Hating Eastern Bank. Recommend others?

[cos]

Eastern Bank bought Wainwright, so my main account has been with Eastern since then. My experience over the past few months trying to get an answer to a fairly simple question from them has convinced me that their ability to communicate with customers, and their respect for customers, is about the same as (or worse than) the giant corporate banks. Yuck!

Are there other nice local banks that actually care about customers and give personal service and communicate effectively, with branches at good locations around here, that you'd recommend?

Comments

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

oh, that's really disappointing. we also had the forced change. I haven't had to do anything more than make deposits lately, though, so haven't really had to deal with their customer service. can you ellaborate more on the difficulty? (also, i have no suggestions for you, as my other accounts are at BoA and Sovereign)

[marphod.livejournal.com]

I can't detail cos's issues, and I've had perfectly nice interactions with the people. It is the corporation and responses that disappoint me.

---

I've called to report my ATM card as missing 3 times now. The first time, they couldn't _find_ my account. (The old wainwright accounts were listed separately, apparently.) I've still not gotten a replacement.

I misplaced or never got the 'temporary password' required to log into the bank website. I have requested that a number of times, and never been furnished with a new one.

When attempting to log in to said account (thinking my old password was my temporary password), it prompted me to change my password. It rejected my password changes because they were too similar to old passwords. Which is fine, except once I used a new password that was allowed by the filter, it THEN told me my temporary password was wrong. Which means it was leaking information about my old passwords on every log in attempt. When I contacted the bank about this, they didn't understand why it was a problem.

It won't let me create an online profile for a savings account of mine that was not associated with my old log in profile. As far as I can tell, that's because it was created as a wainwright account.

(And a separate issue that isn't related to the bank changing hands is that my safe deposit box is at their Alewife location, which made sense when I lived in the area and when my work commute took me through Alewife, but now isn't.)

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Have you already forgotten how terrible the Wainwright website was?

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

Seriously! So bad!

[elements.livejournal.com]

I have also never been able to log into the Eastern website, and had some similar issues to yours. I too am fed up with Eastern and looking for a replacement, so very glad Cos made this post!

[starphire.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me that I've been meaning to quit my accounts there too. I haven't actually had to interact with their people, but this is useful data.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I really like TD Bank. They make an effort to correct mistakes and treat their employees well.

[ron_newman]

Can you tell us more specifically what problem you're having (what question you're trying to ask)?

My experience has been positive; I haven't noticed any big changes in the local branch, or in my accounts, since the merger. The manager, Maria Lucas, is friendly and helpful and remains there from the Wainwright days.

[findingthegirl.livejournal.com]

I really like Cambridge Savings Bank, although I don't have much interaction with them. Their tellers are always really nice when I get quarters for laundry, if that's at all helpful to know.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, i'm a happy csb customer.

[teko.livejournal.com]

Seconded. I've been with them for about a year, and have really appreciated their customer service. They're really good about refunding ATM fees, too, which I like.

I'll add another vote for Cambridge Savings Bank.

[erlala.livejournal.com]

I've been a customer for probably about a decade now, and have been very happy with them.

My condo association is using Eastern Bank now (transitioned over from our Wainwright account), and the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy to do the simplest things is really frustrating. I have found their customer service to be pretty good (over the phone at least), but I have had to call them more often than I would like to help deal with account issues. I also HATE their online banking system - it's a pain to navigate. I like CSB's system much better.

Re: I'll add another vote for Cambridge Savings Bank.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I'm another Wainwright customer who got switched to Eastern, and though I haven't had any problems with Eastern yet, I have to agree with you about their online banking system! It is TERRIBLE. I've seriously been tempted to switch banks just because of that.

Re: I'll add another vote for Cambridge Savings Bank.

[ron_newman]

What problems are you all having with online banking? I've never had any trouble paying bills or transferring money there.

Issues with online banking for Eastern Bank

[erlala.livejournal.com]

I never really dealt with Wainwright, so I can't compare, and my experience is specific to their business banking. Here are my major issues with Eastern Bank's online business banking:

1. Login is a process, since it require two user names and two passwords (and initially, it wasn't clear to me what info got entered where - I had to do some trial and error, and when it asked me to change my password, it wasn't clear which one it changed). Plus, once you enter the user names and passwords, the system then needs to call or text you with a one-time user code that also has to be entered. I understand they need for a secure system, but it seems a little over the top, especially for our condo association, which has very little money for anyone to steal. I have several online financial accounts, and Eastern Bank is the most difficult one to log into by far.

