Customer Service Scoreboard
This bank is FEE crazy! I received $5.00 service fees for transferring money from my savings account to my checking account using online services. Apparently if you do this more than 6 times in a month you are charged $5.00 for every time after that! Took my money out and went to a Credit Union.
I have been going to branches, calling, and even writing to the banks headquarters in PA to complain about unavailable funds fees for over a year. The people in the call center are by far the stupidest of all. One young lady didn't like my letter and actually closed my account without telling me. I have been charged 35.00 for using my debit card, or getting cash after making an atm deposit. The 1st 100. is available right away after an atm deposit. No one will tell me why I am being charged&will not refund the charges! Finally my local branch got a new manager. He looked into it, and said "his atm dept" said it is because I made the deposit after 10pm. I said thats funny because I'm looking at a deposit receipt that says 5:28pm?? I saw someone fixing the atm machine 3 days later. He said the machine has an "internal" clock that must be broken?? I was refunded three 35. fees, but I know they owe me more. Can't wait to transfer my direct deposit& close this account.
Loan service center is weak .... still get letters saying
I must fax flood ins proof to them. It was faxed by me and a very helpful branch manager to them multiple times ... but they still ignored these communications and purchased ins. for me anyway!!!!! I sincerely hope
that my relations with your bank improve in the future.
I also hope that someone with management clout
has a chance to look into this.
PS the Branch manager K. McCarthy has worked
tirelessly to help me. He also Faxed everything needed to the "loan service" people
I've waited four weeks to have my teenage daughter's account visible within my own on-line account. I filled out all the proper paperwork and after three weeks nothing was done. I called each day during the fourth week and all I was told was "There is nothing we can do. The request has been submitted. It's the system". To this day i still don't have access to see her account. I'm withdrawing all of my money from ths horrible insitution and will find someone that cares.
I tried to withdraw money from both ATM's at the Greenville, RI Sovereign Bank at 5:00pm and 9:00pm and both ATM's were not working.
What kind of customer service is that?
How come both ATM,s at the same bank were down and no one was there to fix them? Is that the way you treat your customers...time for a new bank.
Sovereign has messed up our bill payment on our credit card, then they messed our mortgage payment and charged us a late fee for their mistake, and then again recently they messed up a check that my wife wrote by cashing the check twice and then had the nerve to be rude to us and saying it will take several days to fix the mistake. So we just opened a new account with a credit union today, and they were much more helpful then Sovereign ever was!
After several attempts to have Sovereign Bank change my maiden name to my married name, (unsuccessfully) I finally decided to move to a bank that cares more about Customer Service. I get a discount on my Sovereign mortgage for directly depositing my paycheck at Sovereign. I willingly agree to pay more just to close this account and move my business to another bank. I called Sovereign to find out what the new mortgage payment would be if I closed this account and (after a number of phone menu options and a lengthy wait on hold) was told it would take a WEEK for someone to get back to me with a new calculation. WHAT?? If you are still a Sovereign customer, get out. Get out now. If I had enough equity in my house, I would re-finance and dump Sovereign now and forever.
questions they asked my that are disturbing... Ross helped me...
was asking... has anyone or is anyone in your family a government employee. Does anyone in your family hold politcal office?
What the heck.... said it was a get to know you policy question... what.... if you want to know me..ask me what color I like best..where I like to go out and eat.. I find these questions shocking and disturbing. What's worse is how many people feel they need to answer them...What's the real movtive?
over 18 months and we still have not completed our short sale. Sovereign bank has given us the run around, changed our contact person so many times it's silly, and now they won't settle with the company they sold the second mortgage to so we cannot close on any short sale. Horrendous. Absurd. CRIMINAL.
