Bank of America - Platinum Visa Review

I have what they call the Royal Caribbean Platinum Plus issued thru MBNA 3 years ago. The only perk is On Board Credits on every cruise for the points you earn. $50 for every 5000 points. Any purchases from Royal Caribbeans (deposit on a cruise, final payment on a cruise, onboard charges while on a cruise, any purchases from their web site) get double points. Basically it is 1% cashback.

Very happy with the card til I bought a clothes dryer & learned that there is no additional year warranty issued with the card. In fact hardly any perks besides the OBC.

Then April of 2007 the owner, Al Lerner,who also owned the Cleveland Browns & built the beautiful lakefront stadium, dies & his son sells dad's company to Bank of America so he could buy a London soccer team.  750 Clevelanders unemployed & boy did the card go south.  Cashback is below 1% .  

So January we get a notice that B of A is now the owner of our card. They term the phone reps as Account Managers. My billing date was the 6th of every month with MBNA but B of A is closed on weekends, so if the 6th, which is their billing date is on the weekend, then you are billed on Monday night. So not knowing this I payed off my account on 1/6/2007, as I do every month on the billing date, so my bill is -0- every month. I get home from a trip on the 10th to learn I have a $4.75 balance due to a charge I made on my billing date. I phoned to learn this & that B of A moved my billing date to the 7th & that was a weekend & they are closed, so I was billed Monday night. So I pay the $4.75. Next day my phone rings & it is an Account Manager from B of A telling me what an excellent customer I am with an excellent credit score & how B of A, being the new owner of our card, wants to keep their best customers happy.  She tell me I am being upgraded to the RCCL Signature Visa. This has perks from $3,000 lost luggage coverage to total auto insurance on any rented car, not just the deductible being paid. There was over 13 perks. So yes I am interested. It will take 3 weeks to arrive since they have to move my Royal Points to the new card & I will still get the double points on all RCCL purchases.

2/5/2007 I get a thick envelope, but I don't feel any credit card from B of A. Inside is a letter telling me that the "card I applied for doesn't exist but I can fill out the attached application for a B of A Visa Signature card". I phone them to inquire since I didn't apply for any card I was being upgraded. They state no I wasn't. So I ask about the Account Manger who phoned me & they state it was an error.

Then in April RCCL sends a notice to cardholders that effective 6/1/07 B of A will now give an additional year warranty on any item with 1-5 year warranty on it. They also have auto insurance coverage, but it is just deductible for your auto insurance policy. Their fraud dept protects against charges you didn't make. But for the folks who were using 100,000 points to get a free 7 nt cruise for a couple, they now need 150,000 points. So many folks are ticked. But OBC are still $50 for every 5,000 points. I like being paid to cruise.

So the morning of 6/1/07 I call B of A since I have not received any notice on my May statement or in the mail on the changes to the perks on the card. Believe it or not I am again told in the exact language of the 1/21/07 phone call, that I am being upgrade to a RCCL Visa Signature card. I stopped the gal telling her the card doesn't exits. She rudely tells me it does & if I don't want it she will hang up. So I ask for her Supervisor. He gets on & also tells me about the new card for excellent customers with excellent credit scores. I tell him I heard this lie in January & it was confirmed in February. He tells me it is new & I am one of the first to be getting this card with all the marvelous perks. So fine I want it. And sure enough 2 weeks later I get a phone call from Card Services Dept of B of A who tells me that I have not given the OK to delete my Royal Points since I am closing my RCCL Platinum Plus VISA for the B of A Visa Signature. Right there I am ticked! I tell her that I am their customer since MBNA was sold to them. I cruise RCCL 4 weeks a year & love being paid to do so. B of A isn't in the State of Ohio, they are not my bank, and I have been lied 2 by 2 Accounts Managers & a Supervisor & I want to put thru a complaint. So she did that for me.  I get a phone call from a very nice gal from Corporate B of A, on the complaint. She apologized for the miscommunication with the new hires since B of A was trying to get new Visa Signature cardholders. So she is ready to make my day. New accounts effective 8/1/2007 will be getting 15,000 Royal Points on their first purchase. That is a $150 OBC! I got 2500 points 3 years ago from MBNA. So she is giving me 12,500 Royal Points to keep me happy. So that is $125 OBC so yes I am happy. I also received new cards for my husband & I that state B of A on them and expire in 5 years. And I got my points!!!!  So made a new friend who wants to be on the lookout for anyone else telling false info. So she give me her name & phone number to call collect to inform her of date, time of call & name of party I spoke with. So I agreed since she paid me $125 to do it. 

10/27/07: Used my RCCL VISA to purchase computer cards for the additional one year warranty effective 6/1/07. Guess what, the only warranty on them is 90 days against theft or damage. B of A tells me that RCCL doesn't want to pay for warranty coverage. So back to the store to return the cards & rebuy them on AMEX Blue Membership Rewards site for double points. AMEX gives me an additional year warranty. So now Visa is good for restaurants, all RCCL charges for double points but all major purchases goto AMEX only. Hoping RCCL moves to AMEX for quality service & perks.

 I called B of A & closed the crappy card.  Of course I am transferred to a Supervisor who tries to talk me into staying.  I am closing this account.  I have been lied to, twice, even a Supervisor lied to me so I have had it.  I do not ant to be a customer of B of A.  You are not in the State of Ohio & the constant emails to open a bank account is a joke.  I have a -0- balance so close the account today!  They did.