Dear Bank of America

am really starting to regret my account there, do not, DO NOT, ever use your atm card from bofa abroad, under any circumstances ... there are so many hidden charges, even the guy on the phone at customer service doesn't know about them .. plus 3% of whatever you buy with it ... they must be desperate

enjoy, gregory

I've had M&T for years and everyone I know has switched to BoA but I've hesitated because they've always felt "too big" for me, while M&T has maintained its regional focus and no-nonsense banking. On the same lines as with The Provident Bank....I may be one of thousands of customers, but they are fully capable of dealing with customer service inquiries as efficiently as possible and I'm always happy with the outcome. BoA just scares me. It's one of those situations where they have become "so big" they can afford to not care about customers one or two at a time until it snowballs into hundreds and thousands of customers who are p&ssed. Looks like this is the direction they're heading. I can't stand banks who use every little opportunity to make a quick buck (or 6) off of its customers. Ugh.

Banks got so big, so fast and there's no-one to overlook it all, because they spend more time trying to grow than looking after their customers, the ones who gave them a chance to grow. A lot of employees all try to put things right, implement rules that work well on itself, but combined with exsisting rules (and future rules) you get a big mess. The bigger the company gets, the more attention should go to keeping it all simple.
IMHO: One of the reasons of the current financial crisis.

You've heard the old joke, "Answers $1. Correct answers $5." This is how banks operate and it seems like it is in their business plans to become more absurd. (I know this from being a bit of an insider.)
I give this entity my money to "use" (which is what they do.) Logic says the bank should reward me--after all, the bank is using for gain something that belongs to me.
Somewhere in the bank timeline this logic has become twisted. It costs me $25.50 to withdraw MY $25.00. Heck, a hole in my backyard wouldn't charge me for my own money. It is the anthesis of customer service and appreciation; it is (on a much larger scale) rape and robbery of the American Consumer. I call it "air." There is no service, no product, nothing tangible. Anymore it is not even a convenience.
Another sad point is that most behemoth bank employees are also treated with like disregard. The bank will outsource a project for $30 million (because they get 'sold' on it) and dock an employee's pay for a day ($150 or so) because she must care for her 10 year-old with a brain tumor.
I've got my shovel. I'm switching to a "holesome" method of banking.

I 100% agree with your post. The bigger lesson for entrepreneurs is that customers matter. When you are considering regional or national expansion, make sure that you can take care of the customers that got you to that point in the first place.

Also, I completely agree with you Sara, BofA has definitely become INconvenient!

I bank with a credit union for these exact reasons - plus a whole slew of features and benefits that are free, free, free, like Internet home banking, bill pay online, etc. When I call my credit union during business hours, I get a human being after just one menu selection, and when I walk into my credit union's branch, the teller knows me by name.

Try Valley National Bank sometime, if you're not a customer they will refuse to cash the check and refer you to your own bank to deposit it.

Of course, they also give you the option of opening an account with them.

They did this to me with a check written against my mother's account. My mother worked for Valley National at the time.

Try depositing the check into your ATM. No fingerprints or fee required.

Every bank in Pittsburgh charges now if you're not a member of their bank. Only do business with your bank. I've never had to wait more than the next business day for money to be in my account. What I hate is that I have to pay to use another bank's ATM machine. So I get charged from the (usually $2-3 a transaction) and then my bank charges me for using someone else. Unfortunately this is common unless you have a checking account balance of over $2500. What bugs me is the lack of quality online banking tools.

If you want to see greed in action in the banking system, let your balance get low enough to cause an overdraft. The overdraft protection kicks in and they reap rewards that border on 'criminal'.
I had an OD caused by my deposit being held for a three day period due to an out of state check. One small purchase with my debit card cost me a $28 OD fee which caused an even bigger negative balance.
Without knowing about the problem I continued to use my debit card...small purchases like gas and ebooks were costing me an extra $28 each time.
They automatically pay themselves first so the charges build up rapidly. I paid $390 for around $310 of my debit card purchases. The overdraft and the charges were all created by their fees...they created the problem and I paid for it. That's about a 100% rate for the use of the money that they actually took from me. It's outrageous!
Try cancelling the overdraft protection! They spit in your face.
Why do we use banks? they pay a whopping 1% interest on those deposit accounts and charge you around 3% to use the account.
Add the other fees into it and it becomes expensive.
Add the snotty superior attitudes of the employees and it becomes insane.

I left B of A because I didn't like the way I was treated after asking questions due to an international deposit. I'm happy to have my money at a smaller bank where the tellers actually know my name.

Great post!

*CHEERS*

Here's a specific way that we can use Social Media:

I started a DearCEO hashtag today, which you can add to via Twitter anytime.

Whenever any of us have gripes about unremarkable service, you can prefix your tweets with #DearCEO. Think of it as Micro Letters to the CEO that all of us can keep on writing.

http://twemes.com/dearceo

Your letter could have been addressed "Dear Chase" and its MY BANK! Millions of dollars in advertising, tons of promotions, all brought to the customer through poor customer service. They really just don't get it, do they?

chris has some bite today, i love it =)

I understand yours and others' frustrations with big banking, although my experience with BofA has been OK.

But I don't understand why you'd go to BofA and not your bank to deposit the check, or why not drop it in an ATM?

