Wainwright Bank

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Can anyone share their experiences with Wainwright Bank, good/bad/indifferent/etc.?

I just opened a new checking account with them about six weeks ago and so far they have managed to screw it up in quite a few ways. It's really getting irritating. I love the idea of a green, socially responsible, involved-in-the-community bank, but I also really need it to be, you know, a competently functioning bank.

Thoughts?

Comments

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

I've been having fantastic experiences with them. Got direct deposit working just fine, and such. They sent me new cheques when I moved after only having the account for six weeks, even, just to make sure that my address was correct on them (not very green in terms of paper waste, but incredibly convenient)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

really...and how long did it take you to get a debit card? (if you did) Because I opened the account seven weeks ago and still have not gotten one.

[daft.livejournal.com]

I've banked with them for years, with minimal problems. There was a teller at the Harvard Sq. branch who was always psychotically rude to me, but I haven't had to go in there in ages (and I believe it's closed now.)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

yeah, the Harvard Square branch is closed which is a big minus for me since I work right there -- but they seem to have a new one that is supposedly opening in "fall 2007."

[elements.livejournal.com]

I've used them for 7 years and never had a problem.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Only six years, here, but also never a problem, and wonderful service when we had things that needed resolving, such as all the bizarre paperwork our lender was looking for while we were applying for a (non-Wainwright) mortgage.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

Horrible horrible horrible.

I finally closed the account after four years of incredibly bad service, complaining to the bank manager and the president of the entire bank. Everything from bad service at the counter to them refusing to take a deposit to cash deposits not showing up for days to having a scheduled automatic payment deducted from my account six days early (and being told I should have funds available for scheduled payments at all times, regardless of the scheduled date.)

Also, my debit card was "compromised" every four months for the last year and a half. They would tell me to call to get a new card, would cancel my existing card, and then I'd have to wait for two weeks for a new one.

I love the idea of a community bank, too, but theirs is a complete wreck.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Wow. It's so interesting to hear such drastic differences. I've been a customer for 4 or 5 years now, through several moves and a mortgage application, and it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Everybody (on the rare occasions I actually talk to a person) has been friendly and competent, and everything I need gets done in a timely manner.

And whether you go with Wainwright or not, pick another local bank, because I love love LOVE being part of the SUM network. Don't let Bank of America tell you it's inconvenient to go with a small bank -- there's a SUM-affliated bank on every other corner, and you never pay ATM fees at any of them. Brilliant.

[pullmeunder.livejournal.com]

Not all of Wainwright's atms are on the SUM network though; off the top of my head, I know the one at Fresh Pond isn't.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I've had an account at a Credit Union since 1984. I have two now, The Golden 1 in California, and the Telephone Worker's Credit Union in Boston. Credit Unions are vastly superior to banks. They're non-profit, you're a "member," not a "customer," and the fees they charge are reasonable, and usually charged only when you really deserve to be charged (the Golden 1 charges $3 if they have to move money from savings to checking. If I'm so stupid as to let my checking account get so low, I think it's fair to get charged three bucks).

There are all sorts of Credit Unions around, and they're generally small and community-oriented. I know there are some that are open to Somerville residents, but I don't know of any specific ones to direct you to.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Some are great. Others blow goats. For years I was with both Navy Fed and Marine Fed, and while Navy Fed was awfully good (ATM's in every naval base, even around the world) Marine Fed had better locations around North Carolina. Needless to say MFCU was seriously terrible.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

I've had nothing but a good time with Wainwright, especially after they redid their website and improved the online-banking thing. And I love the service at both the Kendall and Davis branches!

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

The Kendall branch is good if you can dodge the tumbleweeds (ghost town, get it?) to get to a teller.

[inahandbasket]

we're into our 4th year with wainwright, no major complaints. They're not a giant super-polished customer service machine, they're a small local bank.

The only complaint I have is that their web banking shows out of state checks as deposited and available before the funds are actually available in your account by a day or two. irritating.

[concrete.livejournal.com]

OK, is there another bank/credit union in the area that has better service than Wainwright?

[cutieperson]

MIT Credit Union!

[tolchocky.livejournal.com]

I just opened an account there at the beginning of Sept., and everything so far has been fine. Of course, compared to *#$#@ BankNorth, pretty much anything is an improvement.

[cos]

I've had pretty great service from Wainwright, I've been using them for years. I have had some issues with the credit/debit cards, which unfortunately they have to outsource to some other company - apparently that's common for small banks, they don't do their own cards, they have companies that specialize in cards do them. Online banking used to be weak but they made it much better last year. Unfortunately they introduced what to me is a major flaw: you're only gauranteed to be able to see one month worth of transaction history on the web site.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the reduced transaction history is suboptimal. I really wish they hadn't done that and can't imagine why they did.

[ron_newman]

Wainwright has always been very good to me.

[orbitalmechanic.livejournal.com]

I've had good experiences with them for over six years. Some minor complaints about the website, but whatever. The Davis Square branch staff have always been so nice to me, even when I was pulling out huge amounts of cash for contractors and when I was having them notarize eight million documents. I've been really surprised by how badly things have gone for you--I wonder whether there's some QA problem where if something goes wrong, or goes wrong in certain specific areas, they don't have any process for getting it back on track.

WainWrong

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

My only experience with this bank guaranteed they will never have my business.

I had one hour to get a legal document notarized and I went to every business, tax accountant, bank, etc in Davis Square. Either their notary was gone or they didn't have one. My last hope was WainWrong Bank. I went in and asked if they had a notary, and the two tellers chimed in that they were BOTH notaries! I asked if they would notarize a document and had 45 minutes left to do it in. They asked me if I was a customer and I said that I wasn't. Their faces drooped, they lowered their eyes to the floor and sighed (think Thermians on Galaxy Quest here). They refused to help me because I didn't have a bank account with them. I offered to pay whatever fee they would require and they would not help me. Horrible, just horrible.

