Consumer complaint received 2021-02-12
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
The credit card was paid in full in the first quarter of XX/XX/2020, and subsequently not used after the account was paid in full. 

The card expired and a new card was mailed. The new card was not activated as I had planned to close the account at the end of the year. 

I was notified via a credit monitoring app that a charge was applied in XX/XX/2020. I did not authorize the card and contacted Bank of America to contest the charge. A fraud complaint was opened, and I was advised that given the advertised XXXX  fraud liability that I would not be responsible for the charge. A credit was applied to the account bringing it back to XXXX  and I requested that the account be closed to avoid any further issues. 

I received another report via the credit monitoring app that a late payment was reported by Bank of America. I called to inquire about the situation and was advised that the fraud inquiry was not approved, and therefore the charge was placed on the account, and since it was not paid a late fee was applied. I inquired as to why the fraud charge was not approved and was advised that it was because it was a recurring payment. I asked how it could be that a charge could be applied against an expired card when the replacement card was not activated. The customer service person indicated that this was new information and that it would be sent to the fraud dept. for them to re-open the case. I was further advised that a credit would be re-applied to the account and that the late fee would be removed. 

I received a notification on XX/XX/XXXX that the Bank of America account had been reported as delinquent. I called Bank of America on the XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about the issue. The customer service person could not answer my questions, and neither the fraud dept. or a manager was available. I called on XX/XX/XXXX and was told by customer service that I need to speak with the fraud dept. about the case. 

I spoke to the fraud dept. and was advised that the case was re-opened on XX/XX/XXXX and that it could take up to 90 days from the XX/XX/XXXX to resolve the case. I asked why if the case was opened and pending was I being reported as delinquent. The fraud dept. indicated that I need to speak with customer service about that. 

I was transferred to customer service and spoke with a supervisor about the same whom indicated that because my account was past due he could not remove the late fees, but could request that the credit reporting be corrected however I needed to provide him with the dates and credit agencies that Bank of America reported to. I asked why if Bank of America made the negative reports he could not tell me to whom they reported. The answer was that it was their process to have the customer provide the information. 

I was transferred to collections to discuss the past due account where I was told that the only way to resolve the negative reports and late fees was to pay the amount past due. Choosing the path of least resistance I paid the originally amount and was told that the amount " could be refunded '' when the fraud dept resolved the case. I was further told that the request would be made to remove the late fees but that it needed to be approved. I informed the manger that I was already told on two prior occasions that the fees would be removed. No response, other than to be told that I need to pay the amount past due so that they could take action. 

During the call I was advised that the account would be charged a daily interest factor which I need to pay to avoid further issue with payments. I inquired how it could be that I was being charged daily interest on an amount that was in dispute. Furthermore I inquired why the advertised zero fraud liability did not apply in this case. I was informed that because the fraud dept. did not credit back the amount that I would be subject to the fees. I requested to know where in the terms and conditions this was disclosed. The response was that it was their practice, but that the terms and conditions indicated that a interest factor was charged on all purchases. 

I reviewed the terms and conditions and could not find a section on disputed charges.

I would appreciate you looking into this as it appears to me that Bank of America has created an internal process to take advantage of situations like mine to charge excess fees and while marketing the opposite with their XXXX  fraud liability campaign.

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