Bank of the West Reviews

I've found the people at Bank of the West to be extremely friendly and helpful. There isn't a lot of red tape that is found at a lot of other lenders. It may have been luck, but they've been great to work with. Much better than Bank of America.

I used Bank of the West to consolidate my student loans after I had graduated and was very pleased with the service they provide. They have a few local branches that are convenient and I felt very comfortable working with them as my lender. Good rates, and great service.

I thought they were okay, but I've had problems with BOTW not crediting my loan payments. In fact, they sent 2 checks back to me for no apparent reason at all and then I had to spend time having the fees removed which wasn't an easy problem. I was going to transfer my checking and savings accounts over, but I doubt it after my last experience.

At the beginning of 2006, Bank of the West bought the bank where I had a home equity loan. Because Bank of the West has continually raised their variable interest rate, I shopped around and found a much better deal with a local bank with a lower fixed rate.

Having requested and received a payoff amount from Bank of the West, we were at the closing for the loan at the new bank. We came to a form which was from Bank of the West and had our total payoff amount. This amount also included $95 of additional fees. The first fee is called a Demand fee. We discovered that this is what Bank of the West wants to charge for closing your account out early. When I signed the papers for my loan originally, a no fee loan with no early payoff penalty, this was not their policy. The second fee is called a Reconveyance fee. We learned that this is the amount they say that the county charges to remove a lien from a mortgage. My banker did not agree with this amount so we called the county clerk's office. She verified that there was a fee of $13 to perform this. But Bank of the West was charging $45. So we called them to get the difference refunded. I spoke with a person who perported himself to be a customer service representative with the direct servicing office. While he did work in the direct servicing office, I'm convinced that he is unfamiliar with customer service.

He was rude and indignant. I told him that I had just spoken with the county clerk's office and that the amount they were charging was incorrect. He basically told me that I was wrong and that was that. Knowing that there was no good resolution to that argument I asked him for a written copy of the agreement where I agreed to pay these fees, which I later learned are referred to as Junk Fees. Patrick put me on perpetual hold and I was never to hear from him again. It was clear that their policy was now deny, intimidate, stall, and ignore.

The way they treat customers makes me call them Bank of the Worst

I've banked with Bank of the West since they bought Pacific One, a few years back. Since then, I've never had a problem that wasn't corrected with outstanding customer service. I know a lot of people at the local branch who call me by name. For a mid sized bank, they offer great customer service. They're quick, helpful, and very trustworthy. Can't complain.