Banks have been charging fees upon fees upon fees if you breathe their air without being a customer for a long time. I'm not saying it's right, but it shouldn't take you by surprise and ruin your day.

That reminds me of something my bank does that is funny. Once in a while I will do a job and someone will give me the check in my business name...it's just a name I use for my web development work and so I don't really have an account.

If I take it to the teller - they will not cash or deposit it, because it is a third party check. But if I walk to the lobby and put that same check into my ATM - they put it in without question.

It a different situation, but similar. Just too funny, you would think it would be better that I was talking to them in person vs. dumping it into the ATM.

Uh...this just in...this is not an isolated event for Bank of America...

http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/001...

While I hate to see blogs become negative, this is the age of 2.0, for consumers to get a chance to speak their peace. It will be interesting to me to see how Bank of America handles this, Chris. You'll have to keep us in the loop.

I've shared this with you via Twitter once, but for the rest of you who have not seen this classic piece of BOA history...it's worth a look. Bono eat your heart out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qAuqq1LFnU

Why didn't you cash the check at your nearest Provident Bank location?

I am a Sovereign Bank customer -- since 2004. It's a large network but the customer service is top-notch and there are enough ATMs around the eastern seaboard that I'm content. I enter the teller floor every other month to withdraw $50 in quarters for laundry money.

I once signed up for a BofA account through a link that promised $100 sign up bonus. Not only did I never get it, they demanded that I prove to them that I had clicked such a banner. And to boot, I paid $4.95 for 2 months in service charges while waiting.

AND, I had a credit card with them and made a transfer to it, so I changed the way I handled payments from the full balance to the minimum. They didn't make the change until the NEXT month, which caused my checking to be overdrawn. Never again. Never again.

I cashed my pay-check from a man at his bank for two years, until one day his bank decided to charge me a three dollar service charge ( on his debt to me ). I owed him three hundred dollars for a truck I was buying from him, and decided to charge him one hundred dollars/month ( service charge on my debt to him ), unless he paid me in cash ( with a receipt ). He refused, I quit.

His bank changed their policy when his mother tried to cash one of his checks there.

Frankly, I'm surprised they'd cash the check at all. Here in Pittsburgh I know that National City (just bought by PNC) would not cash it's own checks when I tried several years ago. WaMu didn't get understand the problems with charging excess fees, so when they were failing they didn't lower their banking fees (to get new customers), but raised their credit card rates north of 30%.

Due to crazy fees by Citizens to use my check card via PIN, I've gone with eTrade Bank. At least they are being good to me.

I guess I'm the opposite because, and I've written about this on my blog many times, BofA has on more than 6 occasions risen well above other banks for my wife and myself. Whereas our local CU, Sovereign Bank and Cambridge Savings completely failed us several times and treated us as if our money was not worth their time. In just the past six months I've moved all of our accounts to BofA, particularly after one of the worst experiences I've ever had at the hands of ING.

So perhaps here is the true problem with BofA...inconsistency across their branches. My local branch in Boston rocked and my new local branch in Austin kicks butt. However they are obviously not training folks correctly across the gamut to ensure a consistent experience. Big companies can do great customer service, but if they do it inconsistently they will always be viewed as poor service providers.

/kff

That's ridiculous. It's amazing how far behind corporations are when it comes to customer inter-action. You would never see something like that from small business owners. Corporations just think they can do whatever they want. Seems like that's what got us into this economic mess in the first place.

Just responding to one of the other posters... Valley Nat. Bank (VNB) is one of the worst. Look at their new account check deposit policies... I lived in their HQ's town that had 13 branches. Three of those branches were within 1/4 of a mile. They were on the brink of financial disaster a few years ago because, I believe, they had too many rarely used branches and customer disservice policies.

Chris:

Great post. I have a Bank of America credit card and it's the one place anymore that charges for transaction downloads/online banking anymore.

Ridiculous.

Kevin

I signed up for a BOA account just before moving cities. With no banks in my new city, the friendly gentleman who opened the account for us (let's call him Victor O.) told us we'd be able to cash checks at the ATMs. Of course, this turned out to be wrong.

However, and much worse, we signed up for a JOINT credit card. When I couldn't access the info online, they told me it was because I was an "authorized user" and not a "co-owner" (apparently this was entered incorrectly by Victor). To become a co-owner they had to CANCEL my card, and I had to reapply to be added. My reapplication was denied because I didn't have a job (having JUST moved to a new city).

Victor O. has failed to respond to repeated emails and phonecalls.

Um, yeah.

As I type this, my wife opened a letter from them "we have made arrangements for you to try..." some BS protection service that her and I will eventually be charged for automatically.

As soon as my new credit card comes...GOODBYE BOA. Forever.

Love the rant, down with Bank of America!

In all seriousness, you are right, nobody should have to pay $6 just to cash a check. Small banks are great, they give a shit about each customer.

Well done.

