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Bank of America review: overdraft fees 59

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8:05 am EDT
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How is it that Bank of America can charge overdraft fees to my account when I have not overdrafted? They have charged me 9 overdraft fees this month and not once was I overdrafted.I was in the negative however when they took the first 5 overdrafts out.they credited me back only 4 of those witch was 140.00. the next day they charged me 3 more 105.00 they did credit that back and today 35.00 more out I am still not in the negative.I guess they are trying to figure out how to get all that keep the change money back.I plan on switching banks and do not recomend this bank.

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59 comments
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Rusty
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:27 am EDT

Same as all the rest here, this 'Bank' has apparantly resorted to theft to fix their economic woes. BofA hit me 6 times for almost $200.00 in fees in 2 days. I saw there were a couple small charges pending (NOT POSTED) the evening prior, so I online transferred $ to more than cover them. Got hit with (2) $25.00 fees on the next day anyway. Those 2 fees pulled my account down so 2 more went NSF. They then charged me $35.00 each for those 2. Total of $140.00 overnight. I called the 1-800 number and plead my case - got $60.00 refunded. I was still pissed, but at least I got some $ back. This gets better, though. Knowing that I had 2 new charges on the way, I immediately went to the local branch and deposited cash in that account and added more cash still to the account that covers overdrafts. The teller saw two more charges coming, and said nothing. Logged on today to find 2 more $35.00 charges for those 2. AND THE MONEY WAS THERE! They said 'those charges were from the day before, and the money you deposited wasn't there then, even though it didn't post until today'. WHAT?! I called 1-800 and lost it - got nowhere. I called back and tried with another rep - got nowhere again. Tried a third time, and viola, got my $70.00 back. Folks, just keep calling them until you get success. Also, call the business number for customer assistance, there is no cue line to wait in, and the business account reps will help you with your personal accounts if you have a business account. This is a total scam - We have absolutely no proof as to when a charge is going to be posted to our accounts from a check card. The bank is in total control as to when these hit, and and they 'claim' that they have no control over when the vendors submit the charges. When they see a situation where their pulling money to cover NSF fees will result in a chain reaction of NSF's and more fees, they do it. This is a recent thing - I used to transfer money online to cover these issues, and was never charged NSF's before as long as I transferred money to cover them while they showed PENDING. I see the reports just like mine coming from everywhere, and it looks ripe for a class-action lawsuit to me. Better yet, spread the word that BofA will steal your money to every friend and relative you have, close your accounts and move your money to a local bank that does not take government bailout money. And call Clark Howard! I just did, maybe if enough people call him, he'll air their dirty laundry NATIONWIDE. They deserve it.

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hatebankofamericagirl
,
Jun 01, 2008 9:38 pm EDT

I have been banking with bank of America for the past 10 years. The customer service has steadily declined over the past year. The reps on the phone are very rude. This week, I found out they sent out a notice with statements a few months ago, regarding changes to their over draft and pending transaction policies. However, I had chosen their "paperless" option and do all my banking online. Since I did not receive this notice, I have $315.00 of over draft fees. I still am not sure how this new policy works and why I have all those fees. When I ask them to explain it, they act like i am stupid and are rude. I have completely lost their trust. My assistant at work, did not get the notice either and she accrued $245.00 in over draft fees. They act like we should have known about the change despite not receiving the memo.

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Jessica
,
Jun 13, 2008 12:32 pm EDT

I have read all over the internet about similar complaints to the one I have. I had money in my account and used my debit card, come to find out three days later and four overdrafts that "supposedly" there was no funds available. I know in my mind and heart that there was money because there had been a direct deposit and two cash deposits so there was enough for all the transactions to clear and still be very little wiggle room left over. I have tried to close my account, I was lied to several times by many associates that they would refund the fees. However, I have yet to see the refunds and the fees keep climbing. I HATE this bank, I regret the day I ever gave them my business. The problem here is not that I cannot manage my money, but that the online statements are decieving. It shows money in your account and even if you personally keep a running tally of what you know you have and have used they somehow to their profit make it so it isn't so. The problem is, they keep getting bigger and bigger and they will eventually get so big they won't care about the bottom line which is supposed to be their customers. To all my fellow "overdrafters without recourse" I feel your pain as do many others.

