Got a gripe with Bank of America? Put it on YouTube.
Ben Frasier of Douglas, Ore. said in a YouTube video that he wouldn't make any more payments on a $30,000 personal line of credit unless Bank of America would let him settle up with a lump sum.
Bank of America wasn't interested in the offer when Frasier made it over the phone. But after he made his demand publicly, and it received some media attention, Bank of America made an offer that Frasier is happy with.
The video-sharing website has become an effective complaint department for angry customers willing to put their faces to a declaration of "debtors revolt!" Ann Minch of Red Bluff, Calif., did it first in September, when she refused to pay a credit card debt unless Bank of America lowered her rate. After her story went viral, Bank of America agreed to her demand. And Darren Bryant of Pensacola, Fla., won attention from the bank within four hours of "going YouTube" after he wasted 20 hours calling the bank to no avail.
Another person uploads a "debtors revolt" rant against Bank of America and other big banks almost every day.
Frasier said that because of an unexpectedly high interest rate, he paid $8,000 but dented the $30,000 loan's principal by only $1,500. He said in his video that he wanted to pay Bank of America $23,000 and call it even. After some negotiation over email, a Bank of America agent made the following offer on Thursday:
Based on the new payment amount from you of 15,134.78 and the credits to that account that I stated below, it would leave a remaining balance on the account of roughly $12,215.00. I would then be able to set that amount to a 60 month payoff term and an interest rate of 8.99%. The new payment on that amount for the 60 months would be roughly $260.00.
Frasier replied that he would accept the offer as soon as he saw it on paper. He told the Huffington Post he's happy with the deal, though he thought the way he got it was ridiculous.
"In terms of YouTube, it was a very effective mode of communicating with them," Frasier told the Huffington Post on Friday. "You have to go someplace unsecure to tell your story where everybody knows pretty much who you are, everybody knows the details. You'd think you could do that on Bank of America's website. It's an incredible website. Unfortunately, you just don't command the attention you do on YouTube."
Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Huffington Post, but a spokeswoman previously said, "Our associates talk to millions of customers every day and we work very hard to help them. It is more likely that we can work with them when they call us directly to resolve their issues."