Consumer complaint received 2021-04-13
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021 - I was making a cash deposit for {$8000.00} at a Bank of America branch in XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX XXXX location ). The currency was in eight folded stacks of {$1000.00} each, as they are for rents received from my tenant which I've held on to over the shelter-in-place order. I've double counted the cash prior to arriving at the branch for accuracy. At the teller window, I handed the cash over for deposit along with my deposit slip. The teller proceeded to count the first stack, then he handed half the stacks back to me to count myself mid-process. The stacks I counted were accurate at {$1000.00} each. Then, he combined all the cash and placed them in the currency counter and informed me I was {$400.00} short and the total only added up to {$7600.00}. I ask him to check whether any cash fell on the ground behind his counter and he said no. I did not believe this is accurate, so he ran the cash again through the currency counter and got {$7600.00}. At this point, he ask me to add {$400.00} to match the {$8000.00} on my deposit slip. As I was in a hurry to my next appointment, I replaced the {$400.00} from my personal cash to complete the deposit. Afterwards, I felt very uncomfortable about the incident and felt the original {$400.00} cash went missing behind the teller window. I also felt it was very strange that the teller handed me a portion of the cash to count mid-way through the transaction, at which point I was distracted and did not see him count the remaining cash. He also did not voice that the portion he was counting by hand came up short and proceeded to combine all the cash to place in the currency counter and he was not able to identify which particular stack out of the eight was short. I called the bank the same afternoon to notify them of this issue, and they asked me to return to the branch to speak with a manager. At the branch, the manager said she was behind the teller window at the time and heard of our exchange regarding the missing {$400.00}, she initiated a counting of the teller 's cash drawer and later a different manager informed me there was nothing wrong and perhaps I misplaced the cash. I am confident the cash was not misplaced and requested they review the security camera footage to understand why the teller handed me back a portion of the cash to count midway through the transaction as that is not standard practice. He said the camera footage are only accessible through the bank 's headoffice in North Carolina. I asked how I can further escalate this for review and he said I have to call their customer service line. I returned home and placed this call, at the time I was transferred to the bank 's fraud investigation team after explaining the incident to a couple of representatives and being transferred. They've all indicated the incident is strange and the teller did not seem to have followed standard practice for cash deposit. The fraud team took the case in their file and provided me a reference number. Subsequently on XX/XX/2021, I called back to follow-up. After being transferred a few times, I was finally informed that my case was closed at resolved. However, I did not get any outreach or resolution from Bank of America. I asked why this is the status, and the represeentative explained that such issues invovling cash deposit has to be resolved at the local branch. Then, I explained I was referred to them by the local manager for escalation and further investigation. The representative said there is nothing further she can help me with and I have to return to the branch. At this point, I feel like I'm being passed around with the bank not wanting to further investigate the matter. I hope CFPB can help to escalate this for further review, where the bank and/or myself can review the security camera foortage of my depsoit transaction to track down the whereabouts of the missing {$400.00} cash.

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