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the right bank for us. This counter credit charge took the account under the minimum for zero fees.

Upon seeing this I asked why I had a counter charge if I had no account activity for nearly ninety days. I was informed I had not been charged for my checks when they were ordered, the checks I still did not have, the checks which were supposed to be free anyway. I was informed free checks were for accounts that met the minimum balance requirement which until they charged for them I had. This was a truly puzzling. I called the headquarters toll free number and was directed to take this up with my local branch. Basically no help at all.

I went to my local BOA branch yet again and was told I was responsible for the fees. Normally I would just pay the fee and be done with them but I was particularly outraged. Unable to find satisfaction I called the local news station and reported it to the consumer hot-line. In under twenty four hours they along with myself were standing on the sidewalk in front of the BOA branch during the Friday lunch rush to tape the story for the evening news. Amazingly enough within fifteen minutes of arriving the branch manager whom said he could do nothing to help me suddenly found mysterious power to refund the fees in full and bring my account totals back to where they had been. Needless to say I immediately closed them and decided I was done forever with BOA. Not quite.

Two weeks later I received a notice from them stating I still owed money for those checks I never got, and that my account wasn't actually closed but only frozen until this was paid. This led to them tacking on an overdraft charge as thinking closing my account meant our relationship was severed. They wanted that money. Finally it took a complaint to the Attorney General to get this fully resolved and wipe the slate clean. Now I just had to deal with getting that "bounced check" off my credit rating. Surprisingly that went along easily and the day I was informed in mail my credit report was updated and clean, those pesky mystery checks finally arrived. They were postmarked only three days earlier. My account has been closed two months and I still get a statement each month to detail activity of an account which is supposed to be closed with a balance of zero and some piece of junk mail from them almost weekly for consumer services, insurance, or any variety of services they offer. I have inquired why I still get statements for a closed account to which the only answer I received was "that's odd." I will soon find out if I get yet another.

In all fairness my experience was beyond rotten, but some people swear by BOA and have been happy with them for years. I may have just hit a bad branch, manager, or personal banker. I am sure the entire institution is not this bad. BOA does offer some great services but like any large corporation there will always be a few bad eggs here and there. When dealing with BOA or any bank I highly suggest taking it for a low dollar amount test drive first just to see if it fits your needs and quality requirements before going all in, it could save you a ton of time, money, and headaches.

Learn more about this author, Amanda Fox.
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