CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR THE LOYAL CUSTOMER – THE TD/CANADA TRUST WAY
My story is a simple one. I went to my local branch of the TD/Canada Trust where I have banked for eight years and my husband for over twenty years. I went to make a deposit of a check that I received from the United States for income from a small farm I hold jointly with my siblings. I receive this income once a year. I have been getting this check for the past eight years. The first year I lived in Canada, the check I received was drawn from our small business account in the US and since I had just recently got married and moved to Canada and opened an account with what was then Canada Trust, this check was held for 30 days. Frustrating, but not totally unexpected either.
At that time I discussed with the bank how I could best handle this money transaction for the following years in order to avoid a hold being placed on the money. The bank recommended I get the money sent to me in the form of a bank check drawn from the USbank where our farm account was held. So that’s what I did. No more problems with holds being placed on the check for the next six years.
Then suddenly this year, January2006, when I stop in at my bank to deposit my check, I get questioned. Now in all fairness, I was also questioned last year about the check, what it was for, where it came from etc., but when I explained the situation, had the teller go back into my account and showed them where I had received a similar payment the previous year, the check was deposited, no questions. So I did the same this year. But the teller said she needed to run it past her manager. When she came back out, she told me the best they could offer me was a five day hold on the check since there was not a “code†attached to the deposit last year which showed it was made yearly. Now this hold was of course for five “business†days meaning that the current day (Thursday) didn’t count so I wouldn’t be able to access the money until the following Friday. I was upset. I informed the teller that I’ve banked with TD/Canada Trust for eight years and my husband for over twenty. We have our mortgage through this bank. I even asked for the manager to come over to speak with me. Well when the manager came over, he really didn’t look old enough to even be working, let alone be in a management position. He took one look at the check, NEVER made eye contact with me and said, “Nope, that’s the best we can do.†and walked away. I was livid! I told the teller I would take my check and my business elsewhere and walked out the door.
Well of course, the threat of me taking my business elsewhere did nothing for them. I’m sure they were secretly applauding that it was one less paltry account for them to deal with, but it felt good for the whole of the five seconds it took me to walk out the doors of the bank. So after a small rant with my husband, I told him to take the check back into the bank and deposit it into my account, as I knew taking it to another bank would not be a plausible solution. I knew I would not be able to get my husband to follow me in my trek to find a new bank to do business with. So the check was deposited with the five day hold. My husband later told me that another teller had come over and told him that we were lucky with just a five day hold as most of the time it was a thirty day hold. Well….let’s just say it was a good thing my husband didn’t tell me this until a LONG time after.
Now my story doesn’t end here. An hour or so after returning from the bank, I calmed down enough to have a rational thought. I decided I was not going to allow the bank to treat a loyal customer this way. So after digging and searching on the internet, I found the phone number to call and lodge a complaint with TD/Canada Trust. The gentlemen I got when I finally was connected to a live person had obviously been well trained in the art of diplomacy, as he had just the right amount of care and concern without giving away anything he could be held accountable for later. He said he would take my information down and someone would get back to me….. Now are you ready for this??? Wait…it’s a good one!! Someone would get back to me in three to five business days!! Well I told the guy that wouldn’t solve my problem of not being able to get my money now would it! But in his best well-trained concerned voice, he thought they might get back to me the next day if they weren’t busy. (Good comeback don’t you think to keep the angry lady appeased?)
Well I ended by telling him all over again what I thought of TD/Canada Trust and their customer service. I summed it up at the end by saying. If going through my banking history of the past few years plus the long history that my husband has had with this bank, isn’t a clue that we have never committed bank fraud or theft during this time, the likelihood that my New Year’s resolution for 2006 is to turn to a life of crime, show up at my bank with a bogus fraudulent US bank check….is pretty remote.
I’m still waiting to receive the call from someone about my complaint. I don’t hold out much hope that it will happen before the hold runs out on my money. But I do know that I’m going to make a comment to them about how busy their complaint department must be if it takes three to five business days to get back to me about my small complaint…ha! I might also discuss with them about how TD/Canada Trust gets to use “my money†during these five days of the hold. (But that’s another topic for another day.) And then I will also share with them what I’m going to do for TD/Canada Trust in the future. I’m going to make sure I tell anyone and everyone about my experience at TD/Canada Trust. I’m going to write about it as often as I can, and maybe….just maybe with my small ripple in this big pond, I can make a difference for all of us who have been loyal bank customers for many years and for any new customers that might be thinking of banking at TD/Canada Trust.