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Bailey Kuk
,
Nov 13, 2008 10:03 pm EST

Bank of America's overdraft fees are completely deceiving and unfair. $35 dollar charges for spending ONE dollar more than I have when the bank displays your information making it appear as if I actually DO have the money is just EVIL.

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angry ex customer to be
thomasville, US
Jan 09, 2009 6:10 pm EST

I have a checking account with this bank and sometimes have a small balance before my paycheck is automatically deposited. This week, I was charges an overdraft fee of $35.00 for a $6.38 check card transaction even though my balance was more than the transaction. Another check was coming through their system at the same time as the $6.38. Rather than pay the $6.38, they took the larger amount knowing full well that by doing this, both transactions would bounce. I contacted the bank via internet and the lady said that "they had found that their customers would prefer the larger items to clear first". This is absolute crap and not a policy. It is merely what "they have discovered". THIS BANK WILL RIP YOU OFF! DO NOT BANK WITH THEM! THEY ARE THE WORST BANK EVER!

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Ranisha
DC, US
Jan 28, 2009 8:12 pm EST

Please feel free to email me about this complaint because my overdraft came from money withdrawn from my account which makes no sense to me. My email is missrholliday@hotmail.com

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dseany
Miami, US
May 06, 2009 12:15 pm EDT

Bank of America and how they work by trying to overdraft your account so they can make money off of you.And have the balls to tell me over the phone that they dont care.

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BOb
, US
May 14, 2009 1:54 am EDT

BOA cheats you by arranging you debit and atms so it looks like you overdrew your account. I had used my debit card from a Friday afternoon till Monday afternoon for various things. Monday I checked my available money and had a positive amount. We used the debit card that afternoon and overdrew our account by $26. This was done at 4PM. At 10PM I put $100 into my account, cash. I then had a reciept showing I had like $74 in the positive. The next day I was charged $175 in overdraft fees and then without using the account since Monday night, I was then charged another $35 fee! They manipulate the numbers in such a way, it makes you look like you over extended your self all weekend! I confronted the manager at my local bank and even called the main office, they argued with me over the account. You cant beat them, so I suggest you bank with a Credit Union or a bank that wont cheat you!

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edtrain
North Bend, US
Jul 08, 2009 11:49 am EDT

BANK OF AMERICA STEALS 1/2 MY UNEMPLOYMENT CHECK

Am unemployed. Have auto deposit unemployment which would be been deposited to my Bank of America checking account at 0001 hours on 7 July 2009. Woke up this morning to find that Bank of America had processed payments PRIOR to crediting the deposit, taking $280.00 (8 overdraft fees @ $35.00 each) from my account, leaving only $6.09 for me to live on. I request that the $280.00 be credited to my account immediately.

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JellyBean32882
, US
Jul 31, 2009 7:32 am EDT

My father keeps getting overdraft fees from Bank Of America, which he has noticed is at the end of every month (also when they approve ALL the pendings in order to screw you with overdraft fees).. I mean it's kind of odd that they have purchases pending for OVER A WEEK and then when they know you have low funds they screw you with all the pendings at once to get an overdraft fee out of you.

Anyone else have this problem? Also whenever he goes to the gas station and uses his card at the pump a $1 fee always is shown on his statement but then when it isn't pending anymore it mysteriously disappears.. HMM.. could it be another attempt to overdraft?

My father is seriously considering going to Blumenthal about this problem with Bank Of America, and after a show talking about how this guy made a program for Bank Of America that they paid millions of dollars to have so they can screw the american people, I can't believe nobody thinks this is illegal when it clearly is the ULTIMATE SCAM..

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evo
Santa Maria, US
Aug 27, 2009 10:57 pm EDT

I am being charged with 400 dollars worth of my hard earned money in overdraft fees even though I was told by the bank rep who answered my phone call that I wouldn't be, so I called back and asked if they would get my recorded conversation where I specifically asked over over if it was clear to write checks from my account I really feel that they're all in a scam to get as many overdraft fees as pssible, and there has to be a law against their fraud actions.

