Consumer complaint received 2016-05-24
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: GA
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I bank with Bank of America. I was a victim of check scam on XXXX/XXXX/2016. 
The incident : I was selling clothes online on XXXX and asked for only {$200.00} for them. A person responded to my ad and agreed to the amount and we discussed logistics of paying and sending the clothes. They sent me a check for {$1000.00} and I verified with her to make sure she did n't mean to send me this amount. She wanted me to deduct the {$200.00} from the amount and forward the remainder cash ( {$810.00} ) via money order at XXXX XXXX to a name and address. On XXXX/XXXX/2016, I received the check and deposited it in the ATM. I was going to withdraw the {$810.00} to forward it in a money order. I was given access to the whole amount of funds that same day ; it was as if the check did n't go through a screening and clearing process which Bank of America is in a better position to tell if a check is fraudulent rather than myself. The other times I 've deposited checks to my account, I 've never had access to the whole amount until the check was cleared the next day. I forwarded the remainder of the money as a money order on XXXX/XXXX/2016, however, it will show up in my bank statement as XXXX/XXXX/2016. I checked my account balance that following week and the check returned and made my account go into the negative amount. I wanted to submit a claim to dispute Bank of America 's responsibilities in this process and my responsibilities and I understand that I am likely to have to pay back the amount, however, I received poor customer service management in the month of XXXX and recently which I will explain below. 
The situation : I called to submit a claim which I was finally able to submit XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/2016. This was also AFTER a week of the incident occurring and being transferred from initially the check fraud dept, ATM fraud dept, and then back to the check fraud dept after explaining to the representatives multiple times of what occurred. Therefore, I submitted a claim in the check fraud dept. I called to follow up since nobody called me back. The representative helping me that day told me that they never gave me call back because it was n't a check fraud issue and I was responsible for the amount to be paid back. The call ended because I do n't agree with how I was treated in this process. I revisited the issue and called BoA again on XXXX/XXXX/2016 because up to this point I was emotionally exhausted and I still believe the bank should 've protected me in this process. I called on XXXX and was on the phone from XXXX and had to deal with representatives not being able to find my claim number. I found out that my claim number in the check fraud dept was dismissed and it had to be referred to the ATM fraud dept but the representative I talked to did not tell me that and that I needed to submit a new claim in the appropriate department. I was referred to the ATM fraud dept to submit a new claim. He told me I could n't because the check was already returned before a claim could 've been submitted in a timely manner and that my account is forced to close by XXXX/XXXX/2016. I argued with him and said nobody told me my account is forced to close by that day since the whole month of XXXX was wasted on my case being mishandled between different departments and insufficient information or different answers. Had I known my account was forced to close as soon as my account turned negative, I would 've called earlier to setup a payment plan to recover my account to a positive amount. As for a new claim being submitted, I did n't meet the timeframe for the claim to be submitted in time because my claim was in the wrong dept the whole time after being transferred between depts many times. Up to this point, I accept that I would have to pay back the amount, however, I argued that my account should be forced to close in XXXX instead to make up for the month XXXX since I dealt with incompetency. They said no.

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