Bank Of America Has A Funny Notion About Customer Service
The AgonistThis is an extremely foolish decision by Bank Of America. One right up there in the annals of corporate stupidity like that of Circuit City firing its most experienced employees. From Business Week:
Credit-card issuers have drawn fire for jacking up interest rates on cardholders who aren't behind on payments, but whose credit score has fallen for another reason. Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America (BAC) is hiking rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all. . . The major credit-card lender in mid-January sent letters notifying some responsible cardholders that it would more than double their rates to as high as 28%, without giving an explanation for the increase, according to copies of five letters obtained by BusinessWeek. Fine print at the end of the letter—headed "Important Amendment to Your Credit Card Agreement"—advised calling an 800-number for the reason, but consumers who called say they were unable to get a clear answer. "No one could give me an explanation," says Eric Fresch, a Huron (Ohio) engineer who is on time with his Bank of America card payments and knows of no decline in the status of his overall credit.
As Mish notes, consumers will penalize BoA for this. In a big way:
Tactics Guaranteed To backfire
* The sudden rate hike will throw some consumers so far behind the curve, they simply give up. In other words, defaults may soar on account of their actions.
* Some customers will find a better rate elsewhere.
* Some customers with multiple cards will stop using their Bank of America card.
* Some customers will vow to get out of the debt trap because of these rate hikes, and manage to do just that.
* Congress won't sit for these actions.The gods punish greed and hubris of this sort in extremely painful ways. Bank Of American will deserve what it gets. Read on...
It's not the only way BofA nickel and dimes its consumers. Would that our government spend a little more time looking at predatory practices like this that hurt consumers and by extension, the economy.
Yes they will.
Users Abusers
Bank of America: Next in line for corporate welfare.
from what i understand. your credit score is damaged when you cancel a credit card that you have paid off.
the whole system is SHIT. it set's you up to lose. the game is rigged.
I dropped BofA a long time ago, well actually they forced me to drop them. They just could not stop charging me fines for everything I did, like it wasn't enough that I gave them all my money so they could invest it in urban gentrification and all the other evil things they invest in.
They're increasing the rates because they can.
Besides, they're not stupid. It's better to get as much as possible out of the American consumers now, while they've still got some money. In a couple of years it'll be like squeezing blood out of a turnip.
Last time the market went bellyup the private auto insurance companies did the same thing here in Canada. My rates went up 25% for no reason, the Alberta gov. reaction to this after a huge outcry, they had to give us 5% of it back...big deal. The big corp's are in a no lose situation, either they get a gov. bailout or stiff the consumer. It's always a one-way street where any corp. is concerned. The only losers are the peons at the bottom, thats you and me.
B of A only gets punished if their customers have another option. The very fact it is doing this is further evidence that banking in this country will soon all be controlled by
Chase ManhattanJ.P. MorganMorgan ChaseBank OneOne Bank.I wouldn't have anything to do with B of A, except that they bought MBNA who had my credit card.
Corporate consolidation screws the consumer.
My nickname for BoA is "The Official Bank of the Republican Party." When they bought out Fleet Bank in 2005, and all the branches and ATMs in my area started glowing with this ominous red light, my housemate quipped that their logo was "a red state eating a blue state."
I don't like BoA, but it's their money, they should be able to charge what they want for it. There are LOTS of alternative credit cards to apply for.
burpster @ 7:
Medical Malpractice insurance rates went up when the market tanked followin 9/11 (and I'm blaming the market, not the events of 9/11- a literal meteoric impact coulda made the market tank...just sayin'). BoA is trying to reclaim what they blew in the sub-prime market. That part seems obvious...
This is what kills me about the Dems. Start promising (and carry it through) to bring serious government consumer protection legislation down on the credit card industry. I mean serious consumer protection. You'd have every middle class American on your side in a heartbeat, and it wouldn't cost a cent of government money. Instead, all they ever talk about are entitlements that most working Americans aren't entitled to anyway. Then they wonder why they get tagged as the part for the 'poor', not the party of the middle class..... Idiots.
"Congress won’t sit for these actions."
LOL! Sure they will. This Democratic Congress has been especially spineless.
As far as why BoA is doing this, just check out slide 9 of their latest quarterly report: http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/71/715/71595/items/276194/4Q07.pdf
BoA's non-interest income was only about 35% of the quarter from the previous year. Other numbers really suck as well.
Which is why in 4 years....I'll be banking with Washington Mutual....
The Great Red Satan.
drb @ 11:
How about this. Pay off your credit cards. Cut them up. Live within your means.
I have never felt freer and happier since I did that about 2 years ago. Try it, you'll like it. I promise.
Predatory Lending investigated by Congress? Don't you know that people in Major League Baseball are using steroids?!? There's no time to look into loan shark banks while Major League Baseball is tearing this country apart.
Fuuuuuuuck Bank of Amerika.
BofA....Bank of Assholes... Been that way since before they bailed out of ESSEFF and California in the 90s.... Allegedly to 'provide better service to their customers"... Reality; I suspect had more to do with the fact that they couldn't get or coorce the SF pols to sign off on yet one more ill deserved/ill defined tax break on all the property they owned out here..
