Um.. Awwww..?

I guess that's as good of a sincere reaction as I can muster up about this. No wait!

*|FAUX_CONDOLENCE_PHRASE|*

I feel so bad for rich white guys.

Yes, his office had a good record of solving B of A's customer complaints. But it's just pathetic that you have to take it to that level to get anything done.

If a branch manager can't make a decision regarding your account, what exactly are they there for?

I've left B of A. And I'm never going back.

Maybe the new CEO will create a good track record of not receiving so many customer complaints.

@Radi0logy: Correction: rich old white guys....

He bought my company and fired me. Can't say I'm upset to see him go. I miss you Mr. Cawley!

Charges are coming.

Don't let the golden parachute hit you in the ass on your way out.

dad came home from work and mentioned this yesterday.
someone else high up resigned last month, too, and was replaced from outside the company...
wonder who will step up to lead the bank now?

Pulled up to Bank of America to deposit a check and saw 5 people in line outside at the ATM. I went in to deposit the check in stead and was told that since the check was made out to both my wife and I, she would need to be there as well and endorse the check for them too. Looking stunned I asked if they were serious, and was told yes it is their policy. I went outside deposited the check in the ATM went back in and proceeded to rip apart the manager about how out of touch BoA is in regards to basic customer service. If they do not want people to come in to the bank to do the most simplistic transactions then they should just close the branches and make people use the ATM. I could not believe that they would make 2 people endorse a check and be there when it is made out to John and Jane Doe. So if John Doe wants to deposit it he cannot because the person writing the check intended for both parties to have the money, yet we do not have a joint checking account so we both needed to be there.

Seriously, BoA is a joke and needs to realize just how dumb some of their policies are or they need to create a uniform policy across the board.

Hopefully the new CEO will figure out how to make it easy for customers and not just create problems.

I say good riddance. Don't let the door hit your ass ,Kenny Boy.

This guy could have laid down the law to his whole command structure to take care of the customer and at least ACT human while taking taxpayer money and exacerbating the financial meltdown by yanking credit lines and kicking customers while they were down. No, BoA has become an avatar for all that is wrong with the Wall Street/Banking /Usury establishment over the last couple of years. If asshats like Lewis have the power to make deals and pay themselves millions , they have the power to order their emplyees to treat customers with dignity and respect.That is sorely lacking at bank of America.

He is trying to look all noble and heroic by leaving ,but he'll just scoop up many , many millions as he heads out the door ,so don't feel too bad for the guy.

Now he can join his boy John Thain in job hunting... retiring is a nice way of saying the board asked him to GTFO.

@Radi0logy: Agreed. Rich black guys have it so much better. Not to mention rich latinos.

Man he was forced to do that Merrill Lynch takeover! You can thank Hank Paulson for that! I STILL GOT YOUR BACK KEN LEWIS!

@JGKojak: You get a heart!

@ThinkerTDM: Or rich Ju'/hoansi.

The guy is one of the biggest pieces of shit on the planet, and is almost certainly, directly or indirectly, responsible for what was once a quality institution (at least BofA West, before Nations bought them) turning into the most craptastic institution ever.

I don't have the greatest of hopes, because Lewis has hired and indoctrinated a whole slew of equally evil, selfish, piece-of-shit subordinates who will no doubt keep up his policies of "let's hose people every possible way, consumer protection laws be damned"... but maybe between his departure and the brewing grassroots movements to bring the bank to its knees, things can change.

@apd09:
Yep... the joke is on us. They have made the calculation that our piddly $2000 in savings is nothing compared to the billions they have riding on derivatives and trumped up mortgage holdings, so they really just want us for the float we provide w/our fees.

And they know if I get pissed off, I'll go across the street to their "competitor" about the same time someone from there is going across the street to them. Its a racket and a joke.

I deposited a refund check from another bank-- AN ACTUAL BANK CHECK, and they still held it for 4 days before I had full access to the funds.

@apd09: My mom banks with BOA (yeah, I know) and I had to deposit a check for her (her check, her account) and had a similarly stunned experience when I was turned away because I didn't have her ID and bank account number... FOR A DEPOSIT.

Apparently they don't like money.

@grossmont: Plus, that really only means he has a stellar assistant.

@Zclyh3: Paulson sure helped him in the decision, but he wanted Merrill before Lehman collapsed...

I take strong issue with Bloomburg's headline, "Lewis Resigns After Betting Bank of America on America When America Broke".
Merrill Lynch is NOT "America". And only Bloomberg and/or Jim Cramer would confuse the two.

@JGKojak: Actually, if the golden parachute hit him in the ass he'd free-fall to (financial) oblivion. So I'd encourage him to jump keister first into it!

@admiral_stabbin: and wasn't he trumped as a good-guy/hero for buying ML little over a year ago and now he's an evil overlord?

@apd09: Isn't your real gripe with the person/organization who provided you with an "and" check rather than an "or" check?

I keep getting Ken Lay and Ken Lewis mixed up...

@FinanceGuru: That's what I was thinking. If the check is an AND check, all parties must sign it, an OR check only requires one party to sign.

@TinkishDelight: Or they don't want random people depositing fake or bad checks into other people's account. It makes perfect sense if you think about it.

@supercereal: The "random" person going around depositing fake money that they'll never see would benefit how?

My parents have been depositing money into my account since forever. Believe it or not there are actually reasonable and justifiable needs for depositing money into an account other than your own.

@TinkishDelight: Pretty good policy if you ask me. WeUsedToBeWAMU let some unidentified person stroll into a branch I've never visited, drop 2 worthless Wells Fargo checks into my account at a teller window, sans ID or WAMU check card, then proceed to rob me blind hours later at the same location. Took 56 days to recover my funds plus the NSF fees for their craptacular endorsement forgery FAIL. Pretty Good Policy.

@holytrainwreck: Maybe twin sons by different mothers?

@TinkishDelight: Weird, I deposit checks for my dad all the time at BofA and they have never asked me for any ID or account number.

How about that 3.5 mil a year he'll get as a pension. How is he supposed to live on that??

@TinkishDelight: I never indicated that anyone benefits (reading FTL...stay in school). Plenty of people just want to be mischievous for no good reason. The point is, you're the one who's on the hook because you have fake checks on your account. Time and time again, people have gotten screwed for cashing fake checks; there are plenty of such stories on this site. I cash a fraudulent check on your account, and the only thing the authorities have is your name and account number to go on.

Believe it or not, people can't guess your intentions. Neither myself or the banks could care less about your parents or your reasonable and justifiable needs (plus, when you're under 18, your parents opened the account, not you...so the bank knows who they are). Scammers out there ruin it for the rest of us, so it's better to inconvenience one person then get caught up in a scammy mess.

So long and thanks for all the debt.

@tailstoo: He's a banker, let him figure that out.

No wait, that won't end well at all...

@apd09: That's not really fair. This is common banking practice and even my credit union sent back a [mailed] check that was made out to my gf and I though we don't share an account. She had to sign it to make the deposit. It's a CYA measure that covers them legally even if you don't agree.

@supercereal: Well one I'm 23, not 18, my account IS in my name. Two clearly you're the one that has reading comprehension problems because in those cases the person giving the fake check was benefiting in some way (ie- Criminal writes bad check in exchange for victim's cash). While I wouldn't be surprised if someone, somewhere has tried this, for a bank to completely across board prevent anyone, even someone who at the time shared the same last name and permanent address and was more than happy to produce their license to prove so, from depositing a check for someone else is just ridiculous. If you think that this is a legitimate security concern then you are out of your mind. In case you haven't noticed, a lot of banks even let you drop checks in an inbox at their atms without so much as a conversation. So much for your theory.

And actually after GhostsOfRazgriz's response I verified their policy with corporate and even BOA doesn't think it's a legitimate security concern. Apparently I was dealing with a rogue branch.

Thank goodness your fears and opinions are irrelevant.

@TinkishDelight: Further, ING Direct lets you mail in your checks to a PO Box.

@JGKojak: Platinum parachute at that level...

@apd09: Surprised that they didn't want to put a 21 day hold on it too...

@holytrainwreck:

Ken Lay: Enron,arrested, innocent of all charges due to death prior to conviction(though the tinfoil hat/black helicopter set say he is alive somewhere)

Ken Lewis: BOA, retired, living, ultra-wealthy, never charged for any illegal activities

@tailstoo: I am sure he has "other investments" along with numerous legitimate accounting schemes to allow him to write off everything he spends for tax purposes as expenses for his post-retirement "consultanting business".