My son was approached by Sovereign Bank to open a student line of credit for $500.00. Apparently the bank then links a free student checking account and randomly draws money out of his revolving line of credit account into checking account. My son was never issued any checks and in two years received a total of three bogus-looking student checking account statements which when opened had full front page of advertisements offering this and that loans- so most people would toss as junk mail not noticing that the bank placed a photo copied bank statement of this non-existent student checking account on the back side. I have never opened checking account statement with ads on front page so I could not readily identify it as such. Then they issue a free debit card which apparently is again randomly linked between the revolving line and free student checking and if one goes over they start the $35.00 overdraft fee on every charge. Credit card companies shut off and deny overages at registers so someone cannot go over and also charge one overlimit fee not an accumulation of $35.00 each entry $35.00 for charging $20.63 when charged the revolving credit line clearly showed enough left on credit line to cover these charges. The bank noted receipt of monthly check 10 days after due date when check was mailed 8 days before due date. Why are the revolving credit bank statements standard and differ from a hidden and deceptive free student checking statement? So now they added $210.00 in Insufficient fund charges against four entries totaling the $20.63. I called one of the main branch's useless customer rep and then after twenty-five minute wait got pushed off on to the local branch who says they will look into it. STUDENTS BEWARE! This bank is using bait and switch tactics and I am contacting the NH Banking Commission as well as Better Business Bureau if they do not remove this $210.00. No wonder no one trusts banks- !
I went into the Sovereign Bank inside of the A&P on Ferry Road in Old Bridge, NJ to close my account. I had to wait over 5 minutes for someone to acknowledge my presence, even though the woman at the nearest desk was not helping anyone. When she finally called me over, I saw that she had her Iphone laying on the desk and was scrolling down her News Feed on Facebook. I sat down, and she asked what I needed. As I explained, she continued to look down at her phone, and click on someone's facebook page. She asked for my account number, without looking up, and began browsing through her friend's photos. She went to enter my information on her computer, but kept scrolling through photos with her left hand and glancing down at the phone. After a few minutes of entering information into the computer, she handed me a piece of paper to retrieve the remaining balance from my account, and didn't say a word. She picked up her phone and started playing on it. I asked, "Am I done?" and she glanced up and said "What? Oh yeah yeah." I understand checking your phone at work, but wouldn't you at least hide it in front of a customer? This has been the worst example of customer service I have ever seen.
As a Businessman who's been with Sovereign since, well before they were Sovereign Bank, I have to tell you, they have gone right down the toilet!! I feel forced now to go elsewhere, they are total unorganized, extremely late on getting me statements and I killing everyone with fees. I can't help but get the feeling they're grabbing what they can before selling out.
Terrible bank to deal with. I did not have enough money in my account when I made 3 purchases ( one activity was a paypal activation for $0.35, yes 35 cents and received a overdraft fee, even though paypal deposits it back in). Due to insuffcient funds I received 3 overdraft fees for $35.00 each. For a total of $105.00 , just in fees for charges that were under $10.00 total. I hardly ever use that account so I was not aware of the amount in the account. So the following week when I checked the account, since it was still in the negatives they charged me an additional $35.00, now Im up to $140.00 in overdraft fees for charges that were under $10.00. Trust me, if I knew there was not enough funds in the account I would have never made the purchases with the card. I would have used my other bank cards. I called Customer Service on 2 seperate occasions and spoke with Supervisors asking and pleading with them if they could atleast take the overdraft fee off of the .33 cent charge. Negative! Declined. I could not believe she said Decline. .33 cents. WOW. Are you serious. Your already charging me over $100.00. Granted my mistake for not having enough funds and using my card, I have admitted my mistake and I was under the impression if I did not have enough funds I would not have been able to use my card. So the rep asked if I would like the account to be protected and to stop all activity so I would not receive any more charges. I agreed. Well the next day when I called because there was another overdraft fee, I called the bank to ask what the charge was for when I just deposited money into the account. Well, it was not enough and was still negative so I received an additional $35.00 overdraft fee. I was in tears, how can I get out of the negatives when each time I deposit money I check the account and Im more negative thenm when I put the money in. The rep said "well your not protected and..." "what? Im not protected?" "I just called yesterday and set this up. What are you doing???" I have been a customer of Sovereign bank for a few years, and after this mishap with no help I will close my account and will make every effort to insure anyone I knows will do so as well.
I recently discovered two $10 monthly fees for falling below my required balance of my money market and checking accounts. I called the bank and was given this high level customer service # 877-768-1143, after the other incompetent employee couldn't figure it out. I was told they are experiencing some difficulties, but that it was their mistake and would be taken care of. The next couple days I checked to make sure the charges were reversed, and they were. Except now there was a $5 fee on my free checking. I called the special # again and was told I fell below my required balance . This person didn't understand what an average monthly balance is! They are going through a system upgrade I was told. Also, that they could not return the $5 immediately. Well, its been 3 days and still no credit. And, another $10 fee was charged for the MM. Clearly, they are incompetent and we all need more than an apology. I already moved
$60,000 out when they threatened fees and the rest is going soon!
