Consumer complaint received 2020-08-22
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
I paid off my bank of America credit card in XXXX, but the {$350.00} auto-draft payment continued to be taken from my checking account and applied to the BofA card, resulting in a credit balance. In XXXX, using the automated services, I requested ( and received ) the refund of the credit balance. In XXXX, I again requested the refund of the credit balance on the automated service and also spoke to a representative to cancel future drafts of the {$350.00}. I received the credit back to my bank account and assumed the issue was resolved. 

On XX/XX/20, I received a statement indicating that I had an overdue balance on the card of {$350.00} plus fees and interest. I called BofA on XX/XX/20 and it was determined that they had credited my bank account AND issued a check for the credit balance which I never received. A stop payment was placed on the check and fees and interest were waived. I was assured that the {$350.00} credit from the check would be applied to the account and it would be again at a XXXX   balance. I was told this process would take 2-3 days. I followed up with a call on XX/XX/20 when the automated system still showed a balance owed of {$350.00}, and was told I needed to wait longer, that I had been told incorrect information. I expressed concerns about this impacting my credit and was assured that it would not - they would take care of it. 

After several more days of calling without reaching anyone who could assist, I was instructed to call the collections department - the account was now two months past due and despite numerous promises that it would be taken care of and that it was nothing to worry about. The person in the collections department also assured me that it was being taken care of. 

On XX/XX/20, I received an email that BofA had reported the account status to TransUnion. On that same day, my credit score dropped from XXXX to XXXX. I am closely monitoring my score because I am finally in a position where I can actually pay my bills and not be afraid to open them. Restoring my credit is a big step for me now, and I getting it to XXXX was a big deal to me. Calling BofA again, I was assured not to worry, it would be fixed. 

On XX/XX/20, I received a check in the mail from BofA for {$350.00}, the replacement of the check that had been stopped over a month earlier. So instead of applying the money to my credit card balance as promised, they mailed me a check. Again, I called BofA. I was told to go cash the check and then use that cash to pay my outstanding balance of {$350.00}. I didn't want to delay payment further, so I requested the payment be deducted from my checking account while I was on the phone. I then drove to the open BofA ( since my local branch was closed do to COVID-19 ), and waited outside in line for over an hour. Once in, after waiting my turn, I was unable to cash the check because it also had a stop payment against it. So again I called and was told to wait - they would take care of it. 

As a result of my payment made with my funds on XX/XX/20, my credit score recovered a little, going up to XXXX. 

So at this point, my balance is zero again, but BofA owes me {$350.00}, which was credited to the account on XX/XX/20, effective XX/XX/20. After several calls, my checking account was credited the {$350.00} on XX/XX/20. 

Long story short, I paid my balance of in XXXX, and have been in nothing short of Bank of America XXXX since then. My credit is still down 10 points as a result of this fiasco. After more calls than I can count, today I received a letter from them saying that my latest request for them to fix this issue is that " Our review determined that we accurately reported to the consumer credit reporting agencies. At this time we consider your dispute resolved. '' They promised a quick resolution without impact to my credit, but instead this has been going on for months and my credit score has been negatively affected. If there was a way to collect damages for the stress and anxiety that they have caused me, in addition to the colossal waste of my time and energy, I would take them to court for this. I can not believe that such a large corporation, with so many employees ( none of which seemed interested in truly helping me ), can treat its customers with such heartless ineptitude.

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