- Report: #570656
Complaint Review: Union Bank Of California - San Diego California
Reported By:
poortomji -
chico, California, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Union Bank Of California
5th Ave Hillcrest, California San Diego, California, United States of America
Phone:
1-800-238-4486
Web:
www.unionbank.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Union Bank Of California reps at Hillcrest banking office, customer service reps, desceptive practices, no rules, insulting care reps, no access funds, lies, misinformation, disability can't get, careless, callous, San Diego, California
Disregard for rules, callous ineffective reps, poor ability to solve problem
Complaint Rating: 
Company information:
Union Bank of California, UnionBanCal Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
San Diego
San Diego, California
United States
Phone: 18002384486
(((Redacted)))
Incident = Traveling in Thailand I lost bank card. Had it cancelled. did not have bank account number handy. Was treated like a third world citizen. Told "Well that's your fault you lost your card, we have policies we need to follow:
Having been a customer "care" specialist for varied companies I know when you are being pushed aside. Union Bank is by far the worst customer service experience ever.
I talked to 15 different reps, until one kind soul offered to send me a card to Thailand. Others said that was not possible. My Social Security Disability goes into Union Bank Acccount (or used to I switched that).
With no funds to access from my primary bank, no offering of being able to a. get a new card, b. set up online banking (we'll mail you a pin code) that was two weeks ago. Did they batch process my card without proper postage.
"Well there's no way for me to know that, " snipped a snooty rep who when asked to talk to supervisor put me on a mute that didn't mute. I heard him bad mouthing me then singing to nearly 10 songs before his supervisor (he claimed he was a supervisor: that's a telerep scheme) answered and kept broken recording me.
We can't do anything. You chose to leave america, if you were here we could help you.
Can I wire transfer into my other account from the "nice bank?"
No you have to be here in person.
Then, in frustration called again and got an angel: who admitted the bank has mixed policies. No one would read regulations to me using their "system." They even refused to give me a number to complain about the issue outside their bank.
I believe it is a LAW that banks need to have the number to escalate the situation to the federal bank authorities.
Oh we don't do that... that's your problem.
If you like to be treated like dirt, call 30 times (on your own dime ... or dollar) if you're overseas DO NOT USE UNION BANK.
Their reputation is well deserved: Money grubbing institution who's major goal is to get you off the phone and even branch manager in San Diego Mary or Rick refused to take my call.
So here I am. I have 1000 in Union Bank Account. I am out oof money. They don't care. No offer of help. I called office of president: no response.
I'm confused: Aren't they obligated to provide me a way to get my money? Sending another cared to Thailand is ludicrous (I was told by nice rep even if I got card couldn't activate it over here...) The online pin number has not arrived at the forwarding address i have. I can not "telephone transfer funds."
This is customer service taken to the worst level imaginable. I'd prefer to deal with some rep in India: at least they will say what the rules are becuase they know how to read them off a screen. To hear reps bad mouth you when they think you are on hold, to get no sympathy from work weary burnt out managers like Rick and Mary from the HILLCREST BRANCH IN SAN DIEGO and their associate who claimed to have overheard my situation and there's nothing or no time to help me.
Lucky I'm in Thailand. I can camp out and live off of $1 or even take a beggin bowl around. Who knows when/if ever I can get the money in my account.
Because I'm not keen on buying back into the American Bank system.
Let the swine dine... and may they live and prosper like big fatted calves.
Have a big mac and light beer to celebrate, Union Bank reps. You must be so proud to be a member of such an upstanding and compassionate company!
THE GIST: I have 1000 in account. no one cares. I can't get a bank card sent that arrives to me. No online code. refusal of telephone transfers. And the attitude like: Oh well.. that's your problem.
I consider it a challenge: Not to push this to the limit and get involved with others for a collective lawsuit based on disinformation and the refusal to give out a number for a federal consumer complaint line.
Laws: who needs them if you are a megabank.l.. Oh I forgot ENRON... CitiBank maybe Union Bank is mad they haven't yet gotten a bailout.
Krab from Thailand
Damage Resulting = I have no money to rent room. I will need to rely on handouts to have food. My mental health has been jeopardized. I'm confused about lies and inability to follow laws. They basically took my Social Security Disability and give me no reasonable option for me to close my account.
RESPONSE FROM UNION BANK: OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE NOT TAKING ANY ACTION TO SOLVE THE ISSUE: INSTEAD THEY THANK ME FOR ALLOWING THEM TO BETTER TRAIN THEIR REPS:
Notice no person signed this, no e-mail address given and you can't even find an e-mail address on their website:
Dear ....,
Thank you for your recent e-mail. We can certainly understand your frustration from the events described in your message and we truly apologize for the poor service provided by our banking representatives. We stride to provide superior customer service to each customer we assist. We will use your feedback as a coaching opportunity for the banking representatives.
We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.
Thank you for banking with Union Bank.
