Consumer complaint received 2017-09-27
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Overdrafts and overdraft fees

Complaint:
All times referenced below are XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, between XXXX and XXXX I deposited my paycheck, in the amount of {$2200.00} to my checking account. The paycheck was from my current employer, the same company I have been working for nearly seven years, starting XX/XX/XXXX. During the time I have worked for this company I have consistently deposited my paycheck every other Friday, coming from this same company, from the same issuing bank and account. 

After depositing my paycheck on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, well before their stated cutoff time to have the full funds be available the following day, {$300.00} of the check put was released to my checking account, which was overdrawn at the time, and the {$300.00} was not enough to bring my account positive. Then, once the deposit was complete, I was informed that they were placing a hold on the full remaining amount of my paycheck until the following Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX. This left me with less than {$0.00} XXXX funds until the end of my work day on the next Tuesday. 

To my knowledge, in the nearly seven years I have been depositing the same paychecks every other Friday there has never been a single issue with the paycheck, my employer, or the issuing bank, to my knowledge. Therefore, it is highly unusual to have any hold placed on my paycheck deposit, much less incredible inconvenient to have it done on a Friday evening, with my account overdrawn, and not to be available for another four days. 

However, the real problem came on Tuesday. I awoke early Tuesday morning to find an email from Bank of America informing me that I had been charged for {$35.00} each for 4 overdrafts due to my overdrawn account status on Monday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX. I called that day around XXXX and requested they be removed since they were withholding my money from my account which would have prevented those overdraft fees in the first place. The woman I spoke with informed me she was only able to refund one overdraft fee and that was all I had time for that day. 

On Wednesday I became aware that in addition to the overdraft fees I was charged on Monday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I was also charged an additional {$35.00} overdraft fee on Tuesday. I again called Bank of America to request to have the fees removed and the nice gentleman I spoke with, though courteous and sympathetic to my predicament, was unable to remove the new fee I received on XXXX XXXX, or any of the fees I had received on Monday, XXXX XXXX. 

I am aware that I have also been charged fees by other companies due to this issue and I am curious whether overdraft fees that were charged to me on Friday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, would have been avoided if my paycheck has been processed normally, the same way it has been for twenty six Fridays a year, for going on seven years now. 

I am struggling to get my finances under control and every overdraft fee is an additional stress and anxiety. Having my paycheck withheld for no clearly explained and legitimate sounding reason and then being charged fees by the very same company due to the money being held away from me is like being kicked while I 'm down by a company I have depended on to keep my funds safe since XXXX. It 's incredible frustrating and demoralizing. If the intent is to make a person feel worthless and helpless, Bank of America is succeeding in spades. 

So, in essence, it appears to me that Bank of America deliberately withheld my funds and left me than broke for four days, in order to then make money of off potential overdraft fees. While this may not be true and it may be due to clerical error or some other honest mistake, it sure feels like a blatant lack of compassion for Bank of America 's customers, if not an outright purposefully, deliberate act aimed solely at stuffing their pockets at the expense of the happiness and well being of their most vulnerable customers.

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