Chase Bank

The lines are notoriously long especially with one teller open. I really don’t like coming here so instead I got to the one in downtown Oakland instead. The ATMs here couldn’t read my debit card for 2 months until they had to reprint my card in the Oakland location. This location also doesn’t have the new ATMs with the touch screens that allow you take out $ 5 and $ 1 just in case you don’t want to lug around a huge $ 20 bill in your pocket. It would be nice if you could take out the exact amount you wanted and not a bunch of $ 20 dollar bills. Don’t come here unless if you want to wait 20 minutes or more trying to deposit/​withdraw something.

Poor customer service, Bankers busy with phone. No one come for the guest, let us wait for long.

I was leery of going to any downtown Berkeley branches cause the other bank I went to there was full of bankers, foreign students?, who could use some more English lessons. Called ahead to Chase to ask if they had parking. Dennis says yes. I have to ask him where it is. He vaguely describes where. I get there and it is a pay garage with no sign about Chase customers so I back car out to call to make sure it is the right garage. Then he tells me they validate. Why would I know that I ask him? So I go in and the private client area is closed. I am told by the teller that Dennis is the only private client banker there, so I wait and wait and wait for him. She does not tell me to sit in waiting area for him so I am standing. The layout of the place is poor since the bankers can’t see the waiting area so I am afraid to go sit down. Other bankers leave for the day and refuse to help me. I was thinking of moving my account to that branch. Not. Got my validation from the teller who could not really speak English and left for good. Should have trusted the bad Unilocal reviews and avoided this branch.

During my two visits here I waited way too long (over 30 mins and this is ridiculous since no one else was there. In retrospect, that actually makes sense!!). I was never greeted since I sat down in the waiting area as I didn’t exist. There are good chase branches out there but this one is probably the worst I’ve experienced as far as customer service goes.

Hire more people. Line of 10 people with just two tellers. Yah definitely need to hire.

I had already left Chase many years ago due to their shady practices, was happy with Wamu. When Chase & the other big bad banks destroyed the economy & Chase took over my Wamu account, I stayed (because my local credit union was also having issues).
EVERY SINGLE TIME I come into this bank they ask me if I want to open a new acct. NO! You already have nearly all my money. SOOOOO annoying.
Also, I got a condescending brush off from the mortgage guy several years ago when I asked for more info. (and went to another bank to get my mortgage –so there… he lost his commission.)
Final straw is I’ve asked them for information on something they were supposed to set up, all contacts ignored — then like a month later I get an impersonal letter from Chase (it was literally signed «Chase») telling me it had been over 60 days so it was «too late». Good job forgetting to do the transaction & then ignoring me for over 30 days until it was past the 60 day mark.
Definitely moving my money over to credit union.

With bank locations worldwide, I opened an account at Chase Bank. Tenile Watford, a personal banker, we really helpful in explaining my options. I parked under the building and Tenile validated my parking. And Chase has a ATM at the new CVS on Telegraph. I couldn’t be happier!

I was recently in the office to do a quick deposit which is right across from Bart. Super convenient! I don’t normally go into a branch to do transactions but I had no choice. I forgot my debit card today. Eek!
I was dreading the long lines, but fortunately I waited under a minute and a banker called me over to his window. I explained to him that I didn’t have my card on me but I needed to do a deposit. He smiled and said he can look me up with my ID. Yay! After a quick search on the computer he was able to find my account number. I completed a deposit slip and he got me out of there in no time.
Quick, efficient and friendly service. I wish all banks were this great!

There are friendly and competent people who work here, but 80% of the time you will not be lucky enough to deal with them. Nearly every time I’ve had to come in to the bank, it’s been a circus.
Attempting to buy currency for a trip to Iceland, I was asked if I was sure Iceland was a country. Eventually I found out from someone who had been to Iceland that it’s easiest just to exchange currency there, but Chase was able to give me no useful information about it whatsoever.
When I attempted to buy currency for another trip, they said they’d leave me a message when it came in. A week or so later, I get a message «about the currency I ordered,» but not actually telling me whether it was in or if there was a problem. I call the bank, as it’s out of my way and I don’t want to stop by for no reason, and I got so little useful information that I was actually happy when my terrible cell service cut out. I call back and get someone else who also seems clueless, and who asks if I’m sure I ordered the currency at that branch. Finally I’m transferred to someone else who’s able to find out that yes, my currency is actually in. I don’t know why they didn’t just say that on the voicemail.
What made me annoyed enough to write this review was that a few weeks ago, I stopped in to get information for a wire transfer. The teller checks with a manager, hands me a slip of paper, and I send that info off. Except no, that’s not correct. I have an 8-​digit code and it should be 9. I go back to the bank, only to find out I’d been given a SWIFT code when I’d asked for a routing number.
None of this stuff is a huge deal, but it’s stupid little errors that necessitate extra phone calls and trips to the bank for stuff that should not have been a problem in the first place. I don’t know why so many of their tellers don’t seem to know what’s going on. Avoid this branch for anything more complicated than withdrawal/​deposit.

Awesome bank… people are supet friendly there…

Recently went in there for some quick banking. Noticed they had a pretty much brand new team. The new crew at the office has really turned things around. Excellent service n awesome people. I went in to get a new atm and got helped very quickly. They offered me coffee. And introduced me to this function call quick pay. it is the most awesome thing ever. I no longer have to write checks to my roommate. just send them an email. save me so much time n hassle. They really made my life easier by going above n beyond. The lady that helped me was friendly n talked to me like a friend. It really made banking a lot less scary. I used to hate walking into a bank, but i no longer feel that way going to chase.

