Bank of the West Reviews 133

They’re terrible, I have an RV loan, you can’t log on to see the account, you try to sign on it says you don’t have an account, you call they transfer you to a number no one answers, you try to log on again and it says online banking unavailable, you try to log on again it says username and password now recognized, they suck they suck they suck. Stay away from banks of the west.

In January 2022 my wife and I decided to purchase an Airstream travel trailer from a private party. Upon learning that the seller was financed with Bank of the West, we decided to apply for financing with Bank of the West, thinking that they specialize in RV financing and that this would facilitate payment to the seller. Seller was paid on March 2 by Bank of the West. On August 2 of this year, we will have been waiting FIVE MONTHS for a registration/tag and title on this travel trailer, which sits in our yard as we make monthly payments since it cannot be legally driven on the road without a tag and registration. I urge anyone reading this review to not make the mistake we did. We failed to look at online reviews for this bank and sure enough, others have reported waiting for prolonged periods of time for their documents. I consider this a breach of contract. No one would knowingly accept a bank not provided registration documents within 45-60 days of closing on a purchase. It turns out that Bank of the West outsources titling and registration to Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions which is located in Albany, New York. We reside in South Carolina. I should add that we have been lied to multiple times, being told that the delay was with SC DMV which was simply untrue. I drove to DMV office multiple times, each time confirming they had no transactions pending for the VIN of our vehicle. Finally, in June, we learned that the delay was in fact with Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions. The level of incompetence we have encountered with this firm is beyond anything you could possibly imagine. We learned just yesterday that they finally completed the transaction with SC DMV however our tag and documents were shipped to Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions in Albany NY instead of to us. No telling at this point when the required tag and documents will appear in our mailbox. We dutifully make payments each month for a vehicle that cannot be driven or utilized for it's intended purpose. If you think this will not happen to you, all I can say is carefully read the online reviews of Bank of the West before applying for financing with them. By the way, we reached out to Bank of the West leadership on June 2 through LinkedIn as it occurred to us that they would be monitoring social media. So senior leadership at Bank of the West has known of our circumstances since June 2. Today is July 24 and the banks senior leadership has been completely ineffective in getting our circumstances resolved in almost TWO months. In fairness, the bank sent us a refund of two months payments however we have missed out on peak camping season as the clock continues to tick and we continue to sit here with no tag on our trailer. Good luck to anyone who believes their experience with Bank of the West will be better. If senior leadership could not resolve our circumstances there is little reason to believe your experience will be different.

I feel bad giving them one star because they don’t deserve the one star. By far the worst service I have ever had. Purchased a Motorhome out of Texas in January 2022 paid all state taxes and registration to California. The title company exsex that is owned by Bank of the west who you can’t talk to, they tell me they are waiting on my title from Texas so I called dealership who sent me photos of title delivery in March. I call bank of the west again who now agreed that they have pink but missing smog and vin verification, I sent the a copy of vin paperwork from HWY patrol in March. Here we are in End of July still no paperwork. Then I requested a call back from manager two weeks later no call back, then when I did get a call back I answered and then they hung up phone said nothing.
If you have a choice to get a loan somewhere else do it. Not worth the headache your going to get from the company. Believe when I say one star is over rated.

The banks website does not work properly. Customer service transfers and puts you on hold for 2 hours. They will charge you multiple penalties for their mistakes.

I'm about 12 months in, and have finally come to my senses after I checked my balance at one of those small shady ATM's inside Walgreens.

At first glance, it was branded as a BOTW machine, so I thought it was legit.

A few days later, I notice $3 service fee, which they explained was because I used a non-BOTW ATM.

I went back to Walgreens to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me. It was still branded as 'Bank of the West', but the small print said it was operated by 'All Point'.

This might all sound like small potatoes, but that $3 service fee took me overdrawn - at which point they added a $36 overdraft fee. Scammers, pure & simple.

Oh, and don't believe the 'ethical' or 'environmental' hype. They have branches around 12 miles apart, meaning its a 20+mile round trip to sort out the mess their Customer Support creates. Gonna have to plant a lotta trees to offset that carbon footprint.

