Consumer complaint received 2022-03-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) is withholding {$710.00} that belong to me. The funds are from a fraudulent transaction ( which occurred in XX/XX/2021 ) -- in which the merchant ( XXXX ) was unwilling to send me the product that I paid for. 
The seller on XXXX was not communicative, and I was forced to open a case with Bank of America as a result. 

I also opened a separate case with XXXX, since the payment was processed through the XXXX processing site -- and I know that they are far more successful ( and quicker ) at recoveries. This was a transaction paid for with XXXX Bank of America XXXX. Not surprisingly, XXXX recovered the funds in as little as 20 days. 

Bank of America on the other hand, having sent me no information of the case I opened with them, no paper mail, no text message, no phone call, and no way to track the case online -- making me assume the case had either been closed or never received. To both my surprise ( and the surprise of XXXX 's team ), Bank of America is STILL working on the case 3 months later. 3 months later, despite no one fighting back the claim. And so XXXX went ahead an debited me the {$710.00} that they had originally recovered, leaving my account on overdraft, and obviously closed the case on their end. 

XXXX ( the payment processor ), and XXXX ( the merchant ), none of them are fighting back the claim. Bank of America is claiming they need a response from XXXX, yet XXXX ( multiple supervisors attest to this ) claim they have received no such request, and that no such request is even necessary, as Bank of America has authority to withdraw the funds from them directly. Multiple XXXX representatives ( and supervisors ) continue to emphasize that Bank of America has access to all information necessary from the transaction, and that they could get in touch with them if they wanted to. 

It seems to me that Bank of America is being highly incompetent, dragging the days for a much as they're allowed to legally, and just being lazy. This is costing me and my business. 

It's unreal that XXXX is taking 3 months to refund an open-close case, where XXXX is fighting back the claim. Not to mention I've already provided necessary evidence of no product received. The merchant never even provided tracking details, so this case should not take this long to solve. 

Bank of America is being so incredibly negligent, that they've even argued the case might reach arbitration ( which is again, ridiculously unnecessary as all parties are in agreement of the chargeback ) -- and they're claiming the case might take up to an additional 45 days until XXXX " responds ''. They continue to mislabel XXXX as the 'merchant ' on multiple times, by XXXX XXXX the payment processor, not the merchant. And again, they've argued many times that Bank of America has sent no such request, and that if they had, it would've been answered by now. On their screen, they have no information other than what they've already provided. 

Regardless of how messy and long this process can be for small business accounts, or due to the mix up of opening XXXX separate cases, these are my funds ( rightfully mine ) and I have yet to receive them. XXXX Bank of America is withholding {$710.00} from me, despite NO party fighting the dispute that I filed. This is highly unprofessional and it is hurting my business.

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