I see nothing has changed with them since they took their carnival side show to the Carolinas... Just a pack of snake oil salemen calling themselves bankers.... When this outfit finally does go under noone whom they screwed over will really mourn its passing.. Though it will be a hit on the U.S. economy for such a large bank to fail with all the customers it has, one should consider just how much trouble it will be to pull out..Even now, before the end and start over with another banking institution.. As opposed to just hanging in with the pickpockets at BofA being loyal and hoping they might change their ways and stop with the gouging....
Yea good luck with that....
If this was a Jimmy Stewart movie instead of the hardcore realities of BofA policies that involve gouging generally and jacking up credit card rates to its customers for no good reason, without recourse, and without any explanation that makes any sense, I'd have to say that old man Potter's holding all the cards here................
BofA = bank of assholes.. I didn't just make that up... It's the way it conducts business. It's the way it treats its customer base...
JD
It's a shame though. A small California bank started by an Italian immigrant family based on socialist and populist ideals to help out farmers and other low income immigrant families has, within 100 years, become the poster child of corporate and distinctly American greed...
...and i thought Wells Fargo was the devil incarnate.
Support your local credit unions people!
I wonder if Hillary can spin this into a positive for her campaign...?
She seems to be on the side of the angels, eh?
McMike @ 1:
Yes of course they will.
Our congress legalized Predatory Lending in the first place. This is terribly naive thing to say. Congress doesn't give a god-damn about the average American. They simply haven't a clue how bad middle America is hurting. All they do is mouth platitudes and pay lip service to the IDEA that we're hurting - to seem like caring and sympathetic law-makers.
But we aren't fooled. They don't give a rat's ass about anyone but their special interests - which includes themselves.
All of congress is populated by law-makers who could be characterized by this statement ~~ "Mr. Greedy Goes to Washington"
*
Travis @ 21:
your kidding right?? she voted for the bankrupcy bill we're now saddled with kidda funny how she says somethings bad then changes her mind when contributions are waved in front of her.
As soon as I get my income tax refund I'm paying off my Capital one and cutting it up and sending it back if they want me as a consumer I'll want a percentage that isn't usury I consider anything above 19% usury
Mojo Nixon was right:
"Things are smelling mighty rank
We must be near a stinking bank
Smells worse than Rockerfeller's feet
Wall Street can eat my meat.
(from the classic tune "I Hate Banks")
what a surprise.....how did anyone think they were going to make up for all their losses ?
Bartleby @ 13:
Just one tragedy and I think a majority of middle class households would be in the category of poor and that's what scares all of us do you think the government will do anything for the consumer over the best interest of the monied interest what they'll do is pat you on the head and hold meetings til the next news cycle and it'll all be forgotten by those in the beltway these guys/gals can't even balance their own checkbooks and have all that socialized perks just another aristocacy
Nicole, you are NEVER going to win your ideological battle of business seeking profits.
"Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America (BAC) is hiking rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all."
Hiking rates is NEVER done in a vacuum. That's not how business operates. Anytime a business contemplates raising their prices, it must consider the ramifications, such as customer loss and profitability.
Also, what is NEVER mentioned by this site, or the mainstream media, are the reasons WHY it seems that almost all businesses raise their prices. The person who cannot think outside of their own bubble usually attributes this simply as greedy businessmen, but that is not the true ultimate cause. Greed is good if it is used in the right environment. But greed in an environment of inflation (inflation is the increase in the quantity of money and hence spending in the economy) FORCES almost all prices to rise, because what happens is that when the Federal Reserve injects new money into the economy (which they have been doing A LOT of recently because of the failing economy), the result is that people are able to spend more money. If people can spend more money, then they can offer higher prices than what is prevailing at the time. Now, considering how prices in general reflect how much money is in the economy at any one time, if someone comes into ownership of newly created money, they are able to OUTBID other businesses, because those other businesses have not yet received the new money yet.
The result is that prices rise on the basis of people and businessmen being ABLE to pay higher prices as they receive the newly created money. For some people, they are rather close to the Federal Reserve banking system, and for others they are quite far from the banking system. Those who are closer are able to outbid most of the economy, and those who are far away usually see prices rise before their incomes do.
Since higher prices for factors of production leads to higher costs, the selling prices of goods MUST rise in order for business to even continue and be profitable. This is why the mortgage industry boomed and is now busting. Housing is rather close to the banking industry, so the people in the housing industry were able to outbid other people for resources like bricks, labor, metal, plaster, etc and all that goes into housing. The result was a huge housing explosion. But this explosion was not built on people saving their money (which would have been stable), the explosion was instead based on credit issued by the Federal Reserve, that is, money created out of nothing. And the only way to keep housing prices high is for credit to continually be pumped into the economy at high rates (as it was very high in the early 2000's by Greenspan). Once the pumping is turned off, the basis for high prices in housing disappear, and a crash ensues (this is how the mortgage industry collapsed, when Greenspan stopped printing so much money starting in 2005).
So the next time you see a company raise their prices, think WHY they do so, and seemingly without any fears of losing customers. There is a reason for all economic phenomena that goes way above and beyond mere greed, you know. Taken in the aggregate, EVERYTHING in the economy is always rather mechanical in nature and can be explained without hatred or jealousy.
drb @ 11:
here is the prob...you cant cancel until you pay them off
when they raise your rate, it goes on your credit report making it harder to get a new card
they are supposed to have a good reason to raise your rates, not just cuz they want to
and they arent supposed to raise the rates of good customers
but this is happening because the fed has lowered the prime and banks have to make money somewhere
We've been fighting this kind of predatory practice in my part of Canada for as long as I can remember and nothing has ever been done about it. Nothing will be done about this either.
