hey, lets not talk about goatse....

My experience with BoA has been quite the opposite. I've read all the bad stories and what not, but my wife and I chose BoA (back in January) because we will soon be moving away from Knoxville, but we didn't know where until just recently (due to potential job placement) and wanted a national bank (Knoxville's options aren't exactly huge in that respect). Our experience with them has been quite nice actually. Maybe it's Knoxville, but all of the employees downtown (the only reasonably close bank location) are extremely nice and helpful and even know me by name. They are always more than helpful and it's actually quite refreshing. I'm afraid, however, to see what happens when we move to Chicago...

LaSalle Bank in Chicago is now owned by the Bank of America. I thought LaSalle was terrible! Bank of America will show them that they were consumed because they were just too polite, an anachronism in banking these days.

In 2002 I closed my commercial accounts at Bank of America because no one at the local branch would lift a finger to help after someone used our routing & ABA numbers to buy porn via iBill and CCBill. Unbelievably, the porn billing companies were more professional and helpful than Bank of America in reversing the charges. I went down the next day, closed the accounts, got a big ol' cashier's check, and went to our downtown regional bank and have been there ever since. When I left Bank of America I asked whether our accounts were really closed or if more porn charges would hit our account, and everyone I talked to there, including the managers, shrugged and had no idea.

And of course my regional bank isn't constantly asking whether I'm in Georgia on their telephone and websites... something Bank of America seems to always do (or at least did back in 2002) for some inexplicable reason.

Then this is will be the same guy that complains that his deposits got lost or posted late. I used to work for a medium size bank back in the days and the deposits are not handle at the branch itself it gets sent out to a proof department. Now the proof worker who is processing the deposit can't look up account numbers like the tellers can when you come into the branch what they do is just go by whatever number is posted on the ticket. Now let's say they are having hard time deciphering what the number is they just put it on the side for later processing (delay in your account being credited properly.) now not having your name and address on the ticket screws things up since they use that info to do a search and verify that they are posted it to the right account. If they cant find it then they will call the local branch to see who's account was it supposed to go to which adds another day or two for the account to be credited.

I don't know about you but i rather spend the 30 seconds and write my name and address than having to call customer service and be stuck on a 30 minute call wait que to find out where is my deposits.

Unless BoA is different from every bank I've ever been in or heard about, you have to fill out a deposit slip in order for the transaction to be completed.

The rest of the story sounds like a typical "horrible customer service" story (even if Jim does come across as difficult and rude himself at points), but his refusal to fill out a deposit slip as though it's a voluntary thing and his self-righteous justification on top of it is silly.

While there is no excuse for rude customer service, arguing about filling out a deposit slip is just stupid. Don't argue with a low-paid, low-level employee about not following the bank's rules.

Listen, do your own math and fill out the deposit receipt. Problem solved. You want special service. She's a bank teller not a concierge.

pure hostile customer story. Those deposit slips are there for a reason. While YOU might think they are stupid, its there so the people BEHIND THE SCENES can do their job.

If you REALLY didnt want to use a deposit slip, you should have done it at a ATM, which while you dont realize it, generates a deposit slip it's self for you.

What, did you think the teller actually did the deposit?

Are you on drugs?

I have had an account with BoA for 6 months, and had only good experiences. Can't say the same for Citi Bank, which I had an account for over 2 years and closed for bad costumer service.

@Falconfire: I think the problem was the rude teller, not the deposit slip itself.

That said, rude employees are everywhere. This isn't something you can escape by changing banks. I have to wonder why the OP didn't complain to the manager or call in to customer service to file a complaint.

It's understandable when someone might be unhappy with a business and want to change to another one, but something like this (and the existence of deposit slips) isn't something that you can run and hide from.

I haven't been using deposit slips with my BofA ATM deposits, though. I think the ATM stamps the envelope with your account info when you insert it, and if your name and address isn't properly attached to your account, you have far worse problems than rude tellers and deposit slips.

I can't believe that for once in my life, I am actually siding with BoA!

I haven't been a teller in a long time and everytime we tell stories like this, we tend to make ourselves look a little better than what the reality was. Depending on just how forceful you were in declining a deposit slip, yes, the teller might have gotten a little rude back to impress upon you the importance of filling one out.

As for the upsell? It's her job. You declined and it was her job, again, to make another attempt.

Could she have been nicer about it? Yes. Did you start things off on the wrong foot? Probably.

