Bank of America Horror Story - Part 1

This is my tale of dealing with Bank of America credit card services. Bank of America’s tag line is “Higher Standards”. From an IT and customer services prospective, Bank of America must be measuring against some rather low standards.

On the 20th of every month I get the following email from Bank of America notify me that my credit card statement is ready. Normally I wait until the first of the month to deal with bills, but two months ago (July) I decided to pay right then and save a few dollars on interest.

I log onto their system and schedule a payment to come out that same day., and sure enough it comes out of my checking account. Everything is cool. On the 5th of August I am checking my other online banking accounts and accidentally login into my Bank of America account. I soon remember that I made the payment on 20th of June. However Bank of America shows that I still owe my July payment. How could this be? I dig around online and find they put my June 20th payment towards my June statement, even thought I had made that payment already. That’s odd, but banks do make mistakes and I thought a quick call to customer service can resolve the problem.

I talk to a Maria, who is very short with me, and explains that even though I got my statement on the 20th, I am not able to pay that bill until the 21st. This makes no sense, you send me a bill and say don’t pay it until tomorrow? Then why not wait until tomorrow to send me the freaking bill. I try to explain her that logic, but she doesn’t care and frankly I don’t blame her, she is a customer service rep not the IT director who thought of this brainiac idea. She goes on to tell me as “courtesy” she will have the payment applied to July’s payment. I didn’t lose my cool but I definitely told her that it wasn’t a courtesy if their system is screwed up. I was not impressed by customer service so I stayed on the line and took a survey about my experience. I was told after the survey that because my answers indicated I had an unpleasant experience I would get a call from a manager within two business days. I am still waiting on the call 2 months later.

The story doesn’t end there. Check back tomorrow when the online banking doesn’t reflect the payment being applied and a Bank of America rep tells me I owe $5 for July…

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Credit cards can cause a lot of hassle and inconvenience. To avoid this, you should probably look online to compare personal and business credit card options before you apply. While you think you may be making the right choice with a low interest credit card, there may be hidden fees you aren’t aware of. Research before you apply.

Written by Tim on September 20th, 2006 with 14 comments.
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