I watched the Youtube video. I'm not real sure what the complaint is, since she rambles about without ever reaching a point. I guess she's upset that she overdrew her account and then was *gasp* held responsible for it. Aside from that, it's unclear how exactly the big bad bank picked on her.
Don't get me wrong, I think banks charge way too much for overdrafts and put desperate people in a very difficult position. But. When you knowingly overdraw your account, then take responsibility for your own actions.

Big banks like BOA are going to use any tactic they can to nail you for fees , even if it means holding deposits for a week, or whatever other special trick they can pull off to get you into the "fee zone" and start raking you over the coals. Credit card companies are the same way , and it's not gonna change anytime soon.

I personally don't struggle with this, since I use a credit card for everything and make about $600 a year profit on it , due to the cashback program. Of course, I pay it off in full each month , to avoid interest , and only use about 10% of my available credit in a given cycle , to avoid any kind of "over limit" charges. This works really well for me , and I enjoy beating the "system" by actually making about $50 a month on it.

Bottomline, for every responsible person who gets blindsided by a bank's tricky schemes to get them into the fee zone , there are 10 idiots that can't (or won't )keep track of their balance, and just go by whatever they see as the "available balance" on their receipts. We all know the type, and until they get it together , institutions will continue to make fees from them.

Its about time. I was robbed by BofA many years ago and I will never forget it. I deposited $2000.00 in the checking account at 6:30AM, a City & County Check, my retirement. At approx. 5:30PM my wife and I went shopping. We wrote checks 4 of them for groceries and others. Four days later I was advised by mail from the stores that my checks had bounced. I was charged $25.00 per check from each store. I went to the BofA to enquire. I was told by the teller that I owed the bank $25.00 for each check that bounced. I was told by the teller that I must make a deposit be for 3:00PM and if I made a deposit after the checks would bounce. I told her that the deposit was made before 6:00AM and she told me that that was not possible and that I made my deposit after 3:00PM. I asked what my balance was and that I wanted to close my account. She told me that I could not close my account, it was bank policy. I screamed so loud that the bank manager arrived and told her to close my account. She was still grumbling about it. Haven't been back to the BofA since. They will rip you off every time they get.
Phil

Apply the same rules to them.
When you open an account with BofA, and receive the welcoming kit, send out a certified letter to their office (address on the kit), stating that you are opting out of their Overdraft program, and in the absence of any response from them within 3 days from date of letter, you assume it is not applicable.
Keep records of when you sent it and when it was delivered.
When then ding you with the charge, send them a restraint order signed by a justice of peace stating your earlier small print letter and their charges and state that if they don't roll back the charges with interest, you will file a breach of contract suit in small claims court.
File a suit in small claims giving the proof and demanding interest for dinged amount at the highest rate of their credit card.

Remember "Skank of America" had no problem giving credit cards to illegal aliens prior to the financial meltdown They have to make up their losses somehow [ other than their bailout] from all the deadbeats that may have ran back to their OWN Countries without paying their bill off. The hard working Americans who have accounts with this scumbag of a bank should make a run and close them. Lets see what O would say about a nationwide run on all major banks who operate in interstate commerce coast to coast after they tune in to the fact that the swamp has been drained.
Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice shame on me! I'm history. I moved to a community bank as soon as it was said they were going to offer credit cards to illegals. Very hard to call me a racist, I grew up with a tough Mexican family, and we're all still alive 41 year later!

I use a credit union, Very few banking troubles, I wouldn't change to any other type bank, However, I was charged $5.oo once because I wrote a total on a depopsit that was 50 cents below what the actual deposit was. They charged me $5 to tell me I deposited 50 cents more than I actually did! I would have rather they put the 50 cents in their pocket and shut their mouth. What kind of customer service is that???

This is pretty sad.It`s all about the money.We all need Dave Ramsay.
That chick is cute,though.

I haved worked in banking, before it was electronic and I remember when you could write a check after 5:00 pm on Thursday to a local store that you knew took their deposit to the bank around 4:00 pm so it wouldn't go to their bank before 4:00 pm on Friday which meant because the bank closed at 2:00 for Fridays business, your check wouldn't hit the clearing house before Monday nite. This is called "Float" and electronic banking ended this. But then we did get direct deposit, so you don't have to worry about getting that paycheck you received Friday evening in the bank before 2:00pm on Monday to cover all those checks you have been writing since Thursday. We also didn't have over draft protection back in the day,other than if you had enough money invested with the bank that you were on a first name basis with the VP's, and those people didn't overdraw their accounts but sometimes we covered checks for their children.

To Roy B, who stated that you can't bounce your account if you use a debit card....that is incorrect. You absolutely can still bounce your account because the bank will not decline your card like a credit card company will. You can still use the card and it will remain pending. I don't know why, but some of them will go through the same day while others take several days to clear. But you can still end up bouncing debit transactions. My sister recently was charged $300 in a SINGLE DAY after she had 8 transactions bounce, all because she used her debit card for really small purchases.

I bank with US Bank. In the past, deposits took 1-2 days to clear. Now, if I deposit over $5000, they hold it for up to 10 days. When I inquired about this, they told me the law permits them to do it. I'm sure it does, but they never felt the need to hold on to my money for 10 days before. Meanwhile withdrawals, of course, are subtracted from the balance instantly.

For those of you who are frustrated dealing with big banks, I would recommend that you try a local community bank. Full Disclosure: I happen to work for a community bank. Our customers are our neighbors, and we treat them well. We might not have 10,000 locations, but we will treat you fairly and honestly.

One way to not pay overdraft fees is to not have overdraft protection. I don't have it, nor will I ever request such a service. It just seems as though if your account is low on funds, you should be thinking about saving and not spending. For the guy purchasing the netflix video that cost him to go over his limit, is the video really that important that you had to purchase it given your low funds. I am sorry, but I have no sympathy for people like that.

Re: John Doe september 7th post-
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO HAS A BRAIN!!!!!!!!
Being charged to know youre not getting ripped off is bull!

I definitely understand that many banks and credit card companies will find sneaky ways to charge excessive fees. So that makes it all the more vital that people not rely on the banks to tell them how much money they have available. Keep track of it yourself - get Quicken or another similar program and learn to use it. It will be well worth it for the money saved and peace of mind.

Yes, It is ultimately the resposibility of the individual to keep track of their finances. The problem is not only having deceptive practices, but being crucified by the fees when there is a mistake. And for all the people who are bashing others for getting overdraft fees, I am guessing the vast majority of you have plenty of money in the bank and would have to purposely do so. Most of the fees are being paid by the already poor who live right on the line everday, of course they will occationally have an error, especially when they are being "helped" to do so by these tricks.

If you don't like a Bank, switch to a Credit Union. Unlike a Bank, by their very nature they are Non-Profit. CU's are more selective about issuing credit, but they seem fair with the fees and penalties. Interest rates are always better at a CU.

After reading post after post about people pissed off with the banking industry I have noticed an underlining theme: People who float checks get angry when they end up being charged for an overdraft fee.

