Consumer complaint received 2021-03-24
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, my husband and I sold our home and used a portion of the proceeds to pay off some outstanding credit debt. In XX/XX/XXXX, I paid off almost my entire balance on my Bank of America credit card. My balance was {$13000.00}. I sent BofA a payment of {$13000.00} and it posted on XX/XX/XXXX. It left an outstanding balance of {$270.00}. As I continued to pay off some bills, I made a mental note to send off the BofA balance payment the following week. The following week came and, forgetting I had already paid off almost the entire balance, I accidentally sent them {$13000.00}. It posted on XX/XX/XXXX. The next day, my bank 's " auto-pay '' feature kicked in and sent BofA another {$300.00} payment. I realized my error with 3-5 days. I called BofA and spoke with a young man XXXX unknown name ) who told me this happens frequently. He offered to send me a credit balance refund in the form of a check. Because we had just moved to a new house and the post office was not forwarding our mail properly, I asked to have the check direct deposited. I saw that the credit balance was refunded on XX/XX/XXXX. By the end of XXXX, when I had not received the check, I called B of A a 2nd time to inquire as to the status. I was told that the rep simply had check cut for the refund and it went to our old address. The customer service rep offered to stop the check. I had to start the process all over again to request a credit balance refund as a direct deposit. By mid-XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, I still had not received either a new check nor a direct deposit. Meanwhile, I had since been charged an annual fee. I called BofA a 3rd time and spoke with a young man ( unknown name ). He told me that a credit balance refund such as mine would not go out until the end of the month. I told him that since I had paid off my entire balance, I wanted the annual fee waived. He waived it. I waited. On XX/XX/XXXX, still no check or direct deposit. On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw that I had my credit refund balance RE-APPLIED to my credit card. Incredible. I called BofA a 4th time and was told by Rep. XXXX that they would expedite this process. She put me on hold and assured me that the direct deposit would be sent out ASAP. By XX/XX/XXXX, I still had not seen my refund in my bank account. I looked up my BofA credit account and there was still a credit balance on my account. To make matters worse, I had been charged interest. I find it disappointing that BofA would charge me interest when 1 ) my balance had been paid off and 2 ) they had made so many errors and caused me so much time and effort to get my money back, and 3 ) I still did not have MY MONEY, but they are making interest off MY MONEY. I called BofA a FIFTH time and asked for a supervisor. Supervisor XXXX looked into my matter and explained that because the payment was for over {$10000.00}, it was getting rejected by BofA 's system. Essentially, every time I called I was told something different. This time she explained that it was impossible to send me my refund via direct deposit ; she would arrange to have a check cut and sent out to me. I requested it be sent XXXX XXXX and she told me she could not promise me that would work, but she requested it. When I still had not received my refund, I called BofA a SIXTH time around XX/XX/XXXX. In the meantime, they waived my interest charges. Again I was promised my refund in the form of a check. I called BofA a SEVENTH time on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX when I still had not received my check in the mail. I was told that my check had been mailed out on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX. I was told by the rep, XXXX in South Carolina, that a complaint had been submitted on my behalf and that complaint was supposedly resolved on XX/XX/XXXX. She told me that if they stopped this check, I would have to start the process all over again. Today is the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. Ten business days since my check was allegedly mailed to me, I FINALLY had an ACH deposit to my bank account for {$13000.00}. What about the supposed check that was sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX? I feel that BofA blatantly lied to me throughout this entire debacle. What a coincidence that after I called a SEVENTH time on XX/XX/XXXX -- and was told the proverbial check was in the mail -- that I then received an ACH deposit 2 days later. It took TEN WEEKS since my original overpayment to be made semi-whole. I say semi-whole because I spent over 7 hours on the phone with BofA. I make {$54.00} an hours, so my time alone is worth {$370.00}. To say that I was treated very poorly by BofA is a serious understatement. This is inexcusable and completely unacceptable. I am a retired law enforcement XXXX, a former fraud XXXX, and I have personally seen the ease with which an individual can defraud BofA. Here I am, an honest person, retired from law enforcement but now working full-time in healthcare, and I do not understand why this had to be so difficult. After B of A 's repeated errors, WHY couldn't they have simply wired me the funds in the first place? Why couldn't a check have been sent to me via Certified Mail, via overnight or 2nd-day air? I was deprived of the interest my $ XXXX could have been making in my bank account for almost 3 months! I understand that I made a stupid mistake by overpaying BofA in the first place, but I do not believe my error deserved this level of punishment and complete, total disregard for me as a customer. I spent 7+ hours on the phone to attempt to rectify this situation ; what about those who can not spend that much time on the phone? Some people might wonder why I am submitting this complaint, since I finally did receive my money, but I fear that BofA will close my credit card account in retaliation for my prior complaints, and since I have a {$31000.00} credit line, that would hurt my credit score. Aside from that, other customers need to know about this ludicrous and shocking mistreatment, BofA needs to get their act together, and I feel I merit a full explanation and apology from BofA.

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