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cdavis57
Dallas, US
Sep 16, 2009 10:21 am EDT

BOA has hit my account for 35.00 fees on 3 small (less than 6.00 debit charges) on 8/31 and my pay check was deposited on 9/1. Then after I moved everything from my savings into my checking, they took 32 cents and charged me 10.00! I had to have emergency surgery and admit I made a mistake. I do not make a habit of this and this has really caused me problems...115.00 charges in fees for 13.00 in debit charges!

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icia
Humble, US
Sep 24, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

Bank of America charged my account for overdraft fees when there was enough money in the account to cover the charges that went through that evening. They explained they accessed the fee becasue I had funds waiting to go through the account that was more than I had in the account. I thought that banks could only charge your account if they attempted to collect funds from your account and the money was not there. If I charge something it may take 3 or 4 days before the money actually hits my account. Charges are not to be accessed until the day the money is withdrawn or attempted to be withdrawn and the account has insufficient funds. My account had sufficient funds to cover the charges that were taken out. The bank has charged me for 4 over draft fees. If the bank would not have taken any fees away, my deposits would have covered all charges. The bank admitted an error and gave me 1 $35.00 credit which should have triggered credits for the remaing overdraft fees. The manager advised me that they can't back date the credit to the date it was taken out because it was not fraudglent. If was fraudglent for the bank to take my money in the first blace.

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c baymon
Houston, US
Nov 01, 2009 8:24 pm EST

had a checking account with Bank of America and closed my account they left it open for six months allowed someone to do a change of adresss then asked me to mail them a copy of my license and social security card after i reported fraud they put me in check systems didnt bother to investigate my claim I have always had a good checking account history I see why they needed a goverment bail out and dont trust that keep the change program they take a penny from millions of people every month what a scam

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sassmcghee
Fox Island, US
Feb 24, 2010 8:35 pm EST

Bank of America steals from their customers. They create overdraft fees by not processing your purchases as they occur even though you have the money available and at the time of purchase they went through fine. If you look at your balance you will see the “Balance” and “Available Balance” and will notice the amount you just spent is now gone from the “Available Balance”. So this means they have removed the money you just spent for the purchase you just made. Only problem is they don’t actually clear your purchase even though they have removed the amount from your “Available Balance”. Instead of clearing payments they hold them, sometimes for several days, and they call them "pending transactions”. Then they wait for other HIGHER charges to come through. When this happens they will clear those higher charges and then process the lower charges and often times this creates a deficit and will overdraft your account.

If you have money in other accounts or a savings account they will freeze those accounts and not allow you to use or withdrawal any of it unless you use it to pay their fees and get the negative account into the positive. So you could find yourself with an unexpected negative balance AND be frozen out of your accounts unable to get any of your money.

Right now we are in the middle of this nightmare, which we have seen several times since opening up accounts in 2005 and 2007. We were paid on Friday, January 29, 2010. We had plenty of money in the bank and that day, the 29th I paid several bills and then that weekend we bought groceries, and made several small purchases. Our account online looked in order and the “Balance” and “Available Balance” were correct because all the purchases we made were now gone from the “Balance” and showed what was left in the “Available Balance”, which was in the positive. When Monday, February 1, 2010 came I planned to deposit more money into the account to cover two car payments that were going to be coming out that day. When I went to check the online balance I saw that they had cleared the two car payments, which were supposed to clear Monday, and they used the money that had already been reserved (or so I thought) from the payments and purchases we made Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then they proceeded to overdraft five of those purchases at $35.00 each. Later, in addition to that, they added another $35.00 fee called an “Extended Overdrawn Balance Charge” because the account had been in the negative for 5 consecutive business days.

We would LOVE to close our remaining account and leave but we are stuck there. Because of one of the many times they put my account into the negative with overdraft fees and it snowballed from being a manageable amount to an unmanageable amount, I was unable to get caught up. Then they started to charge me an additional $35.00 for “Excessive Overdrawn Fees” when my account was in the negative for 5 consecutive days or more. Soon I was unable to ever get caught up and pay my rent and bills and buy food and gas. I had to stop depositing money into the account because it was just getting eaten up by their fees and I needed to pay for basic necessities and rent. They eventually closed my account and then reported me to Chex Systems. Now because of this I am unable to open another bank account anywhere and am a prisoner there, unless I want to have NO bank account at all but then how do you cash your checks and pay bills like a normal person? You can’t without a great deal of hassle and the danger of having cash in your possession, which is risky and unprotected. But really, what’s the difference? It can be stolen by some random thief or it will be stolen by the bank you are supposed to trust to keep your money. Not rob you blind.

