BoA is Ripping Me Off
January 1, 2008 8:02 PM
BoA is ripping me off. What should I do?
This is a dispute over an embarrasingly small amount of money, but nonetheless....
While i was in the US on a J-1 visa, I maintained a BoA checking account and a secured - because as a Canadian citizen, I had no credit rating in the US - Visa. No problems with them at all.
I have since moved back to Canada, but I maintained the account, using the remaining balance for expenses while in the US on business.
On Dec 15th, while I was in the US for a Christmas party, I visited a BoA branch and closed the account. The teller paid out the remaining balance and told me the account was closed.
A couple of days ago, I checked the account and it is, of course, still open and accumulating fees. $7.95 so far, with another $5.95 to come as of Jan 1.
I no longer have any financial footprint in the US except for taxes pending for 2007. No bank account, no credit card, no nothing. I have no way to pay the fee other than a wire transfer, which will cost $15 to receive and will have me paying on the order of $30 to correct what I see as their error.
Should I just abandon BoA with a "fuck you?" Will they be able to screw me through the IRS? Will it affect my ability to enter the US in the future? I mean, after 16 months in the US, I have no intention of ever staying for any amount of time beyond what is absolutely necessary, but if this is going to cause problems, I'll have to suck it up and pay the bastards...
I know it's only $30, but I'm pissed. Do I have to pay?
This is a dispute over an embarrasingly small amount of money, but nonetheless....
While i was in the US on a J-1 visa, I maintained a BoA checking account and a secured - because as a Canadian citizen, I had no credit rating in the US - Visa. No problems with them at all.
I have since moved back to Canada, but I maintained the account, using the remaining balance for expenses while in the US on business.
On Dec 15th, while I was in the US for a Christmas party, I visited a BoA branch and closed the account. The teller paid out the remaining balance and told me the account was closed.
A couple of days ago, I checked the account and it is, of course, still open and accumulating fees. $7.95 so far, with another $5.95 to come as of Jan 1.
I no longer have any financial footprint in the US except for taxes pending for 2007. No bank account, no credit card, no nothing. I have no way to pay the fee other than a wire transfer, which will cost $15 to receive and will have me paying on the order of $30 to correct what I see as their error.
Should I just abandon BoA with a "fuck you?" Will they be able to screw me through the IRS? Will it affect my ability to enter the US in the future? I mean, after 16 months in the US, I have no intention of ever staying for any amount of time beyond what is absolutely necessary, but if this is going to cause problems, I'll have to suck it up and pay the bastards...
I know it's only $30, but I'm pissed. Do I have to pay?
Call them. Don't do "fuck you" - that will get you nowhere. Explain politely and carefully to your call centre droid exactly what has happened, and exactly what you would like to see happen, and point out that it's a good thing you caught this before it involved more than ten bucks. Make it perfectly clear that you understand that this is one of those things that systems occasionally get wrong, and that your helpful call centre droid can - of course! - help you fix promptly. Shouldn't take you more than half an hour, total.
posted by flabdablet at 8:12 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by flabdablet at 8:12 PM on January 1, 2008
What do they say the fees are for? Going under the account minimum? Do you have any documentation from the teller that says that the account was closed?
posted by icebourg at 8:14 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by icebourg at 8:14 PM on January 1, 2008
I've had a lot of problems with BoA, but at the end of the day, after several frustrating phone calls, everything always worked out. Just keep calling, someone probably just didn't file all the paperwork or something. With the holidays there is a really good chance they are just behind.
posted by whoaali at 8:15 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by whoaali at 8:15 PM on January 1, 2008
ugh, i had this happen with chase. they only sort of closed the account. call them and explain what happened. make them explain what those fees are. sometimes there are monthly fees that are only charged at the end of the month, so they can automatically trigger an account closed midmonth to reopen. however, it doesn't then close the account again once it charges you the december fees, it just starts chugging on and starts in with its regular january fee schedule like nothing ever happened. what the teller should have done was subtracted those december fees from your balance when you closed the account. they didn't, which triggered this. you might be responsible for the december fees, but not the january ones.
so call them first and explain it. if i recally correctly, i was able to get some satisfaction--i think i had to pay one thing but not the rest. it was a while back, so i don't remember exactly what, but it was smiliar to what you have going on.
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:17 PM on January 1, 2008
so call them first and explain it. if i recally correctly, i was able to get some satisfaction--i think i had to pay one thing but not the rest. it was a while back, so i don't remember exactly what, but it was smiliar to what you have going on.
