Bank of America customer service goes Ms. South Carolina on me

I just closed my Bank of America checking account because they wanted to charge me $8.95 per month just to have the account beginning in July. Wells Fargo charges me nothing. When I wnet online with Bank of America to close the account after writing the last check, I found out from "Patricia" that this person I was speaking with was in India and that's why the answers I was getting from her were so grammatically stilted and hard to understand. You can't get a decent return on savings accounts from banks anymore - put it under the mattress.

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Terry's real name is more likely Apu. Another way the Bank of AMERICA helps our economy, they outsource the email customer service to India. And, as you noticed, it's just truly awful! Thank goodness they don't do that with the phone support. It's not racist, it's simply that there is a major, constant communication problem with the overseas support companies. As a customer, I find it very frustrating, and I resent the lost time.

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I personally think Bank of America has the most outstanding customer service of ANY bank I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. They have helped me over and over with my issues and in a very intelligent way so quit trying to make them look bad. They are also super nice so there hush up unless you know what you are talking about. Bank of America ROCKS in my opinion which is worth a few pennies to me.
Thresa Jones in Indiana

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I hate to be the person to correct you Thresa Jones, but I worked for BoA's customer service and they are one of the worst institutions I know of.

They process transactions in your bank account biggest to smallest (not chronologically) so they can get more overdraft fees if you happen to go over your balance. They tell reps to say, "We do this because we know your largest transactions are your most important and we want to make sure they go through." FALSE, they want you to spend $450 of your $500 (hypothetical) balance followed by three $30 ones so they can get two overdraft fees out of you instead of one. They know what they're doing, and it's just to ream what customers they do have.

There's more that goes on, but this is the number one complaint they get, customers calling and asking, "What the f$%k did you do with my money, I went $2 over and I have five f^$king fees?!" You hear variations on that all day, and the monthly service fee is bull. My current bank is nothing special (local) and they only charge a service fee for savings at the end of every month, only if you have less than $100 in the account.

That's all I have to say, no disrespect but you are mistaken. They may have treated you nicely, but rest assured that most of the people that work in BoA's Customer Service Dept are incompetent and do the bare minimum to keep their job. (Which has no bearing on BoA but in my opinion is representative of the bank as a whole.) The turnover rate is ridiculous, Walmart's is better!

Hopefully that's not too rambly... or offensive.. :\

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Mark-Wells Fargo may charge you nothing but they pull similar stunts to what Bank of America does. I have had so many problems with them, including the tellers reading my account numbers out on several occasions, and they also have refused to deposit my student loan check in the past. I actually have the pleasure of going and resolving a problem today.

I was thinking of changing to Bank of America but based on what is said above, I think I'll choose someone else.

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Forget these giant national banks and go bank at your local credit union. Mine has no fee checking, regardless of the minimum in it, regular savings at .51 with a $5 minimum, and an 18 mo. cd at 2.33 with a $500 minimum. Not great rates, I know, but better than any of the big nationals, and their loan rates are usually better, too.

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Any of you who have a credit card with Bank of America better watch your mailbox for a little plain white envelope. It's so plain, it almost got shredded in the junk mail. Seems Bank of America needs money, so they are "selectively" looking at all of their accounts, and changing most of them from a "fixed rate" to a "variable rate." Variable rate is based on the highest prime rate published in the Wall Street Journal the prior month, and is added to a pre-determined fixed rate. FYI, they know that prime is going to increase in the future, so this is a way to position themselves for making more money before the new credit card bill goes into effect the first of 2010. This is falls under the heading of "business strategy" in graduate school.

I called Bank of America to question their business practices with long-term customers such as myself, and was given the complete run-around by both the customer service agent (Doug) and his manager (Chad). I was told every sob story from harsh economic times to the bank's losing money. Well Bank of America, if you had not just purchased Merrill Lynch, do you think you might have a bit more money in your pocket? The manager even had the nerve to try to convince me that Bank of America was "trying to help America out by purchasing Merrill Lynch." Give me a break, Chad. Furthermore, just because a company shows a "loss" on their quarterly / year-end financial reports, does not necessarily mean they are "really losing money." Many times, this is just a paper loss. And sometimes, it's just a facade to keep themselves from paying too much money back to the Federal Government Loans they got, while they help themselves to some undervalued companies. This gives them the opportunity to come out of this whole mess that "they" created bigger and stronger than they were to begin with. Starting to see the REAL PICTURE NOW?

So here's the scoop bloggers. I do not care if you have a stellar credit score, a spotless payment history, etc, etc; you are about to be "selectively screwed" by Bank of America if you have one of their cards. Let me rephrase that last statement....if you have "demonstrated in the past that you have the means of paying more money" then you are walking around with a "Bank of America Please Screw Me Harder" target on your back.

If you are out of work, having difficult circumstances, etc. in your life right now, guess what? Your monthly cash flow is going to change. In other words, if you are barely scraping by, with little left over to buy groceries, you will now be "generously donating" your grocery money to "Bank of America Relief Fund." Sorry, but you might need to plan on visiting the rescue mission or starting a farm in your back yard for your food money, if you fall into the "hard times" category.

And another thing. When reading the fine print in these letters, some of you might just notice that Bank of America can raise your rates for any number of factors, including "for no reason at all." Yes, that's right, if you pass gas in the wrong direction, then you "might be subject" to a rate increase by Bank of America.

Now I could write a book on what they are planning to do both short-term and long-term, but why bother. The best thing you can do is pay it off. Either go elsewhere, or use cash only (see Dave Ramsey books to find out how). Furthermore, spread all of your car loans, home loans, etc. to various banks, not just one. Doing all of your business in one bank means they have access to ALL of your money coming in and out. Do not risk having your account "swept" by a bank that has any reason to believe you are going to default on one of their loans. If you get "swept," all of your other checks will bounce (utilities, etc), and the bank WILL charge you fees based on every single one of those checks that THEY caused to bounce. These fees are in addition to the fees being charged by all of the companies you were trying to pay on time in good faith. You might wind up paying hundreds of dollars for something "your friendly bank" misinterpreted in the first place. They do not care, and every fee they charge goes directly to their bottom lines, so banks have the reason to help themselves to YOUR hard earned money.

Do not ever let people scare you into thinking that not having a credit card means you have a terrible credit score, thus you will never be able to borrow money. That's just "fear tactics." So your credit score is a little lower. These banks make the rules up anyway, so just do not play into their b.s. I have yet to meet someone who does not love to take cash. Banks do not only look at your credit score during the application process. They also look at your "ability to pay," which in essence is your "monthly cash flow." This a percentage of what's coming in to what's going out. If you fall under the "magic number," you get the loan. If they have the money to lend, and you have the ability to pay, you will most likely get the loan.

There ARE fixed rate cards available in marketplace. If you are able, seek them out.

Boycott Bank of America. Sorry Doug and Chad, but you were insulting my intelligence on the phone today with your pre-written list of excuses sitting in front of you.

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