Please don't stop at BOA. I work for Wells Fargo, an equally evil and absurd company. I am a personal banker which means I am supposed to SELL everything I possibly can to EVERY customer I talk to. That's right, I'm supposed to sell credit cards and identity theft to the little old grandma who comes in to balance her checkbook once a month. The teenager who can't manager their money? Credit card. I hate my job, but it's paying bills right now. When I took this job, I had a picture in my head of what a banker used to be and was shocked at what it had become. I am basically a sleazy used car salesman, except I sell checking accounts and other crap to people who don't really need it.
The problem with customer service at these giant banks is the lack of education they provide to their employees. All reps are sent through an academy where they learn selling skills for 6-8 weeks and at the end they spend 2-3 days learning about policies and products. You can't get a correct answer from a rep, because they don't know. Wells Fargo has a service number for bankers to call when they need help with something. The problem though is that Wells Fargo bankers are not taught anything about banking, they are told that if they need to know anything like that to: just call Banker Connection.

Chris,

This is a great example of another case of tribal abuse that leads to tribal destruction. Sometimes I really worry about today's business leaders......

After years of bad service, I left Bank One, and walked around the corner, literally (because banks are that close in Indy) to National Bank of Indianapolis. This is a small bank, built on customer service

They won me over with a pleasant greeting, an amazingly simple process to transfer my accounts, fresh coffee, and homemade brownies. (Jackie brings in home made brownies 4 day a week.)

After 10 years, they keep my business, because of their personal service.

Lol, that’s a good one. It’s a shame that Bank of America is making it difficult for people to interact and do business with them, instead of making it easier.

I had the same experience. I explain to my customers ( I am networking consultant), that we do not accept Bank of America checks. After explaining why to one client, they called their loan officer at BofA and had him deliver the $1,207.00 in cash over his lunch hour.

Right on Chris and it will only get worse as the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan (bailout is the real term) provides money for the likes of BoA and the other to big to fail scamers to buy other banks. Just look at PNC Financial Services, they used some of the $7.7 billion they got in taxpayer money to purchase Cleveland-based lender National City for $5.8 billion on Oct. 24. Whatever happened to the public interest? Non even a consideration for these scumbags, they just keep sticking it to us.
It's time for the public to speak with their wallets and go back to community banks, credit unions. Vest in your town and those who you know.

I saw the ink pads last time I was in there. It was pretty funny to watch customers reactions when they were asked to dip their thumbs in the ink.

The company that does our payroll also just switched from Bank of America to a new bank. My check was on hold for so long I could have just gone and cashed my next paycheck at the new bank.

I liked Bank of America in the past because they're everywhere. Now that I'm always local they suck.

That's astounding! There's no way I'd have paid it, and they certainly wouldn't have gotten my thumb print; there's absolutely no way. Nope, they don't want your business at all; mine either.

Unfortunately that is the way of Mega-Corporate-Conglomorate-Financial-Institutions these days... BOFA isn't alone in this stupidity. I've banked with Wells Fargo for years, much to my own displeasure, it seems it's always been more incovieniant to switch away than to continue to put up with their idiocy. While I commend Wells on attempting to reach out to consumers with Employee Blogs, the actual rules they implement go far to cancel out any goodwill that might have been created by these programs. I have a business account for my restaurant through Wells Fargo, one that I pay for each month to store my money... Each day of the week that they are open I make a deposit consisiting of cash and checks, as I'm fairly certain that's what the account is for, but here's the kicker, if I deposit over a certain amount (still a mystery to me what that amount is) of cash each month, they bill me a "CASH DEPOSIT FEE" ranging between $6 - $10. There are no fees for the Credit Card monies deposited, which makes up approx 50% of my business each month, only the cash. If I make a big enough fuss, the branch manager has it within his power to refund this money they steal from me each month, however if I don't they just continue to take. They also charge my employees a $5 fee, (those without a Wells Fargo account) to cash their paychecks, even though they are processed through Wells Payroll services (that I pay for each month), drawn on my Wells Fargo bank account (that I pay for each month) which creates even further distaste for their company. The only conclusion I've come to is that they don't care, about my business, about your business, nor about gaining new customers... The only thing they care about is continuing to collect absurb fees and continuing to make their frontline staff take the heat for their crappy policies.

I guess I'm going to be on of the oddballs here and say that I've had a more than pleasant experience with Bank of America. Not only have I been treated with great respect at every branch in our area (I usually do not look or smell very nice due to the nature of my job). Many times they have gone above the call of duty to assist me, my wife, my father-in-law, and mother-in-law. I have even had great experience with resolution on the rare account errors.

This was not the case with some of the more ";ocal" banks that I dealt with before.

I suppose that is the problem with anecdotal evidence though.

Wow, scathing review. But I have to agree.

I you think BOA is bad, you should try dealing with my phone company, it's become a comedy of errors.

Their inability to carry out simple changes/requests and their expertise at pi$$ing me off has convinced me to change to a net based phone.

Thank gawd I don't pay my phone bill at Bank Of America, I'd be totally screwed. Fortunately we have social media to blow off steam and spread the word!

Agree. I tried to do business with them and opened a small business account. After finding out they required a two week hold on my customers' checks before I could access them I promptly closed my account and returned to Manufacturers Bank.

I'm confused on why you didn't deposit the check at your own bank? I have been banking with BOFA for over 15 years and have always had excellent service. Whenever I've had an unknown fee that I was unaware of or incurred by accident they have always been more than accommodating in reversing the fee. I understand your frustration with BOFA but I've run into the same problem with other banks that I don't belong. With that said I think this is an issue that could happen with any bank that you are not a member of.

