Consumer complaint received 2022-06-24
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
Important note : - The biggest reason why I need help re-opening my account is because there is a balance on it that I did not pay off yet and can not pay off because I can not access this account. I'm worried about the future implications of leaving this credit card unpaid off. Such as, will it accrue interest over time and destroy me financially in the future? 

Legend : - CC A Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card that I lost - CC B Replacement Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card that was coming in the mail. Also, the card that was used for a fraudulent charge that I did not make. 
- CC C Replacement for the replacement Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card that was mailed out already. 

XX/XX/2022 : I called Bank of America support to ask for a replacement Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card because I lost mine ( CC A ). They told me no problem and sent a request for a replacement card to be mailed ( CC B ) and locked my old lost credit card. 

XX/XX/2022 : I checked my Bank of America mobile app and noticed that for the account of the new replacement credit card ( the last four digits of the account have changed to the replacement credit card 's ), there was a charge for a utility service I do not use. It was extra suspicious because there was no way I could have made any charge on that account being that the replacement credit card had not come in the mail yet. I called Bank of America support and tried to make a fraud claim for that charge. The process felt very drawn out and nothing like the first time I made a fraud claim when it was very simple and quick. I also wasn't given proper and clear confirmation that the charge would be removed, just that it was going " to be processed '' and that I'll have to wait. I also was recommended to report for identity theft which I did on https : //www.identitytheft.gov/ I, however, was told that a new replacement credit card would be coming in the mail. Please note that this _new_ replacement credit card ( CC C ) will be replacing the original replacement credit card ( CC B ) that I had not received yet. 

~ XX/XX/2022 ( a few days later ) : I often check my Bank of America mobile app, and I noticed that the account for the credit card to be replaced ( CC B ) was gone. It didn't alarm me in that moment, because I thought that when I'll receive the replacement credit card ( CC C ) in the mail and activate it, it'll appear back again with the new credit card number ( CC C ) so I thought nothing of it. 

~ XX/XX/2022 ( a few days later ) : I had received my original replacement credit card ( CC B ) in the mail and placed it aside because I believed this card should have been locked and can't be activated since I made a fraud claim on it and a replacement for this card ( CC C ) should be coming. 

XX/XX/2022 : Something that was bugging me was that I received an e-mail that my original replacement credit card ( CC B ) was mailed and on the way. I did not received one for the replacement to the replacement credit card ( CC C ) when I felt like I should have by now. I started getting concerned at this point. I tried activating the original replacement credit card ( CC B ) but it did not work. I called Bank of America support and when going through their automated menu, the bot verbally listed all my Bank of America accounts. The one that stood out was CC B. It spoke the last four digits of the replacement credit card ( CC B ) when it shouldn't. This was _incredibly_ strange, because when I asked for a replacement for my lost credit card ( CC A ), the account 's last four digits changed to the replacement 's ( CC B ). When I was told that the replacement to the replacement credit card ( CC C ) was coming, the account 's last four digits did not change. When I got through to a human agent, I asked for help as to why I could not see that specific account that had the fraudulent charge on it. Apparently, it was because it was closed. The person who helped me was equally confused, because it should not have been closed. They also noted that this was an error on their end. They tried to re-open the account, but had trouble because the " system would not let them ''. They instructed me to try calling the next day to see if the system would let them then. I complied and thanked them for their time. 

XX/XX/2022 : I called Bank of America support and tried to tell the agent the issue I was facing : " my account was closed when it should not have been ; please help me re-open it ''. They went on to try to do what they could and I was placed in and out of hold for about an hour ( they checked in every now and then to make sure I was there and thanked me for my patience which was very kind of them ). Unfortunately, they had trouble re-opening the account because there was some kind of " fraudulent hold '' on it and they needed to transfer me to the fraud department to get it lifted before they can try to re-open it. The only problem was that the fraud department was closed by now. So I was instructed to call again the next day, but earlier. 

XX/XX/2022 : I called Bank of America support early in the morning ( well before XXXX XXXX  XXXX because that's apparently when the fraud department closes ), again asking for help on the issue I was facing : " my account was closed when it should not have been ; there's a wrongly placed fraudulent hold on it ; please help me remove it so that I can re-open my account ''. Fortunately, they were able to remove the hold. They then transferred me to a department that could help me re-open my account. When I was connected, I repeated the whole story behind why I was calling and then once they understood, they started the process to try to re-open my account. It sounded _very_ promising and I finally had some hope that I would be able to get this resolved once and for all. They told me that they were going to send this form to their manager for them to confirm it, that I might have to speak with them, but that they'll let me know if I'll have to, and then was placed on hold. I was placed on hold for quite a few times throughout this call and for every time, they came back, so I figured yay I'm almost there. This time, it just held. It held until a familiar tone came up " We're receiving higher than usual volume, please be patient while we connect you to an agent ''. This was odd, I was so sure that they would come back. When the line connected to a new agent, I told them that I was _just_ on the line with someone who was sending off a form to their manager to re-open my account and didn't know what to do now. They tried to reassure me that they'll try to see how they could help. Once they had my account pulled up, they hung up. Strange. I called again.. once they had my account pulled up, they hung up. I called _once_ more.. and again, once they had my account pulled up, they hung up. I looked online and apparently they probably tagged my account as " do not assist ''. This is where I started panicking. Some people online suggested to others who have faced this similar issue to go in person to a branch and get help there. I went to the financial institute near me and the employee I spoke to said that they do not handle issues like this in person. That the only way I could get help on this issue was by calling for support. I told them that every time I called, they hung up on me. They told me that there's no such thing. So now there's a disparity where I am getting hung up on the moment a Bank of America phone support agent pulls up my account and an in-person Bank of America employee saying that there's no such thing as that happening.

I'm at a loss.. I can't call to get help because they hang up the moment they pull up my account. I can't get help in person because apparently the physical branch locations only deal with either simple customer service questions or credit card applications/ opening an account ( not re-opening ). As stated at the top of this, I am most worried about not paying off my debt on this credit card. The employee I spoke to said that the card won't accrue interest since it's closed but it will negatively impact my credit score if I re-open it and pay it off. I want to pay off my debt and I don't want it to negatively impact my credit score, all because the agent who was supposed to help me send a replacement credit card, closed my account instead. It was stated from nearly all the agents that helped me ( other than the ones who hung up on me ) that this was >an error on their end<. All I want is for my account to be re-opened so that I can pay off the debt.. please. 

For whoever has to read this long wall of text, thank you so very much for your patience for reading through it all. I incredibly appreciate it. I hope that you'll be my saving grace.

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