Bank Of America Tries To Ruin Your Vacation For Your Own Protection
Reader Drew went out of his way to ensure that he'd be able to get money from ATMs (using his Bank of America card), while on vacation. Despite his best efforts, he learned that a) putting a note on your account saying that you'll be in England and b) drawing less than the maximum daily amount from your account is still not enough to keep BoA from putting a hold on your account. He's written in with some advice for other Bank of America customers who are planning on traveling soon...
So in preparation for a trip to England last month, both my wife and I decide to contact Bank of America to let them know that we'll be traveling overseas. We'd hate to be stuck in some little town in the Cotswolds with nothing but a few pounds and a crappy exchange rate between us and dinner. While my wife calls BoA directly and plays phone tag to end up at the right ATM division to have a note placed on her account, I go down to the branch office near my work where a nice Bank of America account rep gets to play phone tag to end up at the right ATM division to have a note placed on my account. So the only benefit to me going down to a local office rather than calling is that I get to have someone else wait on hold while I admire that freakish-necked woman, a creature of taut sinew and gnashing teeth, that adorns all the ads draped around the office.
Oh, and I learn that we will not be charged extra fees on our BoA ATM cards from Barclays ATMs. I guess that's worth the nightmares of the BoA She-Gollum crawling across my ceiling to devour my flesh and credit rating.
Anyways, you don't have to be a Consumerist reader for very long to guess what happens next: My card stopped working. I had attempted to withdraw 100 pounds from a Barclays ATM in Witney and was denied. I then tried to withdraw 35 pounds and succeeded. My wife withdrew 100 pounds from her account at the same ATM, no problem. I figured that I had tripped some sort of daily limit (the exchange rate is all over the place, so I may had gone over the 200$ daily limit by a few bucks) and wasn't too worried - I had credit cards on hand for back up (as recommended by that couple who went to Japan on honeymoon and lost a day due BoA's tomfoolery). I'd just try again the next day.
I did. It didn't work. I waited another day. And it didn't work either. I try again, this time in Oxford. Still, nothing. By now, my wife is getting tired of being the cash machine (it's hard to pay for real ale and recommended donations with plastic!). Suspecting something beyond Bank of America's passive dislike of letting people access their money, we stop in at an internet cafe to check my account balances and see if there's some sort of notice. I really didn't want to do that as most internet cafes are really, really sketchy and the only one we could find practically had an 'Identity Theft Here' sign on the door.
Sure enough, there's an email from Bank of America in my inbox saying that due to unusual activity, my ATM card was suspended. My only recourse is to call up Bank of America and talk to a rep to have things cleared up. Luckily we had rented a cellphone for our trip and brought the international toll-free number just-in-case. So we retire to a pub (I didn't know if I would need to access the internet or drop in at Barclays again so didn't want to wait until we were back at our rented cottage in the country - also I was thirsty) by the river and I make my call. And wait on hold. And wait. And wait. Robotic notices that my wait time would be 2 minutes play every minute or so. After the tenth replay of this message, I order another pint. And then wait another ten minutes.
Finally someone picks up and I explain my problem to them. They want me to verify my identity by reading out all sorts of valuable information to them over the phone. So if my bank info wasn't swiped in the internet cafe, it certainly could be picked up here. It didn't help that the Bank of America rep was apparently a citizen of Northmumbletown whose phone was kept at the other end of a long hallway, thus requiring me to shout random answers about my financial history in hopes of answering her increasingly more difficult verification questions. I try to walk around the pub to a quieter side, away from the crowds, but manage instead to stumble into a crowd of angry swans.
So if anyone was in Oxford and saw an American tourist, cellphone in one hand and beer in the other, fleeing around a pub from a gaggle of pissed off, honking swans, you have Bank of America to thank for your afternoon's entertainment. Next time, I'll bring some Benny Hill music.
Once the Bank of America rep is safe in the knowledge that I am who I say I am and I am safe from the swans, we get down to business. I ask what the problem is and she says that due to unusual activity, my ATM card was suspended. I ask what was unusual about the activity. She says (well, mumbles from her end of the hallway) that it was being accessed in England. I ask if she can see the note that I had placed on my account saying that I would be in England. She pauses and says she can. So what's the problem? I mean, I can understand that some sort of automatic block was tripped, but surely someone would see the note and then override it, right? Well, not really. The amount that was attempted to be withdrawn was really close to the 200$ daily maximum.
