Bank Of America Refunds $325 In Overdraft Fees To Customer Who Was On Cruise

Don’t say we never printed anything nice about you, BoA. One of your customers just had an experience with you that—despite still having an overdraft fee of $20 to pay—has left her feeling pretty good about you.

Kristina writes,

I am so happy with the customer service I just received from Bank of America that I wanted to write in and share.

I went on a Caribbean cruise at the end of February and had written a post-dated check to my roommate to cover my rent while I was gone (I had enough funds in my savings to cover the check, but I wanted to continue to earn interest. I was unaware that post-dated checks can be cashed before the date of the check – that was my error). Unfortunately, my roommate forgot (immediately) that I had asked her to wait to cash it until Feb. 29 (my payday) and cashed it on Feb. 22.

I had little avenue for communications while on my cruise, so I did not notice that my checking account was overdrafted until Feb. 29, and I had been assessed a total of $345 in overdraft fees. On the BOA website, it says that when an overdraft occurs, BOA “will send a notice informing you: The item was paid; Your account is overdrawn; You’ve been charged an overdraft fee; etc.” Since I am signed up for e-statements, I assumed that meant these notices would be sent via e-mail. It turns out they are sent by postal mail, but that is not clear on the website.

At any rate, I called BOA Executive Customer Relations at (704)386-5687 and spoke with Matt Gross. After briefly explaining the circumstances of my situation, he refunded $325 to my account (we agreed that the first $20 fee should stand, as it was my mistake re: being able to cash post-dated checks, but that since that should have triggered a notice which would cause me to transfer funds from savings to checking, the rest of the fees should be refunded). This process was quick and easy, and Matt was extremely pleasant and helpful. A mistake that could have cost me $345 has now only cost me $20 and has ensured that I remain a loyal BOA customer.

I hope that you share this with the community so everyone can see that some banks are not trying to nickel and dime us to death!

(Photo: Getty)

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