I finally paid off my credit cards a few months ago. My biggest motivation to pay them off was Bank of America's terrible service and sneaky fees. I set up auto-payment (minimum) to avoid late fees, then, when there were problems with them, B oA would blame me and it would take me an hour on the phone to get everything straightened out. The last time I called the woman on the phone siad "I see you've had this problem before." After giving me a lot of attitude she told me that if Bank of America's Services weren't working for me, that perhaps I should find another company that would....DONE! My Bank of America and MBNA/BoA cards will never be used again.
Oh, the reason they wanted to get rid of me (or trick me into a higher rate)? I was taking advantage of their offer of a lifetime 4.9 percent balance transfer rate. I let it sit while I paid off the higher rate cards. But, hey, they offered it. I didn't twist their arm to give me that rate.
Actually, maybe I should thank BoA....without their help (and motivation), I'd still be in debt.
This sucks but I have to say that the customer service I have received from BofA has been 10 times better than the service I ever received from Wells Fargo.
This is a definition of loan-sharking.
Loan the money at 8% and collect at 28%.
People will start going under when they can't make the increased minimum payments, and then they'll watch their debts go from 8 or $10,000 to $24,000 in a fairly short time with late fees and interest added.
Don't expect Republicans to get on board with any type of reform.
Interesting how religious the Republicans are until it comes to usury. Might as well go for the pound of flesh nearest the heart.
-Don-
In UK one company has cancelled credit card accounts of the most reliable payers!
Ruthless People @ 17:
Now, that is sensible--Nicole, why does everyone have to have a high credit card balance to even be affected by B of A ? Does everyone really need a new i-phone or plasma t.v. ?
Of course, emergencies arise, but not everyday living...
Want a 20% discount on everything you buy? Don't put it on a card, pay cash!
Screw those dishonest bastards. They're sitting in ivory towers thinking up ways to reach in people's pockets and steal. And we all keep using their cards foolishly.
One more thought of the day....
People are all idiots.. this is exactly the same as having Citibank walk into your home, reach into your wallet, taking out $28 for this or that fee, then take a few hundred for interest, then walking out smiling.... and you say thank you by continuing to shop with that card. Idiots wake up.
If you have to use a card and pay on time to buy something, you're a lazy idiot that deserves to be punished by having your wallet gang raped by the likes of BofA, Citibank, WashMass, and the rest.
What's my credit score. I don't give a sh*t. I pay cash.
andrew @ 35:
Then it is time to find a local Credit Union and use them as you will a bank. In the last two months my credit union Visa has been lowered twice.
Thats better than a poke in the eye!
1/3 of my retirement is being handled by Bk of America.
Funny thing is, Altria (aka: Phillip Morris) and Honeywell were dropped from the Dow Index today, and Chevron and Bank of America were added to the index.
After reading this article, I decided to open up a blog I started regarding BofA and their practices. I have never blogged before so please bear with me and give feedback.
http://stopbankofamerica.blogspot.com/
Long time C&L lurker,
Danny
Bank of America has always had crappy customer service. This really is just the latest installment in a continuing series.
Anybody who does business with Bank of America deserves what they get.
Congress won’t sit for these actions. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
SmartBennie @ 37:
A few years ago I couldn't rent an apartment because I had no credit score. Since then I've paid for almost all my bills with a credit card, and I pay it off in full every month. I now have a credit history, which comes in handy.
Last year I bought a car with cash, but the dealership wouldn't take my check until they saw my credit score. After they checked it, they accepted my payment.
-+-
Last year Bank of America annoyed me enough to finally switch banks. I now have an ING Direct "Electric Orange" checking account, and I recently opened up an account at a local credit union for the convenience of ATM deposits and 25,000 surcharge-free "CO-OP" ATMS. I'm glad I made the switch.
Most card companies will fight to keep your business; not BOA. Once BOA pegs you as an undesirable customer (for whatever reason) they write you off and don't give a shit what you do.
My advice; there are plenty of card companies who would love to have your business. Find one and transfer the BOA balance immediately. If your problem is an occasional late payment, try Chase. You can go online and set up automatic payments with them; you'll never have a late payment again.
BOA did this shit to me last year, and I pulled every piece of business I had with them the next day. I'll never deal with these scumbags again!
If you use a credit card that isn't debit only then you are an idiot and deserve to get ripped off.
drb @ 11:
someone took a dump in your brain.....it's stupid people like you that are pathetic !
I haven't had a problem with BofA yet. However, I had an Advanta credit card that I used for biz. A clerk misplaced a check, and sent it a few days late. 7 years of on-time payments and Advanta dropped their 6.99% special offer rate and jacked it up to 28%. Fortunately, I was able to pay off the 25K balance and drop the card. But I certainly worry about the majority of folks who get screwed by this predatory lending that our congress (lead by LIEberman and Shumer) enabled. Vote the bums OUT!
