Bank of America

This story is from 1996, but may still be useful.
As a recent college graduate, I opened a bank account here on a friend’s recommendation. At the time, I was working low-​income jobs and scraping each month to make the rent and afford groceries. One day I had to pay an important bill, so I made a deposit in the morning, waited until it had cleared, then wrote a check in the afternoon. I didn’t have much money in my account, but it was always greater than zero.
I was flabbergasted when I got the bank statement at the end of the month and learned they’d charged me an overdraft fee. I called customer service and asked why I’d been charged that fee when I hadn’t been overdrawn. (That fee was a LOT of money for a poor person.) The customer service representative looked at my account, agreed that I hadn’t been overdrawn, and put me on hold so he could get his manager’s permission to reverse the fee. A moment later he got back on the line and told me his manager refused to reverse the fee — even though he also agreed I hadn’t been overdrawn! He apologized, but said there was nothing more he could do. With no hesitation I told him I would like to close the account, and he – without missing a beat — transferred me over to the account closure department.
I have not set foot in a Bank of America since.

I’d like to give a shout-​out to the total laziness/​incompetence at this branch. In commemoration, here are my three favorite things about the branch:
1) Impossibly long waits for EVERYTHING other than withdrawals. Have you ever waited over an hour to get a simple wire done? Now you can!
2) Employees who make things up to try to rip off their customers. I asked how much an ACH transfer was. The teller said it was $ 25, whether I do it in the branch or online, so I might as well do it there. I was suspicious, and I went home and looked it up. She is full of shit, ACH transfers are $ 3.
3) Employees who refer you to Bank of America’s phone line when you make a request in-​person at the branch. For real. I asked a teller to take care of something on my account, and she handed me a business card and told me to call their hotline instead.

Terrible Service. I spoke with the branch VP about an accidental paypal charge that I had immediately reversed. Bank of America charged me not once, but twice for processing an cancelled/​reversed accidental payment. When I sought to resolve this, with laptop in hand and paypal history on screen, I was told it was not the banks fault. Leaving angrily I returned home and called paypal to get to the bottom of this. Paypal was very helpful and kind. They informed me that while I had canceled the payment, Bank of America still decided to go through and process the charge. So in fact, the woman lied to me and it was Bank of America that was responsible for the charges. Most importantly the second, which was the one I was disputing. The branch VP was completely unhelpful and dismissive. This is not the service I expect from my bank, which I do business with to protect my money, not take it. Maybe I should know better than to trust a nationally disgraced bank who has a history of taking my money (ie bailouts). I am a 23 year old student just starting work after being unemployed for 2 months, and money is a little tight. All I want is a little heart and understanding. As soon as I get my account out of the negative (my first paycheck from the job didn’t even cover the crazy fees they are sticking me with, you can’t squeeze blood from a stone), I am cancelling my accounts and moving to a CREDIT UNION! I would advise everyone to do the same.

Wow, unexpectedly great place. Went in today because BofA made an error (man I wish this were like the Monopoly card for bank error in your favor).
Despite the fact that I haven’t been into this branch in 5 months, and only a handful of times before that, the teller a few stands down immediately recognized me, remembered the exact (simple) transaction from 5 months back that led to this error, and assured me it would all be taken care of.
Everyone behind the counter instinctively gathered around to find the problem and fix it. It was so nice to have them assume I was right and work off that assumption, instead of putting the burden of proof on me and trying to make me prove their error.
Not once was I ever hassled or doubted– they immediately fixed the error, refunded the fees without asking, and even switched me into a different account that paid more interest.
Say what you want about banks, but this retail location has always been super helpful, very friendly, and always has me leave with a smile on my face.
I might be an outlier, but I really like this location.
Also, their indoor, 24 hour ATMs do multi-​check deposits. So convenient.

Cristian has a lot of mortgage experience and it’s obvious. He knows how to get loans done and he is super competitive (meaning you’ll get a great loan). Might be the City’s best.

