[Bloomberg]
(Photo: tagurity )

Be sure to read our Ultimate Consumerist Guide to Fighting Back, a go-to handbook for the dissatisfied consumer. Once you've decided to go the executive customer service right, be sure you read this first so you know what to say when you call the corporate avatar of your choice.

The Consumerist Executive Customer Service Index

ACS
Adelphia
Air Tran
Alamo
Alaska Airlines
Allegiant
Aloha
Amazon
America West
American Airlines
American Express
Amtrak
Apple
ATA
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
Bank of America
Barnes and Noble
Bell Canada
Best Buy
Blizzard
Blockbuster
Blogger
Bloomingdales
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
British Airways
Borders
Busey Bank
Buy.com
Cablevision
Charter Communications
Chase
Circuit City
Citibank
Comcast
Continental
cox
Delta
Direc-TV
Discover Card
Dish
Disney
Ebay
Enterprise
Equifax
Experian
Fedex
Frontier Airlines
Fry's
Gamefly
Geek Squad
Georgia Power
Helio
Home Depot
Humana
HSBC
IKEA
ING Direct
Insight
Keybank
Lenovo
Loew's
Macy's
Microsoft (and Xbox)
Midwest Airlines
Motorola
National City
Nicors
Northwest Airlines
Norton
Office Depot
Office Max
Orbitz
Paypal
Pitney Bowes
Qwest
RCN
Regions Bank
Register.com
Ryan Air
Samsung
Seagate
Sears
Sirius
Skybus
Sony Ericcson
Spirit Airlines
Sprint
Sports Authority
Staples
Symantec
T-mobile
Target
Time Warner Cable
TransUnion
Uhaul
United Airlines
United Health Care
UNUM Life Insurance
UPS
US Airways
US Cellular
Verizon landline/DSL/Fios
Verizon Wireless
Vonage
Wachovia
Walmart
Washington Mutual
Wells Fargo

In the event you can't find the info you are looking for here, you can scan our backlog of contact info, or use Google to uncover the addresses yourself. In the event you find something we don't have, feel free to share at tips@consumerist.com.

Researched by Alex Jarvis
Last updated: 11/07/2008

When Someone Else Uses Your Social Security Number [SSA.gov]

Nancy writes:

I had an MBNA credit card for years, which I canceled, and naturally after the cancellation, I never received any correspondence from BoA or MBNA. It turns out, however, that several months after I cancelled the card, a charge apparently went through, on a new account number that I had never used before. The first I heard of the charge, however, was when I received a collection notice several months after *that*. When I contacted BoA about this issue, they insisted on calling me "delinquent," hung up on me twice, and also insisted that they sent statements to my home and "called" about the charge.

They also told me that I should have contested the bogus charge within 60 days after it was made, even though I continued to try to get them to understand that I did not know about the charge until they wrote off the account and sold it to a collection agency, who somehow had no problem contacting me repeatedly by phone and mail.

Finally, they instructed me to send my complaint in writing, which I did, in mid-August (certified and return-receipt requested). I have not heard a thing since then, and I figured 6 weeks was long enough to wait for a result. My credit report is, not surprisingly, unchanged at this time as well.

My question for you is- what is the next best step, in your experience?
- email an executive
- snail-mail an executive
- hire an attorney (extra expense, but as my credit is ruined, it may be worth it)
- other?

* other. Your next best move is to dispute the item with all 3 credit bureaus. It's not hard, you can do it online, for free, at annualcreditreport.com. Simply by disputing it as invalid you may be able to get it taken off your credit report if the agency reporting the debt to the bureaus doesn't respond to the verification request.

(Photo: Getty)

Also - have you considered the fault might be with NES and not MBNA/BoA? NES could have either gotten your and someone else's records legitimately mixed up - or they could be knowingly attempting to fraudulently collect an invalid debt. Either are entirely possible.

Graham says:

Our mortgage is with Countrywide. They keep sending us notices with bold type that say:
"YOUR MORTGAGE IS NEARING ITS NEXT ADJUSTMENT!"

Of course ... we have always had a fixed rate and they know that. There isn't anything that could possibly adjust.

They know we don’t have a variable rate. It has always been a fixed rate and never been refinanced. It strikes me as fear based tactics to get you to shoulder an expensive refi.

The text reads:
"As a valued Countrywide customer, you shouldn't have to worry about rising monthly payments."

Except ... It would never have crossed my mind to worry about my Fixed Rate Mortgage payments rising if I hadn't received this mailer from them.