One guy tells a story of being charged an overdraft for 25 cents. If you are managing your bank account down to less than $1 you are crazy.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think writing a check to a merchant that you do not have funds for (at the time of writing the check) is illegal.

And really, who writes a check anymore? Use a debt card, and you would be hard pressed to overdraft your account. The only reason to still be using a check is because you have bad credit and can't get a debit card, or you like to float checks.

You don't have a right to credit. Don't spend more than you owe and you will come out ahead.

Watch out for Capital One. Granted, they have funny TV commercials, but the reality is they're fee-driven to the point of extreme. You can pay off your monthly payments religiously, but they'll sneak in fees and charges, then start charging you penalties for not increasing your monthly payments beyond what they say in writing you have to pay on the face of your monthly bill. if they're unable to get hold of you (in my case I'm in the military part-time, and had to serve overseas full-time in the Iraq War, and when I came back to the States, my contract job was gone and we're in a jobless recession), they submit your account to a collection agency demanding the full amount be paid or else you will incur additional penalties. As a result, you may end up owing $5000 for a 1000 dollar balance that you've been paying off in agreed increments of payments every month. Never missed a payment even when I was unemployed, but that doesn't matter to Capital One! They will find a way to financially punish you for not increasing your payments per month to cover for fees you didn't know were going on in the background! (They claim you knew about the fees in the fine print). So you now owe on fees for penalties to pay for fees for unpaid penalties! I strongly suspect this has something to do with these credit card companies trying to find ways to make profits any way they can... because they know that the Obama Adminsitration will start clamping down on these credit card companies' unethical billing practices and their imposition of unethical penalties upon penalities. They see the wrinting on the wall, and so before these laws kick in (such as the credit banking law that officially begins enforcement on February of 2010), they're trying punitive billing schemes to rake in as much as they can from their non-wealthy consumers.

Watch out for Capital One. Granted, they have funny TV commercials, but the reality is they're fee-driven to the point of extreme. You can pay off your monthly payments religiously, but they'll sneak in fees and charges, then start charging you penalties for not increasing your monthly payments beyond what they say in writing you have to pay on the face of your monthly bill. if they're unable to get hold of you (in my case I'm in the military part-time, and had to serve overseas full-time in the Iraq War, and when I came back to the States, my contract job was gone and we're in a jobless recession), they submit your account to a collection agency demanding the full amount be paid or else you will incur additional penalties. As a result, you may end up owing $5000 for a 1000 dollar balance that you've been paying off in agreed increments of payments every month. Never missed a payment even when I was unemployed, but that doesn't matter to Capital One! They will find a way to financially punish you for not increasing your payments per month to cover for fees you didn't know were going on in the background! (They claim you knew about the fees in the fine print). So you now owe on fees for penalties to pay for fees for unpaid penalties! I strongly suspect this has something to do with these credit card companies trying to find ways to make profits any way they can... because they know that the Obama Adminsitration will start clamping down on these credit card companies' unethical billing practices and their imposition of unethical penalties upon penalities. They see the wrinting on the wall, and so before these laws kick in (such as the credit banking law that officially begins enforcement on February of 2010), they're trying punitive billing schemes to rake in as much as they can from their non-wealthy consumers.

USE CREDIT UNION BANKS there are many that anyone can join, you don't have to be a teacher, police officer etc. it will make you alot happier :)

I received a statement from Discover card showing a due amount which it turned out to be 5% of the balance and not the 2% it usually is after calling the bank i discoverd the only think they wnted to do is increase the percentage from 3.99% to 7.99%, I did not receive any advise notice to that. banks and credit card companied do wharever they want there is no regulation to control them. so watchout for DISCOVER CARD

I had a BofA account for one year and this happened to me three times in one year. My BofA account had a $50 min deposit. What BofA would do id hold my deposits until enough charges had accumulated to charge me an nsf fee. They once held a deposit for over 10 days to make this happen. If my deposits and withdrawls had occured when they should have I would have never gone under the $50. I was charged $250 in nsf charges in one year. I closed my account and now bank with a credit union, I have not had an nsf charge since.

Adam, NY Some banks include their "overdraft protection" as part of your balance online and at the ATM. That is deceptive. Do not trust banks to give you the straight scoop on your account. Do your own math at all times. They are now very "fee driven". They reward employees who come up with new deceptive practices which result in extra fee income. Better to join a credit union run for the benefit of members than allow banks to figure out a way to deduct regularly from your account for "services".

Dave, Reality. Report that bank to the FDIC and Federal Reserve. It is illegal to put a hold on a paycheck. They cannot hold cash deposits either. Only checks are allowed to be placed on hold under rules dating back to the mid-80's. That is another problem. The bank puts holds on checks you deposit even though they clear electronically every night. They invest this cash on the Fed Funds market to earn interest for the bank. Contact your local Congress person and complain. If they give you platitudes as mine did, then spread the word to friends and family to vote the clown out of office at the next election.

Congratulations L.Cook you have finally figured out that the elected morons do not represent us. They represent themselves at the public trough to line their pockets with our hard earned dollars. It is time to vote OUT the incumbent at every election until they get the idea that it is WE THE PEOPLE that they represent and not themselves or some special interest group. We should make Congress roll their retirement plan back into Social Security. I bet that would get SS fixed pronto. Right now they have no incentive. Give their replacements some real incentive.

Do yourselves a big favor. Do not trust any big commercial bank. They are all thieves for want of a better word. What else would you call their deceptive practices with checking? They are deliberately making it all but impossible for you to know the rules for check posting so that unless you have a $1,000.00 minimum balance they will probably be dinging you for NSF fees even though they never actually return the check. Better to find a good credit union. They operate for the benefit of their members (members are anyone that is a depositor at the credit union). There now are many and you can usually find one whose membership requirements you can fulfill. If enough people withdraw their deposits the big banks will become small banks. Some might even disappear which would serve them right after they have been pilfering money for so long.

It amuses me how many online complaints are the customers' own fault. Caveat Emptor. Don't do things that bounce your account. If you're close on money, take the time to make sure it's being handled right. Make sure the item is what you really want BEFORE you leave the store, and make sure you know what the return policy is BEFORE you leave as well. Look out for yourself because no one else is going to.

Mike in LA -OMG! STAY AWAY from HSBC. They are equally as bad, if not WORSE! You have been warned!

Anyone who hates checking account fees should switch to ING. I've had my Electric Orange account for a few years now and it's the best: decent interest with no overdraft penalties. If you go negative it just acts like a credit card w/ an interest rate but you can just transfer from your ING savings instantly to cover it without any auto transfer fees or penalties. You don't get a paper checkbook but their autopay works fantastic and they mail our your checks for free. Plus if you have enough of your paycheck directly deposited in your ING checking account to automatically pay all your big bills (rent/mortgage, electric, cable, internet) it's gaining enough interest while it's sitting there waiting to be autopaid that by the end of each year you'll always end up with a few extra bucks.

