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     | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 01:27 pm  I always appreciated that Union Bank apparently treats their employees better than the rest of the banks. Every time I went to the Burlingame branch, I was helped by the same people. Courteous, friendly, and usually helpful. Since I left California about 1.5 years ago, I've experienced more and more problems. They don't have E-mail at the branches. So when I sent a bank mail through Quicken, they usually faxed it to the branch and I got a VM from them. Not exactly convenient for me, as I'm living on the road. I had several disputes over fees which they usually removed after my complaint. Several things happened this year that lead me to finally post publicly: 1) A $30K Canadian check deposit was returned unpaid for "Failure to convert." Can you imagine that somebody at Union Bank didn't know that Canadian dollars are a different currency than US dollars? Isn't that unbelievable??? I appreciated the branch's efforts to resolve the situation by speaking directly with CIBC in Canada, who had returned the check stamped "CERTIFIED" and the funds were removed from that account. Union Bank then took that certified check and mailed it to my PMB in Oregon via regular mail. CIBC would NOT release the funds until they had THAT check back. Had that check been lost in the mail, I would have been out $20k+ US for a LONG time, if not for good. For over 2 weeks I attended to daily phone calls and faxes and finally had the "Certified Check" fed ex'd to AZ, then express mailed to Canada, and eventually I got my money. I was EXTREMELY inconvenienced, to say the least. It cost me a lot of money too. Not just the mailing expenses, but I was going to do something with that money and I missed that opportunity. And the STRESS, I really can't afford to lose $20K just like that. First I sent a fax to CIBC requesting a mere $150 reimbursement. They responded that it wasn't their fault, as Union Bank failed to convert the check. Then I requested reimbursement from Union Bank. Of course I got nothing. They even had the nerve to tell me it's my own fault because I don't STAY at my mailing address in OR. Apparently they feel that their customers need to stay near their mailing address to attend to Union Bank screwups! 2) Two days ago I got an E-mail from Jfax stating that my account was suspended for non payment. I couldn't figure out what was going on for a while at all. Finally I realized what happened. My Union Bank debit card had demagnetized and I had recently called them to request a new card. Unfortunately, the dimwit at Union Bank failed to mention that the card number would change. I have no idea WHY they changed the number as the card was NOT lost or stolen. That's why the Jfax payment didn't go through. And NONE of my other recurring charges are paid. I spoke with a Union Bank supervisor to request reimbursement for the expenses to deal with my accounts, as I was going to hire someone. Of course he declined. He offered to send a letter to the affected companies. I asked what that would be good for. He thought they might wave fees and penalties. I asked him why they should, after all, they have to expend their resources on dealing with this. Why should THEY work for free, it's not their fault! 3) And while I had him on the phone, I asked about that $40 fee I noticed in my last download. It turns out it's my safe deposit box. They DOUBLED the safe deposit box rental fee! 4) In late 99 I learned that DEBIT cards have very little in common with credit cards. The Union Bank advertisements and literature mailed with the card claimed that they could be used "just like credit cards." a) I remember the embarrassment when I was trying to pay for a $600 camera at Walmart and my card was declined. There is NOTHING like having a line of people behind you and you can't pay for your purchase. Fortunately, I had a credit card I could use after the 2nd Union Bank Card decline. I knew I had several thousand dollars in my account. I DIDN'T know that I had a limit of $500 per day with that debit card. They failed to mention that when they mailed the card, I keep all bank papers and reviewed them thoroughly. Not a word about a daily spending limit anywhere. b) When I tried to dispute a charge, I learned that DEBIT cards don't come with the dispute rights you get with a credit card. THat's a HUGE drawback to using debit cards. I recall at least 5 friends who opened accounts with Union Bank after I recommended them. And as always, I live to regret my recommendations. There must be a law requiring that sooner or later corporations MUST SUCK! On their web site Union Bank offers a $50 signup bonus for activating the online banking. Why do they pay people to START banking with them, yet they are doing everything possible to alienate existing customers? All they had to do was send me a little note apologizing and including a couple hundred dollar check as compensation for my time, money, and stress. Oh well, ... Christine Baker Since I couldn't find an E-mail address on their web site (they use those despicable forms) I'm E-mailing a copy to webmaster@uboc.com and I will send a copy via the Quicken bank mail.
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| | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 02:11 pm As I just sent this URL through the Quicken bank mail, I saw the mail I sent them last night. "Subject: Cash Reserve Account - stick it up your ass!" uhuh, I guess I was a little pissed. I'd forgotten all about it, good thing I saw the mail. Union Bank now charges a $10 annual fee for the cash reserve account AND $8 per transfer to the checking. If Union Bank of California CAN fleece you, they will ....
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| | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 04:42 pm "Subject: DELIVERY FAILURE: User webmaster (webmaster@uboc.com) not listed in public Name & Address Book"
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| | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 04:52 pm That doesn't surprise me in the least. I'm with BofA right now, and I'm looking for a new bank too - I haven't found one I can stand yet.