I've just about had it with Bank of America. A few weeks ago, I overdrew my account because of admittedly some math errors on my part, but also because none of the hundred alerts I signed up for through BoA worked at all. I go to college away from home, so I don't live where my bank statements go, which is why I opted into email alerts, cell phone alerts, everything I could get that didn't go to my physical address. All these alerts assured me that they would notify me at soon as I overdrew my account, if I ever did, and I took them at their word.

Well, I overdrew my account for the first time EVER in the 4 years that I've been with BoA (I'm not blaming them for the initial overdraw, it was my fault, I thought my rent check had already been deposited since I had turned it in three weeks prior, but my landlady got lazy last month apparently) and nothing worked. None of the alerts. No emails, no phone calls or text messages, nothing. I continued to do this for 4 days until my mom called me and said that she had received a notice in the mail that I had overdrawn. I look at my bank account, and I had $600 in overdraft fees for transactions that totaled less than $100. I never debit anything more than $25 because I have a credit card with rewards, I just carry a debit as a cash substitute for small things since I don't like carrying cash.

I call their customer service to complain about the alerts, since obviously I would have STOPPED debiting and used my credit card if I had been notified as I had requested to be notified (and BoA had assured me I would be notified). Or I just wouldn't have made those purchases period, because it clearly shows that they were usually for a meal here and there. I didn't expect them to refund all of my fees, because the initial overdraw was indeed my fault, but I thought it was fair that they should refund the fees incurred after the point where their services should have notified me as I was promised they would. That was an error in their system, not on my part. The whole point of signing up for those alerts is so that you don't have to check your account every day, correct?

I usually check mine once a week, which I think is perfectly reasonable since I don't spend very much money, and their system allowed me to overdraft for 4 days without sending me any notification or putting a hold on my debit card. The lady at customer service that I spoke to was very rude, condescending, and refused to acknowledge that it was indeed the bank's error that the requested alerts were not sent, even though she acknowledged that her system indicated I was signed up for pretty much every alert they offer and that it was completely illogical that I would ignore them, given that I also have a credit card with BoA that I would have obviously used to make those purchases, had I been alerted that I was overdrawing.

I ended up getting only $100 of the fees back, but the whole thing seems a bit fraudulent to me - promise customers you'll alert them as soon as they overdraw to give them a false sense of security, completely fail to alert them for 4 days, refuse to refund the hundreds of dollars of fees you charged them because the customer trusted that they'd be alerted if something was wrong with their account.

Like I said, I understand that overdrawing was my fault and didn't expect to get all the fees back, but they didn't fulfill a single promise they made as far as their account monitoring goes, so I expect them to at least make that part right.

I also want to note that acknowledging other people waiting is just plain good manners. I don't like being totally ignored, especially if the person in front of me is taking forever. Way too many clerks just pretend you aren't there until you get up to the counter.

I'm not asking much. I just want a polite "Hi! Just be a moment" or something. Not a discussion of War and Peace.

If you can't handle someone shifting their attention to someone else other than you, you have ego problems... there's no description of what she said to someone else, but if it was just a hello or something, my sympathy is gone.

@Buran:
It really doesn't seem to take much to anger Jim; it might be his ego or maybe he's just very tempermental. Asked to fill out a deposit slip at a bank?...who ever heard of such a crazy requirement! Obviously the teller was picking on him.

@pssshwhatever: Why don't you have your bank account statements go to your college address?

@pssshwhatever: You should set up overdraft protection with that BoA credit card.

There are a lot of reasons to hate BofA, but I don't believe that their crazy bookkeeping process of requiring a deposit slip be filled out to deposit something is one of them. If the OP's true intent was to save a deposit slip's worth of tree, posting this story probably burned up more fossil fuels than that.

I hate BofA for another reason, and it's somewhat the opposite of the OP's. Their ATMs promise to give you a receipt for your transaction, but AFTER you agree to pay them their $2 fee (I use another bank for my checking) and they spit out your cash - the ATM will say "oh, I don't have any receipt paper" and viola! - no receipt. Now I'm not a big fan of funding the cocaine habits of my banker's upper management with $29 overdraft fees and such, so I prefer to receive a written receipt with each transaction to be sure I account accurately for withdrawals (and deposits).