Oh, but Graham, didn't you realize that "If you have available home equity, you may be able to access it to pay off bills or take care of unexpected expenses." Don't you know that your house isn't really a house? It's an ATM! Isn't that nifty? It must be true, too, because it says "official" up there at the top.

We thought Bank of America was going to try to clean up Countrywide's image, but apparently not.

Here's what Lewis had to say about executive pay:

"I think they were overpaid,' he said. "It's more egregious in financial services than any other industry that I know of. We need to cut back compensation in this industry."

"So this is a question everybody wants answered: Is this Socialism?" Stahl asked. "Have we now taken a huge step away from the free-wheeling Capitalism that we’ve known for the last 30 or so years?"

"I don’t know what we’ll call it, but it will be different," he said. "And there will be more regulation. The Golden Era of financial services is over, in my opinion."

Under New Ownership: Bank Of America [60 Minutes]

Luisa writes:

I don't know who I should be writing to but I just wanted to thank you for guiding me in the right direction! After reading the information on your site, I realized I could be helped!

I incurred $315 in overdraft fees over a 3 day period. Every fee kept making me overdraft more and more. The 1st one was my fault but it just snowballed into a $315 problem. I went to my local branch and had 3 of those fees credited by a very nice branch manager. I proceeded to call CSR and was immediately shut down after pleading my case. I immediately started researching and came across your site. I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot and let B.O.A know what happened and that I would be taking my banking elsewhere. Long story short, I had ALL $315 credited by Norma, who personally called me earlier today.
The little guy won, all because of your help! Thanks a million! The Consumerist rocks!

Here's the letter that Luisa sent to Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.
October 11, 2008

Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis
100 N. Tryon Street
Mail Code NC-1-007-18-01
Charlotte, NC 28255

RE: Checking account # xxxxxxxx

Dear Mr. Lewis,

I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with Bank of America . My name is Luisa [redacted] and my husband and I have been loyal Bank of America costumers since 2005.We have a checking, savings account and credit cards with your company. As CEO, I am sure you would like to know when you are losing customers to a credit union because your customer service representatives refused to waive some overdraft fees .

Since October 9th, 2008, my checking account was charged $315 in over draft fees. I understand that the first time I over drafted was my fault, and I immediately went to the bank and deposited $200 in cash before the pending transactions posted. When I come back to check my account online I see my $200 have been eaten up by fees and I again am showing a negative balance. At this point I have no more cash to deposit and wait until the following morning to go and speak to a branch representative. Ms. [redacted] was kind enough to refund 3 of those fees after I explained my situation. I have deposited a total of $420 in my account within the past days to make sure I had all of my pending transactions covered and I am still racking up overdraft fees.

I am writing to you as a full-time college student and mother of a toddler in need of a favor which may be small to you, but very helpful to me. I am asking you to waive these fees, which as CEO of Bank of America, I know you have the power to. I simply cannot cover afford to pay the overdraft fees incurred and the ones I am sure will post to my account come Monday.

I hate to have to close all my accounts with Bank of America and move them all to Suncoast Federal Credit Union. I really enjoy the simplicity of online banking and bill pay and I do not wish to discontinue my banking with you.

I hope you understand and find it in your heart to waive the overdraft fees that both pending and posted.

Congratulations, Luisa! If you've got a problem that needs a little TLC from BoA, try sending a well-written letter to Mr. Lewis.

(Photo: thecornballer )

Executive Customer Relations general line: 704-386-5687

Nancy M. Condos
VP/ Customer Advocate
Executive Customer Relations
Office of the Chairman
nancy.m.condos@bankofamerica.com

Martha Dominguez, Executive Customer Relations Specialist: 714-792-4264

Corporate Headquarters: 704-386-5972 / 704-386-5681
Operator: 800-900-9000 (press 0 twice)

Corporate Headquarters (Bank of America):
Bank of America Corporate Center
100 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28255

You can always write the CEO:

Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis
100 N. Tryon Street.
Mail Code NC-1-007-18-01
Charlotte, NC 28255

Several other readers have and they've gotten satisfactory resolutions to their complaints.

RELATED:
7 Overdrafts Refunded After Reader Writes Bank of America CEO
Man Gets $280 Back From Bank Of America After Writing CEO
Bank Of America Manager Escalation Line

(Photo: Spirda Webster)

"Every customer who calls in is a mark. It's a great big con," said Colombo, who estimates that she alone sold almost a quarter of a billion dollars in the four years she worked for MBNA before it was bought in 2005 by Bank of America."

