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Professional_Banking_NOT
| Professional Banking, NOT!
Professional Banking, . . . NOT! By: Rich Brunelle
So, there I was . . . It was two months ago, and I was pissed.
Metro PCS had suspended my cell phone service because I hadn’t
paid my bill. Realizing that I really needed to keep my cell
phone service working, I promptly called them to make a payment
using my credit card. Then things started to get stupid.
It seems that my previous payment for the preceding month had
not been paid for by my bank. Thus, I now would be required to
pay for two months service to get my phone turned back on. Now,
I know I made the previous payment. And, I know I saw it debited
from my account in my on-line statement from the bank. After
close to fifteen minutes arguing with the gal on the other end
of the phone, we had reached a stalemate. She wasn’t going to
release the “suspend” on my phone without my making two
payments. And, I wasn’t going to pay an additional payment when
I knew that I had made the payment and Bank of America showed
the payment withdrawn from my account.
She offered the alternative of my paying the double payment to
release the “suspend” on my phone and then I could call their
Accounting people on the next business day to try to get the
matter resolved. I didn’t like that idea too much so I came up
with a different solution. I suggested that she “re-activate” my
phone service, which is similar to opening a new account. She
agreed. She informed me that doing so would cost me an
additional fifteen dollars, which I agreed to pay.
Five minutes later she had me on hold while processing my credit
card payment, returning to the phone to advise me that the
payment had failed because Bank of America did not send back an
authorization code. I was put on hold a minute or two later for
her to re-attempt the payment, which she said had also failed
authorization.
The end result was “no phone” and check back later to see if the
payment processed. I did check later. Not only did my Bank of
America Statement show the preceding payment paid, but I had
also been charged for both payment attempts noted above. At this
point my records, and Bank of America’s records reflected that
three payments had been made to Metro PCS, which should of
worked out to my account being paid for the previous, current,
and next payment being paid. Of course, it couldn’t be so
simple. When I contacted Metro PCS and advised them that the
payments had been paid by my bank, they told me the payments had
not been paid. At this point frustration is building with each
minute that passes.
So, what to do? Okay, Metro PCS says they didn’t get paid. Bank
of America says that the payments were paid. Solution seems
simple, file a “claim” against the charges, the bank gives me
back my money, I in turn pay Metro PCS cash at one of their
store locations, and I get my phone turned back on. You have to
admit, in theory it sounds like a good plan.
I contact Bank of America and file a claim against the
aforementioned transactions. Bank of America says that they have
to send me a form that requires return to them within fifteen
days. I ask them to send the form to the address where I am
temporarily located to ensure my receipt of the forms promptly,
they agree. Then the missing payments are credited back to my
account. I then withdraw the necessary funds to bring my Metro
PCS account current and send the applicable payment to Metro PCS
via Western Union.
After sending Metro PCS the payments required I call them,
provide them the applicable tracking/payment information, and
five minutes later my cell phone lives again. All is right with
the world again, no more problem. In my mind, I see this “nerdy”
little Bank of America cartoon figure busy at work on his
computer interacting with a similar character at Metro PCS. They
figure out what happened to the missing payments and the problem
is gone. Boy does my mind need glasses. And, the problem is
about to get out of hand.
Remember those fifteen day forms? Not only did I never receive
them, but Bank of America admits that they failed to send them
to the address as I requested. And, because I failed to return
the forms, never received nor sent to me, to Bank of America, my
claim was denied and the applicable funds debited from my
account. Now, this makes little sense to me. They failed to send
the forms to me as requested. Therefore I didn’t receive nor
return the forms to Bank of America. So, why is this, my fault?
And, why are they denying my claim because they failed to send
me the forms. I have more concern for the fact that the fifteen
days has passed and no one has actually researched the
whereabouts of the missing funds from my account.
After a very frustrating interaction with Bank of America staff,
they agree to re-consider my claim and re-send the forms that I
again have to return to them within fifteen days. But, now they
will not re-credit my account the missing funds. Thus my account
enjoys a negative balance that gets to grow negatively due to
NSF charges because the funds are no longer in my account to
cover my recent spending. Bank of America staff advises me that
I will have to wait until the claim is resolved to get the funds
returned to my account and the relative NSF charges reversed.
After the interaction ended I ask myself “If Metro PCS doesn’t
have the money, and the bank doesn’t have the money, WHO HAS MY
MONEY AND WHY ISN’T IT IN MY ACCOUNT?”
Bank of America charges me a small fortune every time that I
forget to record a transaction and cause myself a negative
balance. And I’ll admit, it is my fault when I do not know what
I have done with my money. But this isn’t my error, I know what
I did. I could give a raggedy rats butt about the amount or the
way I spend my money. I am concerned that not only does Bank of
America not know the location of my money entrusted to their
care, but they also get to penalize me for their failure to
resolve it. Anyway, before I digress and start talking about
people suffering from rectal-cranial inversion, I should
continue on topic.
The two hundred dollars relative to my claim does not seem to be
that big a deal. But, the subsequent three hundred fifty dollars
debited from my account for NSF charges significantly changes
the picture of things.