When I filed my tax return, I usually request the IRS to do a direct deposit to my bank account. It never been a problem until a couple of years ago when the money was late. I checked the IRS's web site and it said the money has been deposited, but when I checked the bank account, there was nothing. My husband called the IRS and they said they will look into the issue. A couple of weeks later, we got a letter from the IRS saying that the money had been deposited in to a Bank of America account and it stated the account number. We never bank with Bank of America with the exception of my husband's credit card which he rarely uses. We had no idea who the account belongs to and we were afriad that someone stole our identites so I called up BoA and asked if the account is in our name. The representative said "no." My husband called the IRS back telling them that the account was not ours and all they told him was to call the Tax Advocate hotline. I don't think the IRS even check what's in their computers vs the paper record that we filed. If they did that, they would have found that they entered the wrong bank information. Extremely frustrated with the lack of competency on the IRS part, we went to a BoA branch near our house. We showed them the letter that we got from the IRS and the manager looked into this matter for us. He spoke with the actual account holder who had been calling the IRS numerous times telling them about the mistake that they made but no luck. God bless this person for not touching the mystery money. The manager came out of his office and told us that the bank will cut us a check for the tax money that was deposited into the wrong bank account. We were shocked to here that, but were glad to get the matter resolved.

Whether or not the lady did indeed bounce a check is irrelevant. The larger point is that she most likely did not overdraft on 11+ separate occasions. BoA and many other banks will do you the "courtesy" of posting transactions in order of largest amount to smallest amount no matter when they occured if they are all "clearing" on the same day. So if you have $40 in your account and you made purchases of $38 over 10 different transactions the day before and you look at your balance and they haven't been deducted yet and then you erroneously make a $39 purchase that day. The following day all 11 transactions "clear". They'll pay the $39 charge which leaves you with $1. The next 10 charges were each at least greater than $1 and the first one causes your account to have "insufficient funds" so you get dinged with 10 overdraft fees even though you only legitemetly bounced 1 check.

I too am of the opinion that a person should pay attention to their account balances so as not to incur any exhorbitant overdraft fees. However, Bank of America has devised many devious ways to charge you. The bank changes online functionality without notifying customers. For example, using the transfer function in their online banking it clearly states that transfers made within the bank will be posted the same day and for my checking and savings accounts it is instanteneous. But for the overdraft line of credit it takes two days (previously the available credit balance had a one day lag but the posting was smae day), the notice is buried on the web site. So if you transfer money from checking to line of credit and you have a check or debit post prior to funds becoming available, your account is charged an overdraft fee. BofA has your money whole time but just delays the posting to the line of credit simply to create an opportunity to collect fees. Another insidious change was made to their online bill payment system. Previously online bill pay was fee proof, if there weren't sufficient funds in your account a payment would not be made, it would pend for three days or until funds were deposited to cover. When they changed the feature to process all payments regardless of account balance they didn't notify users in any meaningful way. Also they typically, process the transaction, charge a fee and then reverse the transaction due to insufficient funds. No cost or credit risk to the bank and absolutely no benefit to you. Again a change simply to extract fees. Once you discover how Bank of America is going to try and steal your money, you can avoid the fees but it takes much more effort than it used to.

Chase is no better than BofA. I was charged two $10.00 excessive use fee for transfering money from my saving to checking account online. I'm not going to dispute the charges with Chase because it is a waste of time. I'm closing my account with Chase and opening accounts with HSBC.

Cities , and local, State and education will suck the tax payers dry to keep their benefits! they are a cancer, run by the unions, police union, FOP, AFL/CIO, tearchers, administraators, et all. They are a sucker fish, killing their host, when the tax payer dies, they will die, but we go first! in Cleveland Ohio, they need money so badly, they are skaming people on parking violations, with hidden parking violatons areas, even whe n you pay a meter, they comeup with technicalities to give you a ticket, money money money, no one goes downtown now, no rerason too, crime, no jobs.no stores, dangerous, and now parking violation skaming.

To Jac in Dallas re: amount allowed to withdraw with or without advanced notice. I agree this would be incredibly frustrating, but as I've stated before, one needs to keep in mind that "your local credit union" is attached to a larger bank. That said, most credit unions "safe" much smaller amounts of cash on a daily basis. I remember going to my cu and wanting to withdraw around $2,700.00 cash for a used car and the clerk was worried and apologetic that she might not have it, given that it was around 3:00 on a Friday.

Wells fargo is the same way as BoA, only they have this shifty policy of putting charges from largest to smallest when accounting reguardless of when the charge was made. so a simple overdraft cant turn into multiple ones. I've been clipped multiple times with the practice....... it's really frustrating.

Ok....I concede that all banks are evil. Or at least most of them. The Big Guys, particularly BOA, Citi, Chase, Wells, etc. are, indeed, less than responsive when presented with customer complaints.

The reality is, one needs to maintain a 'cushion' in one's checking account these days to avoid the draconian fees that banks charge (they made over 2.9 Billion last year in overdraft fees) and get used to their policies, which are, for the most part, in the banks' favour.

One certainly should blame the federal govt. for lack of oversight, for abolishing most consumer protections, and for continuing to do so. The banks are simply acting like my 9-year old. Let them get away with something and they'll make it a practice.

I left BofA a few years ago, joined my local credit union, and have been mostly satisfied since. It seems a pity that large banks and corporations have pretty much abandoned customer service and jacked fees to some alpine levels... A good example: the airlines are bleeding passengers. People just don't want to go through the hassle of flying anymore.....

I can see BoA is doing this to everyone it can. I had over draft protection to transfer for savings to checking if such a thing occured. There sorting program charged me three overdraft fees where none were needed one atm charge of three dollars and change,one atm charge of fifteen dollars and change and a check for one hundred dollars resulted in ninty nine dollars over the checking account balance. Not only was there several hundred dollars in the attached savings to cover this but my automatic paydeposit was on the same day.
BoA's reason is the cleared the outgoing transactions befor the incoming and that they had closed my savings account and reopened it so my overdraft protection was no longer valid.
I believe that the people have real reasons to complain but I also know it will not do any good the large corporations will continue to rob the average person because the law says they can.
I am just closing my accounts and moving to another bank maybe someday I will find one that will do business in a fair manner. No matter how unlikly it is there is still hope. ha ha

There was a lawsuit against BOA filed in California. BOA had the letter hidden online instead of making it obvious, so it was too late to partake in the lawsuit. They are shady. I'm closing my accounts with them.

The article makes customers sound like unreasonably angry people. When in fact the issue are these:
1. Many companies have blockaded themselves against being contacted. - We bought my son a mini bike for christmas. We found the unit was not strong enough to pull him and wanted the company to issue authorization for the store to credit us with the trade in and allow us to upgrade. Customer service wouldn't work with us and told us no. I spent 2 weeks tracking down another way to contact someone within the company. When I asked to speak to a manager, I was told, "I am a manager". Companies do not want to hear from us after the sale anymore and their emps are unwilling, or unable, to allow us any other options.