The bankers told CNN that their job was to convince people that they needed to borrow more money than they thought they did. They were trained to look for "trigger words" — mentions of difficulty making car payments or college tuition, for example. They were even trained on how to get around the law — if someone called in to try to get a cash advance for a down payment on a house (not legal) they were told to say:

"I cannot give you money to use as a down-payment on a home. However, what I can do is, I can deposit some money into your checking account, and once it's there, the funds are there, it's yours to do with what you please."

Most disturbing of all is the fact that the bankers say that the vast majority of people didn't want to take on that much debt:

"I would say 90 percent of the time, people were pragmatic. They would say, 'I don't need $100,000,' and we would find a way to convince them they needed the money," Ellingwood recalled.

They also said they were pressured not to let the stockholders down — and were chastised for letting people get away without maxing out their available credit.

Bank of America, which now owns MBNA, says that these accusations are "inaccurate."

"Our call center associates are focused on serving customer financial needs and responding to questions about their accounts," said Bank of America.

Luckily, one of the former bankers provided her performance review to CNN.

"You cannot sell what you don't offer," it reads. "Understand the importance of selling at the highest possible rate."

Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt [CNN]

• Lehman filed for Chapter 11
• Bank of America bought Merrlil Lynch
• A special trading session was opened Sunday from 2-6pm to allow traders to try to unwind their positions
• The Fed is expected to temporarily make it easier for banks to borrow from the government
• European Central Banks stand ready to pump billions into the global market
• Washington Mutual's new CEO's disclosure of further writedowns and setting aside of capital calmed investors and stemmed the massive selloff of its stock

Should be an exciting day to watch the stock market.

(Photo: Getty)

Wall Street is preparing for one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history as it becomes apparent that nobody wants to buy Lehman Brothers. Government officials are keeping the public's overextended credit card sheathed as they race to keep the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank from failing before the start of trading tomorrow.

Both Bank of America and Barclays rebuffed the Fed's entreaties to scoop up Lehman's profitable parts.

Barclays said it was approached by the U.S. Treasury at the end of last week, and saw in Lehman ``a potential opportunity to significantly enhance our investment banking and investment management franchise in key areas.''

`The proposed transaction required a guarantee for the trading obligations of Lehman Brothers which was potentially open-ended,'' Barclays said in a statement. ` Barclays wasn't willing to assume such an open-ended obligation.''

The US government had hoped to arrange a bailout under which other US investments banks - such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs - would finance a "bad bank" that would hold the most "toxic" investments of Lehman in the property and mortgage market.

The "good bank" or rest of the firm, including its investment and wealth management arms, would then be sold to another financial institution, for example Bank of America or the UK's Barclays.

Although such a deal would have cost the other investment banks millions, it might have restored confidence in the sector and avoided a sharp drop in the share price of all banks.

However, it appears that this plan is falling apart.

Lehman's lawyers are writing up the Chapter 11 papers as Wall Street and the Fed officials continue with their emergency meetings.

If nothing else, Bloomberg reports that the bankers and regulators were at least able to agree on a comprehensive mid-afternoon snack break:

At 11:30 a.m., five delivery-men arrived at the Fed building with carts of sandwiches, as the talks continued.

Lehman edges closer to insolvency [BBC]
Barclays Abandons Talks to Buy Lehman Over Guarantees [Bloomberg]
Lehman’s Fate Is in Doubt as Barclays Pulls Out of Talks [The New York Times]
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

1) It can unconsciously rationalize spending. Some part of your brain is going, "It's ok, I'm saving."

2) Personally, I only use my debit card to withdraw money from the ATM. I don't want my account number getting stolen off some insecure store PIN pad, and paying only in cash encourages wiser spending.

3) If you're going to do this program, at least once a month move the money from the savings to an online savings account. Interest rates at brick and mortar banks are like .0crap, online you can get upwards of 3% right now.

One neat thing is that for the first 3 months, they will match everything you save 100%. After that, 5% of your purchases up to $250.

The deal has been around for a while, we wrote about it in 2005, but a new smarmy ad campaign (the one that goes, "This is America. Do we let the sun just shine or the wind just blow? No, we put them to work.") and recent events, made me think we could revisit it. What do you think? Is this a handy program, or the Diet Coke of savings plans? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Keep The Change [Bank of America] (Photo: atbartlett)

JLP's brother has a credit score of about 750. He has a mortgage with Bank of America, never late on, as well as several savings and checking accounts with them.

When he complained to Bank of America, the customer service rep said, “Well sir you’re blaming the credit card company for your mistakes.” He replied, “OK I know I am not your biggest customer but I can tell you this: I will actively seek to move every penny, including my mortgage, elsewhere.”

She said “OK.” He hung up, vowing, "I will mention to everyone I know that BOA sucks a**."

