Nothing BoA does is ever a surprise to me.
I opened an account with them in CA so I could do online banking. The local bank, SeaFirst(BoA), could only do PC banking and I owned an Apple, so no go. I had the money automatically taken from my checking account. They mailed me a Check Card. It did not work, they tried to fix it, it did not work. I was sent a new Check Card, it did not work, they tried to fix it, it did not work. I said how can a check card not work, I had never had that happen before. How could the second one not work. I closed the account and simply kept my SeaFirst Account active. They told me they would have to mail me a check for the balance and it would take 30 days. I told them they took the money from my SeaFirst account, they could put it back in. They said no, I said do it, they said no, I said you better do it, they said no, I said it needed to happen immediately. They did it my way.
Remember this was a SeaFirst/BoA account. I would go to BoA when I moved to FL to make deposits. They would tell me I was at the wrong bank, I would assure them I wasn't, they would tell me I was, I told them to use the other system they have access to. They would tell me there was no other system. (No I couldn't make deposits at the ATM, that would make too much sense.) Finally they would talk to someone and admit they could. Then when I could make deposits at the ATM they lost my deposit. It did get fixed.
I had a credit card account with them. They changed how they processed payments and never told us. It caused a delay in posting. I could not pay it in the branch at BoA, only pay from my checking account. (I had to go to the bank and deposit and wait for a day or two for the money to become available.) They kept telling that soon I could. One day while I was making a deposit I asked if I could pay my card. A year or so of waiting and now I could, so I did. I called the credit card number from the courtesy phone in the bank and was told that the payment had posted, so I went back and paid more of the balance down. They lost both payments. Yes they eventually did figure it out, with a big mess in the mean time.
I decided to simply open a local account, even though I hated them and liked SeaFirst. Trust me, they were ran separately, but completely different. (I was told once why they were ran separately was because of a study done by BoA indicating if they changed the name it would result in people leaving the bank. Really? No surprise there.) So I got my Check Card from them and was using it. One day at the grocery store I was locked out of my account. I called after paying and leaving to find out why. I was told I made a deposit with no cash in the envelope. I remember that deposit quite well. I said there must be an error and they needed to properly investigate it. They did and found out I was not lying. The put the money back in my account. However, I was flagged as being a scammer and they would not reopen my Check Card. They admitted it was my fault, but could not remove the flag. I removed my money from the account.
I moved home to Michigan and opened an account with a bank I used to enjoy doing business with. BoA bought them, I closed my account.
I got a credit card from BoA. Never any auto luv, so I called in a few years after having it and asked if I wanted a CLI would it be a soft pull? I was told yes and went for it. They said congrats we are adding over $4000 to your limit. While I was still on the phone with them I got an alert and demanded the inquiry be removed to the same person who said it would not be a hard pull. Long story short and a few phone calls, they removed the inquiry. They also removed the CLI. They did not care that my credit portfolio supported one and that good customer service would mean leaving it at the limit it was. They said the law said they must do a hard pull and that the law also said that the increase would have to be taken back if the inquiry was removed. I told them I know what the law says and it does not say either of those things. They told me the law they were referring to was the FCRA, I told them so was I. I have not used the card since then. If they close it for any reason I do not care. After all I only got the card for the initial sign up bonus.
I don't even make any small occasional purchases with it to keep it open. I do with any other card I have, even my CapOne card gets the occasional small purchase. I do not care if they close the card, I do not care and won't ever care. I will only open a card with them with the intent of taking advantage of the signup bonus. I will go out of my way to take signup bonuses from them in the future. I won't do that with any other bank, unless they mail me something. If they mail me something sure, but with BoA I went out of my way to get that money.
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.....
Always follow these rules: Only take a HP for a new account. Always use the best rewards card for that reward category. Don't close a card unless you know you really should. Never use more than 35% of a credit limit. Recon as much and as best you can. Use the introductory period to the best advantage. Get the signup bonus. Whenever possible PIF or balance transfer so you pay less in interest. Never give an excellent rating when it is actually the norm. Always look for a discount as more is always better.
Always accept candy from strangers because they have the best candy or from people you know have good candy.
