Dear Bank of America

Yesterday, I went into a Bank of America branch. I had a check from a customer of theirs and wanted to cash it. I was told that I would have to pay $6 because I’m not a customer, too. Further, you made me stick my fingerprint on the check, because my signature is somehow not good enough.

These two actions made me think several things:

  • You don’t want my business.
  • You don’t trust me. (Signatures are legal proof of consent everywhere else on the globe.)
  • You don’t want me doing business with that customer any more.

Do any of those seem like good ideas in this economy? Do you want this kind of a blog post railing against your policies?

I bank at The Provident Bank, a very small and useful bank. There aren’t a billion branches. There aren’t a billion employees. There aren’t several services that your bank probably offers.

But they treat me nicely, they appreciate my business, and they don’t charge me to interact with their customers.

The next check I receive from Bank of America, I’m going to send back to the person and ask them to choose a different instrument. Why? Because it shouldn’t cost me $6 and an inky thumbprint to do business in 2008.

Sincerely,

Go to Hell.

Related posts:

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  2. Dear Everyone…
  3. Dear World
  4. Will Companies Value Your Personal Network

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  • Anonymous

    I have a credit card with them I was a day late with my payment so they raised my interast rate to 29.99%
    I have made payments to them two times in the same month now they lowerd the credit amont they are
    just like the mofia I think the only way to get there attention We should just make a run on the bank that would
    get there attention were they would start thinking about there custumers more.

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    Well put!

  • http://www.mikestechblog.com/ MistaT

    Well put!

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  • pete

    thats why i dont bank with bank of america/jihad they are to greedy and take the customer out of customer service…

  • Ticked in Providence

    AGREED!

  • Guest

    Next time deposit the Bank of America check into your checking account unless, as I suspect, you have no checking account.

  • KatherineRBrownton

    Think you already know what this subject is wells fargo bank locations all about? Chances are that you dont, but by the end of this article you will! Wells Fargo offers a revolving credit line for homeowners called Home Equity Lines of Credit, or HELOCs. This line of credit is an open-ended, revolving loan that allows future advances up to the approved credit limit.

  • Swamp_mullet67

    boa has my mortgage i got laid off and fell behind i called to work things out and was told 2 send in x amount of $ and make mo payments til i was caught up i sent x amount called 2 send in payment the next mo and was told they couldnt accept payment cause of some code i tried for 4 mo to send in payments with no luck then i rcvd a foreclouser notice when i couldnt get nowhere i called rrf only to find out now theyer a fraud also

  • tryingtodoitright

    Okay here it is here. Even though you might not agree to BofA check cashing policy for non-customers, it has been put there for a purpose. Now charging people to do what a bank does, cash checks, that’s wrong. But the reason why you have to leave your finger print and have two forms of ID is because of people like me. I am a Felon and my thing was doing the banks. These little extra steps that all banks should use, helps protect the customer and helps to prevent check fraud. Nobody likes to leave there thumb print anywhere, its positive id and anybody can forge a signature. Try saying somebody copied your thumb print to the cops. That’s not happening. So just remember even though you might not like what they do at the banks, some of those things help.But hey, if all you people keep complaining maybe they will go back the way used to be and i could make counterfeit checks and take all your money.

  • Amy

    It’s called a business, not a charity. What makes you think that you shouldn’t be charged a fee for cashing a check while the rest of us are getting charged monthly services fees. If you don’t like it go to your own bank and stop holding up the lines.

  • Andy

    I came here to see what others had to say about BOA, i wasn’t surprised to find like thinking. I have had an account with BOA for 18 years. We have played the same game month after month, they add some made up charge or service fee on my account, I call and complain and they remove it, next month it’s the same crap all over again.
    I have not moved my account because of the automatic drafts and deposits that come out or go in  each month. our account service fee was rised to $25 dollars, they called it an
    ” Advanage account fee” bull shit fee is more like it! So they want $300 a year to do business with them– I don’t think so! I went shopping and found myself a  local bank,the new accounts are open and the money is being moved into them. Monthly Service fees– none! Interst paid on savings .50% instead of the .002% at BOA, I found it strange to see a posting of the 3 cents interest on my saving, why bother—except— they conform to gov regs inorder to over charge you for their services.

