Thinking about switching banks...

[bituerbo]

I've been with Scotiabank since I was 8yrs old, but lately have been receiving REALLY shitty customer service from them. Anytime I talk banks with friends/family they always seem very put off because I bank with Scotia. Do they have a bad rep?

Anybody have any horror stories about RBC or CIBC? Those are the two banks I'm thinking of switching to.

[skandalouz_08]

I've never had good service from any of the banks and all have tried to screw me on more than 1 occassion where i've had to complain until I got my money back or was compensated for the errors or mistakes they made. It might be good when you initially switch, but it always goes downhill from there.

For anyone reading this I've been with 4 banks over the past 6 years and work for one. I haven't been treated any differently than regular customers and experienced the same shitty customer service from all 4 banks I've been with.

[w_man]

+1 for RBC

[bg_27]

I have accts at RBC and TD, I prefer TD.

[Doozer]

I use CIBC, my wife uses TD. We've both been with them for long periods of time, and neither of us was interested in consolidating our accounts when we got married.

I can't say much about either one, because I avoid dealing with real people at the banks as much as possible. I do have to say though, that several times in the past few years (maybe once per year?) CIBC has called me and asked if I've been happy, and with suggestions to improve my account. In fact, I had my TFSA set up during one of these calls.

[Critical]

Never heard anything bad about Scotia, but I don't know many people who have an account with them. Most people I know use TD (like me), CIBC and RBC.

One time I used a sketchy ATM at some restaraunt on Stephen Ave. and there was a withdrawl of $500 from Ontario the next day. They called me and did all the work and got my money back in a week.

[ExtraSlow]

I recently switched from ATB due to some shitty service and into RBC. So far I'm happy with them.

[Tarrantula]

I have had scotiabank my whole life. Saved me actually when I blew the motor in my 300z. On of the personal bankers got me a credit card for the amount i needed that same day.

[Super_Geo]

I have everything with TD (checking, visa, stock trading, mortgage). I find it's nice having everything under one roof cause you have a lot of leverage any time you run into issues.

A couple of weeks ago I didn't pay my credit card bill on a ~$4k statement, but mostly cause they shifted the due date to 16th when for the past 6+ statements the due date had been between the 21st-23rd.

I called TD Visa on the 22nd and said that I just paid the statement in full and didn't want to pay any interest or have it reflected poorly on my credit score, and they were being sketchy by changing the due date by so much (which I think is pretty legitimate). The guy who originally took the call said he couldn't do anything cause it was 'in the computers.' I asked to talk to his boss, and told him that if I saw any interest charges (it would've been ~$70) show up on my statement that I was going to move all my accounts away from TD, and when I did I was going to tell them that it was because of he told me he wouldn't waive $70 of interest.

He dropped the interest and thanked me for being with TD for so long.

[Ed the SOHC]

I would recommend those Internet banks like PC financial, ING direct, or Canadian Tire Financial. I'm with PC. Banking is virtually free. Free cheques. Free interac. ATM withdrawls are free at any cibc machine (which can be found at all 7-11 stores).

[MintRacer]

I had TD/RBC, ended up with a free PC checking account, and BMO accounts. Havn't had to bitch at anyone over at BMO over the past 7 years.

[aram1000]

Been with CIBC for 17 years, they're ok, but most banks are the same, unless you have lots of assets, they all pretty much treat you the same, GF was with RBC, she liked them, couple friends bank with TD, they like it, mostly, any of the big chartered banks are all the same IMO

[Trini]

only one issue with CIBC with my VISA but they sorted it out quickly, otherwise no issues.

I rarely go into the bank, on line banking the majority of the times.

[Cos]

td is great. Tried a few different accounts in parallel with TD and have always kept my TDCT open. Been with them since I was 8 (back when it was still td and canada trust).

I use my BMO airmiles card for purchases and pay it off but dont do anything except use it to get the free airmiles.

[yellowsnow]

TD because of the longer hours. saved me some trouble here and there because of that

[tylere]

If you can qualify, CIBC Imperial Service has been great to me. One person to deal with for any and all issues and she is always very responsive. It's nice have a direct person to call instead of some 1-800 number that's hit and miss.

[masoncgy]

I actually used to bank with TD... however, when I was younger I missed a couple of payments on my LOC. From that point on, they were absolutely a useless bank... even after many years had passed they refused to grant any requests for additional credit, overdraft protection, etc.

Frustrated, I walked across the parking lot to Scotiabank, and within minutes I was instantly approved for everything I wanted at TD, without any hassles, and I went back to TD, closed down every account, withdrew all of my savings, and have been banking with Scotiabank ever since.

So.. not sure what your beef is with Scotiabank, but I have nothing but praise for that bank! I get anything and everything I want from them, no questions asked.

[whodiman]

Originally posted by tylere
It's nice have a direct person to call instead of some 1-800 number that's hit and miss.

The most ironic thing about this is that CIBC was the first bank in Canada to introduce telephone banking and reroute all of their branch calls to the 1-800#. The only way you could get through to the branch is if you had somebody's direct #.

[Grogador]

Originally posted by Ed the SOHC
I would recommend those Internet banks like PC financial, ING direct, or Canadian Tire Financial. I'm with PC. Banking is virtually free. Free cheques. Free interac. ATM withdrawls are free at any cibc machine (which can be found at all 7-11 stores).

I am with Scotiabank and seriously considering going online-only. Which are you with? How is the phone service when you really need to yell at someone? How is the online portion, specifically any budgeting tools or CC spending breakdown? Do they export to Quicken or at least CSV?

[eblend]

I am with PC, have been for a while, have no problems, phone service is fast if you need something extra. I got like 3 savings, a chequeing, tfsa, low cost borrowing all under one account, works great to see all your assets/debts in one spot