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Bank of America?

ravenvii

ravenvii

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 17, 2004
7,588
494
Melenkurion Skyweir
I am moving to California soon, and since the bank I am currently using doesn't have national branches, I have to switch to a new bank. When visiting San Francisco (where I will move to), I saw many BoA ATMs. So I am thinking of switching to BoA. But I heard many horror stories about them.

So I'm asking you, the brain tank of MacRumors, what you take is. Should I switch to BoA? Or someone else?
 
I guess the question is: Do you plan to be in that area for quite a while, do you plan on doing much traveling around the US?

I prefer to use more 'local' banks. But if you plan on moving around alot then a national bank like BofA may suit your needs better.
 
My parents have been customers for 20+ years and I have been since I can remember. I have never had a problem with them and neither have my parents. I would say yes go with them. They actually caught someone who stole my dads credit card and told him about it, thus shutting everything down and got all the money the thief spent back.
 
I happen to like Wells Fargo, but it's just a matter of personal preference.

Keep in mind, there will be horror stories about any bank.
 
EricNau said:
I happen to like Wells Fargo, but it's just a matter of personal preference.

Keep in mind, there will be horror stories about any bank.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I've been with WF for > 10 years with no bad experiences. Our local branch moved further from home and so we tried a Washington Mutual account for a special checking account, and did not like their service.

FWIW BoA and WF are about equivalent in omnipresence throughout CA, and both have their horror and success stories.

B
 
balamw said:
Ditto. I've been with WF for > 10 years with no bad experiences. Our local branch moved further from home and so we tried a Washington Mutual account for a special checking account, and did not like their service.

FWIW BoA and WF are about equivalent in omnipresence throughout CA, and both have their horror and success stories.

B
Click to expand...

What about Wamu didn't you like, examples would be cool :)

I've been with Wells Fargo since 1992, but recently they have done a few things to really piss me off. Wamu was going to be my backup plan, i actually setup an account but haven't moved anything to it yet. The one put off that i had with Wamu is the lack of a decent rewards program like WFB has, the other gripe i had was that they farm out their phone CS to india which is a BIG no-no in my book.

Ed
 
Been a BoA customer for maybe, nine years now? I've never had any real issues with them, but I did just receive mailed notice of a class action lawsuit that they'd given personal info out to other third parties or something. Shrug.

Honestly? I'm not all that fazed. :eek:

I chose BoA because they're all over the place, not just the banks, but also ATMs. Yup.
 
I have both good and bad things to say about B of A but the ATM's are everywhere so I just stick with them out of habbit. Good and bad things can be said about any bank.

Edit: At least They're not BankOne (I think they merged with Chase). I hate them with a passion.
 
Not too bad. Their employees certainly are nice though, compared to some other banks I've been at.
Slightly convenient, been with them forever, can't be arsed to change.
 
I've been with Wamu, and like them. I switched from BofA because I thought they were absolutely terrible.
 
To be honest, I'm with Union Bank, I used to have a checking account + safety deposit box with B of A, and I've had bad experiences with them.

I've been with Washington Mutual in the past, and right now you can get a 5% interest rate if you open a savings with a checking account. You only need $1 and that interest rate is as high as you're going to find anywhere else, higher than B of A, higher than Union Bank of Cali. Union Bank was going to get me a 3% with a CD if I invested $1000+... no thanks, I'd rather have a savings earning 5%. Then again, I'd rather invest in Forex :)

http://wamu.com/personal/accountchoices/savings/online_savings_account/default.asp

Check it out, if I could choose again, I'd go with WaMU.
 
My parents use a small local bank chain called Windsor Federal Savings Bank I believe. Most people in my family tend to use the smaller banks.

As for BoA...
Pros:
Lots of locations, thus you won't have to take out money at other banks ATMs and get charged $2.00 or w/e

Cons:
They are or are planning to give credit to illegal immigrants :rolleyes:
My dad hates them- I don't know why but I can find out
 
Ed H said:
What about Wamu didn't you like, examples would be cool :)
Click to expand...

Mostly the human beings, so it could primarily be an issue with our local branch. My wife handled most of this, so my interaction was limited.

Opening the account was too involved and they managed to open the wrong type of account. We ended up with an incorrect transaction (from s/o else's ATM card) that triggered an overdraft. The local branch was unable unwilling to help clear this up and phone support was less than courteous.

Closing the account at the branch also took two visits, as it apparently didn't "take" the first time.

What has WFB done to tick you off?

B
 
balamw said:
What has WFB done to tick you off?
Click to expand...

Their lending practices unnerved me, i ended up finding somewhere else to take my mortgage. Then what i guess some may consider minor.. i went in to a branch to deposit some cash, i was asked if i wanted a pre approved visa card to which i said no thanks... 2 weeks later guess what... i had that visa card that i declined in the branch...

Ed
 
Ed H said:
Their lending practices unnerved me, i ended up finding somewhere else to take my mortgage.
Click to expand...
Ah. Haven't had a WFB mortgage in ~7 years. The bit about the credit card is most likely the same kind of individual incompetence I was complaining about with WaMU.

B
 
Bank of America is THE only bank I have ever had.

Now let me badmouth them a bit. :rolleyes:

They are a HUGE corporation. Literally, everywhere. Bought up every "somewhat" large bank and made a money hungry blob.

Being so big is a plus if you travel. But, as with all large corporations with a big customer base, they feel they dont "need" you as a customer and treat you like crap when the going gets tough. They take pride in re-arranging debt/deposits to maximize the overdraft. Among many other things...


What it boils down to with BoA is the simple question you need to ask yourself, "do you need a nation-wide bank?"

you "pay" for BoA's convenience, with HUGE fees, crappy rates and an ever worsening idea of what it is to be their customer.

stay local or at least with one of the smaller guys, they will treat you much better than BoA ever will. Its the nature of BIG vs small.

/rant
 
Ed H said:
i went in to a branch to deposit some cash, i was asked if i wanted a pre approved visa card to which i said no thanks... 2 weeks later guess what... i had that visa card that i declined in the branch...

Ed
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to my wife at US Bank. We complained to the Branch manager and the teller lost her job (wasn't the first time I guess).

Worth noting, most of our money sits in our ING Direct account where it earns 4.5% (or something like that) - its even higher for checking accounts. Then when I need the money, we simply request a no fee transfer to our US Bank account.
 
ITASOR said:
Because they're giving them your money on credit?
Click to expand...

So? As long as they are credit-worthy, I couldn't care less.

Anyway, I hate B of A.

I was paying off a business line of credit last year (started a new business) that I had with MBNA, and as soon as B of A bought them, they jacked my variable rate by 2%.

Now they have every right to do so, but when I called them to ask why they raised my rate (I have excellent credit), they basically said "because we can."

I just haven't had the time or energy to deal with switching, but "money hungry blob" (as one poster described) is pretty accurate. I wish they'd stop putting huge flast screens in their lobbies and reduce my fees instead.

B of A used to be good, then they got too big.

Go with Wells.
 
I just think BoA gives money to people that aren't even Americans.

And then they charge you $2.00 to take money out of the bank because you don't go to there banks. I know most banks do this now, but its annoying to see where the money is going.
 
I don't see why it's such a bad idea to give credit cards to illegal immigrants. Way better than the alternative, which is an illegal immigrant using somebody elses social security number to get credit. That's happened to me three times, so it's about ****ing time somebody got the right idea. That is the one thing I like about B of A.

All of you complaining should try to clear your credit up three times, then see if you still feel like complaining.
 
I had a BoA credit card for years and never had any problems with them. I have never used them for traditional banking but their credit card service people were always helpful.
 
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