I received the Bank of America claim forms a few days later. I
promptly completed the forms, attached a copy of my Western
Union payment to Metro PCS, and went directly to my local branch
of Bank of America where I had their staff fax the documents
directly to B of A Claims.
Twenty-two days later, my bank account balance is $-537.00, and
Bank of America has yet to resolve the claim. And because my
income is “direct deposit” to my bank account, I do not have the
opportunity to protect my money because Bank of America has
already gotten their hands in it. At this point I am more than
angry, more than frustrated, and more than annoyed. I am mad.
Not the kind of mad you see as a red face with steam coming out
the ears. I’m talking the foaming at the mouth, looking for a
target to bite type of mad. So, I again contact Bank of America
regarding the issue.
Bank of America staff advises me that the claim is still not
resolved. The next ten minutes is filled with my hostilities as
I try to explain to the Bank of America employee that I am now
unable to pay my bills, ending with my pleading with them to
please re-credit the money to my account so that I may eat that
week. Of course, Bank of America could give a dog-snot less
about how their failure has impacted my finances or my stomach.
So, the best I could get was the employee sending some sort of
“response required” request to whoever is investigating my
claim. I asked if I could speak to the person investigating my
claim and was informed that nobody is allowed to speak with the
Claims Investigators. I figure that such investigation is
strictly based upon math. But if these people cannot add the
numbers and make it right, they better talk with someone that
knows what has transpired.
Three days later I contact Bank of America again. They advise me
that my claim has been denied because I have already received
the service paid for and that I should contact Metro PCS for a
refund if I have over paid my account with them. But, their
explanation was not one of investigative finding. Their
explanation was as a matter of policy. So, I go OFF! How in the
name of all that is holy can they deny my claim. After I ranted
and raved for a few minutes with Bank of America, I gave Metro
PCS a few minutes of my anger, frustration, and hostility.
Metro PCS could not find any record of my making the
aforementioned missing payments and provided me a phone number
for their Accounting people in hopes that they could help
resolve the issue.
Mind you, through most of this I have been driven to distraction
by the negligence demonstrated by both Bank of America and Metro
PCS. But, after a few minutes of calming down, a light came on
between my left and right ears and I sprung to my feet and again
contacted Bank of America.
“How can my claim be denied when if you review the payments
involved, two of the payments are clearly a duplication of each
other,” I asked the Bank of America employee? And after walking
her through the transaction histories, explaining all the events
as they transpired, and having her seek the receipt I made for
payment via Western Union, my claim is once again being
re-considered. But, I have little faith in Bank of America
resolving this matter properly.
So far, Bank of America has failed to find and make a
determination of the whereabouts of funds from my accounts that
have been missing for close to ninety days. I do not believe
that anyone has actually performed any sort of investigation
regarding my money. Had anyone even conducted a quick glance at
the transactions they would have noted the duplication of
charges, on the same date within minutes of each other. I have
no doubt that Bank of America’s negligence has placed me in a
situation of duress. And, I believe that Bank of America
believes that it is my responsibility to resolve this matter.
The way I see it . . . Bank of America has Accountants, Metro
PCS has Accountants. If Metro PCS has my money, they no longer
have my authorization to receive payment, give it back. I should
not have to chase down an error in either company’s payment or
billing systems. Bank of America and Metro PCS are responsible
for such issues. I just want my money accounted for. And that,
is the responsibility of Bank of America. Penalizing me by
debiting funds from my account due to their failures is
unacceptable. And, leaving me in such a financial state for such
a length of time is demonstrative of the negligence throughout
this entire matter. Bank of America will not even give me a
small signature loan to protect my account from overdraft
situations, but will allow me to carry a negative balance, owing
them the money until my next monthly pay. And, does not hesitate
to put me under such financial duress as created by this
situation without accepting responsibility for their own
failures.
I suggest that someone within Bank of America get off their
flabby anatomy and ascertain the whereabouts of my money. Credit
my funds and the subsequent NSF charges back to my account while
they still have the ability to demonstrate Bank of America a
responsible business. I DO NOT have to prove to anyone the
whereabouts of my money, except for within my checkbook. Bank of
America does however have the responsibility to do so. By
becoming a Bank of America customer, I entrusted my money to
Bank of America, and they accepted such responsibility.
I do not understand why someone from Bank of America cannot
contact someone from Metro PCS and resolve this issue. If Bank
of America has not paid the funds to Metro PCS, then they need
to return the money to me as I have demonstrated and provided
evidence of such payment already being made to Metro PCS by
other means. If Metro PCS has been paid this money, Bank of
America needs to chargeback the charges, again as I have
demonstrated and provided evidence of such payment already being
made to Metro PCS by other means, and promptly re-credit my
account. Any question regarding my already receiving services
and “yada, yada, yada” are untrue as Metro PCS denied my
services until such time as I paid them by other means to get
the services reinstated. And regardless of all else, somebody
other than myself needs to actually do a little work and resolve
this matter before another day passes leaving me unable to pay
my bills and put food on my table.
About the author:
Rich Brunelle is a Project Manager for a General Contractor that
serves the San Francisco Bay Area. You may visit their web site
at http://djam-promo.com/mgl/ or direct your questions regarding
this topic to mgl@djam-promo.com
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