Lynnette J. Thorne
Calgary Alberta
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
January 9th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
I had the EXACT samme problem with TD . For years my aunt would send me a cheque for five thousand, twice a year. I am a 20+ year customer, and they always wanted to place a 30 day hold on it. Finally, one bright light suggested that they just call the bank that the cheque was issued from. ( I am in Ontario, and the issuing bank was a Royal bank in Quebec ) They charged me the cost of the long distance phone call, and the cheque was cleared immediately. Perhaps this might help.
January 10th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
I had the same problem with CIBC. I receive a monthly paycheck from the US. It is currently not feasible for the employer to direct deposit the funds so I have to get a check cut to me once a month. But, with the hold time I have to wait an additional month every single month to have it clear. Checks clear very quickly these days. It does not take 30 business days to clear funds. I don’t care what they say. In the meantime they are holding funds and not paying any interest on the money. This really ought to be regulated. Frankly, I even understand a five day hold on the funds, but 30 is just wrong. By the way I tried to bring this up with customer service and it was useless.
March 21st, 2006 at 5:38 pm
I fee for ya, Lynette. I recently opened my account with TD. I had opened a joint account with my spouse and we set everything all the same, the same accounts, the same access. I have always deposited my spouse’s check for him and taken out the balance through the machine no problem with my card. This being over the 200.00$ normal limit. well, I deposited a check one day, and long behold it would only allow me to take out 200.00$ I am 22 years old, and I believed (even at the time of my setting up my new accounts with them) that I am responsible enough to handle a higher release ammount than 200.00 I have never commited bank fraud, and that was not the agreement when I set up my card. So I waited in line spoke to a rep, and she directed me to another desk the lady told me that my card had been set up this way. I explained to her that this is a joint account, and there is no reason why my spouse and I would want different access to “our” money, in all honesty, I was not rude, I never raised my voice, All I was looking for was an “I’m sorry, that this inconieneces you”, or “lets resolve this issue for you.” Common customer service respect. But to no avail, she told me I would have to wait to see if someone could help me. I understood banks are busy places, after about 5 minutes a lady was ready to see me in her office, so that is where I went. When I arrived she had my account up and a printed peice of paper with a whole bunch of documents that I signed when I opened my account with them, She had one circled and underlined. She then proceeded to tell me what date my account was created and that it was always set up this way, I explained that I have taken my spouses checks and taken out money before and never had any problem taking out more than the 200.00$ she slammed her hands on the table and yelle”what do you want me to do for you today.” I replied quite surprised with this uncalled for burst of frustration or what ever you call that, with “Excuse me?” and she repeated herself again. I then asked, “do you always treat your customers this way? all I ‘m looking for is maybe an apology, or a reason for why the change occured, because I will come back here with my bank statements and prove that I have always been able to do this,” she repeated again that I signed some document, pointing to it with her pen. I said, “that doesn’t mean anything to me, can you pull up that document and show me exactly where I signed my release ammount to 200.00$ then she said “there is nothing I can do” with that I took her card, and said I think I would like to close off my account, she replied with ” we need your signature for that” So with that I left. Feeling that I could escalate this and maybe it was just a really bad day for her or something. I have had held bank accounts since the age of 7 and all these years even as a child I have nevre been treated so poorly in my life by someone who I am supposed to intrusdt my money with. But logging into there website, I found it also very much like a brick wall, there is no direct number to a supervisor, no direct line to a manager, just e-mail and a phone number for general inquiries or personal accounts. This is a very poor way to treat a new customer let alone a person who has delt with a bank for 8 years. Banks are turning into businesses, people value their money and wanted to be treated with respect when addressing an issue about their money. How can I trust my bank to handle any problems I have in the future?
April 9th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
When was a bank anything other than a business?
April 18th, 2006 at 4:28 am
Since I am the one who initially wrote this complaint, I thought I’d write an update. I did finally receive a call 3 days later from someone in customer service at TD/Canada Trust. The woman was very professional and well trained in the art of diplomacy. After explaining my situation again, she took care of the hold that had been placed on my account even though the hold would be up in 2 days. She also indicated that I should now have a “code” on my account that should prevent this from happening next year when I go to deposit this US bank check. I should have no holds placed on it as long as it’s a bank check from the same US bank. I have no problem with this arrangement.