Yet another sign that the big banks are in more trouble than they let on.
Along with sniping at Fair Isaac over the credit scores on which they (lazily) relied as being the "cause" of the so-called "subprime" crisis.
Also, it's proof positive that the Helicopter Ben emergency rate drops were for the banks' benefit only.
Their costs are lower, yet they are raising fees capriciously? On "good" borrowers?
I saw the writing on the wall for all this nonsense 3 years ago when they got the BK bill passed.
I basically went into faux survivalist mode at that point -- no car, no debt, learned to ride a MC and shoot a gun.
Also, while I have not yet used them, I hope this creates more interest (NPI) in the peer-to-peer lending and other alternative forms of credit and finance that may start to take hold.
Then maybe we can seriously talk about replacing the so-called "Federal" (not) Reserve (not) with a more sensible system.
Ruthless People @ 17:
Fuck that. Take all the credit you can get. Run every damned one of them through the roof. Then cut em up.
Time to take the bastards out. Bankrupt their asses.
Give 'em Paine
Cynical @ 48:
Way to go Einstein.
Ruthless People @ 17:
What are you? A commie? Why do hate America and the baby Jesus?
corporate stupidity like that of Circuit City firing its most experienced employees.
This happens everywhere and it's not just a matter of controlling costs by letting the senior, higher salaried people go. Corporations don't want employees to know too much about how they operate. For a number of reasons. People who have been working for a corporation for a period of time get to know the score, if you know what I mean. For one, they could demoralize and jade new workers by letting them in on the bullshit management and the corporate administrators pull on them. For another thing, they don't want anyone figuring out just how much they rook their customers, or the public would find out as workers leak the information to family, friends and neighbors. Also, the longer someone stays with an employer, the more they use their benefits. Vacation, sick time, maternity leave. And longtime employees can discover malfeasance and wind up in court as witnesses against the corporate office.
Another possibility is that employees might start to get a conscience. At first they'll give the management's sales pitches to customers because they need to earn more money, they need job security. After a few years, if employees begin to feel comfortable in their jobs and feel they have a decent salary, they might stop giving sales pitches they know to be false because they feel sorry for the customers. It happens.
Corporations also conspire to keep employees off-balance by moving them from department to department, from task to different tasks so the emloyee doesn't gain expertise in a particular area. The employee with expertise gained on the job can go look for another job, or become a consultant. Not good for the corp. Another corporate conspiracy is to give rotating schedules to people - changing their shift (day to evening to overnight, back to evening, back to day) and not giving them work on the same days each week (one week you work Monday evenings, Tuesday days, Thursday overnight, etc and the next week you work differnt shifts on different days). The reason for this is to prevent employees from holding a second job. When you can't get a second job to bolster your meagre part-time earnings, you become dependent on your employer and you buckle down and behave the way they want you to.
This is America today. The postwar period of prosperity is over. The abundance of jobs requiring employers to give good benefits and give a decent salary for a steady fulltime position no longer exists. It's back to the robber baron days.
I am migrating all my finances over to my University's Credit Union. Low interest rates, non-predatory lending practices, fee free home equity loans once a year. I don't have an ATM on every corner, but I won't be in league with these hyenas anymore.
Give them the most effective FU possible. Take your cash and your debt someplace else.
Here's a link to a site where you can find local credit unions. Happy migrating!
I hate BoA so much - I am currently fighting with the liars on a daily basis. I found this tidbit and more: Bank of America pays their CEO Ken Lewis $28 million a year. So they made cutbacks on their employees... So typical.
Check out this website: Very informative
http://consumerist.com/339057/bank-of-america-cant-afford-soap-for-emplo...
My names for most major banks:
BofA = Bunch of A$$holes
Wells-Fargo = We'll F#ck You
Citibank = Shittibank
Haven't quite figured out one for Washington Mutual, but they're better than the rest of the bunch. Any others?
I dumped BoA when they tried to charge me a monthly fee for a checking account... Before that they were already pissing me off... I lived in Boston and had a Bank Boston/Fleet account when they were bought by BoA. I thought, "great! I have a BoA account from another state I'll finally be able to use" no dice, the conversion/merger with their nationwide system took longer than 2 years and I moved away before they could get it sorted out. (could still be broken for all I know)
Now I'm with wells fargo. My savings account has an interest rate of 0.23% what a dream :P (at least I haven't been hit by any hidden fees, yet)
I use a credit card for everything but my mortgage. It's a rewards card that pays me to use it wisely. I pay it in full each month. I get a gift certificate every month depending on how much I put on the card. As soon as I am electronically notified my statement is up, I go to the bank site, set up my payment to be paid 2 days before the due date (in case something goes wrong) and I wait for my gift certificate to come in the mail in a week or so. Of course, they would rather I carry a balance, but I never charge anymore than I can pay off per month. My gift certificates paid for this computer I am using now. Not a bad deal.I saved for about 2 years the certificates I accumulated. I am saving them for a DSLR now.