As a person who does business globally, I require my bank to have a competent, informed, and courteous staff on duty.
I was shocked by the unprofessionalism, rudeness, and failure to provide even a modicrum of customer service to one of their own customers.
The Teller staff, and even more importantly, their direct supervisors are the frontline representatives of your company, and they need to conduct themselves as such.
Abysmal.

I definitely like their ATMs (BofA in general) because they’re so easy to use and quicker than most other ATMs. Also love the fact that they are secure at night.
The only thing I found a little inconvenient is that I can see the «Bank of America Mortgage» sign from California headed towards Van Ness, but you have to go around the block to actually get into the building.
The employees are incredibly nice and efficient, I usually don’t have to wait more than 2 minutes to be helped, even when there is a line.

Dennis, the manager, and his crew run a solid, friendly branch at the Van Ness/​California Street BofA. Customer service is very good. The branch has been renovated and looks good. It seems like business is a little slow because lines are short or non-​existent versus how they were several years ago.

This is a nice, mellow branch with friendly staff. Your ATM card gets you into the building to use indoor ATMs when the bank is closed. There’s a security guard when the bank is open. They play HGTV and food network instead of the news, so I actually don’t mind if there’s a wait. If you just have a question about accounts or want to let them know that you’re taking your debit/​credit cards out of the country, you can bypas the line and just write your name on the list in the clipboard to talk to a rep. They do not do foreign currency exchange here, though. For that, you have to go to the Powell branch.

Details will be forthcoming (let’s just say a slander lawsuit’s in the works against this branch), but certain floor managers at this bank make this a miserable place to go. As much as I’ve hated Washington Mutual in the past (they’re just an S&L, and not a good one at that), I’d recommend them above BoA any day of the week! I’m sorry to have to say this, since up until a couple days ago, the tellers were always very friendly and efficient. One bad apple…

I don’t actually bank at BofA, but my fiancée does so every now and then I make a deposit for her.
This place is nice, never seems to be as crowded as the WAMU down the block. I bank at WAMU so I go there more often.
During the weekday, go at 3p or after, there never seems to be more than one person waiting for a window.
Most recently they had Food Network playing on their TV’s, rather than CNBC or CNN. I thought, and remarked to the teller, that it was a rather nice change of pace.
And the security guard at the door that always says ‘hi’ is a good touch, too.

Another convenient ATM location when heading north on Van Ness. There is usually a guard standing in front so it makes your banking experience a tad safer. :) They are currently undergoing renovation inside hence the haphazard equipment and furniture.

I have had 2 experiences with Cristian Connelly’s staff, in particular with the fabulous Jackie Yi, on separate mortgage process matters:
(1) Under a time-​sensitive deadline, Cristian Connelly and his staff were able to whip out a loan pre-​approval letter within hours of a deadline. Him and his staff are very knowledgeable of the San Francisco’s real estate mortgage market from the Mayor BMR program to ultra-​lux new developments. They were very helpful in offering advice on first time homeownership. His staff made the entire loan approval process seamless to reconnect with the developer.
(2) After looking at a friend’s mortgage and closing costs from another representative from the same Bank of America mortgage division, I knew immediately that the closing costs were too high and the interest rate quote could have been better. So I referred my friend to Cristian. Yup, even Cristian said my friend was being ripped off. Canceled the mortgage. Cristian is in talks with the developer for a deal. Cristian is well connected. His professionalism and confidence solidifies a trusting relationship for which I am willing to refer my friends to him time and time again with a major lending company.

Our business does our banking at this location so unfortunately I have to go in here every day, and since they don’t have any merchant services all of you neighborhood locals get stuck waiting while I (and other businesses in the area) process deposits, get change etc. I have tried to set up night deposit but the branch has no real manager, just a ‘personal banker’ who doesn’t know how to do much relating to business. The tellers are hit or miss, most of them are very slow and not too friendly. Sometimes there a half a dozen employees and they will leave a line of people waiting while they hang out and socialize– leaving just one teller to deal with everyone. It’s ashame on a street where every other building is a bank that they don’t step up their service. I have no choice but to bank where my corporation has it’s business, if you are opening an account yourself– save yourself some time and walk a few doors down to a bank that acts like they want your business.