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| | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 05:47 pm Well that's exactly the problem, they ALL suck. You read the ads about wonderful customer service and free this and free that, you open the account, a year later you're fighting garbage fees and NON customer service. My neighbor told me this story how she closed her BofA accounts in disgust and took her money to Security Pacific. A year later they merged, and there she was again, at BofA. It seems pointless to even switch banks. And I HAVE to bank somewhere, until I'm out of money.
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| | Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 06:40 pm Yeah, I hear you on that one. I was with a nice midwest bank called NationsBank. They WERE big, but they were also FRIENDLY. They would cash the paychecks for everyone who worked in the building for instance (not a small building either, let me tell you) and also for everyone who worked at Cardinal's Stadium right across the street. That was one of the first things to go the way of the dodo when BofA Assimilat- er, merged with Nations.
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| | Tuesday, May 02, 2000 - 10:26 pm "$1 counting fee for each whole increment of $1,000 per month (cumulative)" As I went through the Union Bank "Personal Banking Services Fee Guide" I just couldn't believe my eyes. I'm not going to bother listing the rest of their outrageous garbage fees. I closed my account. This time I was glad they took their time faxing my bank E-mail to the branch. Had forgotten that I had a couple of checks out.
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| | Tuesday, June 20, 2000 - 09:12 pm I was on hold for about 2.5 hours tonight. Apparently they finally closed my account, as I can no longer do the online banking thing. But I never got a check, still had over $1,300 in the account. So after being on hold for 2.5 hours, I got disconnected. It was a relief to hear a busy signal after listening to hundreds of statements assuring me how important my call was. When I called back, I got a recording advising that live support is only available till 11 PM. It was 11:02 PM, apparently I got disconnected when they went home.
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| | Wednesday, June 21, 2000 - 04:07 pm I tried again. It takes quite a while to get through their VM menus to be transferred to a person. When I finally got to hear the hold music, I got disconnected to a fast busy signal. The next time I tried, I didn't bother to listen to the various options, I just punched 0 until I got back to the hold music. It took only a few minutes until Brian got on the line and informed me than my check has not been issued and he did not know why. He told me to call my branch. I requested that HE call the branch, find out what's going on, and call me back. The branch doesn't have an 800# and I'm really tired of having to run after my money. Brian informed me that he could not do that. He put me on hold, apparently to call the branch, which was closed. He offered to complete a request for someone to contact the branch tomorrow. I asked that they call me and leave a message explaining the problem, as I had already faxed to the branch explicit instructions where to send the check. Brian then told me that the check could only be sent to the address on the account. I replied that I'm not at that address. Brian then told me I would have to GO TO THE BRANCH! Can you believe that????? The branch is 500 miles away. So I asked for a supervisor. I don't think our contract states that I can never change my address again. This is really incredible. I've requested that the account be closed via their secure bank mail, and they refused to do so. Then I faxed to the branch, and they closed the account, but now they refuse to send the check! Finally I got to speak with Daisy Oldham, Call Center Supervisor: My first question was whether she would allow me to tape record our conversation. She declined. So I asked her to take this very slow as I don't type so fast. I did advise her that I was going to add to my Union Bank publications at my web site. She then refused to talk to me at all on the grounds the she wasn't feeling comfortable with our conversation being published. I responded that she'd have to talk to me as long as they have my money. She refused. End of conversation, I'm not interested in fairy tales. Apparently Union Bank employees lie a lot on the phone. So there. Now, do I kiss my $1,300 good bye or hire a lawyer? This just shows again how afraid they are of the truth being publicized. Union Bank knows how bad they suck, they just don't want us to know!
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| | Thursday, June 22, 2000 - 10:48 am My fax and fax confirmation to the Union Bank branch in Burlingame: From: jfaxlog@jfax.com Message-Id: Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 12:23:56 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time) Subject: JFAX.COM Successful transmission to 16506923048. Re: Attn: Branch Manager: My FINAL demand Dear Christine Baker, Re: Attn: Branch Manager: My FINAL demand Fax to 16506923048 successful: 51 seconds, 2 page(s), $ 0.10, transmission time: 22-06-2000 19:23:45 (GMT), remote CSID: 650 692 3048. ----------------------------------- Re: Final check for closed account # 1371024389 Dear Branch Manager: Below is my posting at http://www.bayhouse.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.pl?527/532 After the extensive damages I suffered due to Union Bank not knowing that Canadian dollars are a different currency and then refusing to pay for my expenses, and now having to waste hour after hour trying to get my money, I am hereby giving you the final opportunity to settle this matter out of court: Please overnight my check for the 1) balance of my account 2) PLUS credits for whatever fees you charged since I originally requested that my account be closed 3) PLUS $1,000 for the countless hours I've wasted on this matter and the Canadian check deposit disaster. Considering that you charge $30 for an outgoing wire transfer that takes NO MORE than 15 minutes, I should really get MUCH more for my trouble. It took AT LEAST 50 hours to get my Canadian $30K (not to mention the STRESS and loss of two weeks vacation) and now I'm up to 5+ hours just trying to get my final check. My mailing address is, once again: ..."
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