My story is just one of MANY exactly the same and this issue with the banks using computer programs to overdraft their customer’s accounts has to stop. They have literally stolen hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of dollars from my family. They refuse to refund the money and they continue to practice this fraudulent scheme year after year to hundreds of people without consequence. The Internet is loaded with stories exactly like mine. I have been talking to people at stores and other places of business and have heard the same story from many of them about Bank of America and a few other banks that are doing the same thing to their customers.

These banks squandered billions of dollars away on who knows what and then needed to be bailed out by the government. They created the sub-prime lending schemes to make money and we all see how that turned out. Now the country is in turmoil and the economy is in the gutter and people are suffering because of it. Now they add insult to injury and steal from their customers by creating this overdraft charge theft scheme to make money.

WHY IS THIS LEGAL?

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aman agg
Irving, US
Mar 11, 2010 2:25 pm EST

i got cheated by the bank of america.
my online balance showed that i had a positive balance. and that is how i go about spending. when i saw that i had a positive balance in my account i went about my usual spending. at the end of the day i had a positive balance of about $10. the next day i opened my account and saw that i had a negative balance of $200. and it was caused because of 4 overdraft fees of 35$ each. i called them up and filed a claim and they reversed 3 out of the 4 overdraft fees. that same day i went and deposited $800 in my account. the next day i see that their are 4 more overdraft fees there even though i have a positive balance. their explanation is that some transactions didn't post to my account earlier and that is why those overdraft fees are there. so in total their are 5 overdraft fees related to my account even though i have a positive balance.
my complaint is that why weren't those transactions that caused my overdraft shown in the pending section of my account before. and how am i supposed to know that there is a negative balance if it doesn't show on my online account. they have all kinds of explanations for the overdrafts. but i have been cheated off a lot of money for what i believe is their fault.
if i have overdrawn firstly my card should not have been approved for further tranactions. secondly if there were any pending transactions they should have shown in my pending section of my account. because of this i have been charged over a $170 in overdraft fees for something that was not my fault.

why do they have the online account feature if it is not accurate. they should atleast warn the customer befre hand that the online account is not accurate. i was not made aware of any such mishappenings. i don't know what to do now. i'm broke and no money to eat.

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Annoyedwithbank ofamerica
North Charleston, US
Mar 12, 2010 8:01 am EST

Bank of America is designed to rip you off. I noticed i miscalculated the amount that was due to come out of my account so before anything could be processed through i went and deposited cash through the ATM. Thinking this would take care of the pending charges boy was i wrong because i deposited the money 23 minutes after there cut off time even though the funds showed available they allowed all 4 transactions to bounce incurring $35 fees for each one and states that even though it showed available the cash wasn't credited to your account for 24hrs because you deposited the cash after 8pm. How they feel like there justified is beyond me maybe instead of allowing the customer to think it's available they should not show it credited right away...BANK OF AMERICA is all about the money and sticking it to you however they can.

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h8bankofamerica
Atlanta, US
Mar 19, 2010 12:35 pm EDT

I'd heard horror stories about other peoples experiences with Bank of America. I some how let them draw me in with a free $100.00 deposit for opening a checking account as a first time consumer. It's something that I wish I'd never done...ended up being a complete nightmare with them. They intentionally held pending debits on my account far beyond 5-7 business days only to charge me 35.00 per transaction as a result of funds being held. I've never seen or heard anything like this in my life. I'm surprises that this is legal. Write your local politicians ans submit as many complaints as you can...they need to be held accountable for ripping consumers off.

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imwanger
San Francisco, US
May 15, 2010 1:12 pm EDT

So I have overdraft protection set up such that if I overdraft on my checking account it automatically takes money from my BOA credit card.

When an overdraft occurs, not only do they take service charges on both the checking account and the credit card account, take interest on the amount transferred from the credit card as a cash advance, but get this, the service charge on the card is NOT flat, it's 3 or 4% (the account person Marcus and the supervisor Shaunda couldn't seem to be consistent on the issue). What a serious rip off.

