Bank of the West

Sandeep was terrific; I had left my ATM card and he helped me retrieve it; very professional.

I had a few issues with my account and talked to Donna, the manager. She was so kind and helpful. They resolved my issues quickly and she followed up to make sure that all was good. You don’t usually need something from your bank and it’s good to know that they have your back when you do.

The security guards and tellers at the 49^th and Telegraph branch are kind and professional. They are the only good thing about my experience with BOTW.
They don’t have very many tellers, and when there’s a line, the supervisors do not help out. It is inconceivable that they aren’t trained to perform basic transactions. If they’re not trained, they should be, and it should be a policy that they assist when more than 3 people are waiting.
It’s difficult to find parking in this neighborhood, and I usually either end up walking 3 blocks from my car to the bank, or parking across the street in the lot that’s for «Dry cleaner/​Laundromat customers ONLY».
I opened my account with BOTW because I needed a safety deposit box, and my credit union doesn’t have any. They were at an event my employer hosted, and I opened my account there. I was told at the time I’d avoid monthly fees if I had direct deposit, but not that I had to have at least $ 250 a month direct deposited, so I got charged.
My first debit card never worked. Ever. I was in the middle of a move, and didn’t have a mailing address at the time, so Daniel had my new card and checks delivered to the branch, then called me when they arrived. Thanks Daniel!
I wanted to move money to my credit union where my checking dividend is higher than my BOTW savings interest, but the external transfers cost $ 3, so I went to the bank and withdrew cash. The supervisor made me fill out a liability waiver before she would let me leave the bank with more than $ 5k in cash. The form said I had been offered alternatives to walking around with that much cash, which was not true. The teller gave me the money, and then I was told by the supervisor authorizing the cash release to go fill out the form with another banker. Couldn’t they at least just keep the form at the window where you’re getting the cash?
I tried to set up an external transfer. It costs $ 3, but I figured it was worth it to not get hassled again. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Firstly, I wasn’t allowed to just set up the transfer. The bank had to send trial deposits to the account, and it took 3 days. Then, I had to verify the deposit amount. You can’t transfer more than $ 2k in a day. I had to answer a bunch of security questions in order to set up the transfer. The security questions weren’t the usual stuff a person is likely to remember, like your grandma’s name or whatever. They were all about old mailing addresses. Excuse me for not remembering my mailing address from college, but that was 10 years ago! I got a few of the questions wrong and they put a security lock on the transfers, so I had to call customer service. They had to verify my identity with THE SAME SECURITY QUESTIONS. I told the guy I don’t remember the address of that place I house sat for a year — that was over 7 moves ago, and couldn’t he ask me something else?! He said they based the security questions on «public records», and when I asked him where they found the public records he said he couldn’t tell me. He finally unlocked my transfer module, but then when I went to make the transfer it said my daily limit for external transfers OUT of BOTW was $ 0. (To transfer in, of course it was still $ 2k.)
It shouldn’t be this hard to do business at your bank.

I don’t have an account here but they are just so nice.
I work for a mom and pop and use this bank to make change. Sometime I get a snotty teller but It’s not the norm. Daniel and Donna are just SO helpful and nice! The best customer service really. Sometimes when I go into my BofA I feel like I’m at the DMV but not here, keep up the good work guys!

When in this part of Temescal neighborhood (and the nearby Alley), this Bank of the West ATM is the one I use. I realize that most people pay electronically for even the smallest doughnut, but having a little cash in your pocket is usually a good thing.
BTW, this district was named for Temescal Creek which runs through it. Temescal received its name from the Peralta family, who established their Rancho San Antonio in the East Bay.

I usually only stop at this branch when I need to withdraw money. I’ve only been inside once to get a money order.
The staff are friendly, but the location can be kind of scary at night since it is not very well lit.
I say if you need to go to the ATM, this is convenient. The parking is rather tough day or night.
However, it’s here for when you need it.
Until next time, happy banking!

