Bank of America Charges Me $36 for Switching States
On Saturday, I received mail from Bank of America notifying me that I was overdrawn on a checking account and if I failed to take immediate action they would destroy my credit rating and make it impossible for me to open a bank account at another financial institution for five years. Since I always enjoy my interactions with Bank of America, I visited my new home bank in Kirkland, WA this morning.
Basically, I learned the following:
- Bank of America west of the Mississippi river has a different computer system than BofA east. The two don’t really talk to each other that well.
- When I made the Kirkland, WA branch my home branch, they closed my accounts that were open in New York and Massachussets. However, when they closed the account in Massachussets, someone made a mistake and left a penny in it, causing the account closure to not occur.
- Since I received electronic statements for the account and the account was now closed, I never received a bank statement telling me of the problem.
- Between 8/23/2011 and 9/23/2011, the “closed account” generated about $36 in low balance and inactivity fees.
- Rather than call me, Bank of America sent me a threatening letter, called me a deadbeat, and began the process of attempting to destroy my credit.
I don’t think I really have much else to say. I have on-going relationships with many banks and BofA is by far the worst at everything. I keep my relationship with them because they have branches in cities that I do business, including Ithaca. First Tech Federal Credit Union is by far the most personal. But PNC is by far the most competent.