2. The account site is not easy to navigate, and I have had trouble finding basic information/services within the account - there are actually not a lot of options in there, and some of the functions are buried under layers of menus. When I have called to get assistance, the customer service people are helpful, but it always seems to be a process to find this information, and not just something straightforward that I missed. Also, I don't think there is a way to download or view banking statements within the online banking - you can create reports that somewhat mimic the statements, but it's not really the same, and they are not as easy to follow.

3. Each user is supposed to have their own login info, but you have to have a "premium" account (or whatever it is called) if you want more than one user, for which they charge extra. Again, I understand it is a security issue, but we are a small condo association (3 units) with very little money in the account, so the extra charge is not insignificant.

4. I couldn't figure out how to set up the online bill pay, so I ended up calling them after poking around for awhile and being unable to find an answer, and was told that there was additional paperwork involved to set that up, which they had forgotten to tell us about when we transferred the account from Wainwright. The paperwork needs to be filled out by hand and brought into/mailed to the bank, rather than completed electronically.

This is just what comes to mind off the top of my head. Again, though: this feedback is specific to the business banking, and personal banking may be set up differently. We also had issues aside from the online banking related to the transfer from Wainwright, but I won't go into those, except to say that it required many calls to Eastern Bank to sort it out.

Re: Issues with online banking for Eastern Bank

[ron_newman]

Maybe this is an issue specific to business accounts. I've never needed more than one username or password to login to my personal online banking, at either Wainwright or Eastern. My online billpaying transferred seamlessly from Wainwright to Eastern, too.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

I love CSB as well - switched to them after years of abuse from BofA, and my only regret has been not switching earlier. They always speak to me like a human being, and getting all my ATM fees refunded hasn't made me miss the ubiquitous BofA ATMS in the slightest. My only recent concern is the new ATMs they've installed that read checks without envelopes, but no longer accept cash. When I couldn't deposit any while rushing to beat a scheduled debit, I left a VM at 11 pm that night, and was contacted the next morning by a top manager who sympathized and promised to refund any overdrafts if necessary.

[findingthegirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah- I'm a little disappointed about the new ATMs which don't accept cash, but I definitely wouldn't switch banks over it.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I'm yet another happy CSB customer; they rates and policies were better than the credit union that I switched from, and (unlike the credit unions I've used; see whinging below) they're skilled and efficient at doing traditional banking-type stuff too. That said, their Central and Arlington branches seems a bit less competent than Harvard, Inman, or the one up in Burlington. (Any of these are light-years ahead of most of the staff at the ex-Wainwright in Kendall, which seems to have one lady I can sometimes deal with who's pretty awesome and a bunch of other staff members who can not ever do anything whatsoever even remotely competently. I'll go way out of my way to visit the Alewife crew instead.)

[ron_newman]

How are the folks at CSB's Porter Square branch? That's the one closest to us.

CSB's Porter Square branch

[aynatt.livejournal.com]

I'm also a faithful CSB customer of over 10 years. I originally opened my account at the Porter Square branch and they are top notch. I have a Relationship Savings Account there and I will get reimbursed for ATM charges that any bank will charge me. I love their phone bank, to make transfers, account balances etc.

Friendly, very competent and I really appreciate the questions they ask when I call them to verify that indeed it is me. Makes me feel secure around identity theft.

Re: CSB's Porter Square branch

[elements.livejournal.com]

This is good to know; my main negative point in considering CSB to switch to has been that as far as I can tell they've pulled out of the SUM network.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I'd find a credit union to join - they have requirements, but often it's just something like, "must live or work in Sufflolk or Middlesex county." I have an account at Liberty Bay Credit Union and I really like it.

I've used credit unions rather than banks most of my life, and I VASTLY prefer them. I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned credit unions already.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

+1

[ifotismeni]

i joined metro credit union very recently thanks to recommendations from this community. and it is pretty awesome!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is pretty much my stock answer to this question. I've been a credit-union member for ten years now and it's been great.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I've banked with a couple of different local credit unions, and they all seem to be endorsing the same paradigm where they want you to do everything electronically and can't even handle most cash transactions in the branches. I guess that's a hedge against bank robberies, but when all the "tellers" can do is facilitate my interaction with what's essentially an extra-featureful ATM behind the counter and can't deal with doing anything interesting with currency at all, it loses most of the point of a bank for me. I'm curious what credit union you use, though, since they surely vary. (Both Hanscom and MIT FCUs are on my "completely useless" list.)

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

I use DCU (http://www.dcu.org/) and they have no issues handling cash transactions at the bank. I'm concered about banks not wanting to handle cash...that's seems like a very odd trend!

[antimony.livejournal.com]

Huh, I've never had issues like that with MITFCU. The only thing I find deeply annoying is not being able to deposit at other ATMs, so I need to either mail checks or schlep down to MIT for deposits. (Which IDK if that's an MA thing or just a change over time with banks; before I moved up here I tossed money at my local credit union via whatever ATM I could find that took deposits.)

But I haven't tried to do anything complicated, account-wise, in quite a while.

[eanja]

I wonder if this is a branch-specific issue? I used Eastern Bank for about 10 years before switching to Wainwright when I moved into Boston proper, now it's back to Eastern, and I don't think I've ever had a bad experience with them in all that time.

I've seldom used the Somerville branch, though, although the one time I did, it was to get a whole stack of things notarized, and they were very nice about it, even though I had to run out part-way through to redo things I'd misprinted and therefore kept them past closing to finish.

[elements.livejournal.com]

Unlikely; all the old Wainwright staff transferred over to Eastern.

[eanja]

Well, I seldom went inside the old Wainwright either (I'm much more likely to bank near work). But it is good to know that they didn't change over the staff.

[tater1112.livejournal.com]

Here's a vote AGAINST Leader Bank. They're very friendly and I've always had good experiences with the tellers, but the bankers are a whole different story: slow, unable to answer questions (but still friendly...)

[klauspood.livejournal.com]

I have been very very happy with Central Bank. I have had all my accounts there, and a safe deposit box, for a few years now and they have been great. Very friendly and accessable. Refinanced my house there about 6 months ago and they gave me the absolutely best rates on a 30 year fixed. Plus they give my dog biscuits and my kid lollies.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I have been with East Cambridge Savings Bank for years. Their closest branch is on Highland Ave., and in recent years they've added several new branches in the area. They are truly a local bank and give personal service. They have, on occasion, called me to verify that a personal check I wrote which was presented to be cashed was legitimate. Over and above. They hire local people and although lately staffing is a little light that is happening everywhere due to the economy, they give good service, are polite and friendly, and offer loads of services without a lot of bells and whistles (i.e. fees!).

[rozhinka.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the mention of Metro Credit Union--their rates on savings and CDs look very good.

My dealings with Eastern versus Wainwright:

- The same pleasant but severely under-informed employees as ever. I visited my branch just before the transition to be sure of how they were migrating my Wainwright accounts to the roughly equivalent Eastern accounts. As it turned out, I was misinformed and one account that had been free became a monthly-fee account. This was corrected but never should have happened.

- ATM PIN problems: No different; had the same problems with Wainwright and had to visit a branch each time.

- Online banking: Eastern online access for basic balance checking etc. is MUCH MUCH better than Wainwright. Agree with somerfriend that Wainwright site was pitiful.

[rozhinka.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, around the time of some FDIC changes, I visited a couple of the Wainwright branches for help understanding the new rules. To my surprise and disappointment, no employees, even the branch managers, understood any more about it than I did.

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

Been generally very happy with Wainwright/Eastern, but I've rarely/never used any of their call center stuff. I work a few blocks from the Davis branch, which is where I opened my account with Maria 8 years ago, so I just go in in person when I have questions. She was pretty candid with me when I expressed concerns about the merger. The website may have some things to be desired but it is definitely way better than the pre-merger Wainwright web site.

All I've done there, though, is checking, savings, and CDs. No mortgages or business loans or anything heavy-duty.

[superuber.livejournal.com]

Eastern blows. So sad since Wainwright IMHO was a great bank.

I'm fully online now after being scolded by someone in their Franklin branch and the mysterious fees on my account. Plus I'll be damned if I'm paying them a fee to use other banks ATMs.