I know it doesn't make sense, but that's a pretty universal truth. If you have a check to cash, you take it to your bank not the one it's drawn on. I bank with B of A and I have found that the level of customer service varies with the branch manager. Some never leave their desks and never look up to see what's going on. Others are out on the floor helping customers, especially on busy days. If you find a good banker, follow him or her whever they go.

If you take a check to your own bank and it bounces, you not only lose that money but get hit with a fee. If you take it to the bank it was drawn on, then only the person who wrote the check takes the hit. But some banks are trying to get some kind of cash up front, whereas all they have to do is check the account to verify that the funds are there or not.

I actually like BofA, but maybe I bank differently. I don't go to the bank's physical location and am a premier member, so I guess that means I get more benefits than "other" members. I agree it's not really fair, but if I go to another bank to cash a check, they would also charge me for taking money out of their circuit.

Like Carolyn, I agree, service varies. There are good bankers and bad bankers. Banks all suck these days, which is why I do everything online and over the phone. I only go to the bank to deposit checks.

I'm surprised to see this post from you, Chris, mostly because I think while we have social media at our fingertips, your posts are usually more even handed. Certainly, BofA could do more to change their policies, though, to not alienate prospective, and currently "non" customers.

I have the same feelings for Wells Fargo and I will never EVER use them for anything. I bank at a small credit union here in Salt Lake City instead of with one of the big names, and their service is always outstanding.

Ohhhh yeah. I recently was doing some writing work for a website in FL and they sent me a freekin check on Wachovia bank. Same thing happened. Except they said that they would take 2% or $15 whichever was greater? What a damn ripoff!

I bank at a small local credit union, and I will NEVER again do any business with Wachovia or Regions Banks!!!

hysterical and right on the money. (oh sorry, that was lame) i have had two of the most infuriating customer service experiences in the last week. thinking of posting about customer service rage. perhaps if enough of us do this they will start listening and change behaviors.

or not.

I had considered BOA a few times in the past because our primary billing agent for our business is PayPal, which I hate like nobody's business, but they've been until this point, a necessary evil. BOA is supposed to have fantastic e-commerce/subscription solutions, ideal for our company. So their website's invasive "do you want to chat? someone is standing by" dohickey put me in touch with someone who talked to me for an hour, knew they had my serious interest, promised me a ton of answers to my questions, and never ever got back to me. I wrote to the contact address they gave me. I checked the spam filter for weeks before I gave up on it. Yeah. They *really* want my business. I came them on a day when I was the most disgusted with PayPal and I was ready to make the leap. They blew it.

Between that experience, your post, and ~50 comments above mine? No thank you.

Customer service??? The death and burial of the fine art of customer service took place a decade or more ago! There IS no such thing anymore in the US.

I am surprised to learn that the American banking system has come to this. I mean, fingerprint.... Unheard of in Europe - or, well, in Northern Europe at least.

The fee for cashing a check is understandable.

But wouldn't it be much better to deposit that check in your own bank - at no cost to you? Or isn't that possible in the US?

Finally, thank you for sharing. You reminded me of back in the day when we still used checks. In fact I haven't seen a check since 2003.

Best regards

Michael Leander
Copenhagen, Denmark

Well, the fact is that I write for a living and a lot of the places that I write insist on paying by check. If the check is out of state it can take up to 3 weeks to clear and actually be deposited into my own account, whereas if I can take it to the bank it is written on I can cash it and just deposit the cash in my account and presto, it's there immediately.

And I have had my bank hold a check from an Australian company one time for 60 days!

I was self-employed in the piano tuning business for over 20 years. During that time I only received one NSF check from a customer and it was on BofA. My customer was a small businessman who had both his business and personal accounts with "them". As it turned out, he had written his weekly draw on his business account, made out the deposit to his personal acct., taken it in, and B of A had deposited it back to his business acct! They fixed it for him promptly when he called them on it, and he replaced the check with cash.

I bank with a regional bank, do most of my transactions either online or with my checkcard as a POS credit transaction. If anyone is using B of A I would say check for a hometown bank or area bank and use them.

In Finland we do most of our banking online.
Private and company.
You can transfer money, pay bills, open new accounts, buy stocks...
Only if you need to sign something, new credit card etc. you need to go to the bank.

But services in are expensive in Finland too...

I agree with the idea that one shouldn't have to pay six bucks and give up a thumb print to cash a check...however, with so many unethical people nowadays passing bad checks, and identity fraud they have to re-coup their lost money some kind of way.

Corrisa

Yes, Bank of America sucks! I figured that out a long time ago and have never banked with them since. Their fees are ridiculous and they have the most backwards policies that are the best example of customer non-service I have ever seen.

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Kofi Ali.+233275057155.

Interesting. I guess I would expect the worst in *any* branch of *any* bank with possible exception of WaMu so if this happened no big deal. I've banked online for the last six years exclusively at ETRADE Bank and have found it to be excellent. You just mail checks in and they're deposited within a couple days. They refund ATM fees from any bank. Their online banking interface is the best and when I relocate (moved 5x in last 10 years) I don't have to change a thing.