It's true, you need to make sure you pay your bills on time. But come on, going to the default rate after a minor bit of lateness? That's idiotic. Congratulations, Bank of America, you just turned a long-term customer into your sworn enemy.

My Brother’s Nasty Bank of America Experience [All Financial Matters] (Photo: Kenny Miller)

I recently moved to a new home and called Bank of America to notify them of the new address. A few weeks ago, I received a "replacement" BoA credit card. This confused me greatly, because the only account I have with them is my checking account! On top of that, the card said I was a member since 1998. That was my first year of college, I only had one card back then, and I was so annoyed by that company (which was not BoA), I canceled the card after only a few months.

Once I finally got in touch with someone useful, we worked out that somewhere in the course of various bank acquisitions, they ended up owning my closed account. So for my convenience, they were kind enough to reopen my closed account. I immediately had them close the account, but I really did not like this experience. The credit account had been closed for almost 10 years, and they reopened it without any direct involvement from me.

Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking (1,000 point scale)

American Express 783
Discover Card 751
Industry Average 724
National City 721
Chase 719
U.S. Bank 716
WaMu 712
Citi Cards 710
Wells Fargo 709
Bank of America 692
GE Money 683
Target Visa 682
Capital One 678
HSBC 667

Source: 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Survey [J.D. Power and Associates ]

Do you agree with their results? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

PREVIOUSLY: JD Power Credit Card 2007 Customer Satisfaction Survey (Photo: Tengaport)

From WAVY:

"It started going [hiss] everywhere and it started smelling."

Red dye sprayed everywhere.

"In the car and in my eyes and on my nose and I was coughing like crazy."
...
"They didn't say sorry or anything."

The customer was taken to a local hospital to have her eyes treated and she's doing fine now. As for Bank of America, they told WAVY:

"Our personnel were very accommodating and very apologetic when Mrs. Cheikh came back into the bank. We will make sure her costs will be covered with respect to getting her car cleaned."

Mrs. Cheikh says she'll be switching banks.

Dye pack explodes on Bank of America customer [WAVY](Thanks, David!)

Blumenthal, also known as the badass who sued Best Buy over their deceptive secret website, said this about our 2008 "Worst Company in America":

"Countrywide was at their side — as an insolvency enabler. Countrywide inflated homeowner incomes to qualify them for loans they couldn't pay back and misled consumers about loan terms.

"Countrywide stacked the deck and the deal against its customers: Our goal is to un-stack the deck — and undo the deals — restoring fairness and fiscal sense to mortgages. I will fight for restitution — money back to homeowners used and abused by Countrywide — as well as fines and forfeitures to the state. Our lawsuit seeks to invalidate loans that violate state law, allowing consumers to shed illegal, unreasonable fees and conditions that leave them at the precipice of foreclosure. We must vigorously fight predatory lending practices that trap consumers on a debt treadmill," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal has released a list of ways in which Countrywide allegedly violated Connecticut lending laws. Here it is in all its shady glory:

Blumenthal alleges Countrywide violated state consumer protection and banking laws by:

• Encouraging consumers to take out loans the company knew or should have known they could not afford;
• Improperly inflating consumers' incomes to qualify them for loans they otherwise could not have received;
• Providing loans with different and more expensive terms than consumers were promised;
• Pressuring consumers into mortgages with temporary interest only payment options when the company knew or should have known they could not afford the higher payments that would come due later;
• Providing variable rate loans to consumers with the assurance they could refinance before interest rates reset, only to later refuse to do so;
• Sending at least one consumer rejected for a home equity loan at one Countrywide office to another company branch where the loan request was approved;
• Demanding Connecticut consumers facing foreclosure pay excessive and inaccurate legal fees in order to reinstate their loans;
• Promising to help homeowners "in financial difficulty to establish suitable payment plans," but instead demanding loan modifications and repayment plans that were unsustainable, unaffordable or unsuitable.

If you're interested, you can read the entire complaint here (PDF). Bank of America told the Wall Street Journal that they couldn't comment on pending litigation, which is just as well because we had a "taking it seriously" post yesterday and we wouldn't want to bore you or anything.

State Sues Countrywide For Allegedly Deceptive Loans And Loan Renegotiations, Unjustified Legal Fees [State of Connecticut]

...6098 to 4826, a solid trouncing of Comcast, which had been favored to win by many commenters. After 67 rounds and five months of fierce battling, Countrywide climbed to the top of the poop pile and affirmed its well-deserved status as the absolute nadir of capitalism. It looks like in the end, we all decided that the destruction of a giant chunk of the American economy by greed and fraud was more reprehensible than an unsatisfactory internet experience.

