Consumer complaint received 2023-10-31
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: GA
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:
I visited XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX between XX/XX/2023 and XX/XX/2023. On XX/XX/2023 I was sitting outside of a restaurant at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX when a XXXX  man drove by on his motorcycle XXXX times. On the third pass by, the man then snatched and grabbed my bag that was sitting next to me on my chair outside of the restaurant I was eating at. The bag contained my phone, wallet, and travel documents. Chasing after the thief was useless as he had already turned onto the XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I immediately notified the restaurant I was eating at that I had my belongings stolen from me and was told that they could do nothing about it but allowed me to return another day to pay for the meal since all of my money on hand was in the bag that was stolen. I then was told that the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX police station was only just down the road on the main XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I walked over to the police station and explained what had happened and was asked if I wanted to file a theft report. I insisted but then was informed that all police reports MUST be filed in the vietnamese language. I do not speak or know any vietnamese language so I requested a form of translation since I could not use my phone because it was in the stolen bag. The officers stated that " we are police officers, not translators '' to which I then requested that I would need to go back to my hotel to use my laptop to translate the report and file it. They allowed, and when I returned I filed the report. After filing the report, I then called Bank of America on the same day to report what had happened but realized that someone had already began charging every card that was in my wallet. I was charged over {$3000.00} in total, of that amount, {$410.00} was charged to my Bank of America checking account debit card. 3 days later, I returned to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to ask for a copy of the filed theft report and was told that they have no idea who I am or what I was talking about, saying that " if '' I did file the report then I still would not be entitled to a copy of the report as it is against their law. I was instructed that " if '' I did file the report then to wait and they will contact me if anything comes up. Then on XX/XX/2023, Bank of America notifies me that my claims for my checking account and debit card have been denied for the fraudulent transactions that the thief charged to my account. Very odd, since Bank of America 's policy is {$0.00} fraud liability and it is federal law that customers are not responsible for unauthorized transactions. Bank of America has not provided any proof for denying my claim besides saying that they are 'Unable to pay ' and that 'The charge was authorized by you or made by someone who has permission to use the card or account '.

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