Wait - close to the maximum? Not over the maximum? With the exchange rate being what it is, 100 pounds came to something like $198. Apparently, in Bank of America-land, a maximum really isn't a maximum. Being two bucks shy of the max is really the same thing as going over it due to BoA Magic Rounding, which is weird because I bet if I underpaid my credit card by two bucks, they'd slap me with a $35 fine in a heartbeat.
After my account is fixed, I complain about all this and the BoA rep assures me that it was being done to protect my account. Protect my account? Considering the steps I had to go through to figure out what was wrong with my account, using internet cafes and shouting out personal information over the phone, my account felt significantly less secure! As I type this, there could be a cunning swan somewhere in Oxford ordering up a bunch of goods using my ill-gotten account information. I took the time to learn Bank of America's rules and made sure to play by them, but in the end they seemed to just ignore them, even to the point of ignoring the reasons why they put the rules in place to begin with.
And it's not like they are even consistent when it comes to ignoring their rules! My wife had been happily withdrawing 100 pounds every day while my card was out of commission. Why didn't her account get blocked? She had the same note and the same 'close to the maximum' withdraws...
My only advice for anyone planning to travel overseas with their Bank of America cards is to plan for hassle. Even if you do everything they say you should to ensure a smooth trip, something will go wrong and before you know it you will be on top of a picnic table talking to a distant Bank of America representative trying to get your account fixed while your wife hurls bread at an army of angry swans in order to distract them from the blood and account information they so desire. Plan for Bank of America to drop the ball. Make sure that you have a cellphone that works, the international contact number (001-770-491-4064), your own laptop, and an infinite amount of patience with you at all times.
Oh, and some crusty bread helps too. You know, in case of swan attack.
-Drew
(Photo: meghannmarco )
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Comments:
For cash I always make sure I know my pin numbers for cash advances.
Yeah I hate cash advances and the associated fees - but can come in handy in I get dicked around by my bank (for trying to access MY money)
The daily limit is only $200 to start with? That seems kinda low.
Here is some advice, change banks.
It's in the name, people -- Bank of AMERICA. They don't want you to leave the good ol' USA and head to any other country not under our grip.
P.S. Thank you for not allying with WinLive Search like the rest of the network, Consumerist.
Of course it should have never happened at all because of the note placed on the account, but at least they fixed the problem after a phone call. I personally would have called the second my card stopped working.
The same happened to me twice during cross country trips. A quick phone call remedied the problem.
I know some feel like BoA works for them and that's fine, but if they were the last bank left on the planet, I'd invest in some mason jars and a good shovel.
Odd. Just over a year ago I spent a month down in New Zealand & Australia and used my BoA card at ATMs numerous times without any problems whatsoever. I also did call BoA (and Amex, Visa, etc) to let them all know the dates I'd be in those countries, and I also found local banks that partner with BoA so I wouldn't be charged any fees, but I never had any problems whatsoever. I withdrew $200-$400 Au from ATM's on a semi-regular basis while I was there and never once got denied.
Too bad traveler's cheques are as rare as hens' teeth and not widely accepted. They still aren't very secure either.
This is the single most entertaining BoA post on here in a while. OP should know its not swans you need to be wary of, its those damn talking ducks you have to watch out for.
Oh good lord here we go again. By now isn't it apparent that it's just easier to use credit, not debit/cash, when traveling when credit is readily available? I take $100 in local currency with me and use credit as much as I can.
People! Its called CASH! And if you arent comfortable traveling with cash, why not load up a pre-paid credit card?! Why does anyone even use a bank, especially BOA?! Credit Union, people! Money in a safe at home! Lets say BOA gets even 10 bucks a month on fees, and I am sure it is more! If you use a safe at home instead, then you will automatically have $3,600 more money over a 30 year period!
They probably flagged his account because "customer was making many inquiries about traveling overseas and not wanting to have account flagged."
I know this is going to sound really crass, but all BoA stories henceforth will be "blame the victim" stories. Because at the end of the day, you banked with bank of america. I dont care if you walked into a BoA and got shot, you shouldnt have been banking with them to begin with. Trust me, I know, I live with a BoA customer.
It's like dating a stripper...excpet with worse odds.
Here's another "Get of out BOA" thread. This should be fun.
