Consumer complaint received 2019-02-12
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I lost my Bank of America ( BoA ) Visa debit card when making a food purchase. I did not realize I had lost my card until later that evening and reported it to the bank to get the card deactivated and replaced ( please see Document A ). Unfortunately, someone found my card and used it to make three purchases before I reported the card lost, two at XXXX XXXX and one at XXXX in XXXX XXXX, NY totaling {$850.00} ( please see Document B for bank statement with purchases highlighted ). I have never been to either of these store locations or this area at all. The Bank marked these as fraudulent charges and sent me a notification the next day, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, to let me know of the situation ( please see Document C ) and then, another one on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, to inform me that my account would be credited for the {$850.00} during the investigation and that it could take 90 days ( please see Document D ). Both notifications specified no action was required on my part. I did not hear anything else regarding this investigation for months and assumed it had all been resolved. The evening of XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to withdraw money from my account at an ATM and failed, since the ATM said I had no money in my checking account. I checked my account through my online banking app and even though I had gotten paid that same day, I had an overdraft on my account for over {$140.00}. I was obviously upset and called the customer service line for the bank and they explained that there had been fraudulent charges on my account in XX/XX/XXXX and that a letter was sent to my home requesting I send a police report detailing the incident with my lost card. I never received this letter over the mail. As specified before, all notifications I received from the bank said no action was required on my part and none mentioned the need for a police report ( see Documents C and D ). This was the first time I had ever heard the need for a police report. Thus, the reason I had lost all of my money was because they had placed three debit  holds corresponding to the fraudulent charges totaling {$850.00}. The representative said that after receiving a police report, the fraud claim would be reprocessed in at most 3 business days. That same evening I went to the police to try and get a police report, but the police refused to file one until I had an affidavit from the bank, which was apparently part of what was sent to me over mail. I explained to the bank that I would not be able to get the requested police report without a copy of this affidavit, but they refused to send it to me over email or through the online banking 's message center. I printed out the notifications I had received previously, but these were in XXXX and the police wouldn't accept them. Later, I even gave them translated versions using XXXX XXXX, but they still wouldn't accept this as sufficient since these notifications specified that no action was required and did not mention any need for police intervention. The next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I went to a BoA branch to try to get more help in acquiring the necessary documents to get them the police report they insisted was necessary for this process. The employees at the branch were not able to help me with this and had me call the Fraud Department while at the branch location. This representative told me that he could not get me an Affidavit since the fraud claim was denied and closed. This was extremely frustrating and after having spent hours there, I had to leave with no helpful information or documentation. Later that afternoon, I called once again to try and at least get an English original of the fraud notifications that had been sent to me in XX/XX/XXXX ( note that my account is in English and I am still unclear why these were sent in XXXX at all ). Finally, the representative said he would arrange for the English versions to be prepared, but they refused to send me these and the Affidavit electronically and sent these to me over mail. I once again called on Friday and the representative did give me an option to go to a BoA branch and call the Fraud Department while there and they could coordinate with an employee at the branch to print out the Affidavit and notifications at the branch. I specified to them that I would not be able to get to a branch before the end of the day Friday, but they told me I could come in over the weekend. On Saturday ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX ), I went to my local BoA branch to get this sorted out and called the customer service line as I was told. The representative informed me that the Fraud Department was closed on the weekends and that the regular representatives were not able to access these documents at all and would not be able to assist me in getting these printed. I requested that at least the English versions of the notifications on my Message Center be printed in a formal letterhead so I could bring these to the police and hope that it would be enough to get a police report started, but even that the bank claimed was impossible. I spoke to various representatives and a manager, XXXX from the Delaware Center, and none of them proved to be of any help. Thankfully, an employee at the branch was sympathetic to my situation and was very much aware on how limited and frustrating the banks Fraud Department was and offered to stamp printed versions of notifications I had translated with XXXX XXXX even though she couldnt print them on the formal letterhead. We also printed out a Fraud Report form that the bank requested I complete in which I had to specify the police report information ( please see Document E ). Thankfully, these documents proved to be sufficient to the police officers and they began the process of creating a police report. On Sunday ( XX/XX/XXXX), I received a call from the police and was finally given a formal Complaint Report No. XXXX ( see Document F ). I promptly completed the Banks online form that same day, but was unable to get in contact with the XXXX Department since they are closed over the weekend. Today ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX ) I spoke with the Fraud Department and even though I had previously been told that the investigation would take at most 3 business days, I was now told it would take at least 10 business days to investigate and was neither credited for the amount of the fraudulent charges at this time nor was given a guarantee that my account would be credited at the end of the investigation. I have been a loyal client to Bank of America for almost six years and this is the first time I have had an issue with fraudulent charges in my  account and have been incredibly disappointed at the customer service I have been exposed to. I have had to take time from my job and put in an extraordinary amount of effort to get the documentation they have requested and have been met with resistance and more bureaucracy at every corner and it is not clear when/if I will get my money back at all.

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