So, when it comes to the CUSTOMER's accounting needs - Bank of America could give a royal shit. Those "superfluous" ATM receipts have just as much validity to me as the damn deposit slips that the tellers require, but BofA runs their "bank" like a friggin' flea market when it comes to taking care of customers. Glad I don't normally bank there.

I've forgotten to fill out deposit slips at Commerce Bank before.

You know what the teller did? Filled one out for me. Not hard, didn't take more than 20 seconds, an made me a happy customer.

Everyone saying it's the customer's fault need to be checked for Stockholm syndrome

Being a bank teller is an underappreciated and difficult job. It's important to be fast AND accurate, while looking for fraudulent transactions, being friendly, and referring customers to customer service reps when appropriate. The LEAST a customer can do is have the deposit ready BEFORE reaching the front of the line, including a properly filled out deposit ticket and checks that have been endorsed. That's what the checkwriting stations are for, and it's also respectful of the customers in line behind you waiting for service. Lastly, it is not the teller's job to add up your checks and check your math, and if you want him or her to do that it would make sense to ask nicely for help rather than acting like a spoiled brat!
The author of the post needs to grow up and learn some manners. Perhaps if he had been more prepared and polite, the teller would have provided better service. We will never know........

There are many reasons why a teller requests you fill out a deposit ticket yourself:

- If there is a line, this reduces the time it takes to complete a transaction because the ticket is filled out in line instead of at the beginning of each transaction.

- It helps reduce the chance of error if your name, account number, dollar amounts, and signature are on the check. If you write it, the teller reviews it, then processes it...there are two people that actively reviewed the transaction before sending off to be processed. Had the teller written everything in themself, there could likely be an error since they most likely know you less than you know yourself.

- Reduces the chance that they can be blamed for screwing up a transaction. If you write that you want $100 back and $200 in the account, but actually wanted the reverse...you can only blame yourself for the mistake because the teller followed your orders.

- Reduces the chance to allow a dishonest teller from ripping you off. If you deposit a check and want no cash back but do not completely fill out the ticket nor line out the line for cash back, you run the risk of a person filling in the blanks and taking money from your account. If you fill all this in, you reduce your risk from having this happen to you.

- Not that you are a criminal in any way, but another reason banks want you to fill out the slip is to get fingerprints and handwriting on something in case you decide to rob them.

With all that in mind, I don't think it is THAT big of a deal for a teller to fill out some of their customers' tickets some of the time. If that is the reason a customer keeps their account with a bank, it is a very cheap benefit to accommodate to keep the customer.

I quit working for BofA over 2 years ago, and to this day when I call for a service they say they can't help me because they need to xfer me over to employee support. I tell them I'm not an employee anymore, they tell me the employee support people can fix that, they send me over to employee support, they help me with my original problem and then tell me they'll update my account to reflect I'm not an employee anymore and sure enough next time I call, same thing over again.

I loathe BofA I cancelled my account for the same type of shoddy service, but nothing is worse than goatse.

One branch has rude tellers, so I'm supposed to hate the whole company?

Name the branch and we can hate on that, but let's put it in perspective here.

@NYBanker: while I would agree with the overall idea of your comment, I'd say that the BIG reason to prepare your deposit in advance is as a courtesy to those who may be waiting behind you, not so much to the teller since it is in fact their job to handle deposit and withdrawal transactions.

Your comment that's really wrong is "Lastly, it is not the teller's job to add up your checks and check your math..." It is in fact the teller's job to assure that what you present for deposit is accurate. This isn't to protect you, it's to protect the bank and the teller. If your math is off and the teller just blindly accepts what you put on your deposit slip as accurate, the teller's till won't balance and more work will have to go into figuring out why.

@friendlynerd: It's the customer's responsibility to fill out the deposit slip. It's nice if the teller helps you if you forgot, but it's not blaming the consumer when the consumer refuses to do it. The teller's also not required to help you wipe your ass, just so you know. :P

People should stop whining about how he didn't fill out the deposit slip. Guess what, nearly every bank I've been to, if you forget to fill out your slip they just simply ask you to slide your ATM card, put in your PIN number, and they verify all numbers with you before completing the transaction.

But the OP probably didn't have much money in his account(s) for the branch manager to give a shit. No wonder it was closed without a hitch.

@pssshwhatever:

In your case, I would personally go down to the nearest BoA branch and speak to the employees personally. Jim might not have had a good experience, but I've personally found the employees at my local branch at home AND the larger branch at school very helpful and understanding.

