Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Bank of America, this is no longer amusing

I am sick and cranky and don't want to call any bank one more damn time. Last time, it was because Bank of America, although it said I could log in with my MBNA username, wouldn't let me. Because I already have a Bank of America account. So I spent half an hour on hold and then told my story to a sympathetic CSR, who at the end of the conversation said in surprise, hey, there's this other account under your name! Yes, that would be what I was trying to tell you about the whole time. So now I can see my MBNA credit card online, but I can't pay it, because evidently my account is not eligible for Bill Pay. And, it seems like I can't pay the credit card with my other checking accounts, I will probably have to transfer money into BoA and then use the BoA account to pay for it. Which is not what the BoA account is for. I would stop using the card, except it's the one with the balance transfer on it so I have to use it insofar as I have to pay it. This is less than amusing.

Oh, for those keeping up with my life, the job interview on Monday went really great and I didn't cough at all despite being sick! They have several positions open which increases the likelihood of me getting one since I won't have to compete as hard, and they have an opening in the bone marrow transplant section which fits right in with my transplant experience here. They also seemed very impressed with my mad computer skillz. The best part was when the head guy said that they were really expanding and things were going to be changing a lot, and they had several committees of employees who made policies on how things should be done instead of everything coming top down, and that there were lots of opportunities for advancement. So that was really heartening to hear! They said they would let me know "very soon" which in bureaucracy-speak is probably about two or three weeks. But I'm very pleased with them and they seem pleased with me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had the same prob with Capital One. They sent me a new card with a new 3-digit code. I couldn't log onto my account because of that. Then my card got lost. I had to get a whole new account number. I couldn't log on and I was set up for online statements so I didn't know what I owed and I couldn't pay it anyway. The process took me 3 months to finally log onto my account. Luckily I only had a $300 balance. In that 3 months, I began to rely on my AMEX card, so now I don't even use my Cap one card anymore.

Anonymous said...

Good Lord, do I hate BofA. I've never had an account with them (until now, with the MBNA buyout... and my plan is to just use my WorldPoints card until I hit the next rewards level, cash out my rewards, and then just cut up the card and forget about the account). From third-hand anecdotes, it seems like BofA is everything that is wrong with big banks -- high fees, bad interest rates, horrible customer service. People bank with them because they have the most ATMs, but for myself, I'd much rather have great interest rates and personal attention, and cough up the $2 ATM fee once a month when I get cash.

Anonymous said...

Hey, congrats on the interview process so far! Although there's always a sales-ish aspect to it all, it's still heartening to go through an interview and hear good things about the position you're interviewing for (as opposed to the opposite scenario). Keep us updated on how things go!

Revanche said...

Ugh, boo BofA, I'm actually in the middle of dealing with them and a blog-plaint about them.

But yay for the good interview news! Since this is with the same university you currently work for, will you essentially have the same benefits? [So, still no need for a car, etc.?]

Kira said...

Yep, it's actually about four buildings over, so even a touch closer to my house. ;) PLUS, since our retirement deposits are percentages of our salary, the amount that the university (and I) put in would also go up about a quarter. =)

They did seem very sincere about wanting to listen to their employees, and I didn't get the sense that anyone was walking on eggshells around the higher-ups. There was no mention of any kind of promotion possibilities at the interview for the job I have now - hence, them just essentially saying "oh that's nice" when I said I wanted more degrees. I even told them I wanted a PhD and to run my own studies and they seemed very interested in that.

Basically I really need someplace that is genuinely interested in being a continually evolving standard - this particular research unit is the model the rest of the university has been told to follow, and there's reasons for that.

GolbGuru said...

Seriously it's the biggest online mess-up after Emigrant's update fiasco a few months ago.

Congrats on the good interview.

Anonymous said...

Kira,

After way too long on the BoA phone (and several CSRs) I'm too tired to read your whole story. But I think it won't let you use bill pay not because you don't have it set up, but because it doesn't work!

I'm also a former MBNAer (tho with no pre-existing BoA acct) and it simply won't let me pay the bill. Several sessions. Different computers. Tech reps. Nuthin. Finally, I paid by pone and made them swear to waive the pay-by-phone fee.

And Wendy, diito for me about the points. I'm just shy of 25,000 (=$250) and sayonara!

Robin

Anonymous said...

Bank of America WARNING!!!

They say you can use their site www.myeasypayment.com to pay your credit card using another bank (this after MY 1/2 hour wait for customer service), BUT THE PRINTED MINIMUM DUE, AMOUNT PAID, AMOUNTS OWED AND THE BUTTONS TO 'PAY LAST STATEMENT BALANCE', ETC. ARE NOT CORRECT!

The automated voice account summary IS correct, the regular BofA credit card site IS correct, but the payment site gives BAD DATA.

I (over) paid $3100 on a $2000 total balance (anticpated temporary charges coming due), and the myeasypayment site now invites me to pay off my $2000 total - on 11/7, having paid it off on 10/30!) and says my minimum payment due is $15.00, when there is NO PAYMENT DUE AT ALL!

E-mail to BofA is swamped, and I have sent them a WARNING! letter that their computers are not in sync, but they do not have enough staff either to read the warnings or to answer their customer service line after a half-hour!

When my new HSBC cash back card arrives in the mail, it is SAYONARA to BofA.

Ghmzih