I have had several different reward cards over the years. I just use the one that suits my needs NOW. I closed one of the cards a few years back when it was sold to another company. I am always wondering what will happen when the banks figure out they make little to nothing off of my spending (the stores still pay them a set fee and that is quite a lot in the long run) Will they start charging a fee like they used to years ago? When they do that, I will look elsewhere. Its a convenience to carry a card instead of checks or cash (actually safer too) but it has to be in my favor for me to use it. I havent written a check in years-I am totally electronic . I don't own a debit card as I consider them to be the most unsafe way to pay (there is no protection for the consumer if someone uses it without permission). Buy what you can afford. Not what everyone else tells you that you should have. Spend wisely. No matter what method you use. How much more stuff can we possible cram into our lives as compensation for being unhappy anyways?
Ugh.
I had read quite awhile back that Bank of America was staunchly republican.
I never do business with any company that I *know* gives more than 50% of its donations to the repub party.
A couple of months ago, I went on line and authorized a payment from my BofA checking account for my little $55.84 electric bill. I have been with the bank for years and am a retiree on a fixed income so my payments never vary by more than a few bucks a month but on this occasion for some reason, the bank sent the power company $5584. Didn't raise any flags for them but it damned sure caught my attention.
I caught it on the day they made the payment an alerted them to the mistake but they proceeded to charge me a $35 overdraft fee for each of three days (I believe that's some kind of maximum) for a total of $105. Not peanuts when you're on Social Security.
I finally, after several weeks of hassling, got them to refund the overdraft fees (one at a time with a separate appeal being filed for each) but then, as what I can only assume was a punitive action, they nailed my account for another $35 for a "returned item" processing fee. I'm still fighting them on that one.
I received no help whatever from the Comptroller of the Currency which was the government agency I was referred to. The bigger the bank the more blatantly they can rip off their not so affluent customers who can't afford to fight back.
At least we now know how they intend to finance their increased penetration into the subprimae mortgage racket by acquiring Countrywide.
The bigger the bank, the easier it is
Stentor @ 59:
I understand they're near the top of BofA's list for acquisition.
Tom @ 63:
When you get it all resolved, DUMP THEM.
If enough people do this, it really does hurt the bank. US Bank did the same thing years ago (nickel and dimed people), and customers left in droves (including me...never to look back).
Try looking into local credit unions. They're usually nicer and more fair when things like this happen.
The simple reason they are doing it is because they, like all the greedy lenders, lost a great deal of money on the subprime mortgage mess--and they want to charge card users and others to make up their losses.
Simple solution--cut your cards in half right now.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water. The most predatory of lenders smells blood. They may have changed their name to Bank of America, but MBNA is still the same old toxic gas. These tactics are old news for this gang of thieves.
this is funny. do you actually think "the market" will punish BofA for these wrongdoings? NO. People are so in debt on their cards that they will be paying for centuries to come.
All Congress will do is pass more bankruptcy reform that makes it harder for people to claim bankruptcy and force people to pay all their debt back.
I ask, How many billions do they donate to politicians' campaigns? John Edwards said "these people expect something for all those donations"
BoA is the worst company I've ever dealt with. I've filed 2 or 3 BBB complaints against them.
Let me take you on a tour through the looking glass..
Several years ago, I payed off my BoA credit card. I ended up overpaying and requested a payment to finalize things.
BoA sent me a check for $7 to clear my closed account. I thought this was not quite right but I figured it was just me so I deposited it and forgot about the issue. Several months later, I get bills for $6.93. Apparently they owed me $.07 not $7.
I called and explained the situation and they apologized and said they'd erase the $6.93.
Several months later, I received a bill for $6.93. I called again, explained again, and told them I wasn't going to send in a payment because they screwed up and I would just perpetuate this overpay/payback loop even longer. They apologized and removed the charge again. BTW, they reopened my account every time they've done this.
Guess what, it happened again.. and again. They eventually flagged my credit for non-payment. They also sent me two new credit cards over the 2+ years that this went on.
The best story, imho, was after I filed the first BBB complaint. I had some VP call and leave a voice mail for me. (If you aren't familiar, EVERYONE in a bank is a VP if they're senior to a teller) So, I call the VP back and get him on the phone. I start complaining about why BoA but TWO CENTS of credit (balance $0.02) onto the account I closed well over 18 months earlier. He says, "Oh, I did that". I replied with "Why, exactly, would you put a balance on the card that I've been trying to close for nearly two years? What's wrong with you??" He apologized and removed the 2 cents.
I'm about 3 - 3.5 years out from the original cancelation of my BoA card. I've been added to their Do Not Contact list several times. I have a manila folder full of email from them. All of it is from after I closed my account. Much is from after I filed a Do Not Contact request with them. I still get change of Terms of Service mail and such.
It's amazing how powerless you are against this type of abuse. Aside from actually suing, there's nothing you can do. Threatening suit doesn't help because you never talk to anyone who would care.
Bank of America is, by far, the worst company I've ever dealt with.
GoodGod @ 50:
I have no doubt that most everyone in the Senate made a lot of money in the past few years off of financial stocks, derivatives, hedge funds, and collateralized debt instruments that at best skirted regulations regarding transparcency, and at worst were fraudulent.
Let's see- juggling canceled checks to generate premature overdrafts, offering credit cards to illegal aliens, and now this- is it any wonder that BofAs were burned back in the 60s? The worst part of it is that they're not doing this because the subprime "crisis" left them in debt; they just want to make sure that the obscene profits they're making are maintained. I have never had a credit card, and never plan to- it's like charging yourself an extra quarter for every dollar you spend.
