Bank of America gave my money to some random doofus.

[Rdfan130]

I opened a Bank of America checking account here in Nevada and the teller gave me the wrong account number. He wrote down the account number of an existing customer and handed that to me. I gave this incorrect number to my work to set up a direct deposit account. They deposited $1500 into this other person's account. I dealt with BofA personnel in person and over the phone as well as the people from my payroll department for a month before BofA finally figured out what happened. By that time, this customer who had my money had spent it. BofA contacted this customer in the hopes that he/she will pay me back, but the ball appears to be in the customer's court at this point. Does BofA have any responsibility here? Do I really have to wait on this deadbeat customer like some kind of loan shark?

Thanks, Luke.

 

[Antigone*]

I opened a Bank of America checking account here in Nevada and the teller gave me the wrong account number. He wrote down the account number of an existing customer and handed that to me. I gave this incorrect number to my work to set up a direct deposit account. They deposited $1500 into this other person's account. I dealt with BofA personnel in person and over the phone as well as the people from my payroll department for a month before BofA finally figured out what happened. By that time, this customer who had my money had spent it. BofA contacted this customer in the hopes that he/she will pay me back, but the ball appears to be in the customer's court at this point. Does BofA have any responsibility here? Do I really have to wait on this deadbeat customer like some kind of loan shark?

Thanks, Luke.

Hello Luke,

My first concern is that when you opened your account with the personal banker, you indicate that he wrote the account number down - this shouldn't be the way things are done. You should have recieved a welcome packet with a couple of generic deposit tickets, temporary checks and your depository facts booklet.

They should have used one of these generic deposit tickets for your opening deposit. Then you should have given a voided temporary check to your payroll dept for the set up of your direct deposit.

If what you say is true and you didn't recieve the welcome packet as you have indiated, I would say to you that the bank is responsible for the error. You should not have to wait for the bank to recover from their other depositor. You really should have no involvement in dealing with that customer and according to their privacy policy, you shouldn't even know who the other depositor is.

If you do not get a quick resolution in your favor, and again, if you didn't the welcome packet that would have also included your depository agreement; I would involve the department called Customer Solutions right away. Don't ask for customer service...that is a completely different place. Customer Solutions...remember that.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience, and I understand that mistakes happen; but you really need to be made whole right away.

 

[SF439]

I actually had the same problem with B of A. What they did was reverse the deposit and put it into my account. It overdrew the other persons account by $3,000 but that's between the bank and the customer, not you. But start the transaction dispute, contact customer support with B of A, explain to them what happened and they should take care of it in a matter of days once they track it down. If not, then you can sue B of A.