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:17 PM on January 1, 2008
Well written letter, edited and proofed which clearly explains what happened. Send it by mail and scan as pdf and email to proper person. Must be signed.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:19 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by Ironmouth at 8:19 PM on January 1, 2008
Honestly? Just call them, and you'll almost certainly have the whole thing straightened out in a jiffy. I've been a BoA customer ever since they bought out Fleet in 2004, and I have never had a complaint that was not eventually resolved to my satisfaction.
posted by The Confessor at 8:42 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by The Confessor at 8:42 PM on January 1, 2008
Before you call, try to detatch and realize that no one is doing this to you personally. It's all on computers; there's not some guy in a cube in Charlotte or Mumbai wishing you ill. I have found their customer-service people to be pretty accommodating if you go into it with a nice, let's figure this out together attitude.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 8:43 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by Sweetie Darling at 8:43 PM on January 1, 2008
yes, the "fuck you" bit is part of my own internal dialogue.
BoA waives the account fee when you have direct deposit, but when you "close" an account, you tend not to deposit money to it... i guess.
posted by klanawa at 8:43 PM on January 1, 2008
BoA waives the account fee when you have direct deposit, but when you "close" an account, you tend not to deposit money to it... i guess.
posted by klanawa at 8:43 PM on January 1, 2008
Also second calling them. You never know when a fuck you could come bite you back in the ass later (say 10 years from now). Do you have friends from when you lived here that could go a pay the fee at a banking center into your account? You could send them a check (or a gift) at a later time.
posted by special-k at 8:45 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by special-k at 8:45 PM on January 1, 2008
I had something kind of similar happen to me. I just called BoA up, explained that I had been intending to close the account and, boom, within five minutes, everything was fine. So, really, just call.
posted by Ms. Saint at 9:12 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by Ms. Saint at 9:12 PM on January 1, 2008
Call the toll free customer service number, they'll reverse the accumulated fees upon you explaining that you instructed it was to be closed on said previous date and politely explain that since it was their error, you wish for it to be corrected and the account closed at the end of the business day. As a previous BofA minion, for several (mindnumbing) years, its as easy as a numerical closing code that some forgetful employee neglected to take a millisecond to enter. (Also, don't shoot the messenger.)
posted by Asherah at 10:26 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by Asherah at 10:26 PM on January 1, 2008
Should I just abandon BoA with a "fuck you?"
No.
Will they be able to screw me through the IRS?
No.
Will it affect my ability to enter the US in the future?
No.
They could always pursue you for the debt in Canada. They won't, of course. But given that you can't predict the future, and you may end up in the U.S. at some point anyway, it'd be good to clear this up.
posted by grouse at 11:55 PM on January 1, 2008
No.
Will they be able to screw me through the IRS?
No.
Will it affect my ability to enter the US in the future?
No.
They could always pursue you for the debt in Canada. They won't, of course. But given that you can't predict the future, and you may end up in the U.S. at some point anyway, it'd be good to clear this up.
posted by grouse at 11:55 PM on January 1, 2008
I totally advocate calling the call center and disputing this but if you get into a situation where you have to pay it just to be done with it-- there are Visa gift cards that you can buy in stores that function as disposable credit cards. You could use to pay off the small fee.
posted by sharkfu at 2:18 AM on January 2, 2008
posted by sharkfu at 2:18 AM on January 2, 2008
Bank of America did the same exact thing to me. I asked them to close an account, and they didn't, and it accumulated fees. Pisses me off to this day. I switched to Etrade.
posted by lohmannn at 6:34 AM on January 2, 2008
posted by lohmannn at 6:34 AM on January 2, 2008
I kept getting charged the $10 "account maintenance fee" on my savings account after deserting BOA for an ING account. When my account balance reached minus 30 dollars I sent them an e-mail through the secure form and politely questioned their logic. Needless to say I got a "credit" for the amount of the negative balance and they shut down the account.
Before I closed out the account, I did ultimately have to pay tax on the interest in the savings account, notwithstanding the fact that the $10 low-balance fee negated multiple times over any interest earned.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:57 AM on January 2, 2008
Before I closed out the account, I did ultimately have to pay tax on the interest in the savings account, notwithstanding the fact that the $10 low-balance fee negated multiple times over any interest earned.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:57 AM on January 2, 2008
Do be polite. Just call them on the phone, politely explain that you closed the account before leaving the country (this is key - it explains why you closed the account), and you can't understand why the web site shows it's still accumulating fees. Say it just like this - like "oh my, your web site shows an incomprehensible error! I don't understand? Why, why is it showing this??" Then stop and let them tell you. Don't be afraid to let some dead time elapse on the phone as you struggle to comprehend what they're saying - they won't hang up on you.
Eventually you may have to ask that the fee be waived because you have closed the account. As soon as someone tells you that they don't have the authority to waive those fees, politely ask for your call to be escalated to someone who does. More likely, after they understand what's going on they'll just waive the fee.
It took me 9 months to close a Chase checking account this way. There are rules about keeping checking accounts semi-open for a few months in case there is a check outstanding. In my case, eventually Chase credited my account for twenty-eight cents that had inexplicably accumulated as interest on a waived fee, and that was the end of it. I had to offer to mail them twenty-eight cents in an envelope before they did this. Just stay polite and pretend to be the most reasonable, accomodating person on Earth, and if you really get stymied, hang up and call back again tomorrow, starting from zero.
If you take up more than an hour or two of customer service time without losing your temper, and one of your calls eventually gets escalated to a manager, the bank will calculate that waiving your $12 of fees will be cheaper than paying an employee to discuss it with you endlessly, at an hourly rate. Sometimes that is what it takes. They will never hang up on you or lose their temper; you can exploit this knowledge to your advantage.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:14 AM on January 2, 2008
Eventually you may have to ask that the fee be waived because you have closed the account. As soon as someone tells you that they don't have the authority to waive those fees, politely ask for your call to be escalated to someone who does. More likely, after they understand what's going on they'll just waive the fee.
It took me 9 months to close a Chase checking account this way. There are rules about keeping checking accounts semi-open for a few months in case there is a check outstanding. In my case, eventually Chase credited my account for twenty-eight cents that had inexplicably accumulated as interest on a waived fee, and that was the end of it. I had to offer to mail them twenty-eight cents in an envelope before they did this. Just stay polite and pretend to be the most reasonable, accomodating person on Earth, and if you really get stymied, hang up and call back again tomorrow, starting from zero.
If you take up more than an hour or two of customer service time without losing your temper, and one of your calls eventually gets escalated to a manager, the bank will calculate that waiving your $12 of fees will be cheaper than paying an employee to discuss it with you endlessly, at an hourly rate. Sometimes that is what it takes. They will never hang up on you or lose their temper; you can exploit this knowledge to your advantage.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:14 AM on January 2, 2008
I've had BoA issues too, but like Whoaall up there, they've eventually fixed them. They're not especially evil, they're just annoying in the usual big automated systems upon systems way.
posted by rokusan at 7:21 AM on January 2, 2008
posted by rokusan at 7:21 AM on January 2, 2008
I've had BofA for 23 years and I've always found them to be pretty pro-active in dealing with issues to my satisfaction.
Call them, but write the letter with all the information they may need to solve the issue first. Don't send it; just draft it up. When you call them, have the letter on hand with all the pertinent information. Add any new information that comes from the call to the letter (such as the customer service person's name, the time and date you called, and what they told you), and send the letter to BofA, even if they say the entire matter is settled over the phone. Explain in the letter that this was said, but that you want a written confirmation. In the end the only thing that really counts is the letter, not the phone call, but use the phone call to make sure the letter fully closes the matter.
When I had a mortgage dispute with a different bank, I went around and around and around over the phone and things dragged out for months. Within two weeks of sending a letter, though, the entire matter was closed.
posted by Doohickie at 7:36 AM on January 2, 2008
Call them, but write the letter with all the information they may need to solve the issue first. Don't send it; just draft it up. When you call them, have the letter on hand with all the pertinent information. Add any new information that comes from the call to the letter (such as the customer service person's name, the time and date you called, and what they told you), and send the letter to BofA, even if they say the entire matter is settled over the phone. Explain in the letter that this was said, but that you want a written confirmation. In the end the only thing that really counts is the letter, not the phone call, but use the phone call to make sure the letter fully closes the matter.
When I had a mortgage dispute with a different bank, I went around and around and around over the phone and things dragged out for months. Within two weeks of sending a letter, though, the entire matter was closed.
posted by Doohickie at 7:36 AM on January 2, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by caddis at 8:11 PM on January 1, 2008