I'll be seriously considering moving all my business to another bank.

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tallylady71
Tallahassee, US
Jul 17, 2010 2:55 pm EDT

This is the 3rd time in a year BOA has assessed 3 $35 overdraft fees at one time to my sons account when there were NO actual overdraft in the account. From everything Ive read the new law regarding fees started July 1.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/10overdraft.html

However when I call the SOB's tell me it doesnt start until August.

Im thinking of picketing and filing a complaint with the BBB and Attorney General. Any other ideas?

email me @ tallylady71@yahoo.com

thanks. Kimberly

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AAsingh
Hayward, US
Aug 10, 2010 4:08 pm EDT

I urge that everyone who has ever been charged a Overdraft fee to Send $35.00 cash to the CEO of BOF
BRIAN T. MOYNIHAN
100 NORTH TROYN ST
CHARLOTTE, NC 28255

Also I have been told by a employee of BOA that the Alert system they have in place is not reliable at all and people should not depend on it to let customers know their balance.

I am happily mailing out an extra $35.00 to the CEO because its pretty obvious that he needs the money more then I do.

We are at the time where we get charged to use our own money...

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Arny93924
Carmel Valley, US
May 24, 2011 7:41 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

On May 2 11:59pm I had downloaded my account from BofA for my Microsoft Money program and received a message "The time period you have requested to download has no posted transactions “on top of the page. At 2:00am on the 3rd of May I received the same message. On the morning of May 3rd at 9:00am I logged in to my account to see if my paycheck has arrived, there was a post of a bank check I wrote from a few days back posted marked the 2nd that was not there at 2am, then all the debit card purchases I made prior when the money was there had been posted afterwards, making my account that much more in the red..I called BofA concerning the post and the fees that have occur on my account.
The rep told me that I would not see the posts and would not have access to that info at the time I requested the download. I asked her, " You mean on 5/2/2011 at 11:59pm PT, the page I'm downloading is marked 5/3/2011, all posts on the 2nd is incomplete?! She replied yes. Then I asked her what about at 2am on 5/3/2011? She gave me the same answer. I find this utterly profound. For the last 4yrs I would try to balance my money program to match the account from Bofa, constantly searching for errors with the final solution is to apply the adjustment. Then later find the error was Bofa. Plus the image of the back of the checks they posts is hard to read. I phoned BofA concerned of an ATM deposit still pending when transactions posted was dated later and was told the ATM I used for the deposit are not credited to my account for 2-3days, even when I can see the deposit pending posts online on my home computer, minutes after the transaction.
My Chase account doesn't have this problem. Bofa seems to change the account posting procedures to their preference. Next to the spending of gas, BofA fees ranks 2nd. I have reports from [protected]. Plus I have several backups of prior years that I had to abandon from the program due to the errors.

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Bofa
, US
Jun 21, 2011 9:07 am EDT

I am writing to empathize with all who have posted here before me about the ridiculous amount of money that BofA charges for overdraft fees and how they go about racking up fees to prey on those customers that sometimes 'forget'. We are are human and sometimes 'forgetting' just happens. I have never seen such abusive tactics by a bank in all of my adult life! My worst experience with overdraft fees was last summer when I had mistakenly gone over my limit on my balance with my debit card. Again . . . it was a mistake! I was unaware that i had overdrafted and had made a series of small purchases over a 5 day period before I caught my mistake. I had purchased about $180 during that 5 days in everyday purchases for things like a cup of coffee, lunch, small purchase at hardware store, gas, etc. All in all there were 27 transactions in that 5 day period. Well it was much to my shock when I checked my online account and had saw that I was charged $945 in overdraft fees for spending $180! I realize that we are all responsible for our own account balances but as I mentioned . . . it was a mistake! You can tell by my small purchases that it was not intentional! Why would I intentionally buy a $2.00 cup of coffee knowing that I would get slammed for $35 as an overdraft fee!? I wouldn't . . . because it was a mistake! I immediately went to my B of A branch and explained what had occurred. They gave me the typical canned answer that there was nothing that they could do about . . . and they were really sorry . . and that they truly value my business! What a load of crap! Well I got stuck paying all of those fees and it felt like I was robbed by my own bank! Tell me how that is just and reasonable! I have since opened a new account with a different bank that doesn't allow your debit card to ever go into an overdraft status. They just simply decline you. How easy is that!? I'll take a 'decline' for a cup of coffee any day as opposed to an 'overdraft'! What a bunch of crooks!