2. Companies are only about how much can they soak from its customer base. Companies making record profits in one news story, then immediately complaining about how they have to run with half staff in another on the same day is beyond crazy. Yet this is the tactic by gasoline manus. Then we have banks...okay I've bounced a check a time or two. The primary reason a check bounces? Either the person is irresponsible (which does happen) but more often than not, it is due to poor people trying to get something that is necessary to their existence. My favorite is when a bank automatically tries to re-run a check up to 3 times before they stop. An obvious blatant attempt to turn it that persons misfortune into a payday for the bank.

3. The fact is that if companies did not make themselves to be unreasonable, unreachable or just all out greedy bastiges, consumers would have very little to complain about and this method of airing complaints would have never become popular. When I have no choice but to talk to a person who can barely speak english and who is operating in a foreign country to get tech support on the can opener I'm having trouble with, then tempers are going to start up. And I love how they lie. You ask to speak to an American and they tell you they are in Atlanta, even though you can hear gunfire in the background!

Companies do not play fair these days, so why should consumers?

No, it's not always "you have to pay attention to your balance...". One cannot do this every minute. I ordered some DVDs from Columbia House and when I inquired where they were after 2 weeks, they created another order and charged my bank account. I did not know about this transaction; it took my balance down to 75 cents. So when I rented a Red Box video the same day for $1 my account became overdrawn 25 cents. This was unknown to me until they bank mailed me the letter informing me a week later. Meantime the bank in addition to the initial overdraft fee of over $30 was charging $30 per day for being overdrawn. I explained that it was the fault of Columbia House, disputed the charges so the bank (Woodforest) could investigate, and froze my account so that Columbia House could not charge me anymore. The bank did not tell me that freezing did not include freezing their daily overdraft charge, while they investigated. I discovered that their daily charges were continuing. I had to pay all the charges to stop this craziness continuing. Columbia House meanwhile denied all responsibility for the bank charges, and told me to contact the bank.
Eventually after several months, the bank refunded the hundreds of dollars I had paid in overdraft charges for the 25 cent overdraft caused by "retail error."

all this is familiar to me.a couple months ago I made an Electronic Transfer from one bankaccount to the other bankaccount.nothing happen phone call after phone call to find the lost ET.a week later the truth came out the first bank transformed the ET in an certified check and send it to a wrong address in the meantime the reciever bank charged fees on fees I made so much noise they put my account at 0 and kicked me out.How an ET became an Certified check is still an mistery.We don't have to live with this account looting nd steeling log in to http://wwwFireCongress.org

While the banks will sometimes do their best to screw you over it is your responsibility to be smart with your money. There's a lot of complaints about getting charged an overdraft fee if you were only overdrawn for a little while. You were still overdrawn! That's like telling the cop that pulled you over that you were only speeding for a little while so it shouldn't count.

I use Key Bank and their online banking makes it intrinsically clear how much of my money is available and how much is pending in real time. (Other than gas for some reason). It's only when I don't pay attention to this that I've ever run into trouble.

In fact, on two different occasions I had charges made (one by a company I no longer subscribed to, and one by me while I was overseas in another time zone) that they could easily have held me to, especially the second one. Both times they removed the overdraft fees after about 3 minutes on the phone. Excellent service. I still had to pay the actual bill of course and sort out the issue with the other company, but the bank was excellent.

Watch out for Farmers ins. back door to your odometer reading.They can see how much you drive when you get a
smog check,and can decide to up your rates.I rec'd a letter from Farmers concerned about my milage.I asked them why and how.They informed me they had a right to check my milage,bs'd me on why($$$$) and have the access because they work w. state re:car ins.I cancelled my ins. that day and called my congressman to have that door closed.I can only hope for change but alas i dont have millions to bribe a politician.Its not the government you have to worry about its big coporations getting laws passed to get access to your life w/o you knowing it!!

FINDING A HIGH RANKING CORPORATE EXEC

If the business has a webiste, which most do, open it and click on SITE INDEX or SITE MAP. In there look for something like INVESTOR RELATIONS or anything that sounds like it would contain their ANNUAL REPORT or EARNINGS. This document will always contain high ranking names and usually the CEO. If you're lucky you will also see the corporate phone number. If their number is not listed use tools like GOOGLE, or BING or such to find their headquarters address and primary phone. With this information you can call them and ASK FOR THE CEO BY NAME, this is critical they know you mean business, and advise you are taking your problem out to the Internet. You will usually get transfered to a Senior Service Rep. I've done it MANY times.

It takes 2 seconds for someone to steal all of your money, and then it takes two weeks to even get in touch with the bank to get it back. I'm using Compass Bank, after cancelling my Bank of America account due to their semi-fraudulent charges. On 8/26/09, I discovered that someone had gotten access to my credit card number and charged over $400 to it. My credit card happens to be a direct debit type of card, which meant that the bank took the $250 I had, dropped me into the red, and piled on 9 $38 overdraft fees. That's $342 just in overdraft fees. Now it's 9/9/09, and while the merchant was extremely helpful in reversing the actual charges, I still have not been able to get to bank to reverse the overdraft fees. It took a personal visit to a branch just to get the dispute paperwork and get a provisional credit, and meanwhile my family had no electricity for three days. In summer. In Arizona. The bank doesn't care, all I got from their so-called customer service was "Too bad, we're so sorry, there's nothing we can do." Now my rent is late, I have $80 in late fees to my landlord, and I'm incurring late charges on OTHER bills because my husband has been out of work for six months and we have no savings left. Is Compass Bank going to reimburse me for the hours spent on the phone and for the late fees incurred by their tying up a very significant portion of my monthly funds? HAH! I'll be lucky if I can manage to get by without being evicted at this point, since I can't even get through to their dispute department to find out what's going on with my account. Which means by the time this is done, I'm going to be out even MORE money, courtesy of the bank being unable to get off their butts. Did I mention I found out about this the DAY it happened?

If Twitter and other on-line entities can get results why are we funding consumer protection infrastructures through our government?
I dumped BoA for these practices in 1992 only then it was their custom to overdraft you for a check written before the deposit was made to cover the funds despite the funds being available when the check arrived at the bank for disbursement. That and thier fees for using native and foreign ATM's, depositing, withdrawing, talking to a live person, etc. Dumped them and went to a credit union.

A direct benefit of the internet has been consumer awareness. Bank Of America, for example, has a horrible record of consumer abuse and we can only hope that people take note of that and take their business elsewhere. Actually, all of the big banks got that way by systematically taking money, using all manner of fraud and abuse, from their customers. They should have been out out of business during the "bailout" fraud perpetuated on the taxpayer. Now, we need to demand that out government make use of the Sherman Antitrust Act to break them up, force them to be competitive, force them to be responsive to their customers, or go out of business.

