I'm wondering if it is at all possible to report Bank of America for a situation where they've severely wronged my Husband and I. A strongly worded letter just seems insufficient.

My Mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly, and we had little emergency funds to rely on. In order to complete the necessary arrangements in the urgent manner necessary, we needed to cash in some US savings bonds she lovingly left in his name for an emergency. Considering the fact that we had a death certificate, and necessary identification, we drove to the bank and figured it would be a very easy transaction. Neither of us had any bond experience, but my Mother reassured me that this was what bonds are for -- emergency situations, where you don't have the time or ability to access other funds.

When we made it to the bank, we spoke to one of the advisors, who explained that they were completely unable to cash them, and that it was a probate issue, even though he was clearly listed as beneficiary. I could've handled his attitude, and lack of manners (No "I'm sorry"), if he would've just gotten the job done. The agent flippantly said, "What if she had other children or a husband alive? You can't prove that." (I didn't know better at the time, but I later learned that even if that was so, it wouldn't matter). To make matters worse, he then said that it is a Federal law that he is unable to cash bonds that are "p.o.d." until 30 days have passed since her death. We left, completely uncertain of what to do now. We assumed that what he was telling us was the truth, so we left the place quietly distraught. When we got home, my Husband called BoA and spoke to the branch manager, who said that yes -- it was a Federal law -- no p.o.d. bonds to be cashed for 30 days. Considering that we heard this through two sources, we took it as gospel. Our only resort was to bite the bullet and liquidate our stock assets. Without these investments, I don't know what we would've done otherwise.

A few weeks later, I decided to call up Citibank and just pose them with a question. I asked if there is any Federal law preventing me from cashing p.o.d. bonds in my name, asked if there was any Federal 30-day time period, if it was a probate issue, and if there would be any hitches. After about a half hour of them checking with all of their supervisors, and their legal department, the general consensus was -- "Come on in!". They couldn't find even a hint of these "Federal laws", and I got the feeling we were the first people to ever have any trouble.
Afterwards, I phoned another local BoA branch, and asked the same question -- for the Hell of it. They said to come on down, no trouble, no Federal law, no probate, no nothing.

So, my question to you all is...what recourse can I take? Branch managers and the agents below them shouldn't be able to dispense blatantly incorrect information, make up "Federal laws", and take advantage of people in emergency financial situations.