This bank is the best, Donna is great and everyone is such a big help and super efficient! I highly advise everyone to use this location! :)

I’m moving my account here because the Wells Fargo Elmwood branch put me through 10 bankers in 3 years.
Bank of the West is rated 5 stars by Bauer Financial. I like my banker there.
AG

I moved away from my beloved Safe Credit Union, so the hunt was on for a convenient, friendly, smaller bank with some big bank freebies. I’ve worked for one the largest banks in the country, and I could go on for decades on what’s wrong and broken with the way they view their customers. Behind the scenes customers are looked at like a piece of meat, and to their face, it’s «all about them and their needs.» I call bull shiz. Safe Credit Union was always on their game, professional, helpful and most branches were very nice.
Who really likes someone else holding their money, but what can you do?
This review is about my first experience. I’m sorry to say but it wasn’t a knock my socks off start. I waited briefly to see the New Account Representative Lorie. She seemed to be just ‘there’. An automated machine or opening the account online probably would have been more informative and interactive. I appreciate getting in and out, but I do not like being shorted the information that seems to cost money in the future. Like: Do I have overdraft protection? What’s the fee for money orders? How much is a box of checks? Why didn’t I get shown my account numbers? Why should I have to ask all these questions when they could have been easily summarized or pointed out in the brochure. The biggest one of all: Why do you use the word policy so much? That has to be the biggest no no that I was taught not to say to a customer. Policy? WTF? NO, take your time and find me a direct answer or explain the reason to me rather than saying «it’s the banks policy.»
The teller seemed to be nice when I asked her to open an account. The manager sounded nice as she had a lengthly conversation with what seemed to be friends or acquaintances. How about coming over and introducing your self? The inside definitely left some desiring, and the outside I could hardly tell it was a bank.
In the end I have a checking, savings, debit card, bill pay, and ??? I really don’t know. I’ll have to figure out how to set up overdraft, online statements and service fees. My account is supposed to be free. They have some convenient locations for my needs. I did like that they were awarded JD Power’s top position in the Western Region. If all goes well, I’ll be getting an iPod touch as their promotion for being a new customer. We’ll see what it even is because that was elusive as well.
One person can not make a whole bank or ruin a bank therefore I’ll give this review an update in six months.

I would just like to say that the neighborhood feel of this particular branch is great because of the unfailingly positive attitude of all the employees. The branch manager specializes in training her employees to be always kind and courteous. One of the tellers, Ms. Bettie, is amazing! She has actually deflected a bank hold up by her strength of character alone! You will be making an excellent choice by banking in the Temescal Community with Bank of the West.

I wanted to like this bank. It’s one mile from my home, the people were generally friendly, it’s in a great neighborhood. They get one star because I can’t give them none. OK, they get one for their online banking setup. I liked the UI. Easy, made sense. Service is glacially slow here, though I’m usually not in a giant hurry. Banks are just generally slow these days, and I allow for that. ANYWAY…
Bank of the Worst is what I now call it, and I was an account holder there for barely six months. My average time as a bank customer is about 5 years. I don’t change banks often, you could say. But I had to leave Redwood Credit Union for an alternative, because they’re only in SF, and I’m almost never in SF anymore. I couldn’t take Bank of the Worst anymore and now I’m at Mechanics Bank as of February 2010. Could not be happier. Mechanics is AWESOME, but that’s another review…
If you don’t have a lot o’ money (that was my situation at the time) BOW will suck up whatever you have in fees on top of fees. $ 35 for an NSF check, and $ 5 per DAY after that for an overdrawn account.
When I got a sizeable windfall in February and went in there with TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars, thinking that at last they might stop with the shenanigans because there’s no way they could get me to bounce a check (you know, putting through the highest value check FIRST in hopes of hosing you, things like that), they refused to deposit the check because my maiden name was on it, instead of my married name. Seriously. They’d been depositing checks made out to both names for six months. Really, BOW? And instead of informing me that all I had to do was bring in my marriage license, they just flat refused.
I walked out of there, and never looked back.

This and the branch at 30^th & Broadway are the only two branches I go to. There is usually no line, and the tellers and staff are very nice, quick, and efficient!
It’s also nice to know that Bank of the West did NOT take any bailout money. All the more reason to bank with them!

I highly recommend Bank of the West.
They are a honest bank, that truly cares about their customers.
I had banked at big, nationwide banks for far too long. The banking fees at Bank of the West are totally reasonable, shop around, you’ll see.
Bank of the West doesn’t try to get you buy services you don’t need, unlike most big banks.

Here is the only bank we have in Temescal. I bank here — I like doing business locally. Over the years i have really come to appreciate the local feeling of the branch — nice staff at the service windows, there is always coffee in the mornings, and if you aren’t careful and let your birthday become known, the manager is likely to serenade you with «Happy Birthday». This happened to me — and the manager, Donna, has quite a voice! A bank with a singing manager! Welcome to the Temescal.