Consumer complaint received 2023-10-23
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
This is a follow-up of my previously submitted complain ID XXXX which has been closed. I missed it to respond in time, thus I am opening a new complaint. 

The original complaint : " My credit card account had transferred to a collections company named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX without any notice. I found out when They called my wife number, but they never called me. They had the wrong number on file. The problem is that my credit card is now charged off as bad credit and accordingly reported to a credit bureaus. Due to this mistake in this process, I had no chance or was not aware to act. For that reason, I am asking you to delete this credit reporting. I did not receive notice via phone call, a letter or mail. The only attempt to call was my wife which was the number on file by mistake. I do not know how this happened. The bad credit reporting can stay for many years. It is not my fault because Bank of America did not properly inform me of this issue. This is not the first time this happened they closed my credit card account last year without proper notice. I talked to Bank of America and they reached out to my wife instead of mines. I wonder how they got my wife number. The collection company confirmed that the only number they got was the one on file from BOA. I could not respond or act on this issue, because I did not know or was properly informed of this issue. I contacted the escalation department today, but they told me rudely, " it is what it is and my problem ''. '' The " Resolution Specialist '', XXXX XXXX, located at the BOA HQ in XXXX, NC responded to that complaint. 

Here 's now my response : Quote XXXX XXXX : Prior to charge off, multiple attempts were made to contact you from our collection department - This is a flat out lie! 
Either they are intentionally lying or they made wrong notes in their records. 

BOA provided a record of the timeline of this credit card ending in XXXX. It states the date of the charge off was on XX/XX/XXXX. - Here is what I received from BOA : On XX/XX/XXXX I received a normal email about an " new online bill '' for this account. On the XXXX I received an email with subject " Credit Card canceled your bills in Bill Pay '' - Reason : Account is not eligible for ebills. You automatic payments were canceled ''. Still, no information about the charge-off to debt collection. And on XX/XX/XXXX, almost two weeks after the charge off date (! ) I receive a simple notification without any priority mark or so under the subject " Important Account Payment Information '' which states that XXXX XXXX XXXX  will be servicing my account and will reach out for payment arrangements, but no wording about debt collection or charge off. For someone who is not familiar with the process does not understand immediately what this is about or the consequences. 

When I contacted BOA on the phone the call agent or banker informed me that the credit card ending XXXX has been already (!! ) charged off, meaning no chance of taking actions or fixing the issue anymore. The following days I (!! ) reached out out to BOA multiple times and spend hours on the phone without any success. BOA showed no interest or willingness to help in finding this issue. I even went to the BOA branch in XXXX, but they could not ( or did not want ) to help either. As a customer it feels like to run against walls and deal with a culture of ignorance and blockage. 

Regarding " running against walls and culture of ignorance and blockage '', it adds up that the Resolution Specialist XXXX XXXX does not provide any contact information of herself or her department, respectively. She only refers to the debt collection company, BUT they claim they neither have an impact on a resolution nor a human contact at BOA. It's an automated process with no option for a resolution other than collecting money. That being said, there is again no possibility to correct or fix the issue! 

For me the big problem is not paying off the balance, it's the credit reporting and the consequences for me. 

P.s. When you call the BOA XXXX in XXXX, NC ( XXXX ) where XXXX XXXX is located, there's only an automated system directing calls ( as usual! ) and when selecting " representative at this location '' the only answer is " dial 1 to get back to main menu '' or the call will be ended automatically with " good bye ''. This is symbolically for BOA 's business practices and dealing with customer complains. 

Another fact, XXXX XXXX  XXXX did not contacted me, they reached out to my wife. They claimed that they had received my wifes number in the files provided by BOA. To my knowledge and memory my wife was not a co-owner of this credit card. Thus its not just inappropriate but also a breach of privacy for me. - Just saying. I might check legal advice if this issue is not being solved fairly. - And I could a few more other examples with BOA that went wrong to my disadvantage. 


Last but not least I would like to mention that as a freelancer I was financially hit very hard by the pandemic and still recover and have to pay off things. That being said, BOA should be more considerate when making such decisions with radical consequences. 

FYI, I have never left any debt unpaid ever, and I also paid off the other two BoA credits cards which I had back then besides XXXX. 

I am a BOA customer for over 20 years and this is now how you are being treated. 
Not being valued at all!

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