Home Equity lind of credit online statements have been wrong for months. How long can a bank blame computer problems for this nonsense.
Got a month end hard copy statement with the beginning balance hundreds of dollars different from the prior month's ending balance.
They sau they will investigate on June 5th. It's now July 12th - no response whatever.
Never seen anything like it!
Being harassed saying my mortgage payments are late when I am paying them by the 15th of each month. I am reporting you to the Banking Commission for harassment. I am going to refinance my mortgage and go with another bank. shame on you. I have had the mortgage for six years and I believe it was sold to soverein 5 years ago, never been late.
Waht is going on?
I was charged a 30.00 service fee on my free checking account. I contacted customer service and was told they changed the qualifications for free checking. They could not tell me how or when customers were notified. They referred me to my local branch manager Suzanne Herman. She could not tell me how or when customers were notified but said she would refund the fee. It's been over 60 days and she does not answer emails. It takes subprime people to run a subprime bank.
Here is the number for Sovereign. I just called and got a recording "we cannot answer your call right now". Let's see if they call me back. I am also having a problem for 2 months now because they are not drafting the funds from my checking account to pay my equity line of credit. Customer service is no help. The last person I spoke to said it could take up to 10 days!!!!
Corporate Office Address:
75 State St.
Boston, MA 02109
United States
Phone: 617-346-7200
Sovereign Bank is having problems with its new SAP software. My Line of credit statements are wrong. I have repeatedly tried to get the bank to fix the problems with no luck. Additionally, their collection department refused to put in writing that I am current and that my payment was made on time. I went to the BBB.
Being reported late will adversely affect my credit score. I thought SAP had expereince with banking customers, The bank is overwhelmed with the problem. They can not buy a clue.
I'm writing this not to vent but to warn anyone who is thinking of choosing Sovereign Bank. Don't!
I can't even call it a "bank." When you think of a bank, you think of trust and competence. However, that all came crashing down around me over the last several weeks.
I have opened accounts at a new bank that I researched and is a real bank (and on the Forbes 2012 list of best banks). It's like I've been given my ticket out of my nightmare.
One thing that always bothered me about Sovereign in the past is that at one point I was making extra principle payments on a mortgage but found out they were only putting it towards interest.
The next thing that happened is that a very sleazy salesperson called my home saying he was from Sovereign Bank. Since that was my bank, I talked to him. After the call, I had to talk to my branch rep to see if this was some sort of scam. It was a real call from Sovereign Bank but so unsettling that I felt like a kid that was getting lured into the ice cream truck. Very creepy! I vowed I'd never let anyone engage me in conversation from that bank again pushing their credit cards that I didn't even want. Let me be clear that he forced me into going through a credit check over the phone and then wanted me to call a number and said he was going to send something in the mail. And all of it was full of lies on his part. It was awful. Little did I know that my world would be jarred more than I could ever imagine.
On June 4, 2012 I noticed my bank balance was low and found out right away that Sovereign Bank removed over $1200 in error from my account. They were unable to correct his error for 14 days. When I contacted them about the error that day, their phone system messed up my debit card. They said "that's been happening all day." They reset it and I thought I'd take my card to the branch to get everything fixed with their help to the way it was. But they messed it up even more. After over a week, I was able to figure out how to fix the problem and talk to the appropriate people and stop the cycle of not being able to use my debit card. Meanwhile, I quietly started to interview other banks. It was like I had to realize that the little sick bubble I was in was only happening at Sovereign and not in a "real" banking world. I had never believed that a bank was capable of being so incompetent with people's money to the point where I actively had to keep on track of everything (and still am tracking things while I wait to move money to a new bank).
As I write this, their website is down. It's been down for days. I noticed that my line of credit statement has been wrong for months but on top of that, the on-line line of credit does not work (you can't transfer funds).
On top of that I noticed that I hadn't been getting bank statements in the mail (or they've been really slow). I went into the branch (almost 2 weeks after the statement close) and they couldn't print the bank statement because it is "back logged." So that's why you aren't getting your statements. They're so screwed up they have a back log.