Sincerely,
Direct Banking Services
--------
My response to response:
What does this response mean? I you going to do anything to resolve my situation, or just use my unfortunate treatment to "educate your reps."
To be honest: Good luck. You did not address the major issues on the consumer complaint.
Just another way you give "superior customer service"
Still left out in the cold with no one (once again) doing anything to gie me access to my funds.
The blanket e-mail response will be added to my growing list of poor communication, avoiding the issue I am denied access to my funds in a reasonable amount of time and that you use it to say "you will your reps better."
Thanks for not providing me with a solution to the issue: once again.
And giving me more fuel to make sure others know that this is not an honest reputable bank.
Not only is this not OK, I'm certain you are breaking laws and cover up your mistakes with blanket responses like the one you sent me.
Thanks for making my day!
cc: Consumer Complaints, as many websites as I can find to make this well known to anyone who searches "Union Bank" the Federal Banking complaint lines along with transcripts and notes from each time I called.
AN ADDITIONAL FOLLOWUP AFTER REALIZING I COULD NOT FIND THE E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR MAILING UNION BANK ON THEIR WEBSITE and THAT THEY HAVE NO WAY FOR PEOPLE TO CANCEL LOST CARDS 24/7. This weekend they are on vacation!
___________________
To "direct banking" at Union Bank
FYI: there is no way for a customer who does not hae online banking to send a e-mail to you. I've waited for my password for over a week, have no bankcard, conflicting information and now... see that you encourage people to call you "right away" if they have a problem with an issue.
You were not there when I called about my bank card being lost. Other banks have 24/7 lines to cancel your card.
This is turning out to be a really good story for some investigative journalist. I now a few personally: Perhaps 20/20 or some big news show would enjoy covering your screw ups, callous attitude toward customers, violations of federal laws requiring a CORRECT way to contact the Federal Reserve (a rep didn't give3 me phone number and listed a totally wrong name).
UnionBanCal Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG, NYSE:MTU), one of the world's largest financial organizations
Perfect> and you won't mail a bank card to me in Thailand...
Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying documenting every e-mail and call. Perhaps I'll get a response that pertains to my issue sometime...? Written by a person with a name and title??
Enjoy your bank holiday: you deserve it!
PS: I have updated the complaint I made with the consumer affairs site that sent the first e-mail. I'll be searching for other websites and alerting as many people as possible. I think it's a very interesting story esp. since Americans bail out banks like yours and how much are your officers raking in. Perhaps they are busy packing their stuff up for the trial?
Lawyers sound like a very good thing at this point!
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
poortomji
United States of AmericaOld timer Union Bank rep carries on the tradition of blaming the customer and pushing real issues under the rug. Why did this person leave Union Bank seems like they should promote people like this!
#2Author of original report
Mon, September 05, 2011
I respect your viewpoint yet find it highly biased since you were able to deal with the 'system' and may have played along with the pass the buck issues.
Your defense of this bureaucratic mess and the "making a big deal out of it" is classic
"Oh well.. that's your problem." Union Bank consumer-created motto
Read my description of this atrocious money grubbing bank incident carefully.
- You did not address the CEO secretary,
- the employee who confessed UBank does what they can to delay people getting money,
- the denial of mis-information
- my hours of attempting and succeeding in documenting this
- and icing on the cake never really an apology in writing.
I worked in call centers. I know the process of "I apologize for the inconvenience" the putting person on hold (most people mute the receiver not like the one I had) hanging up "accidentally," I'm sorry the supervisor is not available...
As for your advice: I can think out of the box and do. Which means I do not work for Union Bank. It makes no difference if i had another way to get funds Union Bank denied me access to my funds.
I may sound like a rebelious consumer. I admire how you wear very well the tart and concise solutions. Did they come out of a calling center scrip?. If I wanted advice I could trust with a small sense of compassion call Suze Orman.
Your advice is like the advice you get when you overdraft an account with Union Bank : Perhaps you need to keep a record with pen and paper so you know your balance.
Interesting that UB also was one of the Banks caught red-handed using the tactic where they took your debits and ran them through the system so that the Over Draft would be not one but sometimes three. Who wants to "have many accounts etc."
Some people aren't living off of an overpaid job with a bank that mistreats people who don't have "multiple accounts." I must ask: why did you leave Union Bank?
Union Bank is now under federal investigation, is mentioned on the news by name. Interesting once I filed a complaint with the feds then someone decided to go ahead and expedite a card to me.
Hope your new job is as exciting and compassionate and with an unpstanding company. I sense you still work for Union Bank...
It's a nice tactic to "blame the victim." Your advice of would "be the first to..." and "you need to..." is another example of poor customer service.
The incident started with
- a clueless rep at a branch,
- moved to a call to call center people who repeatedly told me different "rules."
- Fueling the need for me to settle the issue were three reps who confided that yes: Union Bank makes up rules and
- they really are not reliable on matters such as mine.
- Then the big escalation to your CEOs secretary, who misinformed me on the time frame again.
