Bank of America loses $50 Million due to Wrongful Arrest!

I believe the importance of treating your customers right for a business's survival can't be stressed enough. Simply put, bad business decisions even at the seemingly low level of any firm can be financial suicide.

This very thing happened to Bank of America when they apparently mistreated one of their account holders, putting him into a lot of needless trouble with the police. Obviously, this guy didn't turn out very happy to have been treated like a criminal, spent thousands of dollars getting out of the mess and not getting at least a pipsqueak of an apology from the Bank.

Result? -- He spreads the word, causes a wave of anger in Bank of America customers who then promptly marched up to the bank and closed a cool US$50m million worth of accounts!

Shinnick was hauled to jail, stripped of his clothing and put into an orange jumpsuit. His father posted $4,500 bond to spring him. Shinnick ended up spending $14,000 to get out of the mess Bank of America caused.

Bank of America refused to reimburse Shinnick, and so Shinnick took his story to a consumer advocate radio show host, Clark Howard. Lots of Bank of America customers were disgusted by BofA's callousness and have closed their accounts with the bank. Howard says they've pulled $50 million from B of A.

More on this story over at : BoingBoing