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FuryOfFirestorm
January 25, 2009 7:17 PM
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Heads are going to ROLL at Bank of America!

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Wormfather is Wormfather
January 26, 2009 2:53 PM
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@FuryOfFirestorm: BoA doesnt care about bad press anymore, neither do they care about congress or the people they represent.


BoA has a goal and it's clearly in their sights...who else did you expect that Buy-N-Large Ultra-Store Society of the future.


/finally saw Wall-E last night.

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dorianh49
January 26, 2009 3:49 AM
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@FuryOfFirestorm: Why? The headline is referring to \"Bank of American\", not \"Bank of America\". ;)

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P_Smith
January 25, 2009 10:02 PM
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@FuryOfFirestorm: Roll?


Don't you mean spin, as in pretending this was an \"isolated incident\"?


It's only an isolated incident insofar as Waters only experienced it once, not a thousand times. But what do you call it when it happens to a thousand people once each?

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bastion72
January 25, 2009 8:35 PM
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@FuryOfFirestorm: Yes, thank goodness the higher ups have that golden parachute to save them from the failing economy when they're out looking for a job.

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VeiledThreats
January 25, 2009 7:24 PM
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Waters isn't a Congresswoman you want to piss of BoA, this is a woman who has proven she'll get stuff done.

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chauncy that billups
January 25, 2009 8:38 PM
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@numberoneasa: Yes. Like successfully preventing oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at the very time they were expanding their efforts to give loans to people who could not afford them.



We are trying to fix something that isn't broke (sic). We do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae.

- Maxine Waters, 2004
See this (around 45 seconds):


+ Watch video



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Jim Topoleski
January 25, 2009 9:40 PM
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@bilups: Oh lord, give me a break. Guess what, 4 years ago there WASNT a issue. Much of this mess didnt start coming to light till 2006, 2 years AFTER this video was made.

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jwinston2
January 26, 2009 12:30 AM
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@Jim Topoleski:

your joking right?

Thank you that was a good one. Over four years ago they starting giving out loans with no proof of income, at no time should this have been allowed. Thanks though you made me laugh.

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snowburnt
January 26, 2009 4:26 PM
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@jwinston2: I think his point was that Congress is reactionary to an extreme and hasn't been forward thinking for a long time.

That's my real way of looking at it.

Your statements that she let this happen are EXACTLY the reason why she will rain fire on BOA. If she did let it happen, she will react probably a little too harshly to correct the mess especially since she's seen evidence of the problem.

If you're going to look at the past don't look at what they did, look at how they do it.

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Jim Topoleski
January 26, 2009 4:04 AM
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@jwinston2: I never said they started giving out loans 4 years ago, I said this MESS currently didnt come to light 4 years ago. It was going on, but to everyones knowledge there wasnt a issue because they where doing their best to hide it.

And if you want to go blaming someone blame the republicans first. It was their deregulation that allowed Mae and Mack to give loans out willy nilly in the first place. Both sides are as much to blame as anyone for it continuing to go on, but the republicans created the laws that deregulated the industry.

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craptastico
January 26, 2009 3:01 PM
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@Jim Topoleski: Glass Steagall was repealed under Clinton and is the biggest reason for the mess we're in. it allowed banks to foist their mortgages on unknowing investors, and that's what allowed the reckless spending. if banks didnt have such an easy time getting rid of their loans, they'd have exercised some restraint

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yajjo
January 26, 2009 2:59 PM
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@Jim Topoleski: Admittedly we have been drawn off topic, but I had reply. In reference to your quote:

\"And if you want to go blaming someone blame the republicans first. It was their deregulation that allowed Mae and Mack to give loans out willy nilly in the first place.\"

I direct you to this NY Times article dated Sept. 30, 1999. Specifically paragraph three where the article states, \"Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people...\"

Paragraph four delivers this delicious nugget, \"banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers\".

And finally paragraph seven predicts, \"the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue\".

Reading the article you will find that the markets in concert with the Clinton administration helped create our current situation.

How do these FACTS figure into your 'willy nilly' unsupported ACCUSATION as to which political party should be blamed first?

