Consumer complaint received 2022-06-16
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Below is a chronology of the situation I have with Bank of America : On XX/XX/XXXX I checked our online account for Bank of America. I noticed there was a XX/XX/XXXX transaction for a {$3000.00} ACH payment refund ( reference number XXXX ) related to the XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$7700.00} ( this payment was made to pay off our XX/XX/XXXX bill, reference number XXXX ). I checked with my wife about the {$3000.00} transaction ; she knew nothing about it. 

I immediately contacted Bank of America at XXXX pm, XXXX. When I finally got through, I advised the customer representative that neither myself nor my wife requested this transaction and that it was fraudulent. She had difficulty explaining where the money went and who requested the transaction. I confirmed it did not go back to our bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

She referred me to the Bank of America Fraud department where I spoke to a customer representative that was apologetic, stumbled and rambled on for some time, indicating that the money would be refunded to the Bank of America account within 4 to 6 days with a letter to follow in the mail. I spent XXXX minutes speaking to various representatives and waiting on hold. 

I checked the account online over the next several days and the transaction was never reversed. On Saturday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX PST I again called Bank of America and contacted customer service. I was bounced around between representatives, which included the Fraud Department. After XXXX minutes of being bounced around, I was told that Bank of America considered the matter closed and was not going to reverse the charge and that a letter would come in the mail stating such ( letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, Case number XXXX ). I was further told that if I wanted to dispute the finding that I needed to come in person to a Bank of America branch and present photo ID, as there were too many fraud indicators associated with this issue to resolve over the phone. 

The following Monday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) at XXXX am I attempted to contact customer service while my wife drove us to the Bank of America branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX WA, XXXX. I stayed on hold for XXXX minutes and never got through. 

While at Bank of America we met with XXXX XXXX who sat us down in her office and contacted customer service herself. She verified who she was with customer service by providing the proper information, company employee identification numbers etc. to prove she was who she said she was. In addition, she verified the identities of my self and my wife through our current Washington Drivers License IDs. We spent about an hour and a half going back and forth and being bounced around with customer service. The last representative we spoke with was named XXXX. She advised us that the money was sent to a XXXX Bank. She further advised us that there were several calls on XX/XX/XXXX regarding an attempt to transfer the money to XXXX bank out of our Bank of America account. There were several notes in the system indicating that fraud was suspected with these phone calls. The transaction was finally approved because the caller had the CVV code on the back of the card. 

It should be noted that not one text, phone call or e-mail was ever received by me or my wife regarding the transaction in question. The representative then indicated that the transaction would be reversed within 4 to 6 days and that she filed a complaint on our behalf. 

On XX/XX/XXXX my wife called to follow up on this issue. There were two phone calls, the first one lasted one hour, seventeen minutes, and thirty-two seconds then the call eventually dropped after having been on hold for so long with no one coming back to the line ; the second call lasted one hour, twenty six minutes and thirty eight seconds. My wife spoke to a XXXX in Tennessee first, then an XXXX, then a XXXX, then an XXXX ( spelled phonetically ) then finally an XXXX. There may have been one more person between XXXX and XXXX. The entire time was spent telling my wife she needed to talk to a different department, then that department sending her yet somewhere else, then back the prior department. She was told no, not fraud, you need to talk to existing fraud, then no, existing fraud for credit cards, then no, existing fraud for bank account, then back to existing fraud for credit cards. Round and round without ever getting to the right department. Every person seemed to be able to see the notes about the issues, but no one could offer anything other than the {$3000.00} is still showing on our account. As of XX/XX/XXXX the transaction has not been reversed. 
These are questions we have : What questions were asked to verify the callers identity? 
What routing number was used for the bank that the money was sent to? 
What account number was used for the bank that the money was sent to? 
Do you have any recorded conversations regarding the requested transaction? 
Why were no alerts sent to either me or my wife, via text, phone or email? 


Please contact me at XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX

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