Re: WainWrong

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Huh. When I needed a document notarized last week, Bank of America refused to do it because I wasn't a client of theirs, but the Wainwright in Copley Square did it without even asking if I was or not.

[soong.livejournal.com]

No problems since I opened a new account there in August.

Indeed wild to hear about the extreme positive and extreme negative responses.

Similar problems here...

[mr-fancy-pants.livejournal.com]

Opened a joint account for my girlfriend and I with them at the Davis Branch in August. Had some awful service from BOA, so were eager to try Wainwright who had been reviewed very positively.

2 weeks later our ATM cards arrived, with a message saying our PINs would arrive within 3 business days. A week later, no PINs.

We called Wainwright, they said to come into the branch and they would get us setup. We went into the Davis branch, the manager tried to set our PINs up, but the cards didn't work. She said wait 24 hours and they should.

We gave it 48 hours just to be sure and sure enough, the cards still didn't work. Again, went to the Davis branch and ended up waiting almost half an hour for service since there was only one manager there and he was being monopolized by two kids asking about every single possible banking option under the sun. Finally we described the situation, and he ordered us new cards. Two more weeks later, we finally got working cards and PINs.

All in all, 5 weeks from opening the account until actually being able to use it.

Since then nothing hugely wrong, other than their ATMs being a little clunky and online billpay not working for my girlfriend (although it works fine for me, and we have the same account).

My recommendation is give it a shot, but don't be in a hurry to close your old account.

[ron_newman]

I'm tempted to print out this whole thread in a few days and bring it into the bank. I've always had great service but other people are having quite different experiences.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing about printing it out (or emailing a link to the upper management). It really is interesting how different the experiences described here are. It seems like there are wonderful experiences and terrible ones and not much in between. Makes me wonder if it could all be traced back to one staffmember or something like that.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

I've been banking there for a couple years now, and I talked my girlfriend into banking there as well. She had some trouble once getting them to accept her ID, but that was resolved within a week. Other than that, they've always been great to both of us. The Harvard Square staff, which I hear such bad things about, were fine. My only complaint is that when they closed the Harvard branch, I had to find the new ATM location on my own. I don't doubt them at all, but seeing these terrible experiences other people have had is surreal.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

I have also only had good experiences and have been banking there since Cambridgeport Bank closed (anyone remember how long ago that was? they were almost as awesome as US Trust back in the day). I opened a second checking account there two weeks ago and got my ATM card and PIN just fine.

[dmaze]

My experiences with Wainwright have been mostly positive. A non-profit group I work with used to have an account at BoA, but when it got to taking an hour waiting in line with the "business specialist" who was only there two days a week to handle a signature change we moved that to Wainwright too. Wainwright's head teller from the Kendall branch was doing a shift at Davis a couple of months ago when I was in and said, "wait, didn't you used to go to Kendall Square all the time?"

I have gotten the impression that their back office is less than stellar, though. Changing the names on accounts can be a big pain. I've also heard bad things about their credit cards and online banking, though I personally use neither. They weren't really able to help us with getting a mortgage when we bought our house.

My one other complaint is the gradual demise of SUM. Wainwright is as guilty here as anyone else. But if none of the "nice" banks in useful locations have SUM ATMs, what's the point? Back in the day when I was a US Trust customer, SUM ATMs were *everywhere* and there was none of the "we're a SUM bank, except that our ATMs in Harvard, Davis, and Copley Squares still charge fees" junk.

[ron_newman]

I don't have their credit card, but their online banking has been fine for me. I hardly ever write checks anymore, not even my monthly rent, which is now automatically deducted each month.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

100% positive on Wainwright! I have been a customer since they opened the Davis Branch.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

In response to the original question, and some of the comments:
Wainwright Bank is fairly new to Somerville. In my opinion, Winter Hill Bank is the bank which is most involved in the community. Followed by Middlesex Savings and East Cambridge Savings. They have all been in Somerville a very long time and have been very involved with such things as youth groups and charities.
In my opinion I would run VERY FAST away from Bank of America. My limited experience with them is that they are a nightmare!!
As far as the SUM network, I know that East Cambridge is part of it and they have 2 ATM's in Somerville, one at their branch on Highland Ave, one at CVS in Magoun Square. It's very convenient, and I have found UM network ATM's to be fairly easy to find.

[ron_newman]

East Cambridge Savings Bank also has a branch on Mass. Ave., in the Henderson Carriage Building just east of Russell Street. The branch is fairly new; it was formerly an branch of First National Bank of Ipswich, and before that, some Greek bank.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I have had an account with Wainwright for years and mostly they are great. I'd defected from Citizens after they ate US Trust and began charging exorbitant monthly fees for checking. It delights me to use (most) Citizens Bank SUM ATMs now with my Wainwright card!

I tried to set up online banking a long time ago and found it problematic, though I hear it is much improved now.

Also I agree that if you don't choose Wainwright, there are several other local banks that will get you into the SUM network, which in Davis alone is huge.

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

I've had Wainwright for five years -- opened at the Central Square branch and have never been given a thing to complain about. I'm sad that you can't say the same after a much shorter period of time.

Give them a chance, I'd say.

[obie119.livejournal.com]

I've been a customer for 5 years or so - the occasional mishap is always corrected immediately. I like it that there are real people at the bank who you can reach on the phone and everything. That is certainly not the experience with a big national bank.