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Drowner
January 27, 2009 7:08 PM
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@yajjo: I do beleive that deserves an \"OH SNAP\".

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henwy
January 25, 2009 7:25 PM
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Well, at least she didn't get preferential treatment because that would be bullsh!t.

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crashfrog
January 25, 2009 11:32 PM
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@henwy: I'm ok with our elected representatives getting some preferential treatment when they're working on behalf of their constituencies. You know, us.

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SacredByte
January 25, 2009 10:03 PM
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@henwy: No no no... Penn and Teller's T.V. program on Showtime is Bullsh!t....

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Snowblind
January 25, 2009 7:29 PM
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@henwy:

I am Maxine Waters! Don't you know who I am?!

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Jage
January 25, 2009 7:27 PM
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Personally, I applaud Bank of America for this. Proving that they do not treat people differently because they are \"powerful\" or \"influential.\"

Way to go, Bank of America, for upholding the American Dream and giving everyone equally shitty service.

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ShadowWylde
January 25, 2009 7:43 PM
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@Jage: i had the same thought. having her actually experience what the average customer does is great.

otherwise, how else can the complaints be addressed? if she had been treated deferentially and not known any different, then she may have considered any constituent complaints as being anomalies.

i hope some good comes from this with regard to all the banks and how they serve their various accounts.

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pollyannacowgirl
January 25, 2009 9:34 PM
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@ShadowWylde: Somehow, I think that being a black woman, she has been on the receiving end of some shitty treatment in her life. She knows.

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mamalicious
January 25, 2009 7:35 PM
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@Jage: Only because whoever answered the phones at first didn't know who she was! I guarantee you if any of the higher-ups knew she was on the line, she'd be treated like royalty.

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snowburnt
January 26, 2009 4:29 PM
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@mamalicious: I think that that was her idea.

If she wanted to get something done for just one person she would have started dropping names (hers) and the problem would have been rectified. I'm guessing she may have done this for several people already. She tried to do it the normal way and got stonewalled to prove a point and help more people all at once.

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econobiker
January 26, 2009 6:14 PM
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@snowburnt: I doubt that she could have even dropped her name to the rank and file phone tree to get help. Unless she had an executive's name or direct phone number, the rank and file phone people probably don't give a crap, don't know who she is, or think that she is some low level assistant to the congresswoman's office...

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Chad Miller
January 25, 2009 7:35 PM
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yikes. 2 hours! its true though, if you're current you're not going to get much help from your mtg servicer.

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the_wiggle
January 26, 2009 5:34 AM
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@Chad Miller: which is one of the biggest problems of the whole sorry mess.

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bohemian
January 25, 2009 7:42 PM
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I hope this is enough for her to push for a serious smackdown on the financial industry. All that money we gave them, where did it go? Nobody seems to really know. Free market capitalism can go piss up a rope. The financial industry needs to be seriously over regulated or babysat right now since they clearly can't be left to their own devices.

Please explain to me why dealing with BOA is better or more efficient than dealing with a govt. agency?

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1SQ
January 26, 2009 5:37 AM
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@bohemian: \"Please explain to me why dealing with BOA is better or more efficient than dealing with a govt. agency?\"

It may not be more efficient, but with a company you generally have some other option if you hit a brick wall. You can take your business elsewhere or appeal to government regulators. If you deal straight with the government and they don't do what you need, you have limited options.

This is not to suggest that anarcho-capitalism is the answer-- only that government seems to work best as a regulator instead of the sole provider of all goods and services. The Soviet experience would seem to support this conclusion.

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SWM,30isoSWF_GitEmSteveDave
January 25, 2009 7:45 PM
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All I have to say is MBNA had a two-ring policy. The phone was answered within two rings, usually by a person. It even applied to internal customers(People, a.k.a employees). If your phone rang more than twice, and wasn't set to farward, it was automatically forwarded, and the not answering was logged and went against our daily satisfaction score.

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Davan
January 25, 2009 7:51 PM
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Bank of America is just doing their part to fight \"the Man.\"

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VRWC
January 25, 2009 7:54 PM
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And the point of this article is -- WHAT?