If I could put zero stars which is not an option, I would! My story is like countless others I have reviewed on here. May 10th I found a buyer for my RV and needed to pay off my loan balance with them. My Bank wired them the money and on May 16th I got a letter from the California Branch stating that the lien was satisfied, however when I took that paperwork to DMV so I would not be paying more personal property tax for my state, they said they would need the lien release on a specific form for my State. Seemed simple? Nope. I called a few weeks ago giving them the fax number of the DMV here and they said 24-48hrs. After that time I check and nothing yet? So called them back again last week, they said they were backlogged and now it takes 2-5 days. After that I check again and nothing yet? So I called this week and by the way all these calls took way to much time on hold, anyways I was told by another rep that they would prioritize it - that did not happen. Then I called back yesterday and again got the 'run around' so asked for a supervisor and explained it to him, he was very rude but I can't reveal His name here, anyways today I got call back from a different person saying I would need to send them a copy of my Title, as they seemed to have 'incomplete' paperwork? As you can see there is a pattern here and I am still awaiting that lien release, Tried to find a complaint line for Bank of the West and could find 'none'. I guess they do not have enough staff to monitor all the complaints coming in. I would not recommend them to my worst enemy, nor my friends, and ofcourse I will never do business with them again. I haven't tried the local media yet, but that is still a possibility as is writing my local representative. I hope you have read this before doing business with them. Sincerely

I wish I could give them -5 stars. Worst loan experience EVER!!! 3 months since the loan closed and I still do not have plates or registration for the trailer I bought which means I cannot use it!! Making payments on something that is just sitting in your driveway you cant use is painful to say the least.
If they actually do pick up the phone, they have no answers, just tell me "you should be getting it soon"
Stay away form this bank!!!!!!!

Their 800 4882265 is worthless roundabout fake service..haven't been able to access a closed cc account for a year...all rude and a terrible company very sorry ever did business..ie the usual B's liar service..AVOID AT ALL COST

I am extremely upset. I opened an online account and had to go into the bank to get my account number. I had to drive all over town because even though it says the lobby is open online I got to the smoky hill branch and the door is locked with a hand written sign sorry we do not have our lobby open. I then had to deposit 2k in the drive through I was in for almost an hour! I have never had an experience like this. I went to the Aurora branch to get my account number and deposit my paycheck. They didn't disclose that they will hold all the funds from my check until 3/24/22 this is on 3/11/22. I have no money and no funds. I will not be able to pay my rent or get gas or food thanks to your teller not informing me of this. This bank clearly does not care about people. I have nothing and my paycheck is from Chase bank. They will certainly receive the funds within 2 days because I called Chase. They are holding my money for interest. This is disgusting and I will be changing banks when I can actually get my money. Who out there can go 14 days without their paycheck!! This is the most horrible bank I have ever had to deal with. I will tell everyone who will listen to me about it. I have a business and work with other small businesses! I will tell everyone!

This bank is a rip off. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received a promotion in the mail to open a new checking and savings account (bonus of $500 with a $25000 deposit into the checking account and $100 bonus with a $10000 deposit in the savings account). I opened accounts online on 6/28/2021 and initiated my deposits via ACH from my Citibank during the account application. The terms and conditions mention that the deposits must be received by the end of the month in which the account was opened, which is impossible for an ACH transfer to complete in a couple of days for accounts which are opened near the end of the month. I inquired of customer service rep regarding this issue, and they mentioned that if an account is opened near the end of the month, you have until the 7th of the following month to deposit the funds. Due to the large amount of $35000, Citibank put a temporary hold on the transfer to ensure there was no fraudulent activity occurring. As a result, my $35000 did not reach my Bank Of The West accounts until July 8th (ONE day later). I inquired again if I would still be eligible for the bonus and they told me the Research team would not review the accounts until 1/31/2022. Ultimately, I was declined the bonus due to the funds reaching my account 1 day ‘late’ as a result of my Citibank ensuring that the large funds transfer was legitimate.

Bank Of The West DOES NOT care about their customers, nor new customers, I find this instance to be almost a bait & switch tactic essentially holding customer’s funds as long as possible essentially giving the bank an interest-free loan for 6+ months as all accounts are not even reviewed until 1/31/2022. I am appalled by the lack of care & value for its customers that Bank Of The West has and I think I will be closing my accounts soon. I even had my local branch manager (who was very nice) advocate to the corporate office on my behalf, but they are unwilling to do anything. I was considering doing other business with them too because they seemed to have good loan rates etc. BUT I’D ADVISE YOU TO STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING ANY BUSINESS WITH BANK OF THE SHADY WEST. Unbelievable…Holding my money for 8 months interest free and not honoring their promtion...what a crooked bank. STAY AWAY – so many better banks out there…this is the WORST bank and WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I’ve experienced from any bank in my life!

