We started the day writing about a Twitter mistake from a company that got all-too-human in its attempt to be funny online. Now comes a story from the other end of the social media idiocy spectrum, with Bank of America’s Twitter ‘bots caught in a loop, confounded that someone would be Tweeting about BofA without actually being a BofA customer.

It all began with a Tweet in which user @darkmarth wrote about being chased away from his chalk drawing outside an NYC BofA by New York City police.

It’s the kind of Tweet that you’d expect the bank to ignore or — at best — make a non-committal statement about.

Instead, the BofA Help Twitter account went into high, completely automated gear, responding to many of the Twitter users who commented on the original post, repeatedly offering to “review your account with you to discuss any concerns,” in spite of the fact that these people mentioned absolutely nothing about having a BofA account.

There were also multiple Tweets from BofA stating, “I work for Bank of America. What happened? Anything I can do to help?” or point out that “We are here to help, listen, and learn from our customers and are glad to assist with any account related inquiries.”

When you’re the most-hated bank in the nation, even by your own customers, pretending to put a personal face on your social media doesn’t help, especially when that “personal face” is peeled back to reveal nothing more than an automated response bot.

Here is the original Tweet that started this chain of auto-responses from the BofA Help Twitter ‘bot:

[via eksith]

Thanks to Erin for the tip!

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.