To 'M' In Yakima. Yes there are warranties but 30 days on a Magnavox $500 TV set that goes bad in 90 days, a 90 day warranty on a $410 Frigidare refrigerator that goes bad in a year, Melnor water sprinklers "with a lifetime warranty" and yes they cost only $7 but you have to UPS it back to the company

Let's see - my taxpaying dollars give BOA a ton of money and they turn around and cut both lines of credit. (1 was a card I had that they bought) Without cause, they cut that limit by 90%. This was after they'd reduced my limit on their line by 20% after advising me that, if I chose to use it again, the interest rate would be astronomical. As soon as I can pay these off, I am DONE with BOA. I have had an excellent payment record, excellent credit rating and feel completely stabbed in the back by their arbitrary and with-no-notice decisions.

Another weird problem we had with our credit union was in withdrawal limits.I'm not talking withdrawing on a check you are depositing, either. I'm talking withdrawing on money that is there in my account and available. We could withdraw up to $500/day and $1,500 on Friday. This was AT the bank, not ATM. If you wanted to withdraw more than that you had to give them advance notice. One time we needed more than the max and called in advance. For them advance notice meant ONE WEEK in advance! And I'm not talking $20,000. We wanted $2,000 for a trip we were taking! No dice. I told them it was MY money and if I chose to close my account right then, they would HAVE to give all of it to me which was twice the amount I was trying to withdraw. Changed to the local bank-no limit on withdrawals of MY money from MY account-the president couldn't even believe it when we asked about it...

Is there a blog for people who were promised reception after the DTV switch and now have NONE! I am being forced to pay through the nose for cable I didn't need, want or can afford!! Yes, I bought the boxes, scanned, rescanned and double scanned. The FCC has done absolutely nothing to help the Seniors, (and everyone else who was lied to) obtain the free TV signals they had.

People say use a credit union cause they won't do this-but the credit union I was with did the exact same thing. They post withdrawals before deposits. And they post the largest withdrawals first so that even if you did have enough atone point in the day to cover the $10 withdrawal by the time they get to that one and have posted the service charges you don't. Even if my paycheck goes in by direct deposit, it gets posted last and i get charged service charges because the withdrawals my paycheck is covering are made the same day as the direct deposit. We ended up overdrawn by almost $1,000. Changed to a local bank-0no problems at all

There is an excelletn documentary you can rent called "The Corporation". This film takes the United Nations' definition of a psychopath and applies that definition to typical corporate behavior. The film concludes that by their very nature corprations are pschopathic. So don'ty be at all surprised by B of A's behavior. It can't help itself. It will ALWAYS screw over it's customers in order to fatten it's bottom line. That's what all corporations do.

STOP these bad banking practices !

This is good example of a bad banking practices that are occurring everywhere. Let's see, you have $X.XX dollars in a bank, you spend more $ than you have in the bank, you are charged for your error. The bad practice here is not beginning able to do math. We seem to believe that we are entitled to everything these days (money you don’t have, etc). Well if you do not have the money perhaps your entitlement should be a high fee for over drafting your account. Best way to avoid this is not to switch banks but balance your account!

I once had to sue Sony to get them to honor their warranty. Their customer service was the worst I've ever seen in my life. They sent a replacement, but, only after months of lying to me. The small claims suit was the only thing that worked. I was a longtime Sony customer, but I'll never buy their products again.

I have an active BoA credit card I've used for years. I never come near my credit limit (which is in the 5-figures - when would I ever need to approach that?!). I pay the full balance 99% of the time (days in advance of the due date) OR at least pay the minimum payment.

For many months after receiving the card, I didn't use it at all...it sat there for months with no activity.

Yet with all my usage (or non-usage) and payment patterns, I have never had an issue with BoA. I don't work for BoA nor do I have any reason to support them except that - as a consumer - I've had no problems, ever, and thought that I should log that just as someone with a complaint feels the need to vent.

By the way - if you look at any CC usage agreement or debit-card agreement, it's pretty clearly stated that credits against your account are tallied before any debits to your account, so using your card and funding the same day will mostly likely lead to a charge which - again if you read your agreement - should come as no surprise.

So be a responsible consumer! Read and understand the contracts you enter into and maybe you'll be one of the many "invisible" consumers who have had no issues.

BOA's practices toward customers is completely unacceptable. 2 years ago, I cancelled a credit card account with witha balance remaining. I arranged for an automatic withdrawal from my (non BOA) checking - within 3 months the account is paid off. The following month I see *another* automatic wihdrawal resulting in a positive balance on a "closed" account! It took nearly 6 months to get them to stop it.

BOA's telephone policy? The *will not* provide any form of ticket or reference number when dealing with an issue.... unaceeptable

Good period it is time that we stand up to big business in this country. They are destroying us little by little and they destroy themselves as well.

History repeats itself that is why I am turning off all of my credit cards and closing my bank accounts and using only my credit union.

I am tired of all the charges that should be free. In fact Chase is always increases my fees.

i just want to say that i have 1 personal and 2 business accounts with B OF A and i dont have any problems. yes they have charged me overdraft fees, but it was because i made a deposite after 8 pm. it was my fault not theirs. i got on the phone with someone that works at the bank were i do my business and they refunded my money back! most of the people i know have accounts with B of A and dont have any complaints. whenever i have aquestion or concern they have always been able to help me. so all you people that complain because yo are charged overdraft fees need to learn to balance your checkbook!!! you are the one responsible for your money! if you dont want to be charged then use cash for everything.

"I work in customer service for a large corporation and I'd just like to say that, as far as products go, consumers have a warranty which clearly states its terms. It's in your user's manual, read it."

write it so laypersons can understand the terms they have agreed to. we are not all lawyers.

"It's helpful to keep your receipts from major purchases and to register your products."

what are you talking about? thanks for the tip....

"Also, remember that when you are upset and calling into customer service, we are just trying to do our jobs. Swearing and yelling are not going to get you much,"
venting frustration is very therapudic for people. and hey maybe if you people would try to actually help someone instead of rattling off something from a script justifying your company sending me into a rage.
" and for every customer who has had a bad experience, there are dozens if not hundreds who are satisfied and happy."

true. but unhappy customers deserve a voice, because they are YOUR customer.

" Finally, anything man-made is going to fail from time to time. People are not perfect."

the system man created is the problem. what story did you read?

thank you. and yes i am disguntled.

I have never had an issue with B of A. I've got no-charge checking, savings and CD and also a credit card with them. I stay with them because of the free online bill payment service on my checking account and freedom to easily transfer money between accounts. Also, they offer email alerts for various things, for example, reaching a "low balance threshold," which perhaps this young lady should have subscribed to.

Perhaps I'm just lucky. But I've also never been overdrawn and thus subject to these fees that everyone is chattering about. So, until/unless they cross me, I'm staying as a customer.

Oh, and she states, "I never bounced a check." Well, you don't have to bounce a check to become overdrawn. Overuse of your debit card will produce the same result.

Bank of America did the same thing to me! I now have to look for a second job just to pay off the NSF fees. I have a toddler at home and I have to work two jobs to make payments to Bank of America NSF I called the ACLU to take a look at this and they wouldn't even call me back. No one cares.