The power of the blog: nice one Chris Brogan. The truth is, the US banking system is so far behind the rest of the world. Wells Fargo took nearly two months to deposit a UK cheque during which time the exchange rate changed so much I lost 3,000 dollars. I opened a BofA account when first moving here in '96 - they spent months trying to persuade me to take out their visa credit card only to tell me after an hour sitting through the application that I couldn't have one because I wasn't a citizen! Such an intelligent sales process .. I now use Peoples Bank here in NC. The employees and the service are incredible!

That is a terrible customer experience and I would have been pissed as well.

But me personally have had good experience with BoA. They are much better than Fleet ever was, but looks like my banking needs are quite different. I have never been to a physical location in a while, but whenever I have called their customer service, they have been really helpful including refunding late charges I was charged because the check send by them did not reach the payee on time.

But then, the main reason I have not switched banks is because of the pain involved in having to readd all of the payee information with any other bank. So in a way I am a captive customer as well.

These bank issues are becoming more and more the norm; and as someone who lives on the border with DE and have tons of friends now working for Bank of America after they bought out MBNA, I can say their own employees aren't all that thrilled with how they are treated as part of the family- it's pretty bad even when you work for the home team.

The thing is, once you have money, you can set up your banking relationship so things like overdrafts are next to impossible to get charged for. Even in these changing times, I have a free safety deposit box, overdraft protection, link all my accounts together, etc. But you are required to have high minimums at the bank.

The point here is that banks are triaging their customers out, just like the health care insurers who want to drop the sick people-they want the people who are easy to deal with, who they never have to see at the branch, and get rid of high need and high use customers- and I bet you'll see more and more of this, opening up a real opportunity for banks willing to deal with people who occasionally bounce a check. I mean, even the way the banks are no clearing checks electronically removes any float, so people can't figure out exactly when to mail/clear/balance and this makes bouncing a check so much easier to do, by accident, churning fees and making money for the bank.
Bank fees in and of themselves are getting to the point where I think they are a class and civil rights issue- we penalize the poor and make those willing to leave big balances in the bank rewarded by freebies- when they probably don't need them as badly as the people with less money to in the first place.

good points, glad youre exposing the horrors of the bank of america. its a good thing we all dont go to hell for things like charging $6 for a thumbprint though, a little over the top.

You're an idiot. Grow up and stop crying.

"You don’t want my business" - You're not giving them your business. If you were a customer, you wouldn't have a charge or have to provide a fingerprint.

"You don’t trust me" - No they don't. And they have no way of verifying a signature since you're not a customer with a signature on file. If it's fraud, they have absolutely nothing to provide the police. At least this way they have a fingerprint, which can help get you and is undeniable proof in court.

"You don’t want me doing business with that customer any more" - If I were that customer, I'd be thrilled that my bank is protecting my account so vigilantly.

I don't know why all these previous commentators are saying that this is "horrible customer service" They seem to be forgetting that you're NOT a customer of BOA. Banks are dealing with people's hard earned money, and they have to take steps to protect it...95% of the fraud cases that happen inside of bank branches comes from non-customers walking in off the street to cash a check. Banks have to take steps like that to stop it.

What is Provident's policies for non-customers? You don't know, because you're a customer.

Quit your bitching and move on with your life.

My disclaimer: I do work for a bank, it's not BOA.

Lordy, don't get me started. I miss the mom and pops - I'll actually look for a mom and pop store, bank or what have you before heading out to Home Depot or CVS.

My grandma owned small gift and school supply shop in Elmhurst Queens, NY. She knew all of her customers, all of her customers' kids, and eventually their grandchildren. Every time I go back to the old neighborhood people remember my grandmother and her store, but they mostly remember how she always remembered them. I think banks and other large businesses need to take a lesson from business owners from back in the day.

I miss walking into hardware shops and people addressing me by name and asking after my parents, or going to the drugstore and having the pharmacist prepare my prescription before I even get to the counter. I especially miss being able to go to the bank and not having to produce my first born in order to have access to my account. I get security but some things are more important. Now it's all about suggestive selling and new accounts. I don't care how much big businesses go on about personalized customer service - it's not happening.

Long time BoA customer here, actually I was a Fleet customer before BoA bought it over and BoA just plain sucks. The only positives to the whole thing is my local branch has great tellers and easy to use online bill pay.

Other than that the worst is over draft charges which they recently upped to $35 a pop. Okay if I screw up balancing my checkbook, I gotta pay the piper but not the way BoA does it. They purposely process the largest transactions first so there's a greater chance of smaller transactions bouncing. Let me rephrase that: Say your balance is: $100
you have three debit transactions come through the same day, one for $90, another for $15, and yet another for $20. BoA will purposely process the $90 transaction first in order to charge you $35 a pop for each for the $15 and $20 one.

Pure rip off artists if you ask me.

Dan, most banks do that now even though they say they don't. When I had PNC they did that to me all the time. Personally I think PNC is the biggest group of crooks. They returned my honeymoon check to my travel agent even though the funds were there. When I asked why, the manager actually said I should learn to balance my checkbook even after I pointed out I had more than enough money to cover it. He said it must be a glitch.

I also had my ID stolen because of a breach of their security. The thief paid utility bills with my account. PNC did nothing because "it's under $5000" even though we had the persons home address.

I also ran into a problem where my current bank charged me a NSF fee of $39 when my account was never overdrawn. Took me 4 calls and over a week to get refunded the money.