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jb11
Atwater, US
Aug 24, 2011 4:25 pm EDT

Bank of America has returned to their old practice of charging a $35 overdraft fee the NEXT day for ANY amount.
A year or two ago, BofA made many customers happy by enacting a new overdraft policy in response to numerous complaints: Any amount overdrawn under $10 would not get an overdraft fee until the 5th day. This made things so much easier for me and many others. I am so angry that they have gone back to the old practice that I'm seriously considering closing my 16-yr. old account and moving to a credit union. And they have the nerve to say, "we apologize for the inconvenience". GRRRR!

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bcorns999
Omaha, US
Aug 28, 2012 9:53 pm EDT

I overdrew my account by $2.12 by making an online payment on my credit card. I was hit with (2) separate $35.00 fees and the transaction was paid. B of A disclosed in writing that it did not charge overdraft fees on drafts under $5 AND I never opted-in to have overdraft items paid. When I complained to the bank via email that $ 70 was a bit excessive for an oversight of $2 they basically responded with a 3 page letter explaining how a checking account works, refused to waive any of the fees and said they appreciated my business. As for why they paid the item in question their response was unbelievably: "we sometimes pay these items" I have been a customer for 6 years and very rarely overdraw. The last time I did (paid rent twice by mistake) I didn't even bother to complain assuming it was my own fault. The $70 in fees they have charged constitutes a loan of $ 2.12 with an interest rate of 241, 206.15%. I want my fees back and I want the transaction reversed as I did not opt to have overdrawn items paid. Thank You

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melodyroger
, US
Sep 16, 2011 10:40 pm EDT

Bank of America is like every other bank. They are out to make as much money as they can, and if it is by capitalizing on their poorest customers, so be it. They know that it is easy to take advantage of people who have the least money and therefore, no power.

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Harleycat
Levitt, US
Aug 25, 2011 12:02 am EDT

Here's a thought..don't spend money you don't have and you won't get charged a fee.

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lacada22
San Antonio, US
Aug 24, 2011 4:49 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Overdraft fees can be frustrating, but I have to interject here. Bank of America is a business and it's not unreasonable for them to charge overdraft fees on any amount at any time they desire. After all, with any bank it's your responsibility to ensure you don't overdraw from your account. I personally see overdraft fees as a way to keep me on my toes, be my own accountant, and ensure I never overdraw from my accounts. I don't want to get hit with that fee, and I like saving my precious hard-earned funds. It's a great motivator.

So don't blame Bank of America here. Take responsibility and work hard not to overdraw from your account.

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Annoymou
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:27 am EDT

You are a ###ing idiot. If you and every other customer learned how to do basic banking and keep track of all your charges and checks, odp fees wouldn't be billed to your account and if you would just listen to the CSR instead of yelling and being annoying then maybe you would learn a thing or two. ODP fees are controlled by the customers. Customers need to be more responsible over their own money the banks reps are not your own personal accountant. So F ing grow up, act like adults and manage your own damn accounts.

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joey0923
, US
Dec 04, 2010 6:57 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

why don't you take some responsibility? it is your fault for not making the deposit before 8 pm. who are you kidding? your one of them jokers who thinks its everyone else's fault but your own. no, its your fault. get yourself over to the bank before 8 pm you little cry baby. boo-hoo for you. be an adult and take responsibility for something that is your own fault numbnuts.

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khloee04
ft wayne, US
Aug 30, 2010 3:23 pm EDT

'We are at the time where we get charged to use our own money...'
No...actually you are getting charged to use the banks money. Do you really think they would do away with every OD fee?!

AVON Lady202
AVON Lady202
Bridgeton, US
Aug 10, 2010 9:50 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Exactly...LOL!

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crz189
newa, US
Jun 08, 2010 4:10 pm EDT

/// Not necessarily. It's easy to say "not overdrawing = no overdraft fees" but in practice it doesn't always work this way. It should, but it doesn't always. Here's my story...