If I could give this a ZERO, I would!!! DO NOT USE THIS BANK EVER!!! I have been trying to get a title for a trailer that has been paid off for over 2 years and counting. They do not know how to properly process an electronic title release. They said they would escalate and send me the proper documents and then they sent me a release that was not notorized and it was signed in the wrong place. I am back to square one and still don't have a title.

My business has been signed up with them for over year and still haven't got approved for any services or products! Last time I spoke to them over the phone I was hung up because I was describing that I'm a black man in America and they didn't want to hear it, so they hung up me. What am I supposed to Think after that?

If I were able I would give this so called bank a negative - 5, I purchased an RV - Feb 2021, and went with Bank of the West to finance the remaining balance. The unit was current on the registration though January 2022, I called my state DMV at the beginning of December to confirm when I should be receiving the renewal. That is when I learned that the RV title had never been transferred into my name. I have called Bank of the West numerous of times and get the same run around. That someone would give me a call back with in 48 hours. Then I was informed that I needed an inspection that was within 90 days, that my state required it, then I lost it! I informed them, that was incorrect - the unit was current, all I needed was the title to be transferred therefore an inspection is NOT needed. I am tired of their BS, as of today 1/31/22 my registration (actually the previous owners) that I paid Bank of the West to have transferred has expired. I have paid my loan respectively via EFT transaction and yet I cannot even get it inspected, little lone get it registered not to mention the fact I have paid out $2700.00 on insurance to learn I would have been at a 100% loss as the insurance company would not be liable to pay any claims. I am going to file a bond with my state and I will legally get my RV in my name and then look forward to filing against Bank of the West!!!
The call center is just that, but when they hung up on me today, that was the last straw! I am done with those rude - hateful - disrespectful & mislead people!

Tonya Crow

This Bank has to close and go away from the marketplace!
If you hold a checking account with a debit card, you will experience monthly troubles, from false charges to unexplained fees and a constant and unnecessary "blocking" of your card access for "security reasons"... However, unlike any other bank service, you will not be able to reach a representative to unlock in a timely manner; the hold time to reach anyone on the phone is on average over one hour!! Imagine, you stand in line, card is rejected and now you have to wait 60 minutes to get someone on the phone to help...!
When you are passionate enough to wait, you will be confronted with incompetent individuals, a beyond rude customer service experience! I have been yelled at, had crying reps or people trying to tell me "there is nothing wrong with your account" and ten minutes later "discover" there was a security lock on my card while rambling on about my protection!
This institution (I can't call it bank), is unavailable in most areas, a mismanaged mess, difficult to access, not up to par with a basic app to assist in a timely manner, employed with a bundle of individuals that should never have access to your personal information. Go inside the Wilsher (Beverly Hills) branch (next to CitiBank) and you will be guaranteed to feel a sense of dark, spooky, misery and maybe receive a greeting from employees that look unprofessional and unhappy!
I appreciate B of the W claiming to be environmentally active, or brag about having a female CEO, and lean on to be for 135 years there "for their clients" - in 2022, this bank has lost touch with a fast-moving world, cannot provide enough resources, teller access, phone service, or provide any benefits like most money institutions with much lesser history have. Bank of the West is a relic from a time past. Stay away, go somewhere else! You will only experience irksome behavior on a bi-weekly basis...

Look at all the other reviews! They are on target! Every bank-review-site lists Bank of the Worst amongst their worst experience! I can only agree!

Impossible to get customer service on the phone. Have been waiting over 1 hr 20 minutes and no one has picked up yet. Never had service this bad before.

a great tea wtih a great attitude patience and care been there awhile great rates and no extra fees and many features thanks cheryl and staff g gold all there workers are great

I've been with the bank 3 days and Bank of the West is beyond faqing horrible in all ways imaginable from the customer service phone wait time and pathetic unintelligent idio.ts that work for and represent the bank, The Worst ever for sure.

Incredibly dishonest. One star feels like a sligjt to the entirety of the human race as Bank of the West deserves zero stars. Avoid them at all costs, but pay close attention so that when their name changes or they "reorganize" you can avoid them too

There are many financial institutions out there, avoid this one like the plague. I purchased an RV and financed it through Bank of the West in July and I still do not have my registration, title, or license plate. I have called countless times and only ever am told to wail 48 hours for a response that never comes. This is by far the worst financial institution I have ever had the displeasure of working with.