The Lucky Golden Shit award will get shipped to Angelo "Golden Boy" Mozilo, former Countrywide CEO, who steered the ship of financial doom from its inception to the height of its unfettered raping of the American Dream, just as soon as we find a good mailing address for him. The receipt for the Lucky Golden Ship will get mailed to Bank of America CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, along with a certificate of completion.

Congratulations to our top 10 runners up

Comcast
Walmart
Bank of America
American Airlines
Capital One
Diebold
Exxon
United Health Care
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Microsoft

You're champions, all of you. Better luck next year.

Chris only noticed the massive withdrawals after the police arrested the thief.

They said they caught this guy at BestBuy trying to use somebody else’s credit card to buy a whole bunch of computers. Apparently BestBuy’s register system pops up an alert code if there is somebody trying to use a card that has been reported lost or stolen, and they call the cops. Impressive. The police caught the guy red handed. With drugs. And paraphernalia. And a bunch of people’s personal information.

At the time, I thought they got the sucker before he could do any real damage. But just to be safe, I checked with Bank of America. I was shocked to see my account was overdrawn by almost $300. Last I checked, I had almost 40k in there.

A quick review turned up 5 suspicious transactions. Two were deposits, and three were withdrawals. All five transactions occurred *inside* five different Bank of America banking centers. What amazed me most is the final two transactions. A withdrawal of 26k. And later that day, another withdrawal of 12.5k. Way to spot suspicious activity Bank of America. They handed the guy almost 40k in cash in one day.

Turns out the first two transactions where not just deposits. They were checks written to me, Christopher Hooley. The first one was $6200. The guy kept $5k and left $1200 in my account. The next one was a day later at a different center for $7500. Again, the guy kept $5k. I saw the debit slip online, and this guy’s signature wasn’t even a remote attempt to copy mine. To make matters worse, it turns out he was forging checks from another valley business, who subsequently called the police on ME!

Great work protecting your customers, Bank of America!

Way to Spot Suspicious Activity Bank of America [Chris Hooley's - ThinkBait-]
(Photo: Getty)

The problems associated with banks that begin foreclosure proceedings when they do not have proper legal standing are now looming larger in the mortgage meltdown. Loans were heaped into trusts with little documentation of ownership or proper loan assignments — it was all about volume and the fees that came with it — and now that sloppiness is hurting both lenders and borrowers.

Mr. Rothbloom said he had another case in which the lender’s representative has been unable to prove ownership for two and a half years.

Meanwhile, consumer lawyers fear that borrowers are being pushed out of their homes by companies that have no right to do so. Such a prospect is particularly worrisome for residents in states that allow lenders to foreclose without court supervision, known as nonjudicial foreclosure states.

Losing a home is devastating for any family. Such monumental and consequential proceedings should adhere to letter of the law, and if they don't, families shouldn't hesitate to ask a court to defend their rights.

How One Borrower Beat the Foreclosure Machine [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

According to BofA, which dominates the campus market with more than 700 affinity deals, the primary targets are alumni and college sports fans, who hold 96% of the cards. The bank won't disclose how many of those cardholders first signed up as undergraduates. BofA also declines to discuss any specific contracts but says students are just as responsible with credit as older adults. "When it comes to students, we take a fair and responsible approach to lending," says spokeswoman Betty Riess. The bank gives educational material to student customers and doesn't hit them with higher rates for late payments. "Our objective is to create a long-term banking relationship*," Riess says.

BofA stresses that it gives credit cards to only half of all student applicants. Nevertheless, many undergraduates obtain more than one card, accumulating substantial overall debt. College seniors on average carry $2,864 in credit-card debt, according to Nellie Mae, a division of student lender SLM Corp (SLM). Two-thirds of college students now graduate owing money on tuition loans, and that debt averages nearly $20,000.

* = "long-term banking relationship" may consist wholly of debt service [Ed.]

Agreements between banks and private universities are private, but public universities can't hide behind the same veil of secrecy:

• The University of Iowa: In exchange for access to the school's 29,000 students, Bank of America pays $1 million per year to the school's alumni association—25% of its operating budget.
• The University of Delaware: Bank of America pays the school's alumni group $300,000 per year—90% of its operating budget.
• Ohio State: MBNA paid $1.2 million in 2006 for access to 55,000 undergraduates. Ohio State also sold access to faculty, staff, and students' parents.
• The University of Michigan: Bank of America will pay the alumni association at least $25.5 million over 11 years, including 0.5% of all purchases made on school-branded credit cards. The bank also pays $6 per year for each active student account, and $5 per year for each alumni account.
• The University of Minnesota: Chase will pay the school $360,000 over five years, plus $1 for each new cardholder, and $3 annually for each active cardholder.