I discovered the same policy after my son informed me they wanted to charge him to cash his paycheck. It was written from the account of a local Nashville business that had been around for decades. My son had a checking account at a small community bank and we had just moved back into Nashville. He had choices..leave his account where it was and drive a few extra minutes or open an account closer to home. What _was not_ an option was a BofA account. Their crappy policy , designed as they put it "to encourage people to open checking accounts at BofA" had just the opposite effect...good plan guys!. He chose Avenue Bank here in Nashville and it was a perfect choice but it made me think "hey , what about the others?" How many minimum wage employees get charged weekly? What policies do they have in place for low income families? And since this particular branch was on the same corner as a bus stop, were they willing to consider that not every person owns a car and has the luxury of driving to a different bank? BofA was not able to offer anything in the way of policies and I am not able to suggest anyone do business with them. I learned to ask more from my bank...beyond the policies that apply to me....to learn what they do for _everybody_

If there's ever an industry that could benefit from social media and listening, it's banking. I had similar experiences with Fleet Back before they were acquired by the BofA bigger fish. I went to Citizens Bank, which is in a way like the Avis rental car of old - "we're #2 but we try harder." The main reason for my switch was fees for everything under the sun. It got to the point that I thought I was getting fees just for going to a bank teller in person.

Are any banks listening? Someone must have emailed this post and comment stream to a PR person by now... I'd love some sort of official response.

Hi Steve the banker,

If you want to comment on this blog, please be professional. Calling Chris an "idiot" is not professional. BTW, with your unprofessional attitude of calling people names, you are not welcome here.

I know this is Chris's blog but knowing how nice a person Chris is, he will not tell you to back off. But sometimes his fans have to stand up for him and I am. We learn so much from this blog that we want to maintain professionalism here. You are welcome to post points that do not agree with the blogger, but as long as it is professional. Different perspectives are always welcome in the social media.

I wish you would reveal your bank's name so that we know where not to bank. By your response, are you not actually showing the same attitude BoA is showing? Would I want to be served by you - NO. Bear in mind, without these customers, you will not be banking.

Gopal

Bank of America has perhaps the most dim-witted, anti-business, non-customer responsive banking model on the planet.

Can we get a Seth Godin profile on "What Not to Be As A Bank Attempting to Service the Public"....

Chris, sorry you went through that and yes, return all payments to make a statement. We've done that for years and it's a great thing.

How unfortunate that as taxpayers we have to shoulder even one red cent to this clowns. It used to be a great brand many moons ago but now....just banking buffoons or should I say bofa-oons...LOL!

What's with the fingerprint?? I think its so payday lending...probably scanning for future database or to match up with GITMO guests. GOOD LUCK!

What is it with big banks? I agree with you Chris. They clearly don't want your business and that's unfortunate.

John P. Kreiss
MorganSullivan, Inc.
http://wwww.morgansullivan.com

Your experience, unfortunately, rings true Chris. The bigger the bank, the smaller the customer is to to them. Last I heard I didn't think banks were in the position to treat customers so poorly.

Many of my friends have gone to Credit Unions, who they say are vastly superior in efficiency, customer service and banking in general.

Since moving we've had to consider changing our bank from Wells Fargo - after reading your post, I think we'll be passing on Bank of America.

Thanks!

I have a great relationship with PNC- I have gotten some unwarranted charges, but I went into my local branch, talked to the manager, and they solved it right away. Likewise, in terms of security, they flagged a check my husband wrote, because his signature had deteriorated so much, it no longer matched the signature card! (I write all the checks here... I'm CFO!) It was a nuisance, but I felt like they were looking out for us, so I'm pretty happy.
The point here is that my local branch managers have made sure that any problems or unusual issues are resolved quickly and easily, and this customer service keeps me happy and keeps me from switching banks.
Good customer service and attention makes the mistakes just "cost of doing business" instead of a make or break issue. It smooths out the rough spots.

AMEN! I cannot believe the structure that banks are using to crank out these unwarranted fees. I'm seriously thinking a safe under my bed or digging a hole in the back yard and burying my money is looking like a better option now a days.

@Steve (not really Steve) - I'm an idiot because I'd prefer to be treated better by a business? Clearly.

Do I resent the fingerprint? Absolutely. Other places that aren't banks also don't have my signature on file, and yet they accept my signature. Further, does the bank have my fingerprint on file? No. So, then how will that help unless there's perhaps a court case? (Maybe that's the deal, but then that presumes the worst up front, n'est pas?)

So, to quote Toys R Us, I don't want to grow up, if your version of growing up means accepting service that I deem inappropriate. I'm crying all the way to the (other) bank.

Amen! I also bank with a local bank here in Chicago and refuse to do business with BOA or CHASE because of all of the hidden charges.

Angry. Stupid. Irrational. Emotionally flawed. I am all of these things for not following you sooner, Chris... Loved the passionate post.

Deon

"I’m an idiot because I’d prefer to be treated better by a business?"

It doesn't sound like they treated you poorly. They weren't rude to you. They have policies that are in place for a very good reason and you're upset at them. That's not treating you poorly.

"Other places that aren’t banks also don’t have my signature on file, and yet they accept my signature."

