As a BoA customer, I would like to thank you for...

[TreasonousBastard]

telling me all about how my bank sucks and then proving it by what seems to be a DOS attack and crashing its servers so I can't access my account online. You really showed them!

Thanks also for telling me about credit unions, the closest one of which is 30 miles away and has no deal for free ATMs in places I tend to be. And community banks, of which we have two, but they tend to sneer at anyone not using them for family wealth management. Same deal with ATMs.

There are two other national banks around here, one of which is even more convenient than BoA, but who knows what would happen if I moved what little money I have there. I do know that I would have to get two direct deposits, three monthly auto-paid bills, and several monthly charitable donations changed too.

[Name removed]

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[Safetykitten]

2. ...and as we all know, it is all about you. Oh by the way, I bank at Walmart.

[brewens]

6. My CU has a branch at our Super Wallyworld. I never go in there

unless I absolutely have to. They tried closing the main CU branch on Saturdays and let that one at Walmart handle the Saturday customers. The main branch was drive-thru only Saturdays. People raised hell and they went back to being open limited hours. WTF were they thinking anyway? How many people want to brave the throng at Walmart just to do their banking?

[Safetykitten]

7. Don't. Others like me have to, as the economy tailspins.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Actually, it is all about me-- it's my money and I'l bank where I want to...

and it's not actually by choice. I'm with BoA simply because they bought Fleet, which bought NatWest, which bought First Jersey where I opened an account 15 years ago because they had a branch next door to where I worked at the time. Wouldn't have been my first choice if starting from scratch, but never thought it a big deal.

I don't much need the foreign exchange services or other things I used to use, but I don't see how moving my accounts would solve any of the planet's great problems. It would probably cause some smirking, self-satisfied grins from a few people who can't get through the day without finding a dark cloud somewhere.

[Safetykitten]

10. Others do not have the luxury of banking choices as they are nickeled and dimed to death.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Then "others" can do what they have to do.

[Safetykitten]

12. and guess what. They are.

[Make7]

3. Couple almost forecloses on Bank of America

 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/06/earlyshow/main20069297.shtml
 

[brewens]

4. Do you live in a really small town? I'm in a town of about 50k

and we have four credit unions, that I know of. I never use an ATM other than theirs. My credit union debit card works just fine at stores to get cash back if I need it and not able to use their ATM..

I've been a member of my CU since 1978. That is the big one in town and it has branches now all over about a 35 mile radius.

I heard that was just overwhelming traffic that messed up BoA

[rustydog]

5. That is exactly what I am going to do. Drop BoA like a bad habit

They are skanky money-grubbing bastards. Yes there are other banking institutions just like them. I have to start where MY money is presently being held hostage, BoA.

[MilesColtrane]

8. The bank claims that it is responsible for its web site problems.

I don't know if I believe them, but I do know that scenario is very possible since BoA sucks ass.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Several other threads indicated BOA web site was overwhelmed by customers

changing to other banks.

Some news stories on the web said same thing, I was reading a lot about last night.

btw....did ya know...debit card fees before the new law took effect= 19 BILLION ( for all banks)
and after today, new law cuts those fees in half.

[TreasonousBastard]

19. Heard that, too, and it's probably true, but no...

one but BoA IT knows for sure.

Yeah-- debit cards have the fees halved, and banks can't get those $35 overdraft fees so easily any more. This is not exactly due to The Law of Unintended Consequences because the geniuses in DC should have guessed that the banks would try to get the money back somehow. Truth is, I can't say it wasn't deliberately set up for this to happen.

BTW, some asshole on the radio this morning said that since the debit fees were reduced, prices would be reduced so the $5 fee is actually in the consumer's interest.

(You would think that after slamming your head against that damn wall so much it would at least show a little crack...)

[City of Mills]

14. Sounds like $5/month is a small price for you to pay for convenience

Nothing wrong with that.

[RebelOne]

21. Actually, I am not complaining about the $5 a month charge.

I will will just cut down on smoking since cigarettes are almost $5 a pack. I use my debit card for all purchases--gas, grocery store, online and whatever else.

[bengalherder]

15. Find a credit union.

What part of 'BoA is part of the problem' don't you understand, oh liberal one?
If you have little money as you say why the big freakout? I have little money and have used CU's and regional banks for years, every time I used the big guys I got screwed for hidden fees. CU's are even linked nationally by the CIRRUS system, you can still use any ATM at another credit union for free anywhere in the US. Why are you giving money to the enemy?

PS, Oh BTW, that crash was because despite it's fees BoA is cheap on the IT and their own customers crashed the fucking bank website running for the door when the new fees were instituted, not some scary anons or anything.

[Name removed]

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[marmar]

16. DU crashed BoA's website? Who knew?

And BTW, your bank does suck. There's no getting around it.

[Shagbark Hickory]

17. The Bof A online banking didn't go down. Just their corporate home page.

Mega Banks like B of A may seem convenient on the surface because they have branches and ATMs everywhere but the flipside to that is when you have a problem with your account, it is very difficult to get it resolved. They also engage in practices that are illegal and have policies that are not beneficial to their customers.

Two rules of thumb that I suggest when shopping for a bank.

Rule number 1: When you call the bank if not answered by a live human, too big, find another bank.

Rule number 2: If you cannot walk into the president of the bank's office, too big, find another bank.

Also I suggest checking the rating for the bank as you probably don't want to sign on with a troubled bank only to have it get bought out by a mega bank a week later.

[RebelOne]

23. BOA's online banking did not go down, but everything

is ultra-slow loading. I wanted to access my checking account and it was so slow loading that I just gave up and signed out.

[Shagbark Hickory]

24. If you're interested I can tell you the name of the bank I use. They have a branch in woodstock

They're a metro area community bank. Lots of locations and you can use the ATMs at Publix for free.
Free online banking with bill pay. A the moment they don't charge for checkcards but I can't vouch for what they do in the future.

Send me a PM if you want to know.

[idiotgardener]

20. Do what you want with your money. However...

it has become abundantly clear that BofA is a huge part of the problems we are in now, and every one of their customers props them up a little bit. How can we change anything if every customer is going to come up with little reasons not to effect change?

Honestly, having to go a little out of your way to find a free ATM or using your debit card less (and paying less ATM fees) seem like minor inconveniences to me. And the bit about having to get your direct deposits, etc. changed just sounds like people who whine about how having to bring their own bags to the grocery store is ruining their lives and taking away their constitutional freedoms.

Fixing the problems we are in is going to take some behavioral changes from all of us. What are you willing to do?

[Name removed]

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