I got paid on a Friday and deposited half of my check into my checking account and the other half into savings. Paid a few bills, bought some groceries and gas. On Saturday afternoon I took a road trip out of state. During the trip, I paid for a hotel room and a few drinks at the hotel's bar. Sunday was the return trip. I filled up the tank and drove home.

I keep a written record of all my debits and after my last gas purchase my ledger showed that I still had $12.67 in my checking account. All of my bills were already paid and I still had half of my paycheck in Savings so I figured I was fine. I checked my account on Monday afternoon and everything was still A-OK.

Tuesday morning I stopped to get gas on my way to work. I knew from my written ledger that I had $12 in checking and since I was in a rush and didn't feel like stopping at an ATM to access my savings, I simply purchased $10 gas (enough to get to work and back). To my surprise, my card was declined. I checked my online account from my phone to find that at some point between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, I had been charged four $35 overdraft fees. I wondered how this could have happened when I kept such detailed records of my weekend charges and had not used the card since. This is where it gets stinky...

It seems that BoA not only held all of my weekend charges in a state of "Processing" even though the money had already been deducted from my account, they also held all of the authorizations ($100 for my hotel room, $1 at one gas station and $2 at 3 others, $1 for each of the 5 times I swiped my card at the hotel bar between Sat and Sun, $1 at the restaurant we ate dinner at on Sat night and $1 at the restaurant we had breakfast at on Sun morning - $114 total). The kicker, though, is that at some point on Monday, BoA finalized the largest charges (my hotel room, dinner and breakfast) but kept the state of the authorization charges as "processing". At this point, those charges were finalized, but because the authorizations were not removed simultaneously
(namely, the $100 hold from the hotel, I became overdrawn. Then, on Tuesday morning, the authorizations were released, but since I had already been assessed 3 overdraft fees of $35 each I was already way overdrawn when the remaining charges from the weekend were finalized. This resulted in four more overdraft fees of $35.

Of course, I immediately contacted BoA and was told that they "cannot control when authorizations are lifted or when transactions are finalized". Really?! So even though my charges were less than the amount of money in my account, BoA's clever way of "holding", "processing" and "rearranging" purchases is quite obviously designed to exponentially increase the likelihood that your account will become overdrawn. In my 5+ years of banking with BoA, I had never known them to finalize purchases without simultaneously removing the authorization "holds" related to them, but that is exactly what they did, resulting in $245 in overdraft fees. BoA did not deny that I was being charged for overdrawing, even though I did not spend more than I had. Instead, they informed me that this was the way their system works and there is nothing they could do about it.

Many people probably keep a healthy balance in their checking account and would, therefore, never run into a situation like this. I on the other hand, live check to check and only deposit enough into checking to pay my bills and other things that require a CC#. I firmly believe that this is a blatant predatory tactic used to exploit those who are most likely to come close to overdrawing... the working class. How else can you explain a finalized payment being processed on both ends, yet the authorization hold still showing as "processing" in my account?

Needless to say, I do not use my debit card for any purchases where it is not absolutely necessary and I try to keep $100 or so extra in there whenever I do. Unfortunately, keeping track of your spending and "not spending more money than you have" is not good enough to save you from ridiculous fees. I would expect that this "system" that BoA now has in place is one of their biggest revenue generators. If they can get me for $245 in two days when I spent LESS than I had, I can only imagine what they do to people who actually do find themselves a couple of bucks in the red. Too bad that they can always stand behind their BS claims that the way and order in which they process payments is out of their control. It is obvious that they have created a system that is intended to squeeze the maximum amount of $35 fees possible out of their clients.

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LAVANCE JOHNSON
Dumfries, US
Mar 13, 2010 12:19 pm EST

I LAVANCE JOHNSON MY MORTAGE WAS HELD BY COUNTRYWIDE AND BROUGHT BY BANK OF AMERICA.TWO YEARS AGO I WAS DIGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER, I CAN LONGER HOLD A FUL TIME JOB I AM ON DISAABILITY. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO WORK WITH BANK OF AMERICA WITH NO RESULTS.ACORDING TO THE TO THE GUIDE INES I QUALIFY FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION.EVEN THOU THEY KNOW I QUALIFY FOR THE MODIFICATION THEY REFUSE TO HELP ME.

