It appears that Bank of America is attempting to do some damage control. They reversed their decision to charge basic checking account holders a $5 fee for using their debit cards, but not before angering many and losing some customers.
One of the customers that they lost is my daughter Put Pie. My mother and I opened an account for Put Pie over a year ago and planned on maintaining it for her until she could take it over. I had already tried to close the account once because of fees that were being charged even though we had been told that the account would be free. Apparently, the terms of the account changed right after we opened it.
When I went to close it the first time, I was asked why and the fees were reversed and I was told that I would have to maintain a minimum balance for it to be free. I should have just closed it then, but I didn’t. This time I didn’t get an argument when I went to close it because I was one of many closing an account.
Fast forward to 11/04/11…I’m sitting in the living room with my daughters and the phone rings. Usually I don’t answer the phone, but for some reason I reached for it.
Me: Hello.
Them: Hi this is So and So calling from Bank of America. May I please speak to Put Pie?
Me: Uh…she’s a child.
Them: Excuse me?
Me: She’s 3 years old.
Them: Oh. Please excuse the disturbance.
It seems that they were calling to smooth things over with Put Pie and try to get her back. I thought it was hilarious that they were calling a 3 year old. It’s not like they don’t have all of her details on file. Dumb butts!
My only regret is that I didn’t let Put Pie take the call. I should have just handed her the phone. It would have made for a very funny blog post.
Oh BofA, they sure are screwing things up aren’t they? I can’t get over the fact that they charge you for calling customer service! That’s outrageous.
Omg that would have been so funny….next time because chances are someone else will call…
OMG! That would have been hilarious! I’m delighted that “the power of the people” overcame corporate greed in this instance.
Hm… I wouldn’t have trusted Put Pie on the phone with B of A. She has so little experience with banks… she would have gotten hustled for sure.
If they call again hand her the phone!
I could kick myself for not handing her the phone the first time around. My blogging instincts were down.
HA! You should have put her on speaker and let Put Pie give B of A a piece of her mind!!
That would have been funny!
Hilarious!
Lol! Oh you should have- that old have been funny. Though it still is funny and makes for a good post.
I think this happened with a lot of banks. Unfortunately they lost a lot of customers before they realized they could do the right thing.
I’m switching this week. Credit union here we come !
Oh that would have been hilarious! Too bad.
That said, I got a mail piece from Chase the other day saying that they wanted to market to Mister Man for various loan products and that he had to respond with a signed letter if he didn’t want to be marketed to. I had him write in his very best newly 8 year old handwriting. “I am 8 years old. Please don’t send me any mail at all because I am far too young to sign a contract. My mommy needs to sign this letter saying I don’t want to be marketed to, however, because it isn’t legally binding for me to sign it.” #sigh
Wow! I love that you had him write it.
rock on! I think it’s awesome that you’ve protested that madness. It would have been funny to have Put Pie on the phone but it was a good move not to. 😉
Good job standing up for what you believe in! I went into the bank to get the $2.95 I’m being charged suddenly for having paper statements. And this is the local bank I switched so that I could be with the good guys! They always reverse my charges when I complain so I guess that’s a good side to it.
Wow, that is absolutely crazy!
That would have been absolutely hilarious! Or you could have let your mom take the call and answer only in Spanish! LOL 🙂
I can just imagine what this post would be like if you vlogged: Put Pie with a brown paper bag over her face, stained with a little toddler drool, sitting in front of a phone on speaker with the B of A guy trying to cajole her into coming back. Then she coos and hits the buttons to play a song on the phone and the bank guy hangs up. haha 🙂
Ha! It does anyway. There will probably be another call or two in the future. You’ll still have your chance. Be sure to put it on speaker phone and start recording with you camera. 😉
You should double check Put Pie’s credit. Some scammers will use kids social security numbers and open things up in their name. You can do the free one through the govt. Better safe then sorry.
Hindsight is a great thing eh?