Luisa accidentally overdrafted her checking account with Bank of America, but found that no matter how much money she put in — it was being eaten up by the fee monster that lurks at the bottom of her account. It has big yellow teeth and glowing eyes and only the CEO can control it… Rrraaawwwrrrr……..

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 )

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