* Congress won’t sit for these actions.
Hahahahahahahahahahhahahah. HEEEEE heeeeeee heeeeee heeeee
lol lol lol lol
Fuck Bank of Assholes.
Had a basic checking account with them in CA in the early 80s. When they made an error in a deposit, giving me more money than they should have (forgot the $300 I had gotten from the check before depositing it). Not wanting to get the teller in trouble, I returned to the branch to point out their error. The manager said, "We don't make those kinds of errors!"
So I promptly closed my account and haven't been back since.
Drew @ 28:
You live in fantasy land.
Have you been completely blind to the repeated cases of corruption over the last decade? By trying to explain away the bad deeds of corporate thieves as "mechanical" or naturally occuring, you repeat the same lies that the GOP scum have been using to shrink the ranks of the 'haves' for decades.
Your description of the housing market rise and fall defies belief. In your rudimentary explanation, you completely ignore the other factors involved, specifically who is doing the buying.
I'd say it's you that lives in a bubble, just like most people that live in "free market" fantasyland.
pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
Cancel and cut up the cards. It's very simple.
Hey drew, every heard of the Glass-Steagall Act?
This is exactly what Obama voted for and fumbled his response at the second last debatein SC ! (The one where he called out Hillary for her Walmart ties & she responded with his "Chicago slumlord" ties).
fastfeat @ 73:
We just canceled our account with these crooks and transfered our debt from 25% to 5.6%....Bank of Assholes indeed........
Oh waaaah waaah waaah...they raised my credit card rates!! WTF am I gonna do!
How about stop using the credit card, moron! Cut it up. Pay (gasp! What an incredible concept!) CASH, and don't buy things you can't afford.
Oh, I forgot, you're an American debt-addict.
As a resident of delaware I have a few friends and relatives that work at BofA credit area (formerly MBNA)
would you like to know what they have on their email signatures?
Know the customer...care about the customer...and act in the customer's
best interest!
pretty sweet huh?
capnmike @ 79:
Oh, I forgot, you're a moralizing idiot.
While paying cash is nice if you don't have a balance on the card already, some people already have large balances and are going to get kicked in the nuts by this even if they've made payments on time.
BoA is doing this because they made a series of bad investments that went south on them. Period.
I don't have a BoA card. They send me a lot of mail, but I always send their business reply envelope back to them empty.
Bank at a local Credit Union if you can. Never, ever use a credit card. Buy used, pay cash. Works for me...
We really enjoyed walking in to our local BofA and closing all four of our accounts on the spot. We will never use BofA again. If you have a high interest BofA credit card, do your self a big fat favor and take your money and business to a local Credit Union,you will save a bundle!
I came on this by accident and was fascinated. In Britain some banks and credit card companies are either terminating the cards of holders who pay off their credit each month and don't incur interest or cutting the credit limits right back. They originally claimed they were eliminating bad credit risks and when this was challenged just said we can do it so we're doing it F*** you. Seems like the same cloven hoof to me.
Our ISP business has two banks, one which we refer to as "the bank" and the other is "the evil bank". It's funny, when we use these terms (and we use them exclusively), everyone knows who the evil bank is. The folks at the bank even know.
Unfortunately, the nature of a growing business precludes us from changing banks easily, but we are slowly, but surely moving away. We've also made going debt free this year a goal and will give up some growth to do it.
Credit card companies = corporate crack dealers.
Just say Know...
I missed a payment in December because I never rec'd a statement and failed to notice 'cuz it was the holidays and all, then BoA jacked up my interest and doubled the minimum payment on the next statement while assessing a $29 late fee. I didn't have the full amount, so I sent what I could.. another $29 fee and another hike of the minimum required payment came the next month and when I tried to make a phone payment for the total amount due, I was informed the account was closed but I could still make an online payment. I tried that, but it doesn't seem to have been processed yet and it's been about ten days..
I wonder what's coming next besides my financial house of cards taking a tumble?
over 10 years of on-time payments every month and they kick me to the curb.
oh well.. it was nice while it lasted but I'm going to sit & watch as my debt goes through
the roof and I'll probably end up defaulting at some point 'cuz I'm also out of work.
great to be a working man, isn't it?
no savings, no job, no investments.. they can't get blood from a stone, yes.
Quick, contact your broker and have him short Bank of America. Easy money!
Thanks for censoring my posts ASSHOLES!........Fuck this web site!
[Nice mouth on ya, BKDTT. They went into a moderation queue, and now they've posted. Thanks for letting us know how you really feel-Sitemonitor]
capnmike @ 79:
Americans are being forced by the worsening economy into buying their groceries and gas with credit cards.
I try to make it easier on myself by buying groceries that give me gas.
I don't have a credit card never will. I bank at Bank of America after they absorbed the bank that absorbed the bank I got my home equity loan. The thing I have noticed is that no one works there for long. Personel come and go there in a blink of the eye. I don't know much but I know that businesses that can't/won't keep people generally fail. So I have a suspicion that Bank of America isn't long for this world.
User Loser @ 89:
Bank of America and The banks of America...
Ruthless People @ 17:
Ever hear of carrying a zero balance? I do. Feeling free of debt!!