Who give's a rat's a** if some know-nothing unskilled politician was put on hold? The whole financial meltdown was caused by the politicians meddling in the first place -- why would anyone want to let them meddle further?

The politicians are supposed to work for US, remember? They're not \"royalty\", despite what they may think of themselves, and they should have to wait LONGER than actual customers using their OWN money.

In fact, I'd go so far as to support a phone system that automatically identifies politicians calling from their taxpayer-funded offices and puts them at the END of the hold queue. The politicos have f**ked the economy up enough yet the majority of financially-illiterate morons in the country seem to not understand that fact.

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 12:45 PM
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@VRWC: This is an ignorant over-simplification of what happened. True, politicians are among those who dropped the ball, and not on only one side of the aisle, either. However, here we have an example of a representative actually trying to do something constructive for some constituents. It may not happen often enough, but it happened here.

I'm glad she got this treatment, though, as having it happen to one prominent politician does a better job of embarrassing the company (and they ought to be embarrassed) than a million of regular working stiffs.

Your \"Screw 'Em ALL!!\" attitude towards politicians is understandable, but completely unhelpful. Like it or not, if things are going to improve, the politicians are going to have to play a part. Dr. King may have moved a nation, but it took Johnson (and others) to enact legislative change (however grudgingly).

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Nick1693
January 26, 2009 12:48 AM
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@VRWC: So you want to punish congresspeople doing work for taxpayers when they call from their taxpayer funded offices?

Logic fail.

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ludwigk
January 25, 2009 8:45 PM
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@VRWC: You mean un-meddling. The whole financial mess was caused by DE-REGULATTION, or essentially the opposite of meddling. Or do you interpret reducing control over the financial industry a form of meddling in of itself, the whole \"inaction is in of itself an action\" line? So, if by meddling you mean \"making changes to reduce control over the financial industry, such that it is free to do as it wants\", would you then say a LACK of meddling is re-instating regulations?

Or would you like to cut the foreplay and just admit you don't know anything?

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OwenKlient
January 25, 2009 8:42 PM
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@VRWC: Yes, on what basis do you make the claim that she is a know-nothing, unskilled politician? Or that she or other politicians *caused* the financial meltdown with their meddling? Please enlighten us.

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PunditGuy
January 25, 2009 8:42 PM
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@VRWC: The whole financial meltdown was caused by the politicians meddling in the first place

Um... how so?

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P_Smith
January 25, 2009 10:04 PM
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@PunditGuy: Um... how so?


When Phil Gramm and John McCain had the laws loosened in 1999 to allow unethical lending practices, that's when. (Although I doubt that's what VRWC was \"thinking\" about, if you can call it thinking.)

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levenhopper
January 25, 2009 8:36 PM
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@VRWC: Did you not read the committees she's on. I would hardly call her a \"know-nothing unskilled politician.\"

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shortwave8669
January 25, 2009 8:19 PM
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Maybe they realized what a complete and utter moron the caller was and chose to ditch her. If there is a human being less qualified to be in Congress I pity them.

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OwenKlient
January 25, 2009 9:08 PM
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@shortwave8669: @shortwave8669: I think Phil Gramm, Jim Leach, and Thomas Bliley would have a lot more to add to the discussion.

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Edge101
January 25, 2009 8:40 PM
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@shortwave8669: How original -- targeting congressmen as incompetent. Most of them, incredibly, are actually very intelligent and skilled at what they do. If they don't meet your approval, it doesn't mean they are morons. Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you, seriously, could do a better job.

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Ingram81
January 26, 2009 8:31 PM
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@Edge101: I think Rick James could do a better job in Congress than Barney Frank.
Vote Rick James, Bitches!

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Smashville
January 25, 2009 9:27 PM
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@Edge101: I'm going to have to side with the OP, here. Maxine Waters has a reputation for being extraordinarily corrupt. The cynical ones among us might say that makes her overqualified to be a congresswoman.