We're Premier customers but I noticed an out of the blue charge of $30 for Maintenance Fees. That was yet another mess and they reversed it. I'm skipping all the back and forth and confusion with ALL the people I talked to because it's almost a situation where you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then I got an out of the blue letter from the Reading office saying they were cancelling our automatic mortgage payments and would send me a coupon book in four weeks. This concerned me because I knew a semi monthly payment was due. Plus I wondered if they would now start charging me more interest since that was part of the benefit of the auto deduction. When I called Customer Service, they had no record of my payments because they said they lost "all transactional history" and were trying to get it back. So I went into my branch (after following up with the latest mess via email) and I paid what I thought was due. Meanwhile, I continue to plot my exit strategy (it's now been a week that new accounts were set up at another bank). It's like going from an unhealthy mess to being around normal people who do their jobs.
Did you know that not all banks hold on to your deposited checks as long as Sovereign? Imagine my surprise when I found out that my new bank will give me access to $300 of my check deposits immediately and ALL of my money the next day (pretty much). For instance, at Sovereign when we'd make deposits after 3PM on Thursday, we'd have access to the money on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. No, I'm not kidding.
I told the branch rep that I wanted to start to get statements for my mortgage because no statements are ever issued. He said he would do that after they get out of the back log of my regular checking account statement. i should have been getting mortgage statements all along.
The branch manager called and said he didn't want to lose me as a customer and they were going to do something and that he'd call again to tell me what they were going to do. Even though we are leaving it will be interesting to see what they come up with if anything. I haven't heard from him again (probably because the problems continue).
Also, EVERY time I talked to customer service there were NO notes of anything that had transpired before. They played a lot of games because they know I'm helpless to be unable to control my accounts and money. That's why it just strikes me as abuse
When I told my tale of woe at my new bank, it was like a support group session. Imagine what it was like detailing ALL the problems. It's like "do you mean every bank isn't like that?" Wow!
The other night I received a call from "unknown caller" and yep it was Sovereign. It was a smooth talking creep who asked for my son but wouldn't tell me why. I made sure I shut him down right away and explained all of my past bad experiences. I followed up with my son and he verified that his bank accounts, etc., are fine so I guess this was just some sleazy sales call.
I told my children to leave Sovereign Bank.
Do your research when picking a bank. It's not normal for a company to act like this!
You should be getting your bank statements. You shouldn't have to grovel or beg for account information. You shouldn't have to have money removed from your account and not be put back for two weeks. Don't get lured into the ice cream truck!
I would advise that claims start to be made against Sovereign Bank through the government. There are many websites and places to go to file claims against them. How long can all of this be kept a secret?
I spent 5 minutes in the drive thru repeatedly pressing the teller call button to no avail. I watched as 3 tellers sat talking inside. I finally blew my horn to get their attention and one guy came to the window like "What's going on????" I told him what happened, he completed the transaction and just walked off. Didn't even try to apologize or anything. Jerks.
Wow, a lot of anger and understandable frustration with Sovereign Bank. I just got through my own stressful mess trying to use phone service, which I will never, ever use again. Although I had very polite and professional people talking to me there was one major mistake made that got even more messed up after three other people got involved. There seems to be no way to get back to someone you spoke with before even if you have a name and extension # and a referral#. No interconnection between phone help and the bank you have you accounts in.
In my case, a simple request to take money from one CD that matured to be put into a different CD with the interest accrued put in my checking became a nightmare when that transaction was reversed...then " corrected" twice without anyone telling me that they were moving my money around. This resulted in the original amount of money getting withdrawn back out of my checking resulting in bounced checks and online payments and of course from the bank because of "insufficient fees".
I must say the people in my Acton brance are all very polite and especially the branch manager Monisha who I sat across from for an hour while she tried to straighten out the mess or even talk to the phone people herself. It wasn't her fault yet she fired off an email to the higher ups about the ridiculous errors and and rude behavior that she got while talking to someone from her own bank.
Somehow all was made right...fees reversed and I applaud Monisha for making it happen...but these kind of mistakes shouldn't happen and at the very least I expect a formal apology. If we make a mistake and overdraw our acct. with our money we get a fee. Yet when Sovereign makes a HUGE mistake that creates a ripple effect and requires four people to correct...I would love to charge the bank a fee.
Try to explain to me why I don't get my checking/transaction statements every month? I DON't and I'm so tired of calling customer service and having them give me the run around! I haven't gotten my April 12 to May 12 statements yet and I've called THREE times! Isn't this a basic service? Why is it so difficult to get this problem resolved? It's been going on for a few years. UNACCEPTABLE!
Mary Gibbons, Ashland, MA
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