Their phone lines, on the other hand, have never done a thing for me. They couldn't help me with a problem at all, whereas the branch employees solved it for me in 5 minutes (incidentally, it also had to do with refunding overdraft fees).

Generally, though, I'm with DeepFriar on this one... one branch (much less, one employee) says nothing about the whole company. I've even run into incredibly helpful and knowledgeable Best Buy employees before (but I could not steal his pot o' gold).

Part bad customer and part bad employee, if I have to make a judgement.

First, it looks like Jim did not follow standard bank procedures and expected things to be done automatically. Environmental concerns are not exactly a legit excuse if the service revolves entirely around the paper in concern.

I'm not sure what Jim is referring to when he says "double check my math" even though he didn't initially count out the amount. Double check what math? One that's in your imagination? Come on! Even to me, that's pushing it!

I'm sure the teller would've been more than happy to verify the sum after he filled out an initial deposit slip.

On the other hand, the bank teller was not a professional either. She could've discreetly handed over a deposit slip and a calculator, ask the man quietly to fill it out and come back as soon as he's done. And reading out the numbers out loud for all to hear? Sound the buzzer!

Worst. Bank. Ever.

Signed up with BoA in 2004 - the person who opened the account assured me the account was free, 2 weeks later I notice a $5/month charge. They were surly every time I called them - should have canceled then, but didn't.

Fast forward a year, overseas - I needed a lot of money, so I first withdrew a small amount of money from an ATM as a test. $5 fee, okay, a bit steep, but whatever. Withdraw a much larger amount, they charged me a $110 withdrawal fee!!!

After several phone calls with more surly CSRs, they absolutely would not refund any of this, so I closed the account just to stop the hemorrhaging.

Everyone seems to focus on the deposit slip, which I filled out without any complaint after she asked me to, and I also added up the checks, after she asked me to and put the calculator in my face, but it was the reading aloud of the numbers, repeatedly, and then dismissing me without as much as a good bye that bothered me.

@jefffromNY: I have 2 girls and 1 cup who would like to disagree with nothing being worse than goatse.

@friendlynerd: There's a difference between forgetting to fill out a deposit slip and refusing to fill one out.

@GearheadGeek:

Bank tellers do not routinely check addition on deposits consisting of checks only. That is the customer's responsibility, or the bookkeeper's job. They do look for checks that are endorsed properly, made payable to the person who is depositing the items AND that that person owns the account they're being deposited into. It's only for CASH transactions that they have to balance their drawer by the end of the day. For example, they DO add up all checks being cashed, or when they give cash back as part of a transaction. But this author's post says nothing about cash. Moreover, addition and/or transposition errors should be caught by back office reconciliation, that is their primary function. Bank tellers do not run a tape or use a calculator to add up a stack of checks being deposited by a customer. They should however make sure that the number of checks listed on the deposit slip matches the number of checks that the customer hands to them, because a check may be listed but not deposited due to a customer oversight. Your misconceptions about teller duties are very common, by the way.

Separately, customers should use pre-printed deposit tickets, not the blank counter deposit slips. It is too easy to fill out the wrong account number on a blank slip, or to mis-read someone's handwriting (my 2s sometimes look like 7s, for example). Asking for a teller to fill out the slip for you is also leaving the customer vulnerable to either an honest or dishonest mistake caused by the teller. And never forget to ask for a receipt! That is the most reliable proof you have that you made a deposit, and it's helpful to have the date, time, amount and teller # on the slip in case there is a dispute. These suggestions protect both the teller and the customer.

@MaelstromRider: I didn't refuse, I just hadn't ever done it before and no one ever told me it was required. That being said, I didn't have a problem filling one out.

@pfblueprint:
Ultimately, she went out of her way to be rude rather than going out of her way to please you. That part is unacceptable, and she should not be in a customer-service position if she cannot handle demanding customers.

Definitely worst bank ever!!

I signed up for B of A the week I was moving away from California. I told the guy who helped me (several times) that the only reason I was signing up for B of A was because I was going to be traveling all over the country for six months and wanted the ability to make cash deposits AT ATMS in various cities all over the country.

Come to find out California is on a totally different banking system and there was no way for me to make cash deposits in ATMs. Cut to me having to stand in line every time I wanted to do anything but simply withdraw cash. Every time, the teller would be all "OH YOU HAVE A *CALIFORNIA* ACCOUNT? Well you have to call this number, we can't pull you up here...."

MADDENING. The guy knew he was opening up an account for me I would be going thru inconvenience after inconvenience just to be able to use.

As soon as I settled in NYC I got the hell out of there. WaMu has never pissed me off half as badly.

I hate to become known as the resident BoA apologist/BoA victim blamer...but...

This doesn't seem like a serious complaint to me. Is it really that big a deal that they made you fill out a deposit slip? It's for YOUR protection as well as theirs. Of course they shouldn't have been "rude", but like people have said there are rude employees everywhere.

And I've never had a serious problem with BoA in the 10 years I've banked with them. No rampant fees, etc, and the few times I had a problem with my account I just sat down with someone in my branch and they fixed it with no trouble. Just don't overdraw your account, as they are pretty brutal in that case.

My bank (credit union) does not want you to use deposit slips any more. None are sent with your checks and they make a point of advertising about being green.

When you deposit, you are asked your account number. If you night deposit, they just request you sign the back "for deposit only account #xxxxxxx.

On a BOA sidenote, When my father-in-law sold his house, he deposited a $185,000 check in his BOA account. The held it for 14 days, "to make sure it cleared". FIL was not happy as he had contractors, etc expecting payment for his new house work. Reasonable? The kicker was that the check he deposited was a bank check issued by BOA. They knew 10 minutes after the deposit whether the check was good.

I like Bank Of America.
In the last two years, I don't think I've gone inside to do any banking (useless), but when I did, it was amazing how nice everyone was.

I also have no ideas what fees people are talking about.

You should have put your deposit in the ATM if you are trying to save paper. (Although trees ARE a renewable resource).

Never had a problem with Bank of America. Been with them (and Fleet before they were bought by BoA) since 2000.

The BoA ATM down the street from my apartmentn is perfect for me to do all of my banking needs. I never have to go to a bank branch.

I have to agree with a few of the others here. If you insist on banking in the bank instead of the ATM, you might as well learn that you have to write a slip. I mean everytime I go to the bank, I already know the figures simply because I trust no one else with my money more than me.

Seems to the customer service was rude, but sounds like Jim came in with a chip on his shoulder!

@pfblueprint: Everyone seems to be focusing on the deposit slip because so much of the OP focuses on the deposit slip: "Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity closed his Bank of America account after a teller forced him to fill out a deposit slip."

Having said that, the teller did seem rather rude from your side of the story. Of course, you're bound to run into rude employees in service industries. Unfortunate fact of life.

@MRsteve: I never make deposits via ATM if I can avoid it, and never EVER deposit anything via ATM but checks endorsed with my account number, because the "receipt" you get from ATMs really just proves that you shoved an envelope into the thing, not what the contents of that envelope were. I've heard that some banks have "scanning" ATMs for deposits but neither of mine do, and I don't trust ATMs beyond giving me cash if I can avoid it.

I have a credit union and the tellers in there recognize my wife and I. So I have actually never used a deposit slip, and I've been there for 13 years. But that is a credit union. And apparently if ther customer habeen with BofA for awhile, other tellers he has deposed with must NOT have asked for a deposit slip, otherwise why would he be indignant? Unless the was the very 1st deposit on this account thru a teller. He might have been rude, but being rude does not matter really, as she is apparently paid to try to sell CD's as well as be professional with the customer.

@macinjosh: Because I'm in a college town and most people here move every year and the post office here is notoriously terrible at following change of address requests. I get bank statements for people that used to live here all the time, and I've lived in this apartment for almost a full year. I don't want my bank statements (and the loads of personal information they contain) to be delivered to strangers that live here after I do. And trying to get BoA to accurately process a change of address request is next to impossible. At least I know my parents aren't going to steal my identity, eh?

@NYBanker: That was my takeaway. yeah, the OP was unreasonable in his expectations, but part of working in customer service is being courteous and professional even when dealing with difficult (though obviously not dangerous or disruptive) customers. Both sides are losers in this story, I think.

@nycdor: This happens with Citibank - I opened my account in California and that confuses the crap out of NY branches sometimes. When I make large deposits, Just to be safe, I make sure to write "ACCOUNT OPENED IN CALIFORNIA" on the slip.

@NYBanker: I'm glad I don't bank with your bank. The tellers at my financial institution ALWAYS double check my math on the deposit slips, even when it is only checks. I watch them do it and I am glad they do because sometimes the client makes a mistake even when using a calculator.