8000.00} instead of draining my account. That just sounds absurd to me... they didn't steal enough? 

I also have the following complaints but I don't expect anything to be done about these ... these are mostly just warnings for potential bank of America customers that may be reading this : It's difficult and time consuming to get a live person on the phone : They have 2 separate numbers ( departments ) I had to call every time I needed to talk to them, one for debit card transactions and one for XXXX transactions. The hold time for each number was at minimum 30 minutes. Then once I finally got a person on the phone, after about 5-10 seconds of working on getting me verified, the call would get cut off and I'd have to start over with the 30+ minute hold ... every single time... for both of the numbers ( departments ) I had to call. This is what I was dealing with while I was working XXXX hours a day XXXX days a week. 

When I call, I've yet to reach anyone that cares or is helpful : I've been a customer with them for over 20 years and have never had anything like this happen. The charges are so very obviously inconsistent with anything I would do/have done. It would seem to me that they would have 1 person assigned to my case that would want to help me. I've been calling every week since this happened and have no choice but to get a different person every time and they have been the complete opposite of helpful, even to the point where I've been told " well you shouldn't have let someone XXXX  your stuff ''. 

It's just as difficult to speak to someone at a branch : I made a few trips to the branch to try to get some help from them and every time, they said they could make me an appointment and they didn't have an opening until the following week. When I finally got home to XXXX, I went to make an appointment and there was nothing available for three weeks. I have to assume not all banks are like that and will be shopping for somewhere that does better. 

Here are the fraudulent charges I reported to them : DEBIT CARD BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT ENDING IN XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX i think this ended up being my charge and just posted late XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX PLUS XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX this was refunded back to my account XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX this was refunded back to my account XXXX BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT ENDING IN XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Transfer Conf XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT ENDING IN XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Conf XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Transfer Conf # XXXX ; j XXXX

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 monetary relief