Well, yes...like you said, they're not banks. If you don't work for a bank you don't have any idea how much fraud goes on. It's unfortunate, but we have to take measures to protect our customers money.

Yes, the fingerprint is only used in the event of a court case, but it's also been exceedingly useful as a fraud deterrant.

"if your version of growing up means accepting service that I deem inappropriate"

Again, it doesn't seem like there was anything wrong with the service, it seems that you are adverse to the bank policy. Customer service and bank policy are two seperate things (and the people who work in a branch have no control over policy, which everybody should remember before being rude to them).

Like it or not, non-customers walking into a bank attempting to cash a check drawn on that bank is the single largest form of fraud we face on a day-to-day basis, and you are always going to have to provide additional identification and you'll usually pay a fee. It's usually easier to just cash it or deposit it at your bank to avoid all the hassle.

I couldn't get my money out of boa and into a local bank fast enough. Bastards would hold my paycheck from a well known international company for a week, while finding excuses to charge me fees so that when they did give me my money, they kept some. I could deposit a check from one of my other banks and see that it was cleared in one or two days at the most, but they still held my my money hostage for 5 days. They will also allow you to take cash out of an ATM when your account doesn't have cash in it. Now what kind of business would give you money from an account that they KNOW has nothing in it, or pay out a charge on an account with nothing in it. Their excuse...we wouldn't want to embarrass you by declining your card. NO...YOU WANT TO CHARGE ME THE OVERDRAFT CHARGE! (I wonder how fast they would be bitching if I held my payments to them...oh yeah, they would just add charges on.) I won't even go into the fact I am asked for my social security number, yet an illegal alien w/o one is able to open an account...

Bastards
of
America

Chase does this too and I find it very annoying. They once charged me $6 to cash one of their own money orders that I received.

@Steve - okay, that's true. It is the policy not the actual carrying out of the policy that I disagree with.

And yet, as evidenced by the hubbub in this tiny little blog, you'll note that I'm not alone in my feelings on the perception it's left me with. Should a bank change because someone perceived a policy made them feel unwanted?

I guess we'll see.

I understand that the preferred process is to deposit the check in my bank, have both banks bounce the funds back and forth or whatever they do for a handful of days, and then give it to me when they're good and ready. Given that this was a situation where I was leaving the country nearly immediately, I couldn't quite wait.

Was that worth the perception based on the policy?

I dunno. Still say no.

Hi Chris,

This is both interesting and disturbing. My experiences with my previous bank (the late WaMu) were so consistently nightmarish that I moved to BofA after angrily closing my WaMu account one day and then realizing I needed to hurry up and find a new bank (BofA happened to be directly across the street). I didn't think I'd stay with them for long based on the horror stories I've heard, but as it turned out, the various minor problems I've had have been almost a relief compared to what I was used to and what I was expecting.

I say "interesting" because it occurs to me that while my BofA experience has been unacceptable by almost any reasonable standards, I've accepted it because the banking industry has created such low expectations going in. That's just sad.

And I say "disappointing" because any poor soul I've written a check to might be having to go through what you described. But now that I think about it, I almost never write checks anymore anyway (aside from the rent check, nearly everything else is paid electronically in one way or another). Your experiences will probably make me even less likely to write checks going forward - particularly to individuals.

Chris,

I'm a surprised you would take this stance - coming from someone who positions himself a veteran of technology to build digital relationships.

Rather than sending the check back to the sender, why not educate the sender about BofA's online direct deposit check payment program?

I'm not a customer, but I have out of state partners who make their payments to me this way; no checks, no waiting for the mail, no need to go to a BofA branch - the payment is made to my account right away, and its available.

You make a good point, too. Perception is reality.

I'm not really sure how this situation could be changed, though. The extra ID and the fingerprint are quite necessary.

The fee obviously isn't necessary and that COULD be changed. Frankly, the main reason it's there is to get people to open accounts. I can't tell you how many people come to the bank to cash their check every week - paying that fee each time - until they finally decide to just open an account.

I also want to apologize for calling you an idiot before. I happen to work in a position at my bank where I spend a lot of my time dealing with upset customers, and it can get under your skin a bit. It was rude of me - especially anonymously over the internet - and I apologize.

Response Specially Designed for "Steve"

Steve,

Everything about your postings magnify the issues even further. Fraud is such a huge problem...try less than 1% of all transactions! Banks and bank tellers are incorrectly trained to try to manage risk by basically treating nearly all customers like criminals. Not only unmerited but what other business segment carries on like this?

I'm gathering from your tone and content that you're one of the Bank of America PR stooges...there are many layers of that plus they hire outside media consultants to help massage away the rough spots. Read the news lately? Most of the so-called fraud is from insiders NOT the average Joe six-pack walking in to cash a small amount check.

You mention that you work with many upset customers...I wonder why? Perhaps its the third-degree given to consumers while Wall Street-types walk away with billions and nobody asks them from additional fingerprinting and fees....and if they do...the average consumer pays their way too.

May I suggest you seek employment in companies away from the deck-of-cards financial world? Maybe you'll deal with less complaints. I personally suspect you enjoy the implied power you have over honest, hardworking folks. Bank of America is truly pathetic. Good luck working there.

@ Ellen:

I don't know who ya are, hon, but I think I'm in love!