I bought a house - that put my 'debt to something' ratio high - viola! my credit cards increased my credit rate to near 30%!!! I have made my payments and when I called to complain I was told, (I swear this is true), "You have made your payments, but what if you don't in the future? We only have a small window of opportunity to do this before a bill is passed in congress." I was speechless - then really, really angry. I am paying off my credit cards as fast as possible (lesson learned!!) BUT, one more unfair thing pushed on me by some stupid suit in an office somewhere and I will go through bankruptcy - and let them have their money and their high interest. Meanwhile, I will invest the usually amount of money I pay on my credit cards and after ten years my credit will be restored and I will have a hefty amount of money in a 401K. SCHWEET!!

Key Bank, aka FEE BANK is the same as BofA. I agree with others who've said to get into a credit union, but its so hard because you have to work somewhere associated with them or have a family/friend part of it already. if you have the connetion, get with a credit untion! the fees the large banks charge and how they can go about charging them is ridiculous. a $2 purchase that overdraws the account by $0.30 can get you charged $90+ in fees . . . ridiculous

I can't say enough bad things about BOA. They find every find every opportunity to cheat you: I have a small business, and my business account was with BOA. My personal checking was also with BOA, and I was set up for direct deposit. I learned that they can't even process a direct deposit payment from one account to another in the SAME BANK when I got hit for overdraft fees for not having enough money in my personal checking. I authorized the direct deposit payment almost 48 hours earlier! They suck. They've always sucked. Their customer service is only good as long as you don't have a problem with their awful policies. They are shameless thieves. I am not an irresponsible person, and I had multiple issues with them. I recommend using any bank or credit union other than BOA.

BOA actually charged me an overdraft fee because they held my CASH deposit for 4 days. I deposited the cash on Friday from a car sale, and drew off of it on Monday and Tuesday. On Friday, I noticed 3 overdraft fees of $35 each. When I called the bank to complain, the "customer service" representative in India told me that the bank holds all deposits for 5 business days to assure funds. I explained it was a cash deposit, (and reading off a script, I'm sure) he told then told me it doesn't matter, read the contract for my checking account, that the bank has the right to hold "all deposits" for up to 5 business days (and Sat and Sun didn't count since they were not business days). After I made arrangements with a more local branch of another bank to pay off my small home equity loan and open an account there, I went to BOA to cancel my accounts. Surprisingly, once they found out they were losing my business, the actual human employees there were nice, apologetic, and actually tried to help. Still closed all accounts, and will never, ever do business with that bank again!!!

Agree with Linda Robinett... credit unions are much better. I closed all accounts with regular banks and have been banking with a credit union for years... no complains!

I use a credit union - but I also got hit with fees I felt were unfair: $4.50 each for checks from a third-party, which, unbeknownst to me, had already closed its account.

To the person who said they didn't believe she didn't bounce a check, it really doesn't matter if she did or she didn't what she descibes is becoming a pretty standard banking procedure. Let's say you have $600 in your account and you deposit your paycheck for,oh, let's say another $600. You hand your landlord or bank a check for $600 for the rent or mortgage and use your debit card to buy gas for $50, groceries for $100, maybe buy dinner or whatever for another $75 and rent a movie for $10. You're in the clear, right? YOu have $1200 in the bank and have spent $835. Wrong! First off, the bank can arbitrarily decide to put a hold on the funds from you paycheck so even though you've made a good faith effort and made your deposit you really only have $600 in available funds. Now here comes the fun part. In three days when all 4 transactions hit the bank they have a choice, allow the transactions to go through, or hit you with overdraft fees. Three days is about the normal amount of time they put a hold on money for. OK, so the bank decides they don't want to let you have your money yet so they're going to have to do something. So think sneaky, what's the most profitable way to handle this? Simple, pay the $600 check and ding the consumer with overdraft fees for the remaining transactions. Your $10 movie rental just became a $45 movie rental, your $75 dinner is now $110, etc.

I had a credit line with Chase Bank and made every payment on time for over 15 years. They sent me an offer of 1.9% till the loan was paid off. I never was late and usually made double the required payments. Not long ago they sent me a letter telling me they were arbitrarily upping the rate to about 8%. Guess who I no longer do any business with, and who I will not in the future take a loan from? Chase Bank

This exact same thing happened to me. BoA charged me $410 for 14 piddly overdrafts, pack of cigarettes, cokes, etc..just stuff you buy at a convenience store on my "debit card". It took 14 times for the debit card to finally reject my card and by the time I realized what was going on BoA hit me with overdraft fees. BoA told me I had a "debit card" not a "check card" which stops you from using it once your balance is $0.00. Oh and by the way, I had thousands of dollars in my other two BoA accounts and simply didn't keep up with my balance when I was on a business trip. I can't wait until I have time to find a bank that hasn't been bailed out by us...I'm leaving BoA after 25 years because of their constant creativity to make a greedy buck off their customers.

Well I will state the obvious, either straiten up your act B OF A or you are history!

DirecTV also has a very bad habit of billing your credit/debit card when you cancel, without telling you they're going to do it. And then when you call about it, they tell you it'll be six to eight weeks until you can expect to see your money back. They'll use whatever credit/debit card you used to sign up to your account with (unless they have another one on file). So you'd better hope that some other family member or best buddy didn't help you sign up for that NFL Sunday Ticket package (their current subscription push).

Also, keep in mind that they will charge you for unreturned receivers, even if they haven't sent you the boxes you're supposed to use to return them. And they'll tell you it's six to eight weeks for the receiver return procedure as well.

So that's a potential four months they can be holding onto your money!

Your blaming the wrong people. You should be blaming Congress and the white house who are supposed to be protecting us from these kinds of predators! The 2 faced lying whores in Washington D.C. no longer represent us and are betraying the American people over greed! The congress and white house aid and abet the financial industry in lying to us and stealing from us! All congress has to do is pass a law banning all the hidden fees and over charges considering the money they are lending belongs to us in the first place.

I found out the long hard way that my bank, Enterprise Bank and Trust, in St. Louis, MO had an inability to manage accounts in a professional manner. After first knocking down my credibility - continually telling me I didn't know what I was doing and over. We had over $18,000 in overdraft charges, I hired a CFO to assist us in finding the problem. With the overdraft fees the bank did not clear some of our vendor checks, putting an end to our credibility. The bank reported a 30% increase earnings per share and the President and CEO reported "Our banking and wealth management businesses are thriving" but they could not keep their internal records accurate.

Fellow Americans and taxpayers...here's the real problem.

Congress, and by extension, the Office of Thrift Supervision, has the power to reign-in these ever-ridiculous fee structures that banks have been imposing for almost twenty years. And why haven't they?

Here's my take...

I don't want to be political about this, but since 1994, and until '06, the conservatives controlled congress. Knowing how they take way too much corporate/banking industry cash to finance their campaigns, and especially the 'even-less enthused about protecting the average consumer' Bush administration, it is no surprise that banks have had not one speed bump in their campaign to financially rape the un-affluent.