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MAIZA
Miami, US
Mar 12, 2010 4:55 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am a business owner banking with bank of america since 1994 and my personal accounts too. I am going to cancel all my accounts as of tomorrow and going to a new bank. I have a check-card that I only like to keep what I waste week by week in case it gets lost, used and then overdraw my account like it happened once to me. sometimes Ive used it knowing what I have in the account and they charge 29.00 monthly fee and Ive used the card right the same day that the monthly charge debits my account i notice the same day and i transfer money right away. and three days later i see a 35.00 overdrawn charge and when i call the bank they tell me i used the card to put gas and the monthly change came through at the same time and i was 5 dollars short so it overdrew my account and the charge cannot be waived.
and its like if they were monitoring closely to catch you to charge the fees. I cant believe knowing you are an old customer and that i have several accounts with the same bank.

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Annoyedwithbank ofamerica
North Charleston, US
Mar 12, 2010 7:44 am EST

This is exactly what happened to me and i can't understand for the life of me how they feel this is right. I was hit with 4 overdraft fees because even though it showed available it was on hold for 24hrs. Bank of America is set up to get you with overdraft fees and not at all out for the customer's best interest.

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vandread
, US
Feb 24, 2010 9:42 pm EST

dont count your eggs till your chicken has laid it in other words your banck acct is not a credit acct unless you have credit protection note new rules on back acct has be active for the last couple of years one is if you sumit a check depening on the bank it will be proceesed in to their system within 24hrs even from the register that is why you acct number is scanned in deposit do go in quicker but some banks limtied availabilty in the case of bank america if you dep 200 they will allow 100 in to you availabity they still need to confirm totals even in this tech world old school rule still apply and if a bank has refused to returnned an overdraft fee is because this has happen often and i mean often companies will reward good acct standings that is good customer service if you are as they say overdraft insane they will try to help but in the long run you need to keep track and take responsiblity for your actions a bank acct is not a right it is a privilige try other banks you will find the same

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Python1788
, US
Feb 24, 2010 9:22 pm EST

I had the same thing happen to me, only different. You see Bank of America posts all their transactions at 2:00pm. This is bogus. If you work the day shift, get paid and make a deposit after 2:00 pm, you will not be credited until the next day.

Short story. If you know you have transactions coming in on payday, you better get to the bank before 2:00 pm that day or your going to get an overdraft fee. This is Bank of America's way to make it hard to make your deposits. This is part of the way that their overdraft software works.

When I complained about it, They acted like I was a stooge and said, " I'm glad you think you know how the banking system works."

When they refused to decline the charges I closed my account. Thankfully they only got me for $35.00.

My suggestion to anyone is to find a bank that closes their transactions at midnight.
These banks are customer service banks. All your transactions do not post until the end of their business day, which is midnight. Look around, there are banks like this.

I think everyone should bouycot Bank of America until they change their overdraft policy, and change their end of business day to midnight. Think about it, If Bank of America's end of business day is at 2:00pm, who does it benefit? YOU? Wrong!
This is their way of stealing our money.

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Smart Style Employee
Ellettsville, US
Oct 06, 2009 9:12 am EDT

here is my experience with them, I had a Check card, with them thru the company I used to work for, After I left the company the account iis closed, I keep geting e-mails that I owed them $15.00, I had already shredded the card, and evertime I got an e-mail I would send it back as spam! I will be darned if I pay for something the company should have done, not my problem, Let it go against me I am tiered of geting ripped off by thieves!

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icia
Humble, US
Sep 24, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

I wanted to add an link to file complaints against Bank of America, NA the link is
http://www.occ.treas.gov/customer.htm
It is the Controller of Currency Administrator of National Banks.
I tried to research law regarding when can a bank access overdraft fees. I could not find any law stating a bank could charge overdraft fees when the funds were in your account. Bank of America is charging overdraft fees if the amount waiting to come out of your account is more than in your account. Hope this helps others because filing a complaint with the Department of Finance in your state does not do any good for national banks. Please use the above link to file complaints against national banks.