    I’m 63 and remember when i knew the people at my bank and they knew me, my money was safe with them and if there was any questions about a check going thru my accout,they would call me before cashing it. Not so today– anyone who has your account  number can get money from your account. I’m pretty sure that BOA has charged me fees for charging me fees! LOL but true.
    Very Sad state of afaires in our banking system today!

    Andy

  • Brittanynfarrell

    I went to a BOA that I always go to in order to cash my check that also is written on a BOA check. Well, they changed their office hours to close at 4:00pm on Wednesdays and they had a group of upset customers outside that apparently had no idea either……. anyway… I took a chance and waited in the drive thru ”Commercial lane” so that I could see the teller face to face. I asked, since they closed early, if he could please do me a favor and cash my check, I had my license, signature and I told him to pass the fingerprint ink through the window and he could see me clearly do all of this…. I got a flat out GO TO HELL from the slime ball. “No”, he says, “You will have to come inside” Well, you are closed you ignorant bastard!!!
     
    I am SO fed up with Bank of America… they SUCK. They suck with serving excellent customer service. I hope that when they finally close down… or just get bought out, they realize just how shitty and scummy of a company they are. They have their customers so brainwashed. I have no idea why so many people are still banking with them. That’s right….. convenience……that’s the only reason I can think of. They lack everything else!!!!!
     
    Brittany F. 2011

  • Anonymous

    There are reasons one with a checking account, might go to cash the check at the check writers own bank.  A prime reason could be location, especially if one’s on vacation, though uses a community bank in their own home location.  One isn’t going to drive thousands of miles to deposit a check.  And though one might not receive a check on a personal vacation (one might, depending on the circumstances), business trips, entailing out of town or out of state business one might.

    But in either case, the $6 fee isnn’t exactly kosher, but also sounds kinda fishy.  I had deposited one of their checks, when I didn’t want to go through my account, and though I had to go through the finger printing (much to some other bank’s surprise when I’ve told them), I never was assessed such a fee.  Hell, even places like Money Mart or the like don’t charge $6, at least when I’ve had to cash a Western Union check received at one.  I doubt Wal-Mart, which now says they cash checks charges quite that much either.

    But in any case, I came searching, because I have the sorta reverse side to their check holding?  I wrote a check against a BoA account, and it cleared at the other side, all fine, but BoA isn’t taking the balance out of the account, and for my part I want the account activity to settle, so am not using it.  It’s been over a week, hell over 6 business days now, and they’re not clearing it from their end, as the money sits in their account.

    Now here’s the wrinkle, and also really comes to the heart of the matter with them.  The statement cycle ends next week, and due to changes they made on the account, they could charge a $12 fee.  If that gets charged it would be overdrawn, but my intention is to close that particular account down.  If I put money in, they could drag their feet on processing that (they took 5 business days to clear a transfer of funds from one of their accounts, to this one).  They’re not new accounts, years old, and it’s like the last transaction to process, just isn’t going.  I wouldn’t put it past them to delay processing, just long enough to assess a $12 fee from me.  Can I say this is going on?  No, but at the same time, if they’re up to playing this way, just to get one last fee outa this account, before I move it, well I’m not pleased.  In any case, another bank is giving me better interest on savings, and has far better terms on checking, including no monthly maitenance fees, and a bunch of the other stuff  BoA has come to add, after they got themselves in trouble with the whole Countrywide purchase, all the lawsuites over all their toxic debt sales, etc.  Hell, a recent one, they actually provided bad documentation to federal regulators while trying to claim insurance against some of the sub-prime mortgages.  They got audited, provided bad numbers/documents during the audit, and one of the regulators who would be asked to insure those debts isn’t happy, and is even talking fraud…. For my part, and with things like the new $5 debit card purchase charge, perhaps I don’t want to keep my money with an institution who has this rep, at a time where they’re getting sued at every turn due to the Countrywide Financial disaster they chose to get themselves into.

  • 123

    You are not a customer at Bank of America, regardless of what you may have previously been taught, a bank is a business not a chairty. If you’re not their customer, they do not need to offer services to you for free. I’m sure if you opened an account with them they would not have charged you.

    Secondly, do you know how much check fraud there is? The bank isn’t trying to make you feel like a criminal. They’re trying to cover their ass if the check turns out to be fraudulent. You don’t have a banking relationship with them, they need some way to protect themselves.