Here's a personal tale.....I had 400 in fees (first time in years this ever happened, mind you) reversed a few months back, because I made a huge stink about it. I have Mortgages, credit cards, and several deposit accounts with BofA, so I had some leverage. My other half makes much less money, and had a similar circumstance happen (with the bank clearing a check in a less-than-timely manner) and was told, "aboslutely not" with returning almost $350 in fees.....on a $550 check! I tried to intervene, and the manager of the mid-Wilshire LA branch essentially said that 'she had no authority' to do this. I told her my story, and her answer was, "Well, you're lucky...I wouldn't have done it." When I nicely reminded her that her job was essentially now provided at the good grace of us (the taxpayers) she became more agitated and said, "that is not true". I also now agitated told her that her attitude and lack of concern for a less-than-affluent customer has now pushed me out of the bank. I also told her that I would contact corporate over her manner and lack of concern. Of course, as one might imagine, I contacted LA regional corporate.....as expected, I have received no response.

As soon as I can I will transfer my mortgages and deposit balances out of there, I am. I already closed out a CD account and one savings account I keep for my nieces college fund. Any reason to now get rid of them...are you listening, Mr. Ken Lewis (CEO of BofA)

People....

Here's the idea, folks. A good old-fashioned bank run on deposits at BofA, Wells, Chase and Citi. They didnt get the message last year when we bailed their over-leveraged assets out of trouble.

You'd think that the CEO and CFO's would've made some sort of gesture to their customer base as a matter of principle, and recinded, or massively rolled-back fees, changed check-clearing methods and, in essence, helped hard-working people who were the only ones coming to their rescue. (through our so-called elected leaders, and yes, mostly wimpy Democrats and the thieving Henry (no strings attached) Paulson for passing the generationally theft bill known as the TARP)

Time folks for a good, old-fasioned consumer revolt! Take your money and business out asap. And TELL THEM WHY!

Maybe then the lovely wench at BofA Koreatown/Mid-Wilshire branch in LA will find some of that 'authority' she claims she doesnt have, and treat every customer with some respect. Her job, as is everyone's at these huge institutions, was saved by us. We need to now demand these changes.

No more of this....I implore you....take your money out of these huge banks. They need to be shrunk, defanged and reduced in influence. It's now our survival or theirs. The score is too much in their favor.

Never use Wells Fargo to be the power of Attorney for your disabled parents. First they got my middle name and SSN wrong (there was another guy in town with my name). 2nd try didn't fix anything. 3rd try didn't fix it. 4th try had to bring both of my disabled parents back to resign and do all over again. After the 4th they only had my brother on the account and left me off. 5th try the guy apologized and said we'd have to bring my parents in and sign all over again. What did I say: screw you.

Everyone in the United States and abroad should call Bank of America and ask the customer service representative: Would you like my thumb print?

Bank of America, along with its a-hole CEO Ken Lewis, is a cesspool. Anyone who continues to do business with BofA deserves what they get, because eventually when they're done screwing their poor, working class base; they're going to start in on their high end customers.

I would suggest a cool down period before posting an angry complaint online. Consider if the company is intentionally trying to do harm to you or if the people are earnestly trying to fix it.
I quit my boa account a while back because they raised the minum rate for my checking account from like 500 to 800 and I didn't read the notice if they sent one. I just noticed an $18 charge on my statement.

That kind of change is designed by the corporate office to increase revenue in the short term with no consideration for long term customers or the real workers who actually have to deal with the customer complaints.

I once tried to buy a laptop online from Dell and after doing the sale, I printed out all the information. Dell charged me an extra $400 for the laptop and when I called to complain, they told me that was the price of the laptop even though I had print outs of their billing and the screen with the model (bragging rights). Like a wimp, I agreed to the new price and then the other shoe dropped. the laptop was advertised as 2.2 Ghz but was actually only ran at 1.4 Ghz to save money on heat dispersion materials (was running rather slowly). I sent it back after I found that out, which cost me 2 vacation days in cancelled shipping pick ups by their contracted shipping company.

The emphasis on profits has grown to such an extent that all other factors are considered distractions. Customer service is a drain on resources, quality adds to production costs, and consumers are considered important only until they buy the product and are then considered a liability under this increasingly dominant paradigm.

This is how BOA works it: Tuesday - Your available balance is $50.00 On Tuesday you use your card for $75.00. At that very moment, BOA considers you to be overdrafted even if you put in $50 cash on your account 1 minute later. So when you look online at your account looks something like this: Available $50, Pending Deposit $50, Pending debit card -$75 Balance $25.00 9Leading you to believe that there is no overdraft). However, you need to look at your Available Balance History which will look like this: Balance $50, Pending debit card -$75. (-$25.00) available balance, Pending deposit $50, Ending balance $25.00 This is how you get hit with the overdraft, while looking at the balance history you're lead to beleive that you were never had a negative account balance $50 + $50 = $100 - $75 = $25.

My Credit Union is good as gold, steady as the Rock of Gilbralter and locally owned by its membership. No weird loans, you can pay off loans early, you can keep the credit card balance empty and nothing bad happens. Quit your bank and find a good credit union.

IMPLIED COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING: n. a general assumption of the law of contracts, that people will act in good faith and deal fairly without breaking their word, using shifty means to avoid obligations, or denying what the other party obviously understood. A lawsuit (or one of the causes of action in a lawsuit) based on the breach of this covenant is often brought when the other party has been claiming technical excuses for breaching the contract or using the specific words of the contract to refuse to perform when the surrounding circumstances or apparent understanding of the parties were to the contrary. Example: an employer fires a long-time employee without cause and says it can fire at whim because the employment contract states the employment is "at will." However, the employee was encouraged to join the company on the basis of retirement plans and other conduct which led him/her to believe the job was permanent barring misconduct or financial downturn. Thus, there could be a breach of the implied covenant, since the surrounding circumstances implied that there would be career-long employment. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Corporations such as banks or insurance companies are no more or less likely to behave in an objectionable manner than are individuals. Almost all of us manage to avoid accapting any responsibility for such behavior, while blaming others. That's one use of legal actions; at best, some kind of objetive evidence is required. Corporations lie, so do individuals; sometimes, either can be truthful.

Large corporations have IMO been too long largely immune from pubic scrutiny and enforced regulations; maybe the internet will change that.

,I learned about BOA MANY years ago (think 35+) and have avoided them ever since. I have also made it a point to deal with our local,small (but VERY solvent) bank - Savings Bank of Mendocino County. Try your local bank - it's great!

If its one thing I learned owning a small business is that you should "never punish someone for being a customer". One day they may need those same customers in the future. A toaster or $50 for opening up a new count wont cut it.

