Several years ago, ten year old granddaughter Paige, in the spirit of American capitalism, opened a custodial savings account at her local Bank of America office with the $100 she saved. She hasn't touched it since.
Monday she received a letter from the home office stating her account had been closed and the bank wanted the $11.07 she owed. Her parents called to ask, huh?
Monthly account fees they were told, its our thanks for the Tarp funds. It shows up on your month statement.
Paige doesn't receive a statement, she went green years ago.
Tuff, pay up, or will sic the dogs on you, the voice on the phone intimated.
Today, Paige is going to school late so the local branch manager can tell a 10 year old why he stole her money. Mom stands ready to go "trailer trash" on them (dad's quote) if they don't give it back.
I'll let you know.
Toad
2 hours ago
Posts
16 comments:
Mom will be shown the agreement which (probably) she signed which allows all of this. Don't ever think that banking regulations have anything to do with giving a customer any rights. As an attorney, I am advising myself not to make any suggestions for proceding further as they all involve explosions of one size or another
I can go to the B of A ATM to deposit a check and it will read the amount and even give me a receipt with a picture. And yet they CANT somehow note that an account has been opened by a minor and waive fees in the interest of possibly growing a lifelong customer? That's ridiculous. I'll be very interested to know how this turns out.
i would call the branch mgr. and find the regional mgr's name and number and then call the regional mgr's office AND then the divisional mgr's office. i would raise holy hell with each office (in a polite sort of way) and be VERY firm in your resolve to take this all the way to consumer reporters/b of a board members, and within 2 days (several phone calls and a few letters), you WILL have your desired results.
having worked for a major lender for almost 7 years (and a law degree and a masters), the squeaky wheel ALWAYS gets oiled.
good luck!! - Jg.
Good for Mom!
Go get em mom! The old "we charge you excessive fees for the use of YOUR money" deal. Is it any wonder why people want to just blow money they have [or don't have] rather than have some fine print jockies take it with absolutely no benefit to them? And THEN get the billions more from us too...
GRRRR
ML
If all else fails, have Mom & Paige contact these folks and ask for some background on the company for the report Paige is going to write for school and post on Facebook and youtube about how BofA stole money from a child.
Bank of America Investor Relations
NC1-007-56-70
100 N. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28255
Tel: 704-386-5681
Fax: 704-386-6699
i_r@bankofamerica.com
I received a phone interview yesterday regarding BOA. They wanted my opinions on various aspects of BOA including fees, customer service etc... I took great pleasure in giving them 1's and 2's and an emphatic no when asked if I would recommend them to others. They could well be the lowest of the low.
That is horrible! I am so DONE with the banks and everything they have messed up as of late. Good luck to her mom as she has her Shirley Maclaine moment with the bank. ;)
We had a similar situation with HSBC. Of coarse they said that the we could have a "no fee" account if she had an average daily balance of $10,000. We are looking into the local banks now.
What about a letter to the editor of the local paper? I'm sad that this girl is in danger of taking up burying her wealth in tin cans in the back yard. Doubt the trailer trash move is likely to do much other than get them escorted out, unless she's really careful with it. My fingers are crossed for a reasonable (I won't try for happy) outcome.
As the mother of an 11-year-old "saver" my blood is boiling for Paige. I hope that as soon as her account is restored, she and her parents withdraw every cent and deposit the funds in a local bank or credit union! Oh, I am seething!
I thank each and everyone for their fighting words and encouragement. Paige's father has promised Paige will respond on the morrow.
Go get 'em! I have been banking with B of A for over twenty years and for the past five have been kicking myself. Strike a blow for all men and women (or have your wife do it; that's usually my plan).
B of A is a bunch of scumbags. I say this from much negative experience with them. I wont get into the story here but needless to say I am sure they wont last much longer. I've already seen several branches in my area close. The absolute only reason I have stayed with them is the fact they are the only readily available nation wide bank. I think TD bank is poised to take this position and as soon as they do, I'm out. Forget local news call up a national news network (on a slow news day) and let them know what happened. Then see what B of A does.
I will soon be closing my B of A accounts. I have a college checking account, same thing, they said no fees as long as the account remains active. So I was active with my account and I lost close to $100 due to the fact that they have a rule against transferring money too many times between your own accounts!
Another B of A horror story, my father's friend got passed counterfeit $100 and $50 dollar bills by the local B of A branch, and they refused to take them back! He protested and they went a step further to claim he counterfeited the bills and threatened to call the cops!
Number 1 son sent an email, which I enclose the relevant parts.
BofA: This is the worst company on the face of the planet. The people of our country should force the government to strip the word "America" from their name because they do not represent the interest of the American public one bit. They have been given their last opportunity to settle this in a polite manner, and wasted it. The media will be called in next. I have emailed a reporter from the paper that handles consumer protection. I am waiting to hear back. Unfortunately I won't get much chance to get to them untill Monday. Unfortunately for them I have the whole week off and nothing better to do. ---- ---- Just remember what happened to Savage Henry!
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