Have you ever heard of the Bank of America Customer Years program? Patricia hasn’t, which is interesting, because she apparently consented to sign up for it. She saves all paperwork that her financial institutions send her, and can’t find any trace of this program: or any valid reason why she would have signed up for it.

I am at a loss for what to do.

This evening, April 18, 2011, whilst browsing through my Bank of America statement, I noticed a funny charge for CUSTOMER YEARS. The charge was for $11.95. To my chagrin, this charge appears monthly, starting 06/2010. I was aware of no such company, so I opened a chat box with BofA. I finally got a rep in the disputes department who identified himself as [redacted]. I explained the problem, and after a long pause in which he was looking into the charges, he responded back that I had signed up for the Bank of America Customer Years program. I responded back that surely I would be aware of such a thing, and that I would be very displeased if BofA signed me up for something without my explicit consent. He responded that he understood my concern, but that I needed to take it up with Customer Years at 866-237-8236. I signed off.

Before calling, a quick google search for Bank of America Customer Years netted me a number of complaint sites, but no information on any such program. I went to the Bank of America site and logged in. No hits for Customer Years.

I then poked through every single page of my online account information. No sign anywhere on any page indicating that I was signed up for any special program.
I called the number, and unfortunately, forgot to write down the name of the young woman to whom I spoke.

I asked about the Customer Years program, and she started talking about how it was some kind of amazing insurance and it would protect me, if for instance, I wrecked my car. I replied that I was not interested in hearing about it, and that I was unaware of having consented to any such thing. The response came back that I had indeed consented to sign up over the phone. I responded that this was extremely unlikely as any such phone call would be unsolicited and my general policy is to be rude to unsolicited callers. Her response was that I had indeed consented, and that materials had been mailed to me. This sparked a dim memory, which makes sense, of being called and me saying “yes, please send me more materials so I can make up my mind”. That is actually a common response for me because I like to review materials in writing before making a decision. Also, I save all of that sort of documentation in my records, for at least 5 years for anything I sign up for.

I announced that I plan to close my BofA account, which I do intend to do. The representative started launching into another spiel about the greatness of the mystery program. I told her thank you, then hung up.

My question is, am I just screwed out of those months of payment for a program that appears to be so top secret that it cannot be found by google?

Do I have any real recourse?

And, based on some of the materials I’ve read on this site, how hard is it going to be to close my BofA account without getting constant annoying phone calls, emails, and letters?

As with credit card protection plan cold calls and the “small dog” scam, it sounds like the person calling Patricia logged her response of “yes, send me more information” as “yes, sign me up for this mysterious program.”

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