Bank of the West
No Customer Value, Do Not Bank With BOW

This is by far the worst bank I have ever been with. There is no loyalty to their customers nor do they care about anything else other than ensuring that their bottom lines are well taken care of.

I have been a loyal bank customer of this bank since early 2010. Recently, I have obtained a new position on the east coast where this bank does not have a presence. I had to transfer majority of my funds to a different bank, but decided to keep this checkings account open in case I decided to move back to the west coast in the near future.

I left $10 in this account, but due to a minor error, a withdraw was taken out directly from a credit card vender for a value of $100. Without any notification, mail, text, or call, I received a letter last night stating that I am being charged $5.00/day until I am able to pay this off.

The funny thing is that the mail is dated 6 days prior to when I received this letter and after confirming my online statement, I have been charged $30 for these charges. I called my branch to explain how this is ridiculous as I was completely left in the dark, but she simply stated that the bank mailed me a notice of my overdraft a few days back, which I never received. Once I explained that I never got this mail, the only response I got was "that's not our fault, its the mailing system". They told me to deposit as soon as possible as they will continue to charge $5.00/day that they do not receive the funds. I proposed that I pay the overdraft balance over the phone as long as the fees are all removed due to an error from the 'mailing system'. I was told that this is not an option and was told that they want to split the charges 50/50. I don't think they realize that it's not about $20-$30, but it's the dirty feeling of being ripped off completely by a bank you stood by for so long (I never had a fee in the past year - which she confirmed as well)

I am just mind-blown by the principle of this situation. How is $30 $31 late fee charge more important than maintaining the relationship between the bank and the customer. I am surprised that the bank would risk this simply just to earn some pocket change for themselves. I emailed them for them to call me this morning, I got no call, and got charged $5.00 for today.

As I type this, I will be mailing them a check to balance out the entire account and do not plan on working with them ever again. This is the worst service I have ever received.

My advice is to please not use this bank. This bank is the worst bank I have ever worked with and they only are finding ways to ensure that your mistakes are accounted for. One mistake cost $61 and my entire trust in their system. Horrible customer service and no loyalty.

I told them that I don't think I could work with this bank and they responded with "OK". How they stay in business, I will never know.

Company: Bank of the West
Country: USA
Site: bankofthewest.com

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