Dealing with Bank of America - November 2006

11/4/06 – Got home from work and found a pink registered mail slip with my last name spelled wrong on it. No name, just a zip code that I realized was Saugerties. I figured it was something legal and ignored it, because I don't sign for anything if I don't know the contents.

11/7/06 – I discovered substantial new staining and mold growth on the walls and mold on other surfaces in the basement. I took pictures and wrote a new letter to the merchant that stated both that I wasn't going to pay at all and that I was refusing to sign for the registered letter as I was under advisement not to.

11/13/06 - Got home from work and found a 2nd delivery with the wrong last name on it. This one had a partial name of the contractor on it. I waited for another contact.

11/20/06 – I got a statement from Bank Of America (frmr. MBNA) with a $6900 charge on it – transaction date 10/25, posting date 10/27. I just about flipped.

I called customer service. They transferred me to "Lucretia McGill" in approvals.

She stated that "Lisa" had noted in the account that she had told me on 10/24 that the charge would go through – because I gave the merchant the card, which implies approval.

This is a lie, as "Lisa" never said that at all.

I told her I'd have called back and cancelled my card right then if "Lisa" had said that.

I wondered aloud why (during the week the contractor was at my house) I needed to call card services to approve the charge (three times) if approval is implied from the start. "Lucretia McGill" didn't know (yet she works in the approvals department) and referred me to billing disputes, but they were already closed for the day.

I stated to her before hanging up that "maybe I should just cancel my card if this is the service I’ll be getting".

She replied, "Okay it is now cancelled. Cut up the card, and destroy any courtesy checks you might have received. Have a nice night, and goodbye".

I have since found out this is a big no-no according to the Fair Credit Billing Act.

11/21/06 – I called 866-883-0591, which is the BofA disputes department. I spoke with "Kara Jenkins" (audio upload pending). She advised me amongst other things that:

- It was definately a "quality of service" dispute (this would come back to bite me in the ass many times, and they must be trained to give this bad/wrong advice just to screw the consumer out of their rights because it is so hard to dispute on this basis).

- Once it is "placed into dispute I was no longer responsible for the charge" (she said that twice)

- That I'd "receive a letter asking for any other information that we may need". (This would prove to be the biggest mistake they made and the costliest for me).

At that point I still hadn't gotten my warranty from the contractor and he'd already been paid.

11/26/06 – I e-Faxed 33 pages to the attention of the BofA disputes department.

11/28/06 – I called BofA and spoke to "Laurie" via 866-883-0591 who said it was "too early" and she doesn't see the fax – they have an efax too. She would note the account that I called. I tried later and had to hang up because of a long hold time.

Later that day "Sharon" at 866-883-0591 stated they got the fax. She said that the contractor could request arbitration with Visa at any point. They would do everything on my behalf, and we were at the "mid-point" of the dispute process.