I'll grab the popcorn.
The moral of the story is to NOT bring a BoA ATM card with you when you travel overseas. Bring an ATM from a competant bank.
Cash. Cash. Cash.
Next time take some with ya. With a little planning ahead you can get a better exchange rate than the Tourist exchange rate at the airport.
This submission was about 10x longer than it should have been. I have yet to understand why people insist on including useless garbage information in their complaints. All it does is dilute the actual meat of the complaint with crap like "I was thirsty" or the junk about the swans. Succinct and extraneous fact free complaints are the easiest to read, and the most powerful. When you include all the extra crap, all the reader thinks is "wow, there must not be much to the actual complaint here if it was necessary to pad it with all this garbage.
@Buran: This works when traveling in cities or well populated areas. Trying to buy some veggies from a roadside farmstand or a single pint of beer in a village pub with plastic.
People who recommend carrying cash when traveling in tourist-heavy cities in Europe don't know what they're talking about. Pickpockets (and muggers, in certain areas) are rampant, and many of them are smarter than you are when it comes to separating you from your cash.
If you want to risk it, fine, but please don't tell everyone else that cash is the way to go.
As for the comment about travelers checks being scarce and not widely accepted -- that's simply untrue. I don't care for them (they're inconvenient), but they're accepted all over Europe.
@Pylon83: Thanks for your input, Data. Some of think the bit about the swans was funny and entertaining. You and your BFF Sgt. Friday can go start your own blog with nothing but facts if it chaps your ass so much.
"...So if anyone was in Oxford and saw an American tourist, cellphone in one hand and beer in the other, fleeing around a pub from a gaggle of pissed off, honking swans, you have Bank of America to thank for your afternoon's entertainment. Next time, I'll bring some Benny Hill music..."
Priceless, Drew...Simply priceless...
I've had the same sort of problem with Washington Mutual in Japan, England, and Eastern Europe (note in file and still having my account placed on hold by fraud prevention). Its a serious problem, particularly if you are traveling alone. I've resorted to carrying backup travelers checks just in case I can't access my money in a country that is not big on credit cards. It sucks.
, I can understand that some sort of automatic block was tripped, but surely someone would see the note and then override it, right? Well, not really.
really? You actually expect a huge bank like BOA, or any non mom&pop bank, to have an actual person looking at your account when it's flagged? Of course they don't. It's all automated. They don't have an actual person look at your account until you call them up.
@Wormfather: Excuse me, but THERE IS NO EXCUSE for blaming the victim when they're not the ones who fucked up. If you can't stand the fact that someone who does everything right is NOT AT FAULT, maybe you need to start your own damn blog, and who the hell makes you click on the stories where all you do is scroll right down to post, and spew forth crap about how it's THE VERY CAREFUL AND THOUGHTFUL VICTIM'S FAULT?
Why do people still insist on banking with the Megabanks?
Go with a local credit union.
BoA and banks in general still suck, but as much as I love my credit union, they aren't infallible either. I just got back from Italy. My wife and I had notified our credit union that we would be traveling abroad and noted our accounts too, and while we were over there, my credit card got declined while trying to make a purchase. I had to use my debit card instead. We thought the bank had deactivated our card.
When we got back to the hotel and called our CU, it turned out that their credit card acceptance system was basically completely hosed, because the telephone rep couldn't do anything for me other than accept a report of a stolen card. We used the credit card for the remainder of the trip without incident, save to withdraw cash from ATMs with my debit card, which worked fine.
When I got BACK, though, I had six automated messages, all from my CU, all wanting me to call and confirm the overseas activity. At least they didn't deactivate our cards (even though we thought they had). So, banks suck, but it's not a problem unique to BoA. The system itself is broken if you can follow all the steps you're supposed to and still have problems.
Oh GOD! Stop with the blather! I got the point!
"As I type this, there could be a cunning swan somewhere in Oxford ordering up a bunch of goods using my ill-gotten account information."
This story again brings up the point to bring multiple forms of payment when going overseas. I'm anal when it comes to traveling overseas.
I take debit & credit cards, travelers checks, and a small amount of local currency if I have access to it (mostly so I can buy something to eat when I get off the plane). The traveler's checks are divided amongst my bags and my wallet and one of my credit cards remains locked in the room. I also keep photocopies of my passport distributed amongst my bags along with important contact info.
@Buran: I sympathize with the victim here but its painfully obvious that banking with BoA is asking for trouble.
The comparison to picking up hookers and not expecting an STD seems rather apt here.
I would consider death by swans preferable to dealing with BOA.
@SuffolkHouse: OH GOD! Stop with the incessant whining when no one made you read the story, and when some of is like to be entertained! We get the point!
@MrEvil:
Too bad traveler's cheques are as rare as hens' teeth and not widely accepted. They still aren't very secure either.
Traveler's cheques worked well enough for me while I was in India for 10 weeks 2 years ago. There was a place about five minutes away from my flat which exchanged them at no extra charge. I easily got them though my credit union and easily used them in India.
@Buran:
A credit card is not necessarily better than a debit card. I've been in situations abroad where credit cards worked but not debit card, and in situations in which debit card worked but not credit cards. And if you add check cards, you get even more permutations. It seems that banks have no darn rule about anything. And judging by the OP, it seems that even if you tell them ahead, you can still be screwed.
@Dobernala: Oh really? Then please explain why I have never, ever had a problem. Ever. Of any of the sorts of ways in which people whine about them. And plenty of others have said the same in other similar stories.
There's no excuse for the blame flames being slung around. We were told BY THE EDITORS to stop unless the victim really did fuck up in a way that truly was their fault.
What other credit card companies issue disposable numbers?
@lemur: And no other company has ever fucked up? Ever? Not one bit? I doubt it. Carry two credit cards. Preferably three. Always worked for me when one failed due to having to get a new number due to fraud, or other problems in which I had to stop using a card.
@Buran: I didn't say everyone had a problem. Its just obvious that BoA has a poor track record as compared to other banks. With those odds, I don't think its wise to bank with them.
@Pylon83: I thought this story was both hilarious and helpful and was just thinking I would like to read more from this guy. I wonder if Consumerist could offer him a job? VA_White's suggestion was right on, why not go read some government reports or something if you can't take a little humor with your post?
reason # 5,639 that I will never, ever, use BOA again.
I was in London, using one of BoA's predecessor banks, when I discovered I wasn't activated for overseas use. When I tried to contact them, all that I could get out of anyone was a bleeding 800 number. Even 411 gave me the same 800 number. Thanks for being so global in your mindset.
Well, at least BoA didn't slap on some overdraft fees because he nearly went over the daily maximum and deducting the daily maximum from his average daily balance for the last 90 days means that 37 days ago he would have been in overdraft. That will be $350 in overdraft fees.
Worst company in America? BoA For the Win!
I thought I read somewhere that American Express was doing "travelers checks" on preloaded credit/debit cards now? If that is the case those might be easier to use when out of your local area.
We had our account get locked because we made a purchase three states away during a family emergency. Never mind the trail of purchases from our city all along the path to where we went for gas & food. At least a quick call to the bank had it cleared up and our daily limits upped until we got back.
We also usually travel with two separate debt/credit cards so if one got tweaked we could at least pay a hotel/restaurant/gas transaction without the police being called.
do more calculation and withdraw as much as you need all at once and use a credit card for the rest. it's what i did when i was checking out the place. granted you have to keep better tabs on what you spend (which is a good thing) and you'll watch your wallet like a hawk (also a good thing) but the upped attention really does make up for the pain/fear of not having any money.
@RandomHookup: also always know how to dial home from another country. us is something like 027 +1 + area code or something. i don't know if we use the 011+27 and then carry on with number.
America banks suck. None of them wants to deal with overseas stuff. That is why I always keep my Amex around and pull the cash before I leave (and stay extremely attentive to what's going on around me from that point forward!). I have NEVER had a problem using my Amex unless the business didn't take it. Sadly, I have had issues (numerous) while using the BofA CC I carry as a standby...surprise? Nah.
My friend had his ATM card frozen in Japan. Thank heavens for Skype but finding a local number to call from overseas isn't always easy.
@The Great Aussie Evil: At one time, their call center was based in India. Nice to know Apu has full access to all my account information. My wife and I still refer to them as Bank of India.
I still have BOA, but probably not for long. I have to drive out of the way to use the ATM which is a pain, and half the time when I go to a few of the banks around me the ATM is out of cash.
You mean people *still* bank with BOA? Lord I hope whomever is left closes their accounts and finds a better bank/credit card issuer.