Consumer complaint received 2017-07-12
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (CA)

On XXXX XXXX, 2017, I brought a XXXX check drawn on XXXX XXXX ( in XXXX ) to Bank of America 's branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX. The value of the check was XXXX XXXX dollars ( which is approximately 15,000 US dollars ). The bank teller told me that the check would be sent to their collection department, and that the collection process would take 4 to 6 weeks or more. He had me sign a form for agreeing on the collection process. No balance was added to my checking account. <P/><P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 92 days from XX/XX/XXXX ), I heard nothing from Bank of America, despite that it had been already more than 12 weeks since I brought in the check. So, I visited the above-mentioned branch to ask why my account had not been credited for the check. A bank employee, XXXX XXXX XXXX, told me that she did not know what was going on. She mentioned that she could reach the collection department only via email, so that it would take a few days for her to get the necessary information. She promised to call me within 5 business days. In this visit, I showed a copy of the check, which I received from the bank on XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX XXXX made a copy of the copy for their record. <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 103 days ), I visited the branch again, because XXXX XXXX had not contacted me despite her promise. She had me wait quite a bit and spent much time claiming that she did nothing wrong. Also, she insisted that a collection process could take this much time, and that it could even take six months in some cases. Somehow, however, she escalated my case and promised to call me by the end of the next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ). <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 104 days ), XXXX XXXX failed to call me again. Feeling that the bank was not working hard to resolve the problem, I called XXXX XXXX ( on whom the check is drawn ) to see the status of the check. They told me that they had seen neither a sign of the check clearing nor contact from Bank of America. <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 107 days ), XXXX XXXX XXXX, a manager of the branch called me saying that he mentioned that the bank was willing to make an offer, given the delayed collection process. He told me that I could choose one of the two options. The first option was that I could continue to wait for another 4 to 8 weeks until the check clears. ( I did not understand why it was an offer, though. ) The second option was that I could have XXXX XXXX cancel the check and wire-transfer the money to myself, where all necessary fees would paid by Bank of America. I naturally accepted the second option. <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 109 days ), I called XXXX XXXX. ( I could not do it earlier, due to the long XXXX weekend. ) XXXX XXXX told me two things. First, they could not cancel the check, because their system rejected the cancellation request. Second and more importantly, XXXX XXXX 's company rules do not allow them to wire-transfer funds to any bank outside XXXX. I told XXXX XXXX of Bank of America that his proposed resolution did not work. <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 113 days ), XXXX XXXX called me, saying that a team of over twenty people was now working on my case at Bank of America and had found that the check had been lost. He mentioned that the bank could clear the lost check using the copy of the check XXXX XXXX made from mine on XX/XX/XXXX, if I give XXXX XXXX a permission to clear the check using the copy. He told me to contact a person at TD Securities by email. I emailed her accordingly. <P/>On XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 114 days ), the person at XXXX XXXX replied to me saying that my involvement in the clearing process would be unnecessary. She also mentioned that she had already told a staff at Bank of America how to clear the check by using the copy of the check. I passed this information to XXXX XXXX by email. I also urged him to release the funds to my checking account, given that the error was on their side, and the funds had been already held for 114 days. <P/><P/>As of XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( 118 days ), I have not heard back from Bank of America. I have no idea when my money will be put in my checking account.