I dunno why they wouldn't could have something to do with them being one of the worst banks I have ver had. Take it over to WAMU and they say fine NP. They even offered to not place a hold on the check.
And yes I have an account at BOA.
You know, many people have complained about BOA. But me personally have never had a problem with the one here. It could be by state too as I have noticed some in different states are ran differently. I am glad to hear that you got it cashed though! 
my hubby has an account with BOA... it used to be one of his favs.. till he got overdrawn on his checking n savings due to no fuilt of his own....
he had like 5 bucks in checking n ion savings. he stopped useing the account for a few months. when he signed back in he was overdrawin on both of them. as the charge a monthly fee for checking n savings n had never told him about this. so yeah.... because of that alone i feel it's a bad bank.
How long ago was this?? I have free checking w/no minimum balance..meaning I can have zero in it and won't get charged. The savings account however, if I get $25.00 automatically transfered from my checking to my savings each month, I get no savings account fee if my savings falls below $25.00. If I don't do the auto transfer and fall below $25.00 on my savings account, I am charged $5.00 per month.
All of this info was and is, in my paperwork that I got when I opened the accounts AND was also explained to me by a Bank Employee who helped me open the accounts. She even highlighted these important factors in my paperwork so I could refer to them later if need be.
Why your hubby didn't know these things just says a lot about the certain BOA you guys dealt with as they didn't do their jobs!
I must say that the BOA here is up on their stuff and treats their customers great! I am just sorry to hear of other people who have dealt with this bank have had such problems.