I despise my bank

[metawidget]

So, I sign up for e-bills and check the "send me e-mail when bills arrive" option in March. I keep getting enough paper bills to impart a feeling of keeping up, but my phone/Internet bill keeps piling up in my e-bill thing without a single e-mail. Three days before they pull the plug, I call to change some stuff and am informed that they can't do anything until I shovel a heap of money their way.

I pay the CIBC service fees to do stuff like notify me when they recieve e-bills. And maintain branches (they always close the ones close to me soon after I arrive in a neighbourhood). The CIBC can't manage this. I'm switching banks (I'm thinking Desjardins RBC (Desjardins horror stories seem to abound, and there's an RBC right near my place)... any horror stories I should know about?)

In good news, Noisette is back from whatever dimension she was hiding in. Lost cat situation over (for now).

Comments

[ravi.livejournal.com]

I've heard only bad things about Desjardins consistently. I'd stay away from it. I used to be with CIBC (credit card) and nuked them cuz the service sucked terribly. :)

I'm with RBC since July 2002, and use them quite extensively, and must say that they have always impressed with only one notable exception -- online cheque ordering (it half-works only on Microsoft IE/WinXP).

I've heard many good things about TD Canada Trust too. I've got a Visa with them for ages now, and love it. I'd strongly consider them too ... their online web interface is pretty slick.

ING Direct?

[ravi.livejournal.com]

And have you considered ING Direct ?

Re: ING Direct?

[metawidget]

I have... and I have GICs and a savings account with them :)

[star-holder.livejournal.com]

You have a bank called "the gardens"? Awesome.

[ravi.livejournal.com]

Yup, and it's quite popular with the francophones ... it doesn't exist outside Quebec and so it's a serious PITA if you're traveling, even within Canada and need to use your account. :/

[star-holder.livejournal.com]

We have a bank like that here...only two of them exist. It's rather annoying. So I switched.

[dzuunmod.livejournal.com]

Their headquarters is called "Complexe Desjardins", and a friend of mine refers to it as The Complicated Gardens.

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

Desjardins is one of the most common last name in "La Belle Province" aka Quebec.

[archdiva.livejournal.com]

Banks are so stupid... *shakes head sadly*

[ramou.livejournal.com]

I've had quite good luck with BMO, and although they're named after this city, I've found them to be everywhere. I've also heard good things about TD.

Scotia was nothing to write home about (and you can never find one). RBC screwed me over for my company account for many years. CIBC has stupid policies for a bank, wherein your account is tied to the branch you opened it in and you can't do squat elsewhere.

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

I've found President's Choice to be excellent, although it's apparently run by CIBC behind the scenes, which might affect your decision. (I don't know exactly what the relationship is, since all their accounts, investments, and web interfaces are entirely different, and they have their own support personnel - I think it's probably just that they're backed by CIBC for stuff like fraud and securities laws.) I keep getting conflicting reports on whether it's available in Quebec, but I'd say it's worth checking out.

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

Stay away from desjardins... I have had a lot of horro stories:

- freezing checks amount TWICE. That means the money you already have, you no longer have it until the check is cleared
- refusing to provide me a credit card unless I pre-pay it. Probably does not apply to you
- when closing my account, they didn't even ask for an ID or a PIN with the atm card. They gave me my money, nothing else. And you want to trust them for that?
- not couting: unable to take note of an address properly, unable to order checks without asking them twice, etc.

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

And I forgot: when getting a store charge card that goes through "Accord D Desjardins" they were unable to do the credit check properly so they declined it, until I called them.
(I won't add that the store people were morons because they never called me and they gave away the delivery slot, which means that I will never go there again)