Bank of America should remember: Life is like eating a jar of jalapenos, never do one day what might burn your ass the next day! LOL

Born 1947 - I usually write a letter of protest in an attempt to fight unjust charges or acts, however, this newer method covers two areas (1) telling the corporate giant that it is wrong and that there will be consequences to its refusal to correct its misdeeds/errors and (2)and it is a quick and efficient way to warn and confirm with our fellow consumers the misdeeds to which they have been or may be subjected. For Example: Verizon Online is charging for an Online service (a wireless computer connection) which could not have possibly been provided (yes I still use cable - equally hateful) for either six months or a year and when confronted will only refund 3 months, while still arguing that it sent a signal - while I, the consumer had no knowledge and no way to receive it, didn't need it and did not use it. That's at $36.02 per month for months. I suggested that Verizon reflect upon that older woman in "the commercial" who along with others - waits in line to send back equipment to Verizon - that's me - except I never had any equipment so I don't have anything to send back. Good Grief! Please do check your Verizon bills - every confusing line and get explanations what is this fee for. Verizon really doesn't seem to comprehend that it should not bill for something that the consumer is not getting - perhaps we could educate it. Thanks for your attention.

Lots of chatter, but not one instance of a company actually responding to the noise.

This is interesting reading. I was a dish network customer in 2007. Upon getting the notification that I was going to be deployed to IRAQ with the army I called dish network and arranged to have my service suspended and since my account was going to be suspended for longer than a year, they instucted me to ship back my receivers and LMB's from the dish. Upon my return and call to dish network, they are more than happy to restore my service, for a small fee of $585.00. Since I already have an account- remember they told me to put it into suspense and ship the equipment back- I do not qualify for their FREE installation. I said that was fine ship me back the same type of receivers (I was not 'looking' for an upgrade) and I would install them myself. They would be more than happy to ship me some receivers- for $585.00. They stated that since I am a current customer - I do not qualify for their FREE equipment offers( or any special subscription services). They stated that had no ability to "search" for my receivers- I didn't even ask this question- and how could they possibly store and warehouse all the equipment that is shipped back to them- and that if I desired Dish Network service I could pay for it instead of trying to get a free ride. I now know of an idea of how to make sure others do not find themselves in a simliar circumstance...

I had to cancel an order from Sears for a dryer for my daughter this weekend because they would not work with us on a delivery and installation time, They charge for the delivery and installation and then call and tell you when they will be there not when it is conveniant for you to have them there. My daughter and I were on the phone for 2 days trying to set up delivery when she was off work and got no where so I told them to cancel the order and went to Lowes no delivery or installation charge and they will deliver when we request it.I saved $119 on top on that.It will be a cold day before I buy from Sears again.

BOA does not care what the customer thinks.We have never been late with payments, so they raise the credit card rates and say, you are a good customer, you have our best rates. Yeah, right. They cust off the home equity line because they said our house declined in value. Still had a large balance left to use. Said I could get appraisals and send letters. So her es how it goes, BOA. You are antagonizing your best and soon not to be customers. I will never again, as I have many times in the past, recommend you as bank. Guess you don't car e. You got the TARP fund so your bonus money is safe. Whenthis economy rightens, you will be abank without customers. Heaven help you if you are missing a limb or two, they have a special humiliation in store. Way to go, BOA.

Last fall when Chase bought out Washington Mutual I had 2 cards that became Chase cards. I paid twice the minimum payment for 6 months never using my new Chase cards because I wanted to pay them off first. Six months after Chase took over my accounts I got a letter saying that since I hadn't used my Chase cards they had closed my accounts. I didn't do anything to fight them, or complain since Chase doesn't really have a stellar reputation for good customer service, and with the economy in the shape it's in I figured 2 less cards would be safer for me, but I find it unconscionable that they think they can close out accounts for no reason, especially since they were one of the banks that received money from we taxpayers last fall in the TARP bailout. It's time these credit card companies start realizing they wouldn't be in business at all if it wasn't for their customers -- let's see Jamie Dimon be forced to live the way he requires his customers to!

Register your complaint with the comptroller of the currency administrator of the banks. at
http://www.occ.treas.gov/

I'm sure the lady did in fact bounce a check at BoA, even if she seems to think that she didn't.
Steve, Pittsburgh, PA (Sent Sep 8, 2009 8:19:10 AM)

I believe her, it's happened to my wife and I more than once. They process all of the debits, hit you with all the over draft fees, then take all of that out of the pending deposits. If you call and complain enough they'll give some of it back, but they do the same thing the next time.

It's time for me to SHUT DOWN my BOA account. I've been a customer for a long time, but lately I've had too many reasons for complaint.

Hey, cash your checks, provided they are drawn on your depositing bank, and then deposit the cash. Cash, no matter what bank in the country you go to, will be available RIGHT AWAY!! Also, this has happened to me before, I deposit my cash on a Friday and I make debit transactions over the weekend, and on Monday, my account will show a negative balance, then it will have the deposit shown after. I have called my bank on several occasions and asked if I was going to be charged an overdraft fee and they, each time, have said no. We can see that you made a deposit of cash before your debit transactions, and because of the automated proccessing, those debits hit your account before the deposit, but you WILL NOT BE CHARGED!!! Perhaps this is just my bank, it is a very small local institution, that does these types of courtesies for their customers. Another reason to use a local bank!!!

I'm so glad that people are now fighting back. In my view, the worst of the banks is Citibank. A few years ago, I called to inquire as to why they did not cash my monthly payment check. They said it bounced. They also raised by interest rate substantially. My bank told me that it never was presented. I called Citibank back and was told a second story that the payment had not been received. Two inconsistent stories. I finally spoke with a manager (boy, that was difficult) because my bank told me they wanted to see the rejection stamps on the back of the check,and other verification from Citibank, but Citibank then told me that the check had been destroyed and sent us only a worthless computer printout with some internal coding on it! There was nothing on paper anywhere. A year later Citibank did the same thing again when I paid by electronic transfer--they told me my bank had refused it (after hiking my interest rate). Again, my bank told me that there was no record of anything being rejected from my account. I verified that Citibank had the correct routing and account numbers. Again, nothing on paper. I now make my payments in person and get a dated and timed receipt. The wreckless deregulation of the banking industry and the thoughtless change in the checking system in this country to go "paperless" and not return our checks to us has provided a golden opportunity for banks like Citibank to adopt immoral, any probably downright corrupt, practices, and, of course, cannot send you any proof that their version of events is correct. This garbage has got to stop.

Whether or not this lady truly over-drafted or not is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is the $400 bucks you lose for a one-time mistake (your fault or not). BoA has got to be the worst offender of overdraft fees and it's a wonder why anyone continues to bank with them.

I've worked for several banks. The reason they hold deposits is because of people who commit fraud from kiting checks. Just like trying to get on an airplane, one person's bright idea to cheat the system hurts everyone. The real probelm is that consumer banking is a no growth industry, so they have to find ways to nickle and dime consumers to try and sustain revenues and profits. It doesn't cost $35 to return a check, it doesn't cost $1 to pay your phone bill, but they'll charge you for everything they think they can get away with. Seriously, bank's prefer that consumers use ATMs because they're cheaper than hiring tellers (no salaries, no benefits), but banks charge to use them. Does that make any sense?