Surprisingly, about 3 weeks later, I recieved a call from the local manager of this branch. He wanted to know what had happened and my experience etc. During the course of our conversation, he seemed to believe it was the fault of the teller to which I corrected him and stated I was most frustrated with the response I received from the “manager” that came over. He thanked me for bringing the matter to his attention and in the end offered me a gift certificate to a restaurant of our family choosing.
I honestly wished I would have told this manager that while the gift certificate was a wonderful gesture, I appreciated more the response of the phone call from TD/Canada Trust and taking my concern seriously. Hopefully by calling these things to their attention, they will see that getting their staff to spend a few extra minutes sorting out customers concerns at the time they happen will benefit everyone.
Dee, in response to your comment, I agree that a bank is a business, but there is no excuse for not taking the time to help customers and provide excellent customer service right from the start. Managers especially should be held to a higher standard of practice.
May 16th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
Hello Lynnette. My name is John, and I used to work for TD as a teller and I must say that your story is very shocking to me. A simple look back on your account history would have showed this cheque being deposited each year and could have prevented this whole thing.
I would however like to point out a few things. First, cheque clearing does take a very long time when the cheque is not drawn on a bank within your province. Inside canada can take upto 5 business days, and (I know it seems like a long time) it can take 30 business days for a cheque to clear from the US (their clearing system is VERY slow).
Secondly, I hope this behaviour that you received fromt the “manager” is only an isolated incident. This is by no means the manner in which TD personel are taught to speak to a customer. Like the one response said, it may have just been a really bad day. I am also glad that you did get resolution to your problem in the end and that an attempt was made to make you happy. This is the type of service TD normally stirves to deliver.
Finally, for anyone reading this, there are steps that you can take if you are not happy with the service you receive.
Step 1 – Ask to speak to the manager. He/she will speak to you. Maybe not right then and there, but they will.
Step 2 – Speak to the TD cares department. This is the people that you commented were very adept at diplomacy.
Step 3 – If the “cares” department does not resolve you problem, you can speak witht the TD ombudsman. This is an impartial TD employee (that may be an oxymoron) that investiages unresolved complaints and tires to find resolutions.
Step 4 – If the TD ombudsman is of no help, you can file a complaint with the ombudsman of financial institutions. A government official that will investigate your complaints.
All these step, phone numbers, and contacts are in a brochure in every branch called “If you have a problem or concern”. Every branch official must, by law, provide you with this brochure if you ask for. (Every other chartered bank in Canada — RBC, CIBC, etc. — will have a similar brochure and steps). You must follow all the steps in order and not skip any or they will not listen to you until you have.
Anyways… Im glad things worked out in the end.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
You think being a customer is bad try having a student loan with them. I am currently paying my loan off for the second time while I try to find someone at the TD corporation who can add well enough to figure out that an enormous error has been made. I’m going on 11 years with this particular battle. I can definitely sympathize and I’ve said that they will NEVER get another penny of my investment money. Jon, (the former TD teller) I hate to break the news to you but I have NEVER had anything but this kind of poor, rude, uniformed service. I am in the process of approaching the TD ombudsman after having exhausted all regular channels. Wish me luck, lord knows with TD I’ll need it!
July 12th, 2006 at 9:57 am
It seems that “John” may not be all he seems as he is quoting verbatum the internal manual of TD’s Customer care procedures.
Nice to see that big business keeps it eye on the little guy.
–M
July 12th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Hi Mark. Thank you for posting. I agree about John. I’m fairly sure that he is part of some kind of damage control team at TD. I don’t see it so negatively though. He is obviously an employee but at least TD is making the effort to tell people what to do when they have a problem. Now if they could just do their job in the first place, John could get moved to a different department.
August 22nd, 2006 at 11:22 pm
I am a little biased on this situation but I am going to shed some light on what happened…
I work for TD Canada Trust. I started as a teller at 19 and worked my way up to a “sales” position (I am now 22).
As a teller, any cheque brought forth is essentially a credit decision. We do NOT look at YOU and think that YOU’RE defrauding the bank. It’s the people that WRITE the cheque that we need to question. What it is hard for most to understand is that that bank is a business, and is out to make money. Tellers are required to do their “due diligence” when making decision like how long a cheque is on hold for. The standard hold time for a US$ cheque is 30 business days. It seems like an unreasonably long amount of time, but the lack of cooperation between Canada and the US when it comes to banking often results in Canadian banks not receiving funds until up to 45 business days after the cheque was sent through to clearing. Too many times have I ignored my gut feeling about a certain cheque and not placed a hold, and it has placed my customers in a sticky situation. In all honesty, WE don’t want YOU to be stuck with a series of your OWN cheques bouncing due to a cheque that you deposited.
What also needs to be understood is that it is a Teller’s RESPONSIBILITY to ensure they are doing the right thing for the customer AND the bank. Unfortunately the major banks in Canada do not pay their tellers well (starting wage is about $11/hour, and it’s only part time work 95% of the time).
Another factor that has really only come into play in the last 5 years or so is money laundering. September 11th changed the way banks do business. We are trained extensively on warning signs and listening to your gut.
You would be surprised if you knew the statistics on how much a branch could lose in a given month by not placing appropriate holds on cheques. It is a frustrating system, I understand, but usually it just takes a phone call to book an appointment with a manager to discuss your situation with a manager BEFORE you present your cheque to a teller. Having a discussion at a teller wicket regarding issues like this is not something we’re encouraged to do. Privacy laws are incredibly strict, and we like to ensure that no one else in the branch can hear what’s going on with your affairs.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are two sides to every story. I don’t think that the situation was handled correctly at the branch you visited and “John” is just letting you know what your best steps would be to get this resolved. But PLEASE don’t take it personally! As I said before, banks are BUSINESSES! If our business was LOSING money, you would not be banking with TD. TD stocks are absolutely SKYROCKETING! One of our guiding principles is “to increse shareholder value.” This means making the RIGHT decisions at the right times. “KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER” is our number one rule, and unfortunately with virtual banking, it’s difficult, we realize. A teller’s job can depend on making the right decision when it comes to placing holds on cheques… A girl I work with a year and a half ago accepted a $5500 US dollar “money order” that turned out to be fraudulent. Our customer did NOT know that it was fake, and not only does it affect her performance appraisal, but the client went into serious overdraft and didn’t have good enough credit to obtain overdraft protection or a line of credit to cover the loss. The average working person can not come up with $5000 cash in a short period of time (it would take 6 WHOLE paycheques for me, and I WORK there).
Please be patient, always talk to a “Manager Customer Service,” who specializes in the service side (teller related) issues.
Honestly, TD Canada Trust is a great bank, there is a REASON they are on of the top banks in Canada. I have faith and I BELIEVE in where I work, and I KNOW that we rise above the rest of the banks.
On that note, TD is really focusing on the “customer experience” now. They have developed a whole new strategy in customer relations that will change the way we do business. In the next year you will notice a change in the way we handle any day to day enquiries. In all honesty, we know that HELPING THE CUSTOMER is key in retaining business… It’s just a matter of getting EVERYONE employed on board!!!
August 24th, 2006 at 3:08 am
Hello Stephanie,
As a customer of TD Canada trust for many years I can honestly say you simply do not get it. One of the reasons TD Canada Trust is one of the top banks is there are only a few banks in Canada. Your banks price fixing schemes and high service charges make every Canadian hate you. Your call centers and staff are always rude and do not act like they need or want us as customers. We would all switch if there was an alternative, but where else can we put our RSPs? An other bad Canadian bank?
The controller at my company deals with TD and Royal Bank and says although they both have unreasonable fees the Royal Bank is a pleasure to deal with, as opposed to the rudeness of TD.
.
I have some money I wanted to invest at TD as my other accounts are there as well as my visa and RSP. After dealing with someone at the help desk the other day over an issue with my Visa I am moving everything to another institution. I have had nothing but bad dealings for years, and this is the last straw. As I paid off my mortgage completely now is the easiest time to switch banks. I will end all business with TD in the next couple of months.
While surfing the web for people with bad experiences with TD I found the following website, quite funny:
http://www.ihatetdbank.com/
August 24th, 2006 at 3:17 am
Well we could all do something radical like switch to PC Financial. No fees and a savings account that now pays 4%. Or how about taking our money to ING? Not quite as good but also no fees for savings.
Yup. We could all do it but most people will keep taking it where it hurts. Laziness is a wonderful thing for big business. They can always count on people to do nothing much.
(Royal bank is also crap in my opinion. I closed my account there years ago due to unsavoury practices on their part.)
August 24th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
Hi Editor,
I had a whole rant about switching to PC Financial, but took it out as I did not want to look like I work for them or something. Also PC does have some service fees even though they promised they would never do it. For example overdraft has a fee each time you use it. I never use overdraft anymore anyway, and have enough cash now that I could put my cash into TD and never pay fees, but I hate TD.
I moved my bank account to PC years ago, but I can’t move my RSP there because I want to pick my own stocks so I am stuck with TD Waterhouse or something like it. I also can’t move my business accounts to PC as they don’t do business.
I have loans with TD and a TD GM visa. Basically I was using TD and not paying any fees for anything, except now the figured out a way to screw us by charging some bogus fees on my Visa OVER LIMIT FEES. What the hell is that!!! Some of my over limit fees are just fees paid because I went over my limit because they charged me over limit fees from the month before!!
I have sent in the cash to completely pay off my Visa through PC financial. It is funny every other bill I pay from PC Financial gets there in two days, but for some reason TD takes forever. I made the payment August 21, and today is August 24, and it is still not showing up at TD. I know they get the money sooner, I am sure they just like to collect an extra two days interest, or make it difficult to transfer money so you open an account with them. For now I will keep a zero balance on my credit card and never use it, just hold on to it for 7 years or until I use up the GM points, IF I decide to buy a GM car in the future.
Since now I am moving my money (and have some investment cash to invest besides). What bank is best? They all suck, but is BOM or Royal, or CIBC better? How about HSBC? Actually HSBC sounds good. Anyone have any comments or is TD the best out of a crappy evil bad industry?
August 24th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Donald
I DO get it, but as I said, I was shedding some light on the situation. It’s obvious that you just don’t like TD. That’s fine. That’s why there are other banks out there. I’m sure you have had unpleasant experiences with other banks as well though, as you sound like the type that hates banks in general. Maybe keeping your money under your mattress and borrowing money from your parents is the way to go.
VISA charges the over-limit fee – and ALWAYS has. With EVERY bank. If you’re getting overlimit fees because of your overlimit fees, there seems to be a problem. On YOUR end.
HSBC is not a major chartered bank, and can’t accept other institution credit card payments, so have fun…
September 3rd, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Hello all,
I just wanted to state that, when you treat bank staff (or call centre staff, etc) rudely, do you expect them to go out of their way to kiss your butt? People are human and you’d be surprised at how far a smile and/or a bit of kindness will take you. They work to earn a living just like the rest of us. They don’t do it for masochistic purposes.
September 4th, 2006 at 12:35 am
You’re completely right Jaybee. I’ve seen some people be extremely rude to bank staff. However, just because a customer is a total asshole does not mean that they should respond in kind. But forget that. I don’t even mind when people are rude back to assholes. I think it’s right. The problem is when you do give them a smile and polite words. What about the staff that are nothing but rude without provocation? I’ve met more than my share so I don’t think it’s all the customers’ fault.
September 4th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
It’s true that there are miserable tellers/clerks/etc. out there also. I think maybe it’s a societal problem these days. Everyone needs to calm down, take a deep breath, and put the Golden Rule into practice.
September 7th, 2006 at 2:21 am
I was also surfing the Net for information on TD-Canada Trust because of an encounter which I perceive as a violation of my rights as an individual. I was not depositing any foreign cheques. I been dealing with the bank for over 25 years. Here is my story: Went to the bank to make deposit only, first 1500 cash, cheque for 1000, and return of unused travellers cheques amounting to a fraction of the money I deposited, which were also purchased from TD-Canada Trust.
I keyed my PIN before the teller and she deposited the cash and cheque. When it came to the unused travellers cheques, I proceeded to sign them so they can be redeposited. Well the teller had to consult with her supervisor. She came back and said to me she needed picture ID from me to know who I was. Remember she has all my whole profile before her and I am not new to the bank and neither is she. I pointed that out to her. To appease the situation, I showed her my passport and placed it back in my purse. She insisted that she has to look at my passport while I sign the cheques before her.
By this time everyone in line must have thought that I was a suspected thief.
Later that eveinign I had an encounter with the manager. He defended his staff and that it is the policy of the bank.
I feel violated, humilated and harassed. I do an aweful lot of business with that bank.
We are putting up with a lot of crappy behaviour with banks.
September 8th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Mary:
You