Consumer complaint received 2022-08-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Money was taken from your account on the wrong day or for the wrong amount

Complaint:
XX/XX/2022 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, WA XXXX Good day, On Tuesday or Wednesday, XXXX XXXX and XXXX, respectively, I logged into the Bank of America mobile app on my phone to schedule a regular payment on my credit card through the bank. My main checking account with them, as expected, included more than {$1000.00} after already paying for rent, utilities, etc. this month. My credit card balance hovered above {$400.00}, and with rising interest rates, I authorized a payment about three times the minimum required payment of {$25.00}. I cant recall the exact amount, but the authorized payment totaled no more than {$80.00} far below the amount in my checking account, which would cover the payment. 

On Thursday, XXXX XXXX, at a grocery store in XXXX, the point-of-sale system twice declined my debit card linked to the checking account for a less than {$10.00} transaction. I thought nothing of it and reminded myself to check my BoA mobile app to make sure everything looked OK. To my utter shock, my checking account was completely drained and posted a balance of {$0.00}. A more detailed list of transactions at the time about XXXX XXXX showed just one processing charge for the authorized credit card payment of less than {$100.00}. Theres simply no way, even though the total amount still hadnt posted, that the banks system could misinterpret my authorized payment for the entirety of the checking account. 

So I called the banks customer service line and agent XXXX essentially advised me not to worry, to wait 24 hours for the payment to process fully and to call back if the checking account balance hadnt returned to normal. 

On Friday, XXXX XXXX, my day proved busier than expected and I failed to check my banking app until later in the afternoon, also about XXXX XXXX My checking account by then was no longer just XXXX ; Bank of America had started overdrawing the very same account that it fraudulently drained to cover an unauthorized credit card payment. The first overdraft charge was for a {$6.00} parking fee, which tipped my balance into the negative territory by {$2.00}. Later in the day, that overdrawn amount increased to {$110.00} as automatically scheduled and yet-to-process transactions continued to charge my account. Meanwhile, after the bank transferred my entire checking balance into my credit card account, the latter now posted a more than {$600.00} negative balance, which makes no sense to me. Even if I tried to take a cash advance on that to save my checking account before the end of day, Bank of America would levy a XXXX percent fee, leaving me with much less money to restore my account to positive and avoid overdrawing it account as more bills came due. 

After noticing this alarming development, I spent about two hours trying to get any human on the line through the banks automated phone and online customer service portals. The system finally connected me with agent XXXX a little before XXXX XXXX. and I started the conversation by listing four specific proposals for reparations, asking if he can fulfill them and if not requesting that he please connect me with a supervisor right away. My demands : Immediately restore all funds to my checking account as of XXXX XXXX Release that amount in the form of a cashiers check or in cash before end of day Issue a combined or separate cashiers check ( or cash ) for {$5600.00} o {$1000.00} ( amount withdrawn from my checking account ) + {$390.00} ( withdrawn from my savings to restore my checking account into the positive and avoid overdraft fees ) multiplied by four ( each business that Bank of America has failed to correct for its theft ) Schedule an in-person meeting at a XXXX branch to collect that compensation and close my checking account XXXX very politely and clearly stated he could not meet my demands especially the first before end of the day and connected me with his supervisor, XXXX. She remained calm and patient throughout my unloading of everything the bank had put me through so far. XXXX asked if she could put me on hold while she checked on what could be done, but then the call got disconnected while I was on hold. I received no call back, no email update, absolutely no word from my bank that it would work to fix the fraudulent payment that it stole from my account. 

On Saturday, XXXX XXXX, I opened the Bank of America mobile app on my phone and scheduled an appointment at the XXXX XXXX branch for XXXX XXXX. An agent named XXXX greeted me upon arrival and graciously offered to listen to my whole account. Like XXXX, he had to get a supervisor, XXXX, who suggested we call the banks credit card department together to resolve this issue. I flatly refused, firmly stating that Ive repeated this story too many times and needed my four demands satisfied before leaving the building. 

After about an hour of back-and-forth with her and whoever she got on the phone I have an audio recording of our side of that hour, if youd like a copy XXXX offers {$940.00} of the original amount stolen from my checking account. However, she states this wont appear in my account for 2-5 business days during which my overdrawn account would continue to rack up charges and fees. She described my insistence on compensation for the inconvenience as unrealistic, and refused to answer when I asked if it was unrealistic to expect the bank that Ive invested my money in for 13 years to not drain it before a weekend and tell me nothing can be done about it. 

I ultimately left, frustrated and with no recommendation from XXXX for a tangible solution beyond trying to call the credit card department on my own. To his credit, XXXX couldnt have been a better representative of this terrible bank and just a decent human. He tried many times successfully! to calm me down and distract me with talk about events in the city that weekend, banking stress that his family experienced, potential alternative solutions that I might considerXXXX was amazing and I wish Bank of America promoted individuals like that, who demonstrated a shred of compassion and connection with another person in a time of extreme stress. 

Later Saturday, in order to make sure that I had some money to actually spend on groceries and day-to-day living supplies, I decided to withdraw cash from my credit account. The ATM at that same XXXX XXXX branch rejected that withdrawal twice and I got two mobile notifications alerting me to call the credit department because of suspicious activity. After taking a moment to ignore the painful irony of that alert, I called the number and an agent I did not get the name told me he cleared the account and I should be OK to use the credit card again. So I tried to withdraw some cash, same error message. I called the hotline again and a new agent said he too could fix the issue but I wouldnt have access to use the card until Tuesday, XXXX XXXX at the earliest. 

This, for now running on six days, has been what counts as customer service and responsible banking on behalf of an institution with whom Ive done business for XXXX years. Bank of America declares, on its own website : We make financial lives better for our clients and our communities through the power of every connection. No, in my case, it certainly has not met that mission. 

Any relief or assistance or guidance that your agency can offer me in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Please dont hesitate to contact me with any questions for clarification or for additional documentation of this overwhelmingly stressful situation. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX Cell : 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 explanation