Babysitting Businesses

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Bank of America today. Why? Well, there were some "Monthly Maintenance Fees" that showed up on my account for December & January. Which was strange, because when I had issues in September, I switched to E-Banking and was told there would be no fees as long as I had Paperless Billing and didn't use bank tellers. (Which I don't-- I just use the ATM to do everything.)

I called up. First, I wasted some time trying to navigate the phone menu. Then, when I finally got a person, she bumbled around, not really able to tell me why I'd gotten the fees, until she transferred me to a supervisor. Then, the supervisor bumbled around, trying to figure it out, obviously clueless about what the fees were. Which is reassuring. Glad to see that the employees know what the hell is going on!

Turns out, since my mom's account is linked to mind, something changed and it somehow affected my account. So even though it SAID I had paperless statements, I didn't really. But nothing on my end said this. Nope. Just Bank of America knew that. Which is pretty sneaky, if you ask me.

Scott commented that I have no luck with companies like this. I, however, responded with, "maybe I just notice when they suddenly start charging extra fees and most people overlook it." I think that is often the case. I think that a lot of people overlook fees, or assume they did something wrong. But, let me tell you, every time I've gotten a fee from Bank of America, it has actually been their fault. (Switching things on my account without my consent or without notifying me, mostly.)

It's a shame that we have to babysit the businesses we use, and go over our interactions in minute detail. But, at this point, it does seem that a lot of the big corporations just rampantly try to squeeze out the pennies wherever they can. I think they bank on the fact that people don't necessarily notice/understand the fees/want to waste time calling. But all our little $8.95 "maintenance fees" really add up for the business.

I'm definitely still looking hard at closing my BoA checking & credit card account altogether.

So, make sure to check your bills. Get after companies. Question fees. Demand fees get refunded. (Yes, I got my $17.90 for the two fees back today.) Because the companies sure as hell aren't looking out for you, so make sure to look out for yourself.