Some interesting info. Bank of America is the issuer of the Government Travel Card via the General Services Administration.
While it is a 'voluntary' program, Federal employees who travel on official business more than twice a year are required to use the Government Travel Card for expenses. Federal Employees are not charged interest on the amount charged, they are required to file a claim for reimbursment within a specific period. They are charged ATM fees for cash withdrawals only one of which is reimbursable.
The Government Travel Card is listed a voluntary program probably because it is illegal to require employees to enter into a third party contract as a condition of employment. Initially, the card was offered to frequent travelers, and then generally to avoid the overhead of giving cash advances for expenses. In current practice, there is no practical alternative offered to cover travel expenses. The employee can self fund their own travel on their own cards but, some agencies issue warnings that travel expenses charged to other cards may not be reimbursed and the travel expenses covered now often include the airline tickets for the travel.
While the Government Travel Card is issued for expenses on official travel only, it is inactive when not on travel and is limited to certain types of businesses, the card is issued in the federal employees name and the employee is responsible for the debt. If a reimbursement is not issued in a timely manner by the government, say an expense on the voucher is questioned, the employee is supposed to pay off the card on time and receives warning notices of late payment.
Federal Employees on travel using the Government Travel Card include active duty military.
I got one of the those letters... I promptly opened up a new card, transferred the balance at 0% for 12 months... What, 15% wasn't good enough for you B of A? Now you get nothing from me... Dumb.
MillionthMonkey @ 82:
Why, that's inconsiderate. Why don't you at least send them pizza coupons like Maddox does? That way, you deal with two junk mails in one swipe, and you help somebody eat in the process.
So... let me understand this...
The people in the housing market said they intentionally gave risky borrowers homes, with no money down, and held it 'off the books' and sold it as 'secure assets' to the middle class investors, and now they are fucked and the banks are free of the debt.
Now the banks are raising interest rates indicrimately to force some people to default?
Sounds like the bankers were hoping the housing crisis would spiral faster out of control than it did. They would like this to happen before GWB leaves office I would be certain.
Just in case you are wondering, this is not unlike how the depression started. It was well known the bankers (fat cats, whomever) pulled silently out of the market, then crushed it, maneuvering the crisis to maximum effect, controlling the wealth out there in the economy and even trying to seize the gold from people to complete remove all wealth.
This is the elites 'ideal'. Rich living like kings and huddled masses begging for any crumbs from the table.
Found some nice quotes on usury, see below. One plus of biblical law, if I thought Huckabug was going to go forward with it for business, not just as a way to infringe on personal lives.
(Ezekiel 18:13)
If he has exacted usury Or taken increase -- Shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him.
Come on theocracy :)
I see our resident "Greed is good" proponent Drew has checked in so I'd thought I'd throw this Wapo article in to the mix.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR200802...
Yes Drew... there is a reason that the banks raise interest rates... its uncontrolled. unregulated Greed! Their credit card holders are being squeezed to pay for their bad judgment... their corporate stupidity for getting involved with the sub-prime mortgage industry!
BofA was the company that in the 90's, while reporting the highest earnings in the history of the banking industry, laid off all of their full-time employees and hired them back as part-timers to screw them out of their benefits.
This time they got caught in the sub-prime mess and they're squeezing their customers to try and cover their losses for engaging in predatory lending practices. They are currently under investigation by Task Forces set up by the FBI and the SEC and have been named as a "target."
These investigations are not only for predatory lending practices, but "insider trading" issues that have arisen as well.
B of A= The Squeeze Until they Squeal Bank!
PS. one note to consider in the sub-prime disaster... this is the first time that the banks have gotten themselves in trouble since 1929... a date that some history buffs may recall.
Neil @ 98:
You are only partly right... the banks don't want the home owners to foreclose though at least not so many and that is reflected by new "life line" bail out that the Bush administration has floated yesterday.
The problem is that 2.2 million homes have gone into foreclosure last year and that number will increase geometrically this year. These 2.2 million homes... they don't take possession of them until this calendar year.
While they deliberately targeted black and poor neighborhoods to start with because they are the least educated and least likely to have legal and financial advisers to point out the "fine print"... other middle class families tried to use these SP loans like a home equity loan to pay for college tuitions and the like and... real estate speculators, both foreign and domestic got involved with these mortgages and the big financial lenders SIVs.
In addition to the sub-prime loans that are resetting and creating this crisis... there are also 1 million "prime loans" that are due to reset in 2009, so this debacle isn't going away any time soon.
But it goes much deeper than that because their is a very large corporate real estate aspect to this that hasn't even emerged, but will shortly as companies lay-off employees and close retail outlets vacating commercial buildings, down-sizing their corporate campuses as they lay-off. You see many companies sold their buildings to these hedge funds to get investment capital.
One friend of mine who is a CEO and did this two years ago and said that in those two years his building has been packaged, marked up, and repackaged and marked up again... five times. He said those packages they sold were based on those buildings being rented and that is a guarantee that they couldn't really make. He estimated that for every real dollar in those packages that there are 300 bogus bucks!
With the recession and the lay-offs underway now it won't be long before now until these institutions will have to report more huge write-downs in their projected earnings and the market will tank again!
