InformAction Forums

When trying to update descriptions in Bank of America online, the description update fails at least 75% of the time with the following error: Error Message We're temporarily unable to process this request. Please try again. However, when accessing their server logs, it shows "Connection Terminated by Client" which would make it MY side but I didn't do squat, the only thing I can think of would be NS processing the script in a way that is not completing. Any ideas what's wrong? I am running the latest .91 release. Thanks.

What kind of "description"?
Where do I go to find it?

Are you using tabs (opening accounts or different parts of the site in different tabs)?

And when this happens, what does the URL show, something "stupid" rather than an expected "type" of URL?

If so, it is likely cookies & the bastardized way in which Bank of America currently has their site running.
(Or at least I hope it is them & not NoScript.)

It may depend upon what order tabs are opened & what you open (or try to open) from a particular tab.

Sounds similar to this thread, Connection Interrupted.

Right now, just clicking around, I have open ...

Online banking main screen
Two bank accounts in tabs
Bill Pay in tab
Edit Payee Information in tab

From Bill Pay, if I click Transfers (a separate section), I get an Error 404
https://bills.bankofamerica.com/wps8109/null/GotoMakeTransfer

If I go to one of the bank account tabs & click Transfers, then it successfully opens
https://onlineeast3.bankofamerica.com/cgi-bin/ias/A/3/GotoMakeTransfer

In the same way, from Bill Pay, the "Investments" link is a dead end
link: https://bills.bankofamerica.com/wps8109/wps?rq=so&sp=8109&oss=...&next=GotoBrokerage
https://bills.bankofamerica.com/wps8109/null/GotoBrokerage

From the Banking end I successfully end up here, https://onlineeast3.bankofamerica.com/cgi-bin/ias/A/4/GotoBrokerage

It might be similar issue to the connection interrupted but his is not a generic Fx error, its an actual system produced error but according to the dev for their site, they handle those error validations on client side (my side) and if its seeing an error, it means it was expecting a reply but didn't get it from the server or the interface. As I said, I try and try again and it works eventually while some persist and this works fine without NS enabled or on a clean profile (or safemode) with no NS.

I figured all Bank of America online banking users would know what I mean but here are the steps to reproduce. You log in, jumping through the 3 page validation and it will display your account summary page. Then click on the account (any of them) and it will load the details page with each transaction. When you click on any transactions, it will say "please wait, retrieving details" and it will expand giving you a box to type in your own description. When I do that, it will come back with this error.

I can generate that relative easily. Not each time, but with a few tries to save a change.
I've raised hell with BoA & can't imagine anyone there knows their --- from a hole in the ground.
Sure would like to know who you could get to speak to that would know that it is a client side error.

And so as a second test, opened a different Profile, disabled NoScript, restarted.
Then attempted the same change.
The very first attempt, I get the same exact message.
Now is there a difference between NoScript disabled & NoScript uninstalled?
(SeaMonkey 2, so I can disable in Add-on Manager)



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BANK OF AMERICA.COM ONLINE BANKING SUCKS IN THE HUGEST WAY IMAGINABLE

Bingo, that's the error and you got it. Now I am not sure why that's not working for you but for me using a disabled NS or safemode with nothing works each and every time, its just when you have NS that it gives me the problem most of the time. Now your experience adds another layer of confusion since if you are getting it without NS then I am not sure how far up S*** creek we are.

DO NOT ask me to provide those logs, I cannot. How I have access to their server logs, that's left over privilege from the days I did work for their IT and security as a consultant. Yes they indeed suck and despite my best efforts, the only thing they managed to successfully implement based on my recommendations was sitekey and even that is not 100% like I wanted but they are paying the bills, if they want to snub, then their funeral. The CTO is still a friend and I can occasionally catch him working after hours and he will VPN back into the servers with me remote connected to his machine so I can see what he sees (I know what I am looking for but he can't find his ass with both hands, funny that he admits that). They need some serious help getting their act back on track, they have potential but they are not doing as well as they should be and that bugs the hell out of them.

Why don't each of you switch to other banks, esp. with therube's signature line? Vote with your dollars: If their service is poor, go elsewhere. (Yeah, I know it's a pain, but it's a one-time pain for a couple of weeks, as opposed to years of pain that you both are describing.) FTR, my father and I both closed our BA accts, though in these cases, it was for poor in-person service, which sux every bit as badly as the online problems described here.

WamuChase/JPMorgan site seems to work well, although when they were bought out, Chase discontinued WaMu's service of giving you your credit score free every month. Wachovia/Wells Fargo is good in person (Wach rated #1 five years in a row or something); their online is user-friendly, but updates only once at night for all except certain transactions. Minor annoyance, but nothing like that. Also, when I did run into a bug or two, you can actually reach someone on the phone (Web support) who can do something about it. GL.

Who says that we haven't? I have accounts elsewhere but need to maintain these accounts for very good reasons. Taking your business elsewhere is not a solution to every problem, in fact that's the reason why our capitalist system works well in the short run but ends up up shit creek like it is now. Too many choice, too much bullshit gimmicks and so on.