@Ellen

I don't work for BOA. I can't stand Bank of America. But you're free to think what you want.

I used to bank with BoA, both personal and business accounts. 3 checking accounts, credit cards, ATM cards...quite a lot of business. I was never "happy" about the fees, service, etc. but it was reasonably acceptable. Then a few years ago it seemed like they made some major policy changes. They started putting holds on deposits for 10 days (does it really take 10 days for checks to clear, I don't think so), they started charging fees for fees, at least it seemed like it. The final straw was an incident with a cashiers check (you know, guaranteed funds) from my business partner. We moved some funds from one non-BoA account to our operating account to fund a time sensitive investment...when I deposited the cashiers check they didn't say anything but put a 10 day hold on the funds. Two days later when I tried to send an international wire transfer they informed me of the hold and refused to remove it. I spent the better part of 3 days trying to make sense out of their actions both on the phone and in person and eventually got the hold removed...no apology or explaination. Holding certified funds did it for me. I moved all my accounts to Union Bank of CA, a smal bank, not some many branches but they're friendly, they don't charge me for everything and their policies are reasonable and consistent.

@Steve - I've got a customer service background. I quite understand what it's like. We get many opportunities to see the more interesting humans in the world. No worries. Your contributions actually got me to think a bit more about it. I didn't change my mind, but it certainly helped me hone my thoughts in a better sense.

Thanks!

But wow..90-something comments, most of them angry about the state of policies and customer service perception (definitely the perception).

Amazing, eh?

Of course they don't want your business. They're Bank of America. I closed my account with them a year or so ago.

Chris,
I couldn't agree with you more. Sadly, I must say that I am a Bank of America customer and will be switching very soon. They have done nothing but piss me off with their uninformed operators, slow banking transactions, holds on checks, and a genuine sense that they really don't care if they lose me as a customer or not. They are way too big. They are gobbling up every floundering bank and mortgage company. This is getting out of hand. They are one of the most powerful banks in our Nation, right up there with Chase. I'm taking my business to Sterling Bank very soon.

Great Post.
Stay safe in your travels.
Keep on truckin.
You are an awesome person...

All my best,
J.P. Taylor
" 4four1ones "
#Gnomedex hallway conversator - meritflorist

I just sent you a check from Keybank. Let me know if you have the same problem, hehe.

Although historically I'd expect a bank to honor its check, according to

http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/faqs/banking_chec...

they don't have to (and can charge a fee even, they point that out alot). I get the idea that these sorts of things may protect against theft, but ultimately we're looking at checks just not being as useful as a medium of exchange. If I received a BoA check I may not accept it either (or expect an extra $6 and something to clean my finger) but in the long run checks may just become less used.

If you're a business, needless to say you should consider how your "business partners" impact your customer experience.

Ha! Enjoyed this one immensely. Had my own "Go to hell moment" with BofA last week and yes, I blogged it, too. Yeah, I'll admit most of my problem was my own fault. But many others caught by arbitrarily hiked credit-card interest truly are innocent victims.

BofA increasingly is reminding me of the early days of online banking, when my bank at the time wanted me to pay a fee to use the "service." How's that? You want to charge me more so you have the pleasure of never seeing my smiling face taking up teller time in your lobby? No, thanks!

BofA wants to charge you for everything just short of breathing in their office. And their check holds are ridiculous -- except when it's in their favor.

J.P. Taylor is absolutely right: Too big. Except I'd add "and too arrogant."

i've banked with BoA since i opened my first checking and savings accounts when i was 16. (also had VZW cell service since i first got a cell phone. i suppose i'm a creature of habit, but i digress.)

never had a problem with BoA customer service or their policies myself.

Señor Brogan:

FYI... Your blog post and everyone's comments are making the rounds at BofA...LOL. Nobody there, of course, knows what to do or say about that there DAMN SOCIAL MEDIA thingy!! hehe luv it.

Probably going to cause the top 10,000 BofA VPs to have to meet on this one. New mandate: require TWO thumbprints PLUS doubling of the check cashing fee to cover a new ad budget to combat this incorrect perception of bad customer service.

NOTE TO MR. STEVE: The new daily (and nude) bodyscans at the bank ultimately yield to faulty employee thinking. And they like it that way too. Keeps ya scared and cuts down on turnover costs.

I have banked in the same small town bank since I had my first newspaper route (25 years ago). Everyone who works there knows me. As I've moved around to various locations and jobs, I have had accounts with other banks for one reason or another (free accounts subsidized by employer, locally accessible ATM, etc) but I have always maintained and will always maintain my accounts with "my" bank. And although I've investigated investing in BoA, I've never considered becoming a customer (nor any of the other large corporates). You and the readers have validated this decision.

Oops - I'm mistaken. I have an account with Wells Fargo, but that was the result of them acquiring Norwest. Still corporate, but certainly not top tier like BoA, Citi, Chase, etc.

When banks start requiring rectal scans, I'm outta there!

Well Chris, your certainly opened a can of worms here! :) and thanks for doing it. I have an ongoing issue with SunTrust Bank and frankly have been afraid to use my 'social' voice to put it out there. I believe you have given me the courage! These large banks have their procedures. and while i understand the reasons for some of them, they strictly follow procedure and never consider the person.
Thanks for doing this!