Penn State's alumni association views the affinity card as a legitimate service and means of raising revenue, says Executive Director Roger Williams. "Credit is not a bad thing," he says. "In fact, you can make an argument that the American way of life is predicated on the generous use of credit."

Great argument, teach! In fact, you can also make an argument that the subprime meltdown is predicated on the generous use of credit. But let's not let facts distract from the proud American tradition of cloaking wrongdoing behind sound bites.

Credit isn't a bad thing, but the credit cards pushed through these exclusive arrangements are burdened with abusive terms. College kids don't always understand what it means when a 4.9% introductory APR automatically soars to 18.24% after six months. Colleges have a responsibility to promote good financial habits while protecting their students.

Students should also be responsible, not just for understanding that t-shirts are a poor trade for completed credit card applications, but for holding their schools accountable. Student governments should actively press administrators to disclose and dissolve financial ties with credit card companies.

In the meantime, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is focusing the government's powerful and retributive eye on the shady agreements. Maybe we can get another university ass-kicking to rival that whole corrupt lender thing that recently worked out so well for everyone.

The College Credit-Card Hustle [BusinessWeek]
RELATED: Credit Cards Ensnare Naive College Freshmen
(Photo: Getty)

In two comments to the original post, reader Varro reports that a normal CSR confirmed that Bank of America treats parking meter payments as a cash advance, but when a city employee contacted Bank of America's government relations rep, the rep dismissed the cash advance charge as an "error." Below are the two comments:

A response to my e-mail to B of A:
Thank you for your inquiry dated 6/29/08 regarding (your card). We are happy to assist you. You may access cash with your credit card up to the credit line; however please keep in mind of your transaction fee associated along with each cash transaction.

Bank of America will now convert charges from parking meters, court fines, and parking tickets into a cash charge. The transaction fee for each cash transaction is three percent with a minimum of $10.00 and no maximum cap.

We appreciate the opportunity to assist you online. Should you have any further inquiries, please e-mail us again. Thank you for choosing Bank of America. We value your business and look forward to serving your banking needs.

Varro asked a reporter friend to check it out further:

But here's what happened when Ms. Ruiz talked to a City of Portland employee who then contacted B of A...:

(B of A Rep) said that there was an issue early this year whereby some municipalities were encoding parking meter transactions incorrectly. The issue was identified and corrected by May 5.

Bank of America does not charge a cash advance transaction fee to use parking meters. Parking meter payments are treated as purchases. There is no associated fee for this transaction.

Below is the actual statement she said that their Government Banking Merchant Group sent her regarding the payment of parking tickets:

"Bank of America does not consider payments of parking tickets as cash advance fees. There was a coding error for a brief period in April and we worked with the District of Columbia to correct it and credited any fees back to our customers."

As far as we know, there was no such problem in Portland.

What's the real story here, Bank of America? Was this a snafu or was it intentional?

(Photo: mbeldyk and dM.nyc™)

Jasper says:

I got a "Federally required affiliate marketing notice" from my Bank of America credit card. So I call the numbers and relatively quickly I get to talk to someone and I tell them to "limit my marketing offers" as much as possible.

Ok, blahblah, done deal. Wohoo, from Oct 2008 on, no more SPAM from BOA.

"Is there anything else I can do for you sir?"

"No".

And then she asks....

"Are you aware of our credit protection plans...." at which point I interrupt her and tell her "Ehm... I just asked you to limit the marketing offers....."

She goes "Ok sir, you're right. Have a nice day"

I feel so bad for these scripted readers. There is no logic in what they have to read....

We feel bad for them too. When they launch into their painful marketing messages at the end of a call we like to pretend there was some sort of emergency and quickly end the conversation.

"Oh, my god, I'm so sorry, my pop tarts are stuck in the toaster. Have a nice day!" Click.

Anyhow, if you'd like Bank of America to stop marketing to you, Dear Reader, you can go to https://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy or call them at 1.888.341.5000. You can opt out of phone, email, and direct mail marketing as well as information sharing.

(Photo: epicharmus )

ken.d.lewis@bankofamerica.com, colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com, britney.w.sheehan@bankofamerica.com, nicole.nastacie@bankofamerica.com, joe.price@bankofamerica.com, keith.banks@bankofamerica.com, michael.jones@bankofamerica.com, liam.e.mcgee@bankofamerica.com, brian.t.moynihan@bankofamerica.com, amy.brinkley@bankofamerica.com, steele.alphin@bankofamerica.com, liam.e.mcgee@bankofamerica.com, bradford.r.dinsmore@bankofamerica.com, michelle.shepherd@bankofamerica.com, maryellen.baker@bankofamerica.com

We have received numerous requests lately for company-specific email lists. At present, we have very few, but that number can be increased if you send in the results of your successful EECBs. Don't be so lazy, here's all the info you need to build your own EECB.

