Fucking B of A blocked my mom's debit card

[tblue]

when my niece took her to the PHARMACY. (It's Kaiser. They don't sell anything but medical necessities.) She has adequate funds--it's a DEBIT account. They said it was an 'unusual' transaction. Didn't fit her 'pattern.' It was $165 and they just didn't believe it could be her. No wait. They thought maybe it might not be her, so they put a 'block' on her card and the pharmacy rejected the transaction.

I raised holy hell.

The B of A Customer Service lady got me her supervisor, who put me through to the Fraud dept. So now I get a recording asking me the acct numbers and 3 ID questions a second time.

She's about to run out of pills. I told them if she gets sick I'm gonna sue.

So now the problem that never was is resolved, they say, but poor mama & niece have to schlep all the way back there with the same card that's supposed to be working now. It's a 20 minute drive.

On edit , let me add Mama's disabled. Walking is very difficult. It's a big deal for her to go anywhere.

Want to scream. I am this close to changing banks. If it wasn't so complicated with auto bill pays, I would do it today.

Sorry for the . Thanks for letting me vent.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

1. I hear you and your frustration!

I switched back to credit unions several years ago after crap like this. Don't let the auto bill pay hold you back. See if there is a credit union in your town that she and you can join. Their staff is usually very friendly and helpful. They will help you make the change with as little head ache as passable!

[tblue]

8. Might have to do that.

Oy! The headache. Thanks, sweetie.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

2. I received an email

last October saying my card number had been hacked from another site. Stopped by the bank and received a temporary card immediately. They sent the new one, which had the same number as the temporary, within 10 days. I am forced to use B of A, but I can't say I've ever had a problem.

Perhaps you can sign up for email alerts?

[raccoon]

3. That happened to me recently. My debit card was blocked because I used it for a car wash and at CVS

both of them local businesses.

I don't know how they figure those things!

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Though it can be inconvenient, usually it's for consumer protection.

.
.
.
I check my mail infrequently and don't have a phone, so if someone were to get my card and PIN...
they could clean me out before I was aware of it.
.
But I think they usually flag really big or sudden multiple charges -- flagging it for one "unusual"
purchase seems odd.
.
.
.

[tblue]

7. That's what happened, Mom.

Unless they are keeping something from me. She's been charging stuff at Kaiser for 40 years. No idea why that struck them as so odd all of a sudden. You'd think they'd cut a little slack for $165 of medicine. But it's a big bank, and they own the money.

[mainer]

10. If it's a debit card, your MOM owns the money

I hope you get this straightened out for her. Grrr.

[mainer]

5. It may have nothing to do with your mom and her pharmacy.

I recently had my debit card refused at a local grocery store where I always shop. I stopped into my bank and sat down with one of the managers who showed me all the recent transactions -- which included about $400 worth of credit card purchases in a different state. (My debit card can also be used as a credit card.) It wasn't my grocery store transaction that shut down the card -- it was because of other charges, made fraudulently. I was very glad they protected me.

I found out later that the trouble all started when I used my debit card at a hotel ATM in a foreign country. The bank manager told me that crooks can now make exact replicas of your stolen debit/credit cards, assign it to a different ID, and the crooks can use the cards with their own I.D.

So don't get too mad at BofA yet -- there may be more to the story.

[tblue]

6. No. I asked them. They said

$165 didn't fit her 'pattern.' I guess the alternative, for the bank, would be to risk letting somebody buy $165 of stuff at Kaiser and getting away with it. The horrors! Since they like looking at past purchases, couldn't they see she has been buying meds and a whole lot of other stuff from Kaiser for over 40 years? And meds cost a lot. $165 is nothing at a pharmacy.

It made no sense to me unless that $165 was just more than B of A could afford. I'm sorry I am so sour today. I just don't like what they've put her through just out of the blue. Thanks again for letting me vent. There is no one else to stick up for her.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Friends don't let friends bank at BOA

or the other "big" banks which are stealing us blind.

[JVS]

11. Can she write checks for that account?