Relocating and looking for a good bank

[pilotskid27]

I would wholeheartedly recommend Chase....hands down!

When we first moved here 7 years ago, we checked out a few banks and couldn't see any descernable difference between them, so we went with the closest, Wells Fargo.

A week later, we attempted to buy a new car. Our bank account was temporarliy heavy with the money from selling our house in Chicago, so we assumed we would have no problems. We were so wrong!

The car dealership could not take our temporary check for the downpayment, and asked us to get a cashier's check or money order. We went to the branch where we opened the account, but they were not open (on Saturday morning!?!) The only phone # printed in the yellow pages went to a recording that kept politely asking us to "enter the extension # we wanted to reach". Long story short, we ended up visiting 5 branches untill we found one with an open lobby. When I got to the teller window and vented my frustration, the guy said, "Wow, I see you are carrying a high balance in your checking account, would you like to open a CD with some of that $$? He couldn't have cared less that I was angry and frustrated.

We nearly closed our account after that, but we had just completed the hassle of changing all the automatic payments and were reluctant to do it again. Fast forward 5 years, and we ran into similar stupidity when we attempted to apply for an SBA loan to start our business. By this time, we had had enough.

I stormed across the street to the nearby Chase. (A friend had been bragging for years about the superior service she was getting from them.) I was met by the branch manager and escorted immediately to a small business specialist. They interviewed me on the spot, gave me a packet detailing exactly what I would need for SBA paperwork. They followed up with an email hours later saying how they appreciated the opportunity to serve me, and were there to answer all my silly questions every step of the way.

Ten days later, I had a check in my hand.

We immediately moved all of our banking business there and have been delighted with the service---consistently above and beyond the call of duty. When our payroll service issued a bunch of checks out of sequence, they called to make sure it was okay before they cashed them.

In November, my wallet and one of my checkbooks was stolen out of my purse (behind my sales counter). Chase fraud alert called and we got the thieves stopped within 26 minutes! Further, the branch manager took every one of my paniced phone calls over the next few days as I tried to clean up the mess, replace my ID cards, etc, etc.

I bank at the branch at William Cannon and Mopac, and the one at Slaughter and Mopac, and I have been thrilled with the personal customer service each time I walk in.