Consumer complaint received 2016-02-04
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Prepaid card
Sub-product: Other special purpose card
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing account

Complaint:
First. let me state that I never wanted this prepaid card. I apparently had a credit at my doctor 's office and that doctor 's practice ( XXXX ) apparently had a deal with BofA to provide refunds by issuing a prepaid card. The card came out of the XXXX unactivated for a long time because I really had no idea what it was. Even the emailed statements ( they must have gotten my email through the doctor 's office ) looked like spam ( labeled " Consumer Refunds and Pmts '' with no mention of either the bank or the doctors - that 's not a link I would click on as it looked like phishing ). 

I did finally figure out it was linked to the doctor and activated the card to pay a co-pay, but there have been issues using the card, so I called to try to cancel it and get the balance back. On the first call, the agent put me on hold for a while, the told me she was transferring me to management. Instead I was disconnected. I called back and the agent was somewhat more helpful ; she also put me on hold for a while, but did come back and appeared to be about to process the closure. She informed me that there would be a {$5.00} fee to send me a check and implied that was the only alternative, even though I asked for others. I protested that I should not have to pay to receive my money on an account I never asked for. She again put me on hold, then came back and confirmed that there would be a {$5.00} fee. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold for quite a while, with the agent checking in periodically. She finally came back and said all the supervisors were busy and rather than keep my holding, they could call me back. I asked for a call back within an hour. That hour passed, so I called back. I did notice that my balance had been diminished by {$2.00} from my original call. This third agent was at least somewhat helpful in that he told me that there as a {$1.00} fee per call ( the 2nd agent did not tell me this when I told her I would be calling back if I had not heard from them in an hour ) .He also told me that I could close my account without a fee by going to a BofA location. There is not one near me. I again asked to speak to a supervisor to now ask for the {$3.00} call fees to be credited in addition to the {$5.00} check fee. The supervisor, XXXX XXXX, informed me that he had already closed my account with no credits for the fees, claiming that that was what the agent made clear I wanted and that I had agreed to the fees. He said that it could not be undone at this point. I had never agreed to the fees and that was precisely why I asked to speak to a supervisor! He said that he would submit my request to the Debit Card management, and it would be up to them if any of my requests were honored, but because the account was now closed it was out of his hands. 
This is a scam. I should not be paying to get my money on a card that I never wanted. The way the agents handled this guaranteed that they would maximize their fees. This is exactly the type of deceitful and evasive behavior that gives banks a bad name.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation