Complaining about Bank of America practices

Lance Hayes was so frustrated with Bank of America taking funds from his account for bank fees that he says he did not authorize; he told the local news desk at Historic City News that he is picketing the BOA branch that opened his account.

We found Hayes stationed on the side of U.S. 1 South in front of the Bank of America branch located at the Ponce de Leon Mall this afternoon and asked him why he was picketing the bank.

Hayes says that he opened his account with the bank sometime in August of last year. The bank issued him a VISA Check Card – tied to his checking account. Hayes does not have a credit card account with Bank of America.

Hayes understood that he could use his check card at ATM and merchant locations who accept VISA cards for payment in lieu of writing checks. He says that he tries to check his account balance frequently, but admits that his computer has not been working every day.

None the less, since he had to present his card for authorization each time he bought food or made a purchase, Hayes says that he thought if he attempted to complete too large a transaction, the authorization would be declined. He found out soon enough that he was wrong.

Between August and November of 2009, Hayes says that on seven or eight occasions, Bank of America approved check card transactions; even if his checking account balance was insufficient.

Hayes appeared shocked that the bank would approve such transactions — until he got his bank statement and discovered that each time the bank granted such an authorization they charged him a $39 service fee.

Hayes is unemployed and receives a $600 benefit payment, directly to his Bank of America checking account. Unfortunately for Hayes, the bank garnished almost $300 from one deposit — just to cover $39 service charges that had accumulated on his account.

Hayes went to the Ponce de Leon Mall branch and says he attempted to resolve the issue. He says he found little consolation from the customer service representative; although, Hayes said, they did waive one of seven or eight of the service charges.

If he wanted any further assistance, Hayes said he was told to call the “800” number for customer service — since that bank is just a branch location that had no authority to issue other credits. He called but says he was unable to garner any further refund from the bank; even though he explained that he thought it reasonable to expect them to decline his card if funds weren’t available in his account.

Hayes told us that customer service at Bank of America told him that “it was not their job” to manage his account and that the $39 service fees were valid. Hayes was angered even more when he was told that he could have requested that the bank decline insufficient check card transactions, however, as a “courtesy” they approved them – then added the $39 fees – overdrawing his account even further.

So Hayes said he did the only thing he could – he withdrew the $300 remaining from his deposit, leaving about $5 in the account, and he informed Bank of America to decline any further authorizations unless there were sufficient funds to pay the transaction.

What apparently pushed Hayes “over the edge” was when he called the “800” number to tell them what he had done he was informed that the bank had another pending $39 service fee — since the previous fee had been unpaid for five days.

Hayes stewed on his dilemma. He has to have a bank account to receive his unemployment payments but he is convinced that the bank is taking advantage of him because they control the VISA check card approvals and declines and they set the fees.

“Why didn’t they just close my account?”, Hayes asked rhetorically. “Oh, then they wouldn’t be able to charge me any more fees!”, he answered himself.

We asked a former Bank of America customer about their experience. Although they hadn’t resorted to picketing the bank, their incident with service fees on check card authorizations was very similar to Hayes, and, they too were unsuccessful in reaching anyone in the branch or at the “800” number that would waive the service fees.

We tried to reach anyone at the Bank of America that would be willing to explain this situation, however, after over 23 minutes of being shuffled between customer service and management, we left word with a voice mailbox and are awaiting a return call.

Photo credit: © 2009 Historic City News staff photograph