I would highly recommend not using bank of america for your financial needs if you have other options in your area. I had an account only because they had purchased the smaller bank that I had an account at before and as long as nothing changed I had no problem keeping my account BA.
Originally the fact that I did not pay any fees in association with my account(checking or savings) kept me happy but once I started noticing charges for almost $10 a month on my account I went in to get an explanation because I was told that holdovers would be grandfathered in. I was informed that the policy has changed and now all account holders that did not meet minimum account balances requirements, ect would be charged a "nominal" fee. Well, to me that was not nominal considering that other banks I had seen advertising free checking accounts so I asked if there were any other options otherwise I would have to close my account and they then informed me that I qualified for a lower charge option and I decided to just leave my money where it was. The only reason I didn't change it then was because I had my IRA, checking, savings and debit card through BA and had those accounts saved to every credit card and bill that I had. Going through and changing all of those would have been more then a headache and a day's worth of work. I was pretty turned off by the fact that it took 3 visits before I was told about changing my account to the lower fee option though.
They go through "managers" like most businesses go through a Bj's size box of toilet paper....and I'm not kidding. That BJ's large size usually would last a businesses this size maybe 3-4 weeks I'd imagine. In the year that I started keeping track because the person I had been dealing with was transferred supposedly they had 8 different people in that role/title that I knew of and i'm sure there were other's since I obviously was not camping out at the bank. I know banks have a high turnover rate which is not a good thing for customers but that's just ridiculous. Everytime I started to feel comfortable with someone after explaining something that was wrong the next time I went in to follow up it was someone new and I'd have to explain all over again and deal with the anxiety of telling a stranger personal information.
Don't even get me started on the other fees that BA charges like overdraft fees of $39 per item, late fee of not covering the over charge of $39 and then it's something like $7 per day after that. So if you accidently went over your balance and purchased gum, gas and a soda that would be $117. Then if by chance you don't have it paid back ontime it's up to $156 and $7 each day after that. FOR $12 IN PURCHASES! You would think after explaining the situation most places would just simpily remove the charges or just charge the 39 initially if you can pay it off but nope it took me talking to 3 ppl to get this cleared up. Thank god I paid it 2 days later when I realized what happened or I'd have been in debt to them for life it seems. HAHA.
Do yourself a favor and just avoid this place.....a suggestion in my area is Greenfield Savings Bank, everyone from the manager to clerks to janitors are all great and more then helpful. Something like a fraudulent charge is cleared up within days I can count on 1 hand with the money credited back to my account within 24 hours. Now, THAT, is what banking should be!
Originally the fact that I did not pay any fees in association with my account(checking or savings) kept me happy but once I started noticing charges for almost $10 a month on my account I went in to get an explanation because I was told that holdovers would be grandfathered in. I was informed that the policy has changed and now all account holders that did not meet minimum account balances requirements, ect would be charged a "nominal" fee. Well, to me that was not nominal considering that other banks I had seen advertising free checking accounts so I asked if there were any other options otherwise I would have to close my account and they then informed me that I qualified for a lower charge option and I decided to just leave my money where it was. The only reason I didn't change it then was because I had my IRA, checking, savings and debit card through BA and had those accounts saved to every credit card and bill that I had. Going through and changing all of those would have been more then a headache and a day's worth of work. I was pretty turned off by the fact that it took 3 visits before I was told about changing my account to the lower fee option though.
They go through "managers" like most businesses go through a Bj's size box of toilet paper....and I'm not kidding. That BJ's large size usually would last a businesses this size maybe 3-4 weeks I'd imagine. In the year that I started keeping track because the person I had been dealing with was transferred supposedly they had 8 different people in that role/title that I knew of and i'm sure there were other's since I obviously was not camping out at the bank. I know banks have a high turnover rate which is not a good thing for customers but that's just ridiculous. Everytime I started to feel comfortable with someone after explaining something that was wrong the next time I went in to follow up it was someone new and I'd have to explain all over again and deal with the anxiety of telling a stranger personal information.
Don't even get me started on the other fees that BA charges like overdraft fees of $39 per item, late fee of not covering the over charge of $39 and then it's something like $7 per day after that. So if you accidently went over your balance and purchased gum, gas and a soda that would be $117. Then if by chance you don't have it paid back ontime it's up to $156 and $7 each day after that. FOR $12 IN PURCHASES! You would think after explaining the situation most places would just simpily remove the charges or just charge the 39 initially if you can pay it off but nope it took me talking to 3 ppl to get this cleared up. Thank god I paid it 2 days later when I realized what happened or I'd have been in debt to them for life it seems. HAHA.
Do yourself a favor and just avoid this place.....a suggestion in my area is Greenfield Savings Bank, everyone from the manager to clerks to janitors are all great and more then helpful. Something like a fraudulent charge is cleared up within days I can count on 1 hand with the money credited back to my account within 24 hours. Now, THAT, is what banking should be!
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