(Photo: Payton Chung)

"There is technically a deep pocket. They've acquired them, they assume their liabilities," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum told journalists on a conference call.

[Reuters]

Here's what a few of you had to say about these two companies:

Bank of America:

"Bank of America tellers gave away $12,000 of my money to a woman with missing teeth and a fake driver's license in my name. On SEVEN occasions. In places I never go."

"My girlfriend had a credit card with a bank that was bought out by BOA. Her monthly payments went from $20 a month to $170 despite the fact that she never missed a payment and always paid more then the minimum."

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

Countrywide:

"Countrywide, because before the subprime crisis I could finance my education, and now I'm posting as a dropout."

"Countrywide is ultimately what caused the dollar to be worthless. So them, and people like them, wrecked our economy."

"Countrywide is the subprime mortgage business. Sure, blame is spread widely, but no one company/person/sector so aggressively made it part of their business plan."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

"Despite widespread and often unfounded headlines of the past year, Countrywide has made a positive impact on the country," he said

He went on to say that Countrywide made over 22 million loans and had saved 143,000 people from foreclosure by restructuring their troubled mortgages.

"I'm very proud of our accomplishments," Mozilo said. "We've made the dream of home ownership available to everyone regardless of ethnicity. We've helped millions of people in good times and bad."

Not every shareholder got to speak at the meeting, including Scott Adams, "a regional coordinator with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees's pension fund, came prepared with a speech he did not get to read."

Adams scoffed at Mozilo's claim that Countrywide's efforts had kept 143,000 troubled borrowers in their homes. "He said they made 22 million loans; 143,000 is not a whole lot," he said.

At Countrywide's End, an Emotional CEO [BusinessWeek]
(AP Photo/Ric Francis, file)

After Bank of America made one too many errors on his account, costing him "thousands of dollars" Avi had finally had enough.

"I said, 'Listen, you know, if you guys don't work with me on this issue, you know, I'm just going to tell everyone how much I hate the bank,'" Oslick said.

So he did. He says Bank of America called the police, who showed up at his door and asked him to take the sign down. He said no. According to Avi's website, the cop said, "Sounds good to me." You can visit his site at www.ihateboa.com.

Man Displays Anger With Company On Side Of House, Internet [NBC10] (Thanks, Everyone!)

For the unfamiliar, multispace meters, also called "Pay and Display" machines, are a central machine where drivers can purchase time on a particular space or print out a ticket to display on their dashboards; most machines accept bills and credit/debit cards, allowing drivers without quarters to purchase parking. Obviously, a $10 service charge negates this convenience.
Gary writes:

I recently used my bank of America credit card to pay for a multi-space parking meter in Washington DC. The type electronic meter common in urban areas for parking on the street and which accepts credit card payments. The charge for parking was $2. Bank of America treats this charge as a cash advance. They charged me a $10 cash advance fee on top. So now I will be thinking twice before using any bank of America cards. A transaction that should cost $2 can come out costing $12. Also, my card currently has a 0% promotional APR on purchases, but they put the $2 parking purchase in a separate category subject to a much higher interest rate.

Gary sent us a follow-up the next day:

I spoke to their CSR twice and I never really got an adequate explanation. I am attaching a copy of the email explanation they sent me. From what I understood, they now treat payments to government entities as quasi-cash transactions. During my last conversation the CSR explained that parking meters and payments of fines would now be treated as quasi-cash transactions subject to a minimum fee of $10. I think this is something new that they recently introduced and I have requested an updated version of my terms of service to get a better understanding of these fees.

(Photo: dM.nyc™)

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Bank of America:

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

"Any health company that tries to screw their own customers in a proactive way deserves to burn in hell."

"Blue Cross Blue Shield just dropped my 85 year old grandparents with no warning. Oh yeah, my grandmother just was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Coincidence? What a bag of flaming @*&%#s!"

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

From CBS2 Chicago:

Amy Christiansen said her entire family had been receiving credit card applications addressed to each member of her family, including Bennett, who has since turned 6, and Christiansen's 3-year-old child.

Christiansen said she decided to allow Bennett to fill out a credit card application from Bank of America. He accurately wrote in his birthday in 2002, his annual income of $0, and the fact that he is an "other," that is, neither a homeowner nor a renter. He signed his name in writing that was obviously that of a child, she said.

