A couple of days ago I transferred several hundred dollars into our joint checking account. Shortly after that I tried to make a purchase and my card got denied. I reviewed the balance -- negative $600.
WTF?

Looking through the statements, I realized that somebody was using the card to make purchases while finances on the account were limited. The purchases were small -- a coffee here and there -- while every overdraft fee was $35. Most of the negative balance was composed of the of overdraft fees. Since all the purchases where made around the area where my fiance worked, I talked to her. It turns out that she had visited a bank a couple of weeks ago in order to link her debit card to one of her accounts. There was a mistake and BoA linked her card with our joint checking account; that was not correct!

We went to BoA. They acknowledged the mistake and the fact that the bank had to refund the money. Yet, there was no any effort to help us out. The manager of the branch was not present and we were told to go to the bank where the account was 'linked.' Okay, fair enough. We drove 40 miles to that bank. Unfortunately, that bank could not help us because the account was created at a different location (the one that we had visited earlier). The teller who helped us made efforts to refund the money, but it was clear that she did not have enough privileges and no money was refunded. We were not able to get to the manager there as well. I know that the manager was on-site because there was a car parked in the spot named "branch manager."

When talking to the customer representative, I mentioned the fact that the bank did not even attempt to contact us when the account was getting overdrawn over and over again. They told us to keep the balance after every purchase. I do not check the account after every trip to Starbucks. Especially the account that I know should not be used unless somebody at the bank has made a mistake and linked it incorrectly. The thing that kicks me up the most is the fact that the teller who had linked the accounts ensured us that the joint account was not the primary one.

After driving all the freaking way to San Jose to find a person who could speak English and at least show some interest in our problems I am calling it quits. Once the account is refunded, it is going to be closed. ING Direct has a checking account that does not charge overdraft fees and let's you pay the interest on the purchases that were made when your account was negative.

Glad that I did not use BoA for my car loan needs.

Grrrr...