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shortwave8669
January 25, 2009 9:11 PM
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@Edge101: And Maxine Waters is definitely not one of these. I did not say all politicians are idiots or morons, just this one- Maxine Waters. Her only talent or skill is shrill outrage

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shortwave8669
January 25, 2009 9:16 PM
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@shortwave8669:
[mayorsam.blogspot.com]

\"To add to the fun, Maxine, who never met a race card she hasn't dealt, has earned yet another dubious honor - being named by the blog \"Beyond DeLay\" as one of the 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress. She's the only one on the list from the Metro LA area and only one of two Democrats on the list (the other is William Jefferson of Louisiana - need we say more?).

Among Maxine's alleged corrupt activities include her daughter shaking down local pols for big dough to appear on Maxine's slate mailers, her husband working as a part-time consultant for a government bond firm seeking introductions to decisionmakers, and a lucrative deal for Waters' husband and son getting a county golf course concession with support from Supervisor Yvonne Burke whom Waters had campaigned for in a close election.\"

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OwenKlient
January 25, 2009 10:03 PM
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@shortwave8669: Nepotism, cronyism, and fundraising are hardly \"corruption\" no matter how undesirable they may be. And please explain how anything on that list is any different than anything any of the other 500 members have done within the bounds of the law. It certainly doesn't make her a \"moron\" or a \"know nothing'.

And I am SICK TO DEATH of people complaining about \"playing the race card.\" Just because you are sick of hearing about racism doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Grow up.

Quite frankly, Maxine Waters has a lot of currency with me because she was one of the few people who had the courage to try to stop GWB from stealing the presidency in 2001. If just one senator had had the courage and good sense to do what was right, we would have been spared the 8-year national nightmare named George W. Bush. There probably wouldn't BE a banking crisis, at least not one of this depth.

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Ingram81
January 26, 2009 8:36 PM
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@OwenKlient: I was going to reply to your post with some intelligent and witty, but after seeing you rant about GWB, Ive opted to discuss the matter on your intelligence level.

Goo goo gah bah gah gah boo goo. Gee hee tee me poo poo.

Buh bye.

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kexline
January 25, 2009 11:54 PM
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@OwenKlient: Debt securitization was deregulated in 1999, not during the Bush administration.

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OwenKlient
January 26, 2009 12:15 AM
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@kexline: Yes, thanks to Gramm, Leach, and Bliley and the rest of the Republican Congress. And my point was that I doubt that a different president would have ignored the warning signs for 2 or more years before becoming concerned about the run up in home prices or the growing number of foreclosures.

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Charles Mousseau
January 25, 2009 9:42 PM
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@shortwave8669: Strictly speaking, one does not \"deal\" the race card, one \"plays\" the race card.

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cmdrsass
January 25, 2009 8:32 PM
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@shortwave8669: Barney Frank D-MA would like to have a word with you.

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aguacarbonica
January 25, 2009 8:31 PM
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@Jage: @ShadowWylde:

Clearly she wouldn't have; otherwise she would not have bothered making the phone calls in the first place. She made the phone calls because she knew they were having issues and being given the run around. I imagine she expected her clout would help her deal with her constituents' problem more expediently. If it had, though, I don't think she would have been any less equipped to understand or address the complaint.

This sure is great publicity for Congresswoman Waters.

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Plates
January 25, 2009 8:49 PM
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For once, Bank of of America's lousy customer service actually did something good, keeping a corrupt member of congress (yes, it is redundant, since to be a member of congress you have to be corrupt) from creating more worthless needless pork laden legislation or getting sweet talked by scumbag lobbyists.

Bank of America, I salute you!

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Ingram81
January 26, 2009 8:38 PM
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@Plates: Yes but sadly just being corrupt doesnt put you in Congress. Just means youve got a better chance.

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brokedickrooster
January 25, 2009 9:21 PM
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Her being on the Financial Services Committee is like hiring an arsonist as Fire Chief. Her ignorance, racism, and/or corruption helped create this mess.

The only thing that would make me happier is if BofA admitted they were giving her the runaround after they saw her name come up on the Caller ID.

Did she think she could refinance someone else's loan over the phone? Sure, that makes sense.

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VeiledThreats
January 25, 2009 9:59 PM
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I didn't say I liked Waters or that she's a great Congresswoman but her years in the CA Assembly were productive, she was the author of quite a few bills that made revolutionary changes to the state government and, if she chooses to make as much noise on the Federal level, I think her dealings with BoA can be positive for the consumer public.