- Once I filed a complaint with the Banking Commission in CA and the Feds only then did Union Bank wake up and actually mail a card to me.
Two supervisors for a call center. Hardly believable. Having to have multiple misinformations and tally them up on a sheet taking hours to "get to a manager/supervisor" that isn't personable service.
So pardon me for saying so, but you also do not know what the rules are. Jumping in to defend this bank (who is one of those mentioned in the banks being investaged by the Feds) hopefully left you with a good feeling about contributing to Union Bank.
Upon research it's clear that many many small complaints add up.
I'm glad I spoke up and it was not only a challenging situation but left me feeling sad. Sad that the three reps who were caring worked for UB and also mad: that so many workers at Union Bank are people have no sense of compassion or ethics.
Thanks for putting your view in writing. It will serve to move the issue forward in the rip off report queue.
Another way for me to document a "former employee" take on the matter. Take is the perfect word.
BTW: Now I have a wonderful bank, never a problem. You never know how toxic a bad bank is til you move your account to a bank that truly cares about its customers.
Nice try, but if you really want to make a statement that doesn't sound like a PR response or coming from a bank manual go back and read my letter and answer the points raised.
Ts
are you kidding me?
United States of AmericaI think you are getting too worked up
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, September 02, 2011
I worked for Union Bank for many years. First off, there are two call centers for Union Bank to handle the calls that you are describing here. There is a management team that manages both call centers. The call center is open 6am-11pm, and does have calls forwarded to the ATM Fraud Unit if it after those hours to cancel the ATM card. Of course they are not going to leave the card open for potential fraud after those hours leaving the bank in a position of a possible loss. If a customer is on the phone and ask to speak to a supervisor, they are typically transferred to an escalation queue who are seasoned reps who have been working their for a while and are "leads". Supervisors are also taking calls on that queue so it is hard to say if you will get a "supervisor" or a "lead". Why you might ask? Generally there is two supervisors per call center in the center at any given time and over 80 reps. They can not take EVERY call that is coming in asking for them. So what they do is train "leads", who are a step away from becoming a supervisor, to handle the concerns. 99% of these calls that go to leads are handled with no problems. If you ask the person for their title they should be telling you truly what their title is. If you are not happy with that person ask for the next person higher. That would be an assistant manager, then a manager. In all the years I worked there NEVER is a call that has requested to speak to a manager is denied. If a call is refused to be escalated to a supervisor or a manager, it is grounds for immediate termination. If someone thought they put you on mute and rather talked and sang, if you have the time and date documented, a manager can pull that call and that person will get in serious trouble. Also, 100% of the calls that come into both call centers are recorded, and able to be retrieved years after the call was taken. For reasons such as this. There is always someone there to take calls 24/7 yes even on weekends and holidays. Ask for the name of the Asst. Manager, the Manager, the VP, the SVP- they will give it to you and will offer to transfer you, they have nothing to hide.
Your email was signed Direct Banking services because that is the department who handles emails, who are also reps taking calls when needed. so they can do the same thing as the people over the phone.
Now on to your ATM problem. Yes a card can be sent urgently somewhere other than the customers address and they use a company called "DSL". If DSL does not operate in Thailand they will have to send it standard mail. That of course may take awhile. They customer service rep will pin verify you, which is your ATM pin not online pin, and verify a few things and send your card. This is for your protection and the banks to avoid fraud. Now if DSL does not operate there, and you can not wait for standard mail it is tough. Understand that the bank only has so many options- they can not jump on a plane and bring you a card. It is a business and it needs to be contracted with a company to work with them, thus DSL.
Although it may sound harsh, you as a customer who is traveling really needs to think out of the box for the un-planned when you are traveling and perhaps purchase travelers checks or have two cards for two different accounts just in case, or cash, although not recommended you need to think what if this happens. The bank is not a miracle worker to solve this within 24 hrs, you are out of the country! Even if the could send the card DSL it is not overnight, the card needs to be printed, they don't have extra cards with your info laying around, then DSL needs to be notified to pick it up, then they need to get it to the person. See what I am saying about thinking out of the box. You say you called the branch, yes they should've talked to you but chances are they weren't trying not to talk to you. They are in a branch with people face to face that need help too. They could've been in a meeting, day off etc?
Unfortunately too many people don't have a back up plan and think it is simply the bank who needs to solve their problem. The bank will try, but they can only do so much. You mention you had a dollar left. Okay so if your card was lost and they were able to send it to you lets say even in 48 hrs, because remember it needs to be printed and sent, how would you have survived for 48 hrs? The bank will not wire the money and I am sure if you think about security and why they can not do that you would understand. I can guarantee you if the bank did that, and it wasn't you requesting it, you would be the first one complaining that they sent money without your consent. Consumers needs to realize these things and if they don't, then don't put your money in an account, at any bank, because all banks would probably follow these same guidelines. I can understand your frustration- but you need to plan a little better when you are traveling.
