Monday, September 20, 2010

$30

I make a fair amount of entries about my Chase and Bank of America hate.  I am a good customer.  It's not like I fail to make payments, overdraw my account, bounce checks, etc.  I have a nice 800 credit score (verified multiple times within the past 5 years).  I haven't ever bounced a check.  I've never had a late payment.  I'm not saying this because I think I'm a vision of banking perfection, but I'm trying to convey that I'm not one of those people that expects THAT much.  Okay, I do expect for the bank website not to be down for two days.  I expect that when I call about a discrepancy, I won't be put through IVR hell.  When I want to make a withdrawal and can answer all the security questions, I don't want to be detained for 30 minutes. 

I am quite irritated that Bank of America does not have mobile banking in my state.  It's the biggest freaking bank in the country, but yet I cannot access my bank balance or transfer money via mobile device? 

What threw me over the edge today (and I'm already pretty much over the edge) is that I logged onto my Bank of America account via computer (see we've already established that I cannot do this via phone) and see that my mortgage payment due 10/1 looks weird. 

Our mortgage payment is $X.  We have a fixed rate.  It's been $X, and it will be $X every month. 

But our payment due 10/1 is $X - $30. 

Huh?  So then I think I'm seeing things wrong, and I log out and log back in.  $X - $30 still.  Later in the day I do the same thing.  Just now I do it again.

$X - $30.

I suppose it doesn't matter that the screen says we owe $X - $30 because $X automatically comes out of our bank account to pay it.  I know it really is $X because we don't have an escrow account (like I'd trust them to not screw that up!); it's merely principal and interest. 

But what if I didn't have auto payment?  What if I saw the amount due and just paid what it said?  Well, first I'd probably get a late fee because I didn't pay $X in full.  Then it would be reported to the credit bureau.  But wait, I'd call to complain that I only paid what I saw online.  By the time I wound my way through the Bank of America telephone system, it would be 30 minutes later and I'd be talking to someone in India.  That person would accuse me of getting numbers confused, and if the person is convincing enough, I may actually doubt myself.

Perhaps it's not a plot on Bank of America's part.  But WHY would my payment due show $30 less than it really is?  WHY?  WHY? WHY?

Outside of the mortgage loan which we are in the process of refinancing, I have $12.48 in Bank of America.  Once the loan with the monthly payment of $X (not $X - $30) is paid off, I'm closing my bank account.   

2 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions