Comments on: Bank of America - East Coast vs. West Coast

By: poal

poal — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:53:51 +0000

Everyone needs a hug. Convenient bank is bank of America.

By: Jasmine

Jasmine — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:37:20 +0000

I’ve had the worst experience dealing with Bank of America. They closed my account without any explanation or notice, which I later learned to be a check I deposited. The check turned out to be perfectly valid and fine, but it took them a month to reopen the account. Throughout the process, they were rude and unresponsive to my requests for help. I finally went with Washington Mutual and what a world of difference.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 18:48:14 +0000

Sorry you’ve had a crappy experience. I’ve been banking with BoA for a long time. I also move across state lines a lot. Originally, inter-state banking was a real pain. I kept my accounts with a branch in Missouri, but would make deposits in other states requiring special deposit slips and state codes. But in the last few years it’s gotten better. For the last seven years I’ve had no real problem moving between Missouri, Arizona, California, and Texas. Prior to 2000, when I lived in Boston, I don’t remember seeing BoA anywhere on the east coast. That’s probably changed via aquistions. I imagine it will get better - which, of course, helps you bubkis now.

By: Fullman

Fullman — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:35:52 +0000

This actually is a common problem, not only with BoA, but with many other companies, like Cingular or Comcast.

However, in this case, I know for certain that BoA has databases that are separate California and (I believe) "Indiana" from the rest of the country. That's why when you call in to handle certain items, you're prompted on whether or not you live in California (or that wildcard state) before you can continue. Same goes on their website, or if you were setting up online banking with Quicken or MS Money.

p>But yeah, it sucks. Sorry you had to deal with it like that. :4a7d3d609129a9296bf7ac0608c2097

By: paul

paul — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:00:54 +0000

Yep, I’m dealing with the same issue concerning BOA. The main reason I went with them was the “seeming” portability of the account. When I was in India and saw a Bank of America, I was convinced. Now I would happy switch to someone else if it weren’t for the time involved.

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:07:04 +0000

We live in California, and on a recent trip to Virginia needed to reimburse someone with a relatively large amount of cash. We figured we’d just hit the local BofA after leaving the airport and withdraw the amount from our checking account. Nope! We were limited to the $300 withdrawal limit (same as if we’d just used the ATM) and were told that even though the teller could see that our account balance was more than enough to cover the larger withdrawal, that we weren’t allowed because the accounts were “different”. No one could quite explain to us what the differences were, or why they mattered, but all were adamant that the differences were indeed there and quite insurmountable. Frustrating.

By: Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:08:08 +0000

I just wanted to chime in and say we had a similar problem with US Bank (What is it with patriotic sounding bank names?). Anyway, we now bank with USAA and couldn’t be happier. If you’re able to get your foot in the door there, I’d highly recommend it. High return on savings account, repaid service charges for ATM withdrawals from other chains, and the ability to use a scanner to upload paper checks, rather than mail / go to the bank.

Anyway, didn’t mean for that to sound like a commercial, but it’s the first bank I’m actually happy with.

By: Stefan Hayden

Stefan Hayden — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:21:46 +0000

Everyone needs a hug.

By: Stefan Hayden

Stefan Hayden — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:20:06 +0000

Bank of America seems to suck across the board.

By: Michael Montgomery

Michael Montgomery — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:43:14 +0000

It's probably federal banking regulations, which are finicky about state lines. I suspect Bank of America in FL is legally a different bank than that in CA.