Umpqua Bank, SELLWOOD BRANCH

Great Bank
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Interest Rate and Cost
Office Environment & Staff
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by SueR, Sep. 11, 2012

I was very surprised to see a negative comment regarding this branch of Umpqua, as I have only positive experiences there. For that reason I decided to leave a comment, not something I would normally take the time to do. About a year ago a nonprofit I work with transferred their money from a larger national bank to Umpqua in search of better service. They have always bent over backwards to help us, it has been great.  So impressive have the folks at this branch been, than several of our board members have moved their personal accounts to Umpqua as well.

* this reviewer has be with this bank for 1 - 3 years
* this reviewer had 6 - 10 banks before.
* this review was made on Umpqua Bank, Sellwood Branch at Portland, OR
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Umpqua Bank Sellwood
Overall Rating
Interest Rate and Cost
Office Environment & Staff
Waiting Time
Other Services
by Cannitz, May. 29, 2012

They claim "The World's Greatest Bank", but in today's banking world, the bar isn't exactly set very high, so I'm not sure what that is saying. My experience is, a bank is a bank and Umpqua is just a bank.  
It may be a great place to work, the atmosphere always is friendly, and they enjoy their community events, free cookies, coffee, tea, ice cream, etc.  But I would rather have lower fees, higher interest, and less feeding junk to the community in a marketing scheme designed to polish their image.  Although I will say, I'm looking forward to stopping in and enjoying those freebies now that I am not paying for them.
I was okay with paying the fees if there is a mutual beneficial relationship. However, as with all banks, it’s very one-sided, the profit side for the bank.  My complaints with Umpqua Bank:
1.         I worked with the County, our client, and our client's bank to legally transfer over a $150 check.  Despite banking over 3 years with Umpqua, supporting their Green Street Lending program, and having $100k plus sitting in their low interest Money Market account, Umpqua "The Community" bank, the "World's Greatest Bank", refused to work with us to cash it.  When I asked the manager why the process was in place if one couldn't cash it, I was told it was done on an exceptional basis.  Which says, we can do it, but not for you, and it was the final straw for me.  Such a slap in the face.

2.         Adam White made an error on my account on a $72,000 check that required me to redeposit the check.  Not only did I lose out on an investment opportunity,  I got charged $25.00 for issuing the check. When I pointed out the error and the trouble it caused, Adam  did not have the professionalism to apologize for his huge error.  How is that for customer service.

3.         The next day when my account went NSF and I asked them to credit the $35 NSF fee, they refused because it was my error. Well, I didn't get to charge them $35 for their error.  

4.        When mentioning I was frustrated and would be closing my accounts, the response was “Sorry to hear that” and the teller walked off.  No questions asked on why.  I sure didn’t feel valued.  

5.        When closing my account, I thought all the checks cleared and was preparing to close the account, when a $1.80 charge come through which they covered, but charged me $35.00 and $7.00 a day until I discovered it.  Because by now, I was considered “a complainer” they weren’t about to give me a courtesy call, which again says more about the staff,  and their professionalism.   

6.        They claim a direct link to the bank president, Ray Davis, but I tried twice to reach him and never even received a form letter response from him.  But I did get a voicemail from someone in customer service, and the $25.00 check fee credited to my account.
We are a small, soul-based business seeking a financial institution that I thought would be supportive of small businesses. This wasn't a good fit for us.  We moved to OnPoint Credit Union, where by the way, the $35 one-time and $7.00/day fees don't exist for us.  
Are they the World’s Greatest Bank?  Perhaps, but being great isn’t what is important to me, what’s important to me is being appreciated and treated as a valued community member, without high fees and low interest paying accounts.  We found that at OnPoint Credit Union.

I am proud today to say that I no longer do business with any banks, we're now strictly credit union for personal and business banking.


* this reviewer has be with this bank for 3 - 10 years
* this reviewer had 3 - 5 banks before.
* this review was made on Umpqua Bank, Sellwood Branch at Portland, OR
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