I have not experienced any problems with this chase branch. I find it amusing that there are a lot of old asian ladies who work here that are able to combine persuasive skills with some knowledge of banking and finances to lure in unsuspecting college students. I got my first credit card here. Nice greeter old man at the door. Bless his heart.

When the Oakland Municipal Credit Union was purchased by Western Federal, the customer experience went from awful to grandma-​died-​at-​the-​family-​reunion awful. I switched from Western to Chase, where I had been a customer for some years prior.
When I went into the branch an employee informed me that there was no change machine on location and kindly recommended I use a coinstar machine — a labor-​saving device designed to spare you the trouble of depositing more money into your account — or roll the coins myself.
30 minutes later, after I had rolled the coins, the teller asked if I might want to use the coin tray. Again, after I had rolled the coins.
Are you kidding me?

Immediately after discovering my wallet was missing, I made a trip to this Chase location. The staff here went above and beyond what was necessary in order for me to cancel my current card and safety guard my account. One of the managers even brought me Kleenex as I recounted the events of the morning to one of the bankers. If you are looking for wonderful, personal service (even if you have a piddly little account such as mine), this is the branch to go to.

Chase Bank in Downtown Berkeley is the bank I personally walk into every month like clock-​work to drop off 30 mortgage payments for the property management office I work at. I don’t see anything wrong with the place. They take care of me as a client and I walk past the regurlar teller lines over to the business line, make no small talk and drop off my large envelope to be processed. Since I frequent the place habitually I don’t ask for a receipt because I trust them and know that they will process the payments accurately. Since over the years the payments I make have gotten lost in the mail and/​or incurred late fees because of mail delays, I find simply taking into the bank is a whole lot easier and efficient.
The branch is certainly convenient. The staff there is super friendly. They are just doing their jobs. I like that they have a greeter and the front door and I like the clean ambiance of this branch. Am not sure why they don’t have more stars… guess they make make everyone happy.

Technically, I did not choose this bank. I have gone through other banks in the area, gradually transferring my meager funds to smaller and smaller institutions, only to end up with a big bank in the end. Within a few short years, my original bank was bought by Great Western, which was then subsequently acquired by WaMu, which is now Chase.
When I used to live in Berkeley, this location was certainly convenient. But Washington Mutual’s ATMs were always so damn slow. I would be aghast when my card would inch out slowly after my transaction was done. And it took forever for the machine to spit out any money.
Now that it’s a Chase bank, they have upgraded their ATMs considerably. The card just needs to be swiped in and out, checks don’t need a deposit slip (but still needs to be endorsed), and the transactions seem faster.
The branch itself is okay. I rarely go in there these days. And I haven’t checked to see if I get penalized if I do. Lines were always long and there would never be enough tellers. Update ⁰⁷⁄₁₅: I went in there recently, and I was surprised at the how much plexiglass is being used at this branch. I haven’t gone into any bank’s branch in so long that I have to wonder how much safety the tellers require these days.
I don’t like that they will charge me $ 50 if my account ever goes below $ 1500. All banks these days are doing what they can in terms of fees.
I do give them an extra star for the way they handled a security issue with one of my husband’s checks. Someone tried to either deposit or cash a check they stole from him, and Chase got suspicious and called my husband (who doesn’t have an account with them). And they have moxy for trying to get him to open an account while he was resolving that issue with them.
Since I am moving to a state that doesn’t have a Chase branch (the nearest ATM being in another state 50 miles away), I came in to close my account. Although I know of 1 outstanding check that may or may not be cashed until after I move, my account remains open until that check clears. And unless I physically enter the branch, my account won’t close. I received assurances that my account won’t be charged the «balance-​under-​$ 1500» fee, but I will keep my eye on my account to be sure.

The greatest bank is right around the corner. Mechanics Bank, a locally– owned bank with the greatest employees you’ll ever be lucky enough to deal with. They know your name, they are friendly, helpful. Using Chase is like eating a meal at McDonald’s.
BREAK THE CHAINS!!!

I would give it zero stars if I could.
Two bad experiences:
1) I had a valid check, but Chase could not deposit it. They insisted it was a problem on my end and would not waive the returned-​check fee. When I went to Mechanics Bank (the issuers of the check), they happily and kindly cashed the check out for me along with the returned-​check fee. Great customer service at MECHANICS.
2) I am going abroad in 2 weeks. I called this branch to ask about service charges regarding foreign currency exchange. They told me to call the ‘customer service number’ on the back of my card. I did so, and the «national number» told me I’d have to ask my branch. WTF CHASE?
I am switching to WellsFargo or something else because of Chase’s complete incompetency.
Please do not bank here. They place little value on customer service and the bankers are the least knowledgeable bankers I have ever met/​spoken with.

This Chase branch never really disappoints me like the horror stories written below. I’ve been a loyal customer every since coming to Cal, even when WaMu was still around.
I mainly use this branch for depositing checks and such. The lines can be pretty long, depending on the time of day. I think the most I’ve spent in line was probably 15 min, which isn’t too bad. If the line does get long, an employee who isn’t a teller takes some people who just need to deposit checks. This relieves the line and gets things done faster for everyone.
After the redecoration, it feels a bit impersonal here now. There is a thick glass wall between you and the teller. It’s sometimes hard to hear them because of this, but it’s something to get used to.
Overall, I haven’t had any problems with this branch so far. Great bank with constantly friendly service. I don’t think there’s been a time where I haven’t gotten a «Have a Great Day!» from one of the tellers.

I am OUT of here!
They make mistakes constantly then expect customers to do all the phone calls to correct them. I have had to do that 5 times since the big corporate switch over from WAMU.
AVOID CHASE!