A short time later, Christiansen said she received a credit card with Bennett's name on it.

Christiansen was left baffled, and troubled by the ease with which the application was apparently accepted.

Yes, Bennett signed up and was approved for a credit card. Bank of America has responded: "We do not knowingly solicit or grant credit to a minor," [a spokesperson] said.

Hey, look at the bright side. Assuming a 24% interest rate and a 2.5% minimum payment, Bankrate's minimum payment calculator says that Bennett can have his $600 paid off by the time he's 19.5! (Yeah, we know, even 6-year-olds know not to just pay the minimum payment... it's still kinda funny.)

Mom Shocked When 6-Year-Old Gets Credit Card [CBS2] (Thanks, Bill!)

My husband and I have 4 accounts with Bank of America - equity line of credit, checking, savings and a credit card. To qualify for free checking, you have to meet 1 of 3 requirements. 1st is to have a minimum of $5,000 in your checking account, the 2nd is to have $5,000 in your savings and the 3rd is to have a line of credit over a certain amount. Well, our equity loan is over that 3rd limit.

However, for the last couple of months, we continue to get the $20 account maintenance fee on our checking account. The first time we called, the associate waived the fee. The second time the associate waived the fee but told us we will have to continue to call to have it waived EVERY TIME after it was charged.

We were not sure why, so this last time my husband and I were very angry. He went in to our local branch and wanted a complete explanation of why we were continuing to get the charges and when they were going to stop.

They told him that though you only had to meet 1 of 3 requirements, that only one the computer checked every month was the $5,000 limit in your checking (which for most average Americans is the only requirement that is most likely the hardest to meet, especially during these economic times).

Even if our savings met the limit we would still get the $20 fee. My husband asked if he was really going to have to monitor our account every month for it, and the only way to have it not charged to us is to call after the fact EVERY MONTH? She said he was correct! So, Bank of America is more than willing to rip you off with the hopes that you don't keep up with your accounts, even though you meet the requirements for fee-free banking! We have banked with them for 8 years and have 4 accounts, and the answer we got was that we would have to call monthly, sit on hold and speak to someone different every time to make sure the bank wasn't taking the money they shouldn't be taking in the first place. Ridiculous! Needless to say, as soon as our house sells (it's on the market now), we are closing all accounts and moving elsewhere.

—
Tara C. from Nashville, TN

Sounds like a good plan to us. Anyone else have this problem with Bank of America?

(Photo: epicharmus )

Dear Bank of America:

I have been a credit card customer with you for six years but today closed my account as a result of the rudeness of your customer service people.

I received an email last night telling me that the fraud department wanted to confirm some recent charges on my account. The email said I could either use your Web site to confirm the charges or I could call you. I chose the online option, answered the fraud prevention questions, and figured that was that. However, this morning, I received a call asking me to verify the same questions at 8:30 a.m. — which woke me up.

I don't appreciate being woken up before 9:00 in the morning on a weekend, especially when I had already handled the matter online last night after you offered me the choice of doing so.

I called your company to complain about this and spoke with a woman who I can only characterize as belligerent. When I told her that I don't want to be called before 9 a.m., she told me that there's no way to prevent that and they might call even earlier in the future. She said that you have offices all over the country and they can't account for time zones. I pointed out that this makes no sense, since I'm on the east coast — if they're not in my time zone, then they're in an earlier one. Furthermore, that's just ridiculous; are you waking up customers on the west coast at 6 a.m. then? I highly doubt it, so her answer makes no sense.

I then said to her, "Like many people, I work all week and I use the weekends to sleep in." Her reply was: "Well, I have to be at work at 7 in the morning, ma'am." I don't know how that's in the least bit relevant — should I expect Bank of America may call me at 7 a.m. then too? When I asked her this, she told me she would transfer me and then simply hung up on me.

I have just closed my account as a result of this — both the waking me up before 9 a.m. on a Saturday and the rudeness of your employee. There are plenty of other companies who value my business enough not to be gratuitously rude.

Sincerely,
Alison

8:30 in the morning isn't standard business hours, so there's no reason to call you that early. And Alison raises a good point, BOA isn't calling their Cali customers at 6:00 AM, so clearly there's a method for controlling what time calls are made. If the CSR assigned to her call took a few minutes to work with Alison, BOA would still be able to charge Alison senseless overdraft fees for another few months. Instead, her early morning cranky pants routine lost the company a customer. You'd think her own displeasure at being up so early on the weekend would make her empathize more with Alison.

(photo:metavariable)

BOA Receives OK To Purchase Countrywide [NBC5]
(Photo: meghannmarco )

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 mus