photo credit: Jeff Sandquist
I thought for a few days whether I should write about the customer service at Bank of America and how they lost $8,000 from my account. The money was transferred back into my account the next day, but I’m still frustrated and saddened that the level of service has dramatically changed. My initial thoughts are the news regarding Indymac, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are causing banks to have resources taxed beyond capacity.
Last week I asked Bank of America to transfer a cd that was maturing into my savings account. Sounds easy right? The next day I saw the deposit, but also a withdrawal for $8,000. I called my wife and she hadn’t made any transactions that day, or that month. I then called my local branch and left a detailed voicemail, followed with a detailed email of the situation. I received a phone call back from Bank of America and was told they would research the issue. 7 hours later, I received a phone call that someone in the back office operations had incorrectly keyed in the wrong account number. I was reassured that the $8,000 was now back in our savings account. I realize mistakes do happen, but 7 hours to research a simple transfer? I asked the banker why they didn’t catch the mistake. I was told they would have found it sooner or later. Are you serious? I told her that I found the issue and they should have caught it. Oh man!
I asked my Bank of America representative why it took so long to research and she mentioned that they are busy with other clients and dealing with questions about FDIC insurance. Well, are more and more good bank institution resources going to be under stress as other banks fail. It hit me late at night that this could have been caused indirectly by Indymac, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac failures. Customers are going to be contacting Bank of America and other institutions to ask hundreds and thousands of questions to make sure accounts are safe and protected with FDIC insurance.
Well, I’m sure you checked your account balances on a daily basis even before the Indymac issues, right? Have you experienced any issues with customer service Bank of America or other institutions over the last few weeks?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
My bank took it into their head to check my signature card against a current check. The signature card was at least 15 years old. Because in their opinion the signatures didn’t match, even though I assured them the check was written by me, they were going to bounce the check.
The manager told me, this was part of an audit review and there was nothing she could do. I assured her I knew her statement that there was nothing she could do was untrue and asked if she was aware our checking account balance and what would happen of I closed the account that day.
She made sure the check when through.
First time ever I haven’t received my check for HOA. I called and cancelled the first check and we’ll see what happens.