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Keter
January 25, 2009 10:32 PM
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Hi, Consumerist - please proofread at least your headlines. ;o)

I'm hoping this experience will motivate Ms. Waters to actually do something with the power of her office that will help all consumers, not just the two constituents she was trying to help - it would be a lot more efficient use of her time.

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Ben Miner
January 25, 2009 10:43 PM
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According to how I read this story she is calling on behalf of people who have been paying their mortgage to ask for help how to pay LESS of a mortgage. How is this any different then a restaurant patron demanding lower menu prices halfway through their meal?

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kexline
January 26, 2009 12:09 AM
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@Ben Miner: If you accept that some of the current crop of foreclosures are not the borrowers' fault, then no, it's not exactly the same thing. There are still a ton of adjustable rate mortgages (and worse) out there waiting to turn into foreclosures. ARMs were sold with the outright promise that you could refi before the payments went up, which you can't now. Maybe it's more like a random guy who's told that a swanky joint has $1 beers and finds out otherwise only after he's half-tanked.

So these constituents' mortgages might be eating through their savings at an alarming pace due to rate adjustments or under/unemployment. Or they might have just realized that they are not going to be able to refi out of a massive adjustment that's still a couple of months away.

Personally, I think you had to be pretty gullible to get into an ARM, but I certainly have more sympathy for people who are current and trying to avoid disaster than people who never really expected to have to pay at all.

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razremytuxbuddy
January 25, 2009 10:52 PM
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I've always wanted lawmakers to hear what I've occasionally gone through to get a customer service issue resolved, but I knew none of them would listen to a 1 or 2 hour recording even if I did record it. This story is even better! I bet she would get the same ghastly treatment if she called Sprint. What some large companies call \"customer service\" amounts to a brush-off, and a bad faith breach of the service they are legally bound to provide, IMHO.

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bobpence
January 25, 2009 10:59 PM
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Bank of America vs. Maxine Waters. Hmm, can they both lose?


The thing about \"they don't check to see if you have a computer\" is lame victim-seeking. Are there people who don't have at least a local library with terminals, albeit maybe with a wait? Yes, but vanishingly few.

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bwcbwc
January 26, 2009 1:19 AM
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@bobpence: I wouldn't log into my bank from a public terminal even to get funds to pay an emergency hospital bill.

Do you WANT your identity to be stolen?

Besides banks aren't allowed to force you onto computers anyway. That's why they keep trying to get you to approve e-billing or e-statements if you don't sign up.

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OwenKlient
January 25, 2009 11:28 PM
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@bobpence: @bobpence: Sure, more and more people have access to a computer, but it certainly is overstating the case to say that she is \"victim-seeking.\" Fewer people than you think are attached to a computer 24-7, and I've never heard of a national company all but *requiring* access to a computer in order to take advantage of their services. If my recently departed grandmother had received the same treatment, she wouldn't know what to do with a computer even if she had one.

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jamar0303
January 26, 2009 12:49 PM
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@OwenKlient: Accessing your *bank* with a *public terminal*? Can we say \"identity theft\", especially if the library doesn't allow full access to a browser's \"flush privacy data\" option?

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darrylw
January 26, 2009 12:00 AM
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I'd like to see how long Ms Waters office would put me on hold when I want to complain to her about Congress's wasteful spending and inaction.

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Anonymous
January 26, 2009 12:54 AM
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The EXACT thing happened to me last week with BofA. But, I have 25 year old accounts with BofA. I was an employee there (Seafirst Bank) for 15 years. I have several accounts with them and am considered a good customer. Do you think they will refi my mortgage? NO WAY! So, after I sent a week trying to get through to someone - I decided to just close almy accounts and open an account at a local Credit Union. You shoud have seen my regular friendly teller shake her head when I took out ALL my cash in one fat cashier's check and CLOSE ALL my accounts with that said excuse for a bank.

Oh, and I CANNOT wait to watch KEN LEWIS get kicked out on his sorry ass as soon as possible.

Sad, Greedy, Foolish Moron that he is.

