Is there an honest bank in Atlanta (Washington: credit, insurance)

[blackrabbit]

Is there a bank in Alanta that gives decent service and doesn't just try and rip you off with hidden charges, fees etc. I am sooooooooooo sick of getting hit with unknown charges and changes with my bank accounts and getting harrased by their so called customer service agents trying to upsell. They never let you know there is a new better rate CD or so coming along and are happy for you to have savings sit in a lower rate account with fees negating the interest. It seems they could not give a damm about their customers and just want to screw us with underhand tactics. Specifically Bank of America, RBC and Wachovia in my case.

Please note I never go overdrawn always leave a good balance 5k on average in checking alone and just want an account I can have my salary paid into and be left alone with no hidden fees. All these shyster banks seem to want to do is sell lousy insurance, mutual funds, bad retirement deals etc while paying terrible savings rates compared to online banks such as HSBC and Everbank.

Anyone have a better experience with the smaller local Atlanta banks?

[PKCorey]

Try a credit union....

[atlantagreg30127]

Ditto that on credit unions. I don't use one but hear they usually give a better standard of service.

I have to admit, while some folks don't like them, I use Wachovia and they're always great to me. I know it can vary from branch to branch though, but at least in West Cobb they're always quick to fix any problems of which I've had very few.

Suntrust to me has gone downhill a lot in recent years though. Someone stole one of my cards and charged up $$ on it and it took Suntrust two weeks and three trips by me to get it fixed. Wachovia would have replaced my money in 24 hours.

[PeteyNice]

Washington Mutual! They have a 12 mo CD at 6.5% which is great and their online savings is competitive at 4.25%. They don't have a ton of branches so how convenient they are depends a lot on where you live but I think they fit the bill for you.

[Steven2149]

We use rbc centura and have been very pleased with their customer srevice.

[BobKovacs]

I'm surprised you had a problem with Wachovia. We use their "crown banking" package, and as long as there's a $5k average balance combined in our checking and savings accounts, there's no fees, free checks, no ATM usage fees, and pretty decent interest, even on the checking account. We've got a good account manager at our branch, so maybe you just need to work through a different branch.

[myome]

I have accounts in both Wachovia and Washington Mutual. I am in the process of dropping Wachovia (After being with them for 13 years) because I realize that I can get a lot more from WU. WU's rates are uaually much better and you can actully negotiate CD interest rate with them. I have asked them to match with online banking CD rate , they didn't match the exact rate but they did give more more then their published rate

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by Steven2149

We use rbc centura and have been very pleased with their customer srevice.

I was with Flag Bank who were great and got forced into RBCwith the buy-out, overnight the experience got worse at my branch, lower interest rates without them telling me or any other client in writing. Even the new tellers could barely speak English and all my direct deposits were messd up. After weeks of fighting I finally got a manager to refund me the money I had lost.
Maybe your branch is exceptional.

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

I'm surprised you had a problem with Wachovia. We use their "crown banking" package, and as long as there's a $5k average balance combined in our checking and savings accounts, there's no fees, free checks, no ATM usage fees, and pretty decent interest, even on the checking account. We've got a good account manager at our branch, so maybe you just need to work through a different branch.

This may well be the case (branch location) for service. I also have the Crown Bank package but feel the interest is just not competitive or close any more.

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by myome

I have accounts in both Wachovia and Washington Mutual. I am in the process of dropping Wachovia (After being with them for 13 years) because I realize that I can get a lot more from WU. WU's rates are uaually much better and you can actully negotiate CD interest rate with them. I have asked them to match with online banking CD rate , they didn't match the exact rate but they did give more more then their published rate

Thanks I will also check out WaMu. Will also take a look at a coulple of the smaller local banks t see if they seem decent.