Consumer complaint received 2017-01-02
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: OH
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle loan
Issue: Taking out the loan or lease

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2016, I applied to Bank of America ( " BoA '' ) for preapproval for a new car which I planned to buy the next day. I found that Bank of America had exceptionally good rates, 1.99 % for 60 months and 2.49 % for 72 months. I was preapproved for more than enough to cover the amount I planned to borrow. When I got to the dealership ( XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, Ohio ), I told them I was preapproved and that all they had to do was to communicate with Bank of America. I did not have my preapproval letter with me because I was told by BoA that I did not need it, that the way the process worked was that I needed to have the dealership communicate with BoA. I was assured that the preapproval that I had obtained would expedite the documentation process at the dealership. When I communicated this information to the dealership, they seemed wholly unaware of the program or offer through which I had applied, and said that they would look into it. After a long while -- the dealership was 2.5 hours from my home and so I was in a hurry -- the finance manager came back and said that his BoA contact could not locate my offer but that they could offer me a rate that was only slightly higher. I was extremely frustrated at that point, and asked him to have his contact look harder. They failed. The price on the car was a good one, and I needed it that day, so I did the deal and figured I would take it up with BoA later. 

I did so, by calling several days later the customer service number on one of the documents I had been given as part of the loan. I was told by the woman with whom I spoke that because I had ( unbeknownst to me ) dealt with two different BoA channels -- the internet channel where I 'd found the very low rate, and the dealer channel -- I was out of luck. Her implication is that I should have known that I was dealing with two different channels -- that I was the fool for not understanding that Bank of America was not really Bank of America, and that one division or department would not honor a deal the other had made. She also told me that my only hope for relief was to return to the dealership ( XXXX miles away ) and ( somehow ) persuade them to tear up the deal that they had done with me and start anew with the " internet channel '' deal -- an absurd waste of time, and downright offensive that BoA expected me to travel, cajole, and hope as a means to remedy their deception of me, the consumer. This is the textbook example of a bait and switch. I have been a XXXX for twenty-one years, and am familiar enough with finance law to know that I have a right to have this situation fixed by BoA, without involving the dealership. 

My online loan application number was XXXX. I tried to retrieve it online but all I got was a message that I was no longer able to access it because it had expired. 

Also, I do n't seem to have received a copy of the promissory note or the required loan disclosures. I recall signing at least the note, but it appears I was not provided copies then or later.

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