Now saying Wamu/Chase is better is just funny, like trading in a pinto for a yugo. The fact is that they FAILED, they are not even solvent and people who have these banks on their credit reports are losing FICO points because they are seen as a risk, trust me, I rather be unhappy with my bank and not be a target of capital/credit discrimination than to be "happy" and be worthless. Plus, I don't DO in person, I hate those half ass trained tellers, piss poor understanding, training and experience, and attitude for the more experienced because they are tired and jaded. No thanks. I will talk to the computer and that's why I deposit at ATM (if I ever do), direct deposit, online transfers, automatic debits and so on. The lesser the human element, the more control I have over what I do, when I do and how to do.

Now its not that you can't get a hold of support, the problem is its shipped and allocated to the lowest common denominator of cheap services located in the ass end of the world where they don't know what they hell they are doing or care. That's the real problem, I can vouch that systems maintained in the US have much lesser issues and tend to get fixed quicker and with much higher expectation. I was told just the other day, "wow this shit awesome, how come we can get that from the Indians?" and I said, don't know, ask them. Response, "yeah if I could understand what they hell they were saying...and asia division is even worse..." and I tell them, you pay for cheap labor and lack of experience and that's what you get, you made your bed, lay in it.

Now all that said, what we are experiencing and complaining about is legitimate technical issue and irrelevant how we feel about the business delivering it.

Online Banking SUCKS.
Online Bill Pay is GREAT.
Not one bank, not one anything, gives a damn about you or I, no matter how big or how small or how good or how bad we are.
Our <& our is both personal & business - MANY accounts) "service" for the past year or more has been ABYSMAL.
After our last change (like getting a new "account manager") & the banks last change (like getting rid of "Premier Banking"), everything has been running hunky dory.
But Online Banking still SUCKS.

BANK OF AMERICA.COM ONLINE BANKING SUCKS IN THE HUGEST WAY IMAGINABLE

PS: It's not always easy to change even though you really really want to.

GµårÐïåñ wrote:Now all that said, what we are experiencing and complaining about is legitimate technical issue and irrelevant how we feel about the business delivering it.

True. But from the sound of it, it's probably at their end. Which means that there is nothing that NS or Fx can do about it. If so, then it is not a tech issue for this forum. If they refuse to fix it.... your call.

therube wrote:PS: It's not always easy to change even though you really really want to.

Tell me about it! There was a huge amount of red tape and personal visits, endless phone loops, etc. to get some auto-deposits and auto-pays transferred from BA to another. But now it's done, and we never have to deal with BA again... as opposed to "the rest of your life". Get it over with already.

This isn't a finance forum, so my views (as an MBA ) on the bank failures are irrelevant.

FTR, the people at the local branch of Wachovia offered to do the work to get the direct deposits switched, e. g., Dad's Social Security. Anyone who volunteers to deal with a US Govt agency on your behalf is really going the extra 26.2 miles! ... Part of it is a matter of frequenting the same branch, having several accounts of your own and of the family there, getting to know the tellers and managers, having them know you on sight when you walk in. At one point, there was a manager who would notarize documents for me without any ID, just circle "personally well known to me". Transferred, but soon the new one will, too.

Plus, of course, Wachovia is eternally grateful to me for having brought them the US NoScript Donation Account. Someone actually donated USD 15.00 last month! On behalf of Giorgio, thank you, kind NoScript/Flashgot user!

Everybody gripes about the weather, but nobody does anything about it (Mark Twain). Do something about it, or live with it. Cheers!

No for me. For me, its happening on client side and in safe mode I have no issue whatsoever. Just with NS active. On the other hand, therube said that there was problem without NS as well, so not sure now. But for me its 100% machine side.

GµårÐïåñ wrote:No for me. For me, its happening on client side and in safe mode I have no issue whatsoever. Just with NS active. On the other hand, therube said that there was problem without NS as well, so not sure now. But for me its 100% machine side.

I *did* get a bit confused following this thread, with therube seeming to think it was on BA's side, at least sometimes. I see now that you're thinking it's more client-side, but it looks like no one's sure yet. Yes, if there's anything on the client side, we need to find out why and where -- NS, Fx, some other add-on. It just sounded like both of you were dissatisfied with BA, and that even if there was a client-side issue, you both thought that their coding was poor and they could not be reached to discuss it. That was the reason for the previous comments. Sorry if I misunderstood -- if it's their coding, they need to fix it, or lose customers. If it is in fact a Fx/NS/whatever issue, OK, let's find out -- but why aren't people complaining about other online banks in the same manner?

FWIW, I truly have been more successful in getting support for online banking issues with other banks. Looking forward to the resolution of this mystery. Sympathy and GL to both of you in getting this resolved.

But also consider that therube uses SeaMonkey so there might be a slight difference in behavior as well.

I was using SeaMonkey 2 (akin to FF3.5) at the time, but there is always the possibility.

Today, I can't seem to duplicate it (with SeaMonkey 1.1.17).
Now running NoScript 1.9.3.92.
Tried with BoA blocked & BoA Allowed.
(The other day I could force it withing a few change cycles. Today I can make a dozen - all successfully.)

Further, the other day I was not able to enter a blank description (i.e. to return the description back to its default), yet today I can.

Nor can I now duplicate it in FF 3.0.10 & NoScript 1.9.3.

I think BoA changed their code, getting it right.

therube wrote:I think BoA changed their code, getting it right.

Ha! You see what a little pressure from the mighty NoScript Support Team can accomplish?

(nothing like public embarrassment and negative publicity to motivate corporate change)