The Bank of America don't want to help

[reynardo]

because I'm not one of their customers - even though the matter I want help on is to stop them sending me one of their customer's details.

I have a gmail account, and there seem to be at least three other people who think that their gmail account name is mine - I've had signups for itunes and some sort of a political newsletter in there. Now, though, I have someone's banking info.

The person (I'll call them Martin) obviously thought that my gmail address was his, and had the bank direct notices of overdrawn cheque accounts and other such transactions to it.

The emails also state:

Please do not reply to this email with sensitive information, such as account number,PIN, password, or Online ID. The security and confidentiality of your personal information is important to us. If you have any questions, please either call the phone number on your account statement or use the Contact Us page, so we can properly verify your identity.

Unfortunately, as I'm in Melbourne, Australia, and will be charged a full overseas phone call to call their centre, I have to use something else.

If I reply to the emails, I get the response:

Our computer-automated system cannot process responses containing inquiries or comments. We would be happy to communicate with you by phone at 1-800-653-2465

For your convenience, we are available 24 hours a day.

Thanks, guys. OK, there's the Contact Us page. Unfortunately, for most of the options there, I need to log into my Online Account page - which, not being a customer, I can't.

Next option - find a valid email address to let them know.

Aha! Customerfocus@bankofamerica.com - so I send them the message.


>Heya,
>
>Someone (obviously this Martin person) thinks that this is their
>Gmail account. While I use the name "Martin", I'm a married Australian
>currently sitting in Melbourne, and wondering why I keep getting email for
>this person.
>
>Could you please a) not send any more bank info for Martin to this
>email address
>
>and
>
>b) Contact them through other means to let them know that they've given the
>wrong account?
>
>Oh. Yes.
>
>And could you have a better way for me to try and contact you on your main
>page? It will only let me email from there if I'm a customer, same for the
>chat. I can only hope that this one has gone through.

The response?

We have received your email on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 8:24:37 AM GMT. Unfortunately, your message has been received by a mailbox that is not monitored.

Because your account security is our highest priority, we are only able to perform account maintenance or discuss confidential information through a method of contact that has first authorized you with your Online ID and Passcode.

*weeps*

So now I've tried emailing their "abuse" mailbox, supposedly reserved for people forwarding spam phishing emails. I can only hope that someone recognises that they have a rather awkward situation here, and I have their customer's details - his account number, his name, and that he's overdrawn.

Because the Bank won't help.

Any ideas?

Edited to add - have now tweeted to their Twitter account @BofA_Help - let's see how that goes.

Comments

[karelia.livejournal.com]

I walk past their branch about three times a week. If you want to email me I can print it out and hand it in to them directly. Of course, this being BoA, I won't hold out hope they'll do anything about it. Speaking from experience, they're a bunch of arrogant idiots who think they own the world...

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Very, very tempting. If I get no response from this, though, they do have a branch in town (this being a major Australian city). I'll print it out (with the correct email details) and drop it in there instead. But thank you for giving me that idea.

[kerravonsen]

Huh. That's worse than the ISP who kept on sending the previous owner of my house a bill for $0.00 - for ten years. Even though I kept on sending back the mail with "Return to sender, not at this address".

[moxie_man]

(chuckle) You should have "paid" their bill for them--sent it back with a check made out for $0.00. :)

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Then they'd have her bank routing number and account number, which could be used to make electronic withdrawls from the account. :/

[moxie_man]

Depends on the bank. Electronic transfers are blocked through mine unless I give explicit *WRITTEN* permission for them to allow the transaction with a specific "vendor".

[kerravonsen]

Then they would have sent exactly the same bill for $0.00 the next month, so it wouldn't have made any difference.

What finally prompted me to take more direct action was when they sent a bill for $5.00 (I'm not sure what for, whether it was for non-payment of a previous bill, or whether they'd added extra charges) - for a service which the person in question was NOT receiving, and hadn't been receiving for ten years.

I rang up their customer service, and carefully did not give my name, because by that time I was convinced that they were stupid enough to treat it as a change of address and start billing ME for services I wasn't receiving.

[moxie_man]

It's a shame they didn't provide the customer's physical address. You could then contact them. They'd have a valid lawsuit here.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the fun I've been having with the three main credit ratings agencies: they have my credit rating info hopelessly tangled up with someone named John Friel who lives about 30 miles away from me. I untangled it once with Transamerica, at great effort, and next billing cycle it was tangled up again. He's apparently very old, I keep getting ads in the mail for nursing homes, hearing aids, and burial plots.

[notasquirrel.livejournal.com]

o, riate...i fergote al abote thet! soe iz ite stil funnee, or shud i goe bak toe thee pizzaz?

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

You've caused enough trouble for one weekend! You're lucky I haven't sent your Christmas box yet, I need to pack extra loathsomeness in it.