Consumer complaint received 2022-09-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
Hello, In 2014, when my father passed, away, Bank of America incorrectly marked me as deceased. In addition to the emotional distress, their mistake created problems and delays when trying to plan and pay for my father 's funeral. It took repeated phone calls to get my account reactivated, and during the process I felt disrespected, mistreated, and misled. After numerous complaints, when I said I was planning to close my account, a member of the customer care team told me I would be granted permanent preferred client status as a resolution and compensation for the mistake and the emotional trouble. I only kept my account open with Bank of America for this reason. Now, eight years later, I've learned that this offer was, apparently, a lie, and not something the institution should have ever offered me. This is deceitful and means that Bank of America benefited from my accounts under false pretenses. 

Below, I'm sharing a complaint I submitted yesterday to the head of the bank 's client care team. Today, someone from that team called to apologize for the deception, which, frankly, is simply not enough accountability for their actions. 

I plan to finally close my account at Bank of America, as I intended to do and should have done years ago. I'm not sure what the CFPB can do here, but I want to pursue all options to ensure that Bank of America is accountable for its mistakes and, hopefully, learns to treat it's clients with more dignity and respect that they have shown me. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear XXXX XXXX, I'm writing to you in frustration related to an incident that has, apparently, not been resolved since 2014. If this dispute is not resolved expeditiously, I will be closing my account ( which I've held since I was a child ) and will submit complaints to the XXXX XXXX XXXX  as well as to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

As you'll see in the message I've pasted for reference below, after my father died, Bank of America made an error and marked me as deceased. I understand mistakes happen, but I had to make numerous phone calls to have this corrected. Having to repeatedly explain to strangers that my father has died caused me additional and unneeded distress while I was grieving, and it was unconscionable that the error was not fixed immediately. 

After repeated complaints, throughout which I felt mistreated and disrespected, I spoke with yet another Bank of America supervisor on the phone and told them I was going to close my account and end my relationship with the institution because of how I was treated. They proposed that if I kept my account open, as a resolution they would assign my account permanent prefered platinum statuswhich I recall because they explained it meant waived ATM fees. This is the only reason I didn't leave Bank of America years ago. 

I have recently discovered that this was a false promise. Apparently, there is nothing listed in my account to that effect and that this resolution should not have even been offered to me in the first place because it could not have been honored. As such, the dispute about this disturbing mistake, the lack of accountability in correcting it, and the disrespect I felt from Bank of America remains unresolved. Furthermore, I have kept my account open and in good standing with Bank of Americaallowing your institution to benefit from my business ( however small it may be in the large scheme of things ) on what amounts to a lie. 

When I learned that Bank of America 's offer of permanent preferred status was made in bad faith, I spoke with a representative who told me that a client care team member would contact me within five to eight business days. It has now been two weeks. Today, a Bank of America customer service supervisor suggested I write to you directly. 

Perhaps I should know better by now, but I'm shocked that I've been so poorly mistreated and misled by Bank of America. When I was grieving my father 's death, having to explain the situation to so many Bank of America employees was deeply distressing, and I can not believe I'm still having this same conversation and dealing with more failures of accountability years later. 

I hope to hear from you with a proper resolution soon. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX EMAIL FROM XX/XX/2014 Last week my father, XXXX XXXX XXXX, passed away. Obviously, this loss was devastating, but Bank of America contributed to my distress by mistakenly listing me as " deceased '' instead of my father. This kind of error is unforgivable, but it should, at the very least, be taken seriously and corrected immediately. 
On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called Bank of America to make a transfer from my father 's trust ( an account on which I am listed as a trustee ) in order to cover his outstanding medical and funeral expenses. The representative I spoke with cavalierly informed me that my request could not be processed because I was apparently deceased. Not only was he unapologetic and insufficiently sympathetic, he did nothing to fix this utterly egregious mistake. He offered to transfer me to a manager, but as I was preoccupied with matters pertaining to my father 's death ( not to mention, grieving with my family ), I was not in a position to stay on hold. I asked that a manager call me back, which he assured me they would. I have yet to receive any such phone call. 
On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, upon discovering my checking and saving accounts were on hold and registered balances of {$0.00}, I emailed my branch manager, XXXX XXXX ( whom my family has used and trusted for years ), to alert him of this issue. He phoned me immediately to apologize and assured me he would correct the mistake and subsequently removed the holds from my accounts. 
On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Bank of America saying " Bank of America Credit Card has canceled your e-Bill service. '' I immediately phoned customer service, where I was transferred 4 times over the course of an hour to apparently resolve this issue with your estate department. 
Today, I received an email from a separate financial institution saying that an automated and regularly occurring transfer from my Bank of America account could not be completed. 
I am absolutely disgusted by Bank of America 's incompetence, lack of respect, and shameful mishandling of this matter. That I should have to repeatedly explain that I am not deceased while mourning for my father is inexcusable. Furthermore, I am now concerned Bank of America 's false reporting of my death will continue to cause troubles in my records within your institution and elsewhere. It should come as little surprise that unless you can restore my trust in your institution, I may cancel my accounts with Bank of America as a direct result of this 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 explanation