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feckingmorons
January 26, 2009 2:08 AM
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Who needs a member of congress to refinance a mortgage if you are current on the mortgage?


Do these people need instructions to blow their nose too?

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ras_d
January 26, 2009 2:57 AM
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Whats wrong with nationalization of the major banks? At least we wont have greedy corporate fucks stealing our money anymore. They had their chance and blew it big time...so now its time for the 'parents' to take over. As a middle class fella, I could care less. As long as I get my 1.5% interest or whatever, then I am honestly happier knowing there are any CEOs up there. fuck them.

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FrankReality
January 26, 2009 4:21 AM
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It couldn't have happened to a more deserving person - Maxine Waters, a complete moron and leftwing extremist (what the anarchists call a \"useful idiot\") who threatened to nationalize the oil industry.


I'd have hung up on her too. Kudos to BofA for treating her like a regular customer instead of giving her special treatment.


California, you could do so much better than Crazy Maxine.

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 12:54 PM
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@FrankReality: So, you think this is an acceptable way for a bank to treat customers?

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MightyCow
January 26, 2009 6:55 AM
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Countdown until congress doesn't actually do anything about this because financial lobbies are too influential in 3, 2, 1...

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 12:52 PM
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Uhhh... I couldn't make it through more than a couple political flameposts, something like \"She's a DEMI-CRAT! EFF HER! She blah blah Fammie Mae blah blah taxes blah blah corrupt blah blah...\"

OK, yeah, whatever. That's not the point of this article. It doesn't matter if it was Waters or McCain, the point is that a prominent politician received this treatment, which is probably more embarrassing to BOA than having it happen to a million of us regular working stiffs. I wish I matterd as much as a congressperson, but fact is, from a publicity standpoint, I don't.

I'm getting so tired of people taking every opportunity to crow about how lousy the OTHER party or it's members are, even inserting it where it's not relevant, like here.

I know, I know, I should know what I'm getting when I click to read the comments on a story about a politician.

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kreatre2009
January 26, 2009 1:11 PM
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Screw her! Someone needs to tell Ms. Waters that a PRIVATE company doesn't have to answer to her. B of A and all of the other banks need to learn the basics of economics and how to run their businesses properly. Otherwise, they add fuel to the fire of socialists like Maxine Waters.

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 3:02 PM
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@kreatre2009: BTW, just noticed you wrote PRIVATE in capital letters. After the bailout, um, not completely. If they're accepting 25 billion from the govt, they're accountable to the government.

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 1:25 PM
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@kreatre2009: So, this is an OK way for bank to treat customers (she was calling on behalf of a couple customers, remember)? Or, lemme guess, customers who belong to the Democratic Party? She wasn't demanding they \" her,\" she wanted to TALK. With a human being. On the behalf of customers.

Her political affiliation or views are irrelevant to the article. BOA is offering its customers absolutely no way to discuss mortgages. Not that BOA is obligated to renegotiate or anything, but don't you think they should at least offer customers a way to DISCUSS it? With a HUMAN? Or is this a service that should only be afforded Republicans?

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 1:26 PM
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@tc4b: EDIT: ...She wasn't demanding they \"answer to her,\"...

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chrisjames
January 26, 2009 2:48 PM
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\"The Bank of America says it does a good job\"

BWAHAHAHAHA!! Fuckin' right I just take there word for it, eh? Absolutely ridiculous. The first sign of when you should start shopping around for other businesses is when they start lauding themselves.

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Brazell
January 26, 2009 2:59 PM
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Should have made her wait longer.

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meadandale
January 26, 2009 5:05 PM
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I'd leave Maxine Waters on hold too...indefinitely.

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tc4b
January 26, 2009 5:45 PM
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@meadandale: So, this is acceptable customer service for a bank, as long as it's a politician you disagree with?

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puddleglum411
January 26, 2009 6:00 PM
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Wait, she's on the House Financial Services Committee and the Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and she just now figured out that it's a royal PITA to renegotiate mortgage payments with BoA?

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RogueWarrior
January 27, 2009 5:18 AM
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Ack! Pfft! Maxine Waters is a complete moron.

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