But wait there is more... The hedge funds specifically targeted pension funds and endowments and in 2006 alone sold $560 Billion dollars of another type of bad debt bundle known as a CDO... also know as a "toxic" or tranches to pension funds. In short these pension funds are going to go "POOF"... gone and the full amount isn't yet known but is estimated into the trillions of dollars. This is going to make Enron look like petty theft by the time it is done.
How did this happen? Hedge Funds are off-shore entities and as such not subject to many of the regulations of that US lenders are subject too and they found loop holes. Deregulation also has reared its ugly head in this as well because statutes that were put into place after the 1929 crash that prohibited them from mixing financial and property assets were repealed.
And unfortunately we are now looking at a recession... a deep one and for the first time since 1929... the banks are in serious trouble.
That last reason is laughable. Congress won't do shit STILL!
I keep getting robo phone calls 'regarding your credit card.' It goes on to tell me there is no problem, but if I call a number I can get a fantastic deal. Of course I hang up, but now I wonder. I too ended up with a B of A card when they bought MNBA. I pay off my balance every month, and I always check my rate - so far it is still the 'guaranteed' rate I got from MNBA, but could this be a way to try to con me into agreeing to something that will raise my rate?
That's nothing. I just got a letter from Wachovia Bank saying that the MasterCard issued through their bank is raising it's interest rate from 24% to 36%. My credit rating is as good as can be had, but I listed as a "deadbeat" (literally) because I pay off the account every month. I haven't paid a penny in interest in years, and I guess that if you live simply or within your means, that makes you the worst possible kind of customer; they aren't content to make 2% on every transaction.
Didn't we used to have anti-usury laws? A loan shark would be a better deal than these gansters-in-suits.
Paul @ 104:
Wachovia and Bank of America are both targets of the FBI and SEC investigation task forces... they are in the same boat!
at some point you have to stop blaming the banks for predatory practices and stop blaming the govt for not protecting us. borrowing money is a choice made by individuals and people need to be accountable for their own decisions. I haven't had a credit card in a decade. I have countless friends in debt because they used credit cards in college to buy stereos, nintendos and vacations and they've never climb out of debt.
borrowing money entails certain risks, and people need to understand those risks, make their own decisions and suffer the consequences of poor decisions. People spend there money is terrible ways all the time--on needlessly expensive cars and handbags that cost thousands of dollars. You can try to educate people, but you can't legislate good and bad individual choice
That's why I don't use credit cards. And I especially don't waste my time with big national banks like Bank of America, US Bank, Citibank, Bank of the West and Wells Fargo. I have one credit card with my local credit union, which I use when I go on vacation and such. Otherwise, I just use cash at the store, when buying groceries, clothes and stuff. I use checks for my monthly bills and charitable donations. I only use my debit card online and at gas stations.
And, even better, my local credit union doesn't have it's logo all over the Fenway Park dugouts, like Bank of America. Ever notice that Fox seems to be able to perfectly fit in the Bank of America logo every time the Red Sox play a home game. Glad I'm not a Red Sox fan, otherwise that would annoy me more than just in October...wait, I just remembered that I'm supposed to go get some tacos over at Taco Bell....
Paul @ 104:
You do not have to do ANYTHING, right or wrong. There was a segment on the MSM news last night on thousands (millions?) of people without ANY negative factors, lifelong clean of debt except of, say, mortgage. They all got letters now from 'anybank' informing them that effective immediately their interest goes up to 36%, for NO reason.
They do it b/c they CAN - our govt does NOT govern. Regulatory function has atrophied, be it banking, food (safety), pharma, etc, etc, etc.. And, they change the rules in the middle of the game !! I usually do not watch, was getting to the French news from Paris, was truly shocked they (NBC, ABC ?) touched that.
B of A's actions are why I closed out my account with them and moved to a credit union. I strongly advocate everyone closing out their Big Business Bank account and moving to a credit union.
max @ 106:
You are right and wrong at the same time.
1. It is true that borrowers need to do so responsibly and far too many college kids get their first credit card and get into trouble really fast! They are intelligent, educated and they should know better.
Of course you might make the case that they didn't have enough role models... after all look at Ronald Reagan and George Bush... the two biggest "borrow and spenders" in the history of the world and they got elected to the White House twice and have saddled us with $9.6 trillion dollars in debt.
2. In the case of the sub-prime mortgage lenders though they deliberately targeted poor black neighborhoods where people were uneducated and didn't have the funds for "financial advisors." They exploited a vulnerability they saw in a population segment.
One poster on this site with an IQ of 132 and an MBA got pitched with one of these Sub-prime offers and he said he couldn't make heads or tails out of it, but his dad just happened to be a finance officer and explained to him that it was a really bad deal.
So you can't let the banks and lenders off the hook by throwing all of the responsibility off to the consumer... Lenders have an obligation to be up front about all the terms and fine print.
They also are required to have good standards regarding who they lend money to. These lending regulations were put in place after the Crash of 1929 and for good reason... to prevent the terms of getting credit to be too easy and setting up the conditions for a bank failures form a financial cascade.
The sub-prime lenders skirted these rules and regulation by using off-shoe based hedge funds to deliberately circumvent these credit regulations.
So again while you are right on individual responsibility... but you are mostly wrong about the conduct of the lenders... it was predatory and they should be taken to task for their greed and stupidity.
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