Community Bank, Review

No ACCURATE ONLINE SYSTEM
Overall Rating
by vrina, Sep. 21, 2013

Community Bank claims to have an online banking system.  Unfortunately it is really NOT an accurate online banking system.  They put dates on transactions when they are paid, then two days later they have reworked everything, changed dates items are paid, it is ridiculous.  When I called the bank I was told you should always keep a register.  This was quite insulting as I do this, yet I check balance everyday and reconcile everything.  I am making a switch to Key Bank as I they have a much more accurate online banking system.  The clerks at bank are friendly enough, but that is not why I use bank.  I want an accurate online system because I cannot bank during banking hours.

* this reviewer has be with this bank for 3 - 10 years
* this reviewer had 1 - 2 banks before.
* this review was made on Community Bank, Clayton Branch at Clayton, NY
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Uneducated teller(s)
Overall Rating
Office Environment & Staff
Waiting Time
by perith66, Jan. 05, 2013

I am making this review based on a teller that I came into contact with that did not seem to know the policies of Community Bank. That is also what my ratings are based off of. I will start off by saying that I initially went into this branch of Community Bank on a Friday. This branch is not the branch of Community Bank that I normally go to, as I was visiting my parents. I deposited some money, which I had no trouble doing. I then tried to cash a check that was given to me to go towards paying for my college. This check was from Bank of America. The teller immediately told me that they could not cash a check like this because I did not have the same amount of funds or more in my account and beyond this, it was a check connected to a credit card, not even a bank account.

At the branch I normally go to, this is never a problem. I have even spoken to the manager from the branch I normally go to and he said the tellers should give me no problems in cashing these checks (because I had run into problems with this before). He told me that I should have no problem with this because the funds are coming from someone else's account and not mine. (This was misinformation from him but I did not know this at the time of this transaction at West Cartage.)

The teller checked with her manager after hearing me tell her about this, came back and said they cannot cash the check. At that point I was getting a little frustrated because all she could say to me is that maybe the manager had said it was fine to do that at the branch I normally go to but it was not okay at this one. After hearing this I said to her, "Can you tell me why I could do this at the branch I normally go to but not at this branch? It doesn't make sense to me because they are both Community Bank." I simply wanted her to answer my question but she could not. She kept repeating the same thing and I kept asking her the same question. I don't feel that it is too much to ask of her for her to be able to inform me of whether or not policies vary for the same bank at different branches or if she just is not sure.

It ended up that she decided she would call the manager of the Community Bank that I normally cashed checks at. During this conversation, I could only hear bits and parts of what she was saying but it seemed as if she already had formed an opinion that I did not know what I was talking about or trying to do in the first place. The manager ended up telling her that he would not feel comfortable cashing the check and that she should not either. This was not right on his part because I had spoken with him on the phone and he led me to believe that the policy was much different than it really was.

I continued the transaction by agreeing that I would deposit the check. Throughout this she had been encouraging that I deposit the check anyways, because that was the only thing they could do for me, and that the money would be available tomorrow (Saturday). She was adamant on this and besides the small-talk she tried to make, she kept reminding me that if I need the money right away, I can come back to this branch tomorrow morning and get the money out by writing myself a personal check. She continued to say that if I was traveling back to college or where I live that I could go to a Community Bank and get the money there too.

Saturday comes around and because I was unsatisfied with my experience at that branch, I went to another local branch in this general area that is about 15 miles from the West Cartage branch. I was on a time schedule and soon found out that the Community Bank I had driven to was closed on Saturday's. I found this very upsetting because she assured me I could to go any Community Bank, whether in this area or traveling and be able to take out the money. I don't feel that it is okay for her to make statements about the Community Bank's being open on Saturday and not tell me that not all of them are. If I had known this, I would have specifically looked up which branch's I could go to.

I ended up driving back to the West Cartage branch to do the transaction and get the money. I put my check in the box for the teller to take. Immediately after this I noticed a sign on the window saying that on Saturday's the bank will not distribute amounts of money greater than $1000.00. I was able to get my $1,500.00 out of the bank but I was also made aware by the teller that they cannot do that. Because it was so close to closing, apparently they knew they had that amount of money to give and did so anyways.

 This is what really led me to write this review. The teller from Friday obviously did not know the policies of Community Bank in general or for the branch that she works at. After the problem that I ran into on Friday, for her to give me complete misinformation regarding what to do on Saturday when the bank is opened for limited time is just uncalled for. Beyond this, I have found that Community Bank employee's continually will do things that are against their policy. This has been misleading to me in the case of the branch I normally go to but also with this branch. They have a sign posted that they cannot distribute more than $1,000.00 but went ahead and did it anyways. Is that not suppose to lead me to believe that I could continually try to do so? What if this happens to 5 other people and they go and tell friends or relatives the same thing. If they have a policy, as a bank or branch, all employees should be aware of all those policies and they should enforce them all the time.


* this reviewer has be with this bank for 1 - 3 years
* this reviewer had 1 - 2 banks before.
* this review was made on Community Bank, West Carthage Branch at Carthage, NY
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Unbelievable charge
Overall Rating
Interest Rate and Cost
Office Environment & Staff
Waiting Time
by klesoine, Jun. 23, 2012

When someone completes work for me at my small farm, I give them a check that they can cash at my local bank in Montrose, PA.  The bank now charges $10 to anyone cashing a check from MY account that does not have an account at that bank.  Does that make sense at all?  So now either Penn Star or People's Bank will have my account.  I'll make that decision today.

* this reviewer has be with this bank for 1 - 3 years
* this reviewer had 1 - 2 banks before.
* this review was made on Community Bank, Montrose Branch at Montrose, PA
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