Consumer complaint received 2017-03-03
Product: Credit card — 
Issue: Delinquent account — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (NY)

( 1 ) Improper Notice In late XXXX, I made a good faith effort to pay down the balance of my AAA Financial Service ( " AAA '' ) card, authorizing a payment of {$3000.00}, in part because they called me about my account being a month behind. This significantly lowered my outstanding balance and overall credit utilization, improving my credit score. 
Between that time and XX/XX/XXXX, I used the card. However, in mid XXXX, I learned to my surprise that charges exceeded my credit line by about {$1000.00}. HOW DOES ONE EXCEED THEIR CREDIT LINE BY {$1000.00}?!?! ARE THESE FEES?? WHY ARE N'T CHARGES DECLINED?!? The statement I had at the time did n't indicate what the charges were or when they had been made, or other information sufficient to dispute them. I spoke with a AAA customer service representative who informed me I could set up an automatic, monthly payment in the minimum amount due of {$230.00}. 
In a good faith effort to pay down the balance, I set up the automatic payment in advance of the monthly due date. My checking account statements reflect the debits. I had not received any phone calls from AAA that might indicate that anything was amiss. The first I learned of a significant issue impacting the account was XX/XX/XXXX, when my statement arrived. 

( 2 ) Refusal to Provide Effective Recourse The evening of XX/XX/XXXX, I received my AAA statement, which I immediately opened. To my shock and dismay, I learned that my next minimum payment was {$580.00} and most importantly, my outstanding balance had barely been reduced since I set up the automatic monthly payment. 
That night, I could not sleep because of the status of my account. I called the customer service line at XXXX am. I spoke with a representative who informed me that my XXXX XXXX payment had been returned but every payment thereafter had been processed successfully. This resulted in the following month 's minimum payment being {$280.00} ( news to me ). However, because I had been instructed to set up the monthly payment for {$230.00}, each payment every following month was considered late due to the {$50.00} difference. This small difference plus several months of late fees has resulted a past due amount of {$350.00} ( exceeds current payment due! ) and the highest monthly payment I have ever had to make on this account. Because AAA had contacted me by phone ( and all my other creditors still do, if there is an issue ) to inform me of an issue with the account, I did n't expect there to have been an issue, much less for an extended period of time. I asked what was my incentive to insure that the payment is made automatically in advance of the due date every month if they did n't provide proper notice of when an issue existed? I wanted to cancel the automatic payment if that 's what it took to get a phone call from AAA. 
My call was escalated to a supervisor ( XXXX, # XXXX ), who informed me that AAA would have to mail me a form to cancel automatic payments. Somehow verbal consent suffices, but they make you jump through hoops to withdraw consent. She also said that she could n't provide any information over the phone because my account was in collections. AN ACCOUNT WHICH HAS BEEN OPENED FOR 10 YEARS, FOR WHICH SIGNIFICANT PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE EITHER OVER THE COUNTER OR BY PHONE FOR YEARS, AND WHICH CURRENTLY IS SET UP TO RECEIVE AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS EVERY MONTH FOR 7 MONTHS WAS IN COLLECTIONS! Not only was it news to me that the account was in collections ( that appears nowhere on my statement ), but it was also an indication of how poorly AAA treats debtors who lose sleep at XXXX am over their account status. I was told to call back at XXXX am eastern standard time. 
AAA LACKS INCENTIVE TO ADEQUATELY NOTIFY DEBTORS OR EFFECTIVELY RESOLVE ISSUES OVER THE PHONE BECAUSE DELINQUENCY GENERATES FEES & THEY DO N'T CARE IF YOU 'VE BEEN MAKING PAYMENTS AND ARE LOSING SLEEP.