Bank of the West

I have had only one experience with Bank of the West and this experience involves attaining a mortgage loan through the Montclair Branch in Oakland, California. My overall experience was very poor with heavy emphasis toward the loan officer with this branch. I found the loan approval process to lack transparency, the loan officer to be incapable of providing any effective guidance throughout the process, and the bank as a whole unacceptable in its inability to communication information among all touch points in the loan application/​approval process.
In determining if a potential client qualifies for a particular mortgage loan, one would expect the bank to be able to communicate a strong estimate within a reasonable amount of time. In my experience with Bank of the West, it took over two months before the bank was able to provide any response to my application. A significant amount of money was spent during these two months to push the loan application forward (e.g. appraisal, inspection, etc…). The initial response I received from the bank, post two months, was an acceptance letter by mail. The property seller and I (the buyer) both made plans for next steps after receiving the approval letter. Two days later, I was then contacted by the loan officer, via my agent, that the loan was denied. In investigating what happened throughout the process and why the confounding results took place, the loan officer had absolutely no input. The loan officer showed no knowledge of the process, how to identify and resolve issues, nor what to expect in the outcome.
I was strongly disappointed with my experience with Bank of the West (Montclair Office) and I strongly urge others to avoid this bank, this branch, and certainly the corresponding loan officer.

Awesome bank. Parking can be a nightmare at this branch though.

Wonderful branch, great customer service. Two thumbs up!

A small branch in Montclair Village with personalized customer service. Everyone was so nice when I opened my account. My CD interest rates were bumped up by .25% (don’t remember the exact amount but I was impressed by the offer) due to the total opening balance. BotW even gave my daughter a stuffed animal, a bear, how sweet! When we walked into the branch everyone knew us by name.
When my CD matured I didn’t renew it. I still had other accounts at BotW. The service drastically changed. No one knew me and the service was slow and mediocre. I thought, if better service met a lower interest rate the trade-​off was worth it. I rebuilt my account but the service remained the same.
My CD is maturing and I will not renew my account. This time, there is a $ 6.00 check fee associated with closing my account; a fee that was not charged the first time around. The manager, the nice lady who bumped my interest rate, will not waive the fee. Way to go Bank of the West Montclair!
Out for good.

Don’t get me wrong, Bank of the West is a great bank, just not this branch location. 2^nd (out of 2 times) that I’ve been in there and there’s NO ONE in there, except 4 employees, and it still takes 10 minutes for someone to help me. One girl was on the phone, obviously a personal call, and pretty blatantly loud and obvious about it. Manager seems like he’s trying to look busy, but c’mon son!, I’ve been in banks enough to know you don’t really have anything to do right up there at a teller station for 10+ minutes unless it’s a shift change.
I’m suspecting it’s the whole «Montclair» thing. This branch is in «Montclair», a community in Oakland that yearns for the day they will might be appointed the same elite annexation that Piedmont achieved.
This consistently annoying attitude, coupled with the fact that it is constantly patrolled by parking enforcement nazis (sorry for the generalization and extreme reference, but I have had some particularly bad incidents here, including one where I was given a ticket before 4:09 when I arrived back at my car and my meter ticket clearly and visibly showed 4:13 … and the parking ticket had issued at 4:17 written on it, a blatant lie. I took a picture right then, sent it in with my dispute and request for a court date, and my reply was that my payment was late and had a $ 60 late fee.)
They even have metered parking on 100% residential only streets in «Montclair». Sorry, it’s too bad that there are a couple of great businesses in the area, and it’s close to where I live, but I will not be going to «Montclair» and supporting any of the businesses there again.