Consumer complaint received 2019-06-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received by email a promotional offer from Bank of America ( attached to this complaint ). The offer states that if I open a Bank of America Advantage bank account by XX/XX/XXXX and set up direct deposits totaling {$4000.00} or more within 90 days of opening the account, Bank of America would deposit a {$300.00} reward in my account within 60 days. There was also some fine print, which I have read and none of which disqualifies me from the offer. 

In response to the offer, I opened and funded a Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking  Account on XX/XX/XXXX, and set up direct deposit. I then received direct deposits of {$3500.00} each into the account on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Combined, these of course exceed the {$4000.00} required to qualify for the promotional offer, so I expected to receive the {$300.00} deposit from Bank of America within 60 days. However, by XX/XX/XXXX, I had not received the {$300.00} deposit. That day, I called the company about the missing deposit and spoke with XXXX from South Carolina, who told me that my inquiry had been escalated to the sales department and they would take up to 30 days to investigate. ( I'm not sure what would take so long, since the promotional email takes only minutes to read, as does verifying that I had met the requirements. ) As of today, 40 days have passed and I have heard nothing more from Bank of America, nor has the {$300.00} been deposited in my account. The company has not held up their end of the deal they advertised. 

My complaint today is about the above, but it's worth mentioning that this is not an isolated incident. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a similar promotional email offer from the company. That offer invited me to open a qualifying account by XX/XX/XXXX, and make two qualifying direct deposits of {$250.00} or more within 90 days of opening the account, after which the company promised to deposit {$100.00} within 60 days. I met all the requirements by XX/XX/XXXX, and yet the company did not deposit the {$100.00} within the promised timeframe. I had to call the company numerous times and even make a physical visit to a branch before the company finally made the deposit they had advertised in the promotional email inXX/XX/XXXX. They were delinquent by more than five months on the timeframe they advertised. ( Note that thisXX/XX/XXXX account does not disqualify me from the XXXX promotion because I closed that account in XXXX and was not a signer or owner of a Bank of America personal checking account between then and XX/XX/XXXX. ) It appears to me that the company 's strategy may be to entice potential customers with promotional offers that they do not intend to honor, and to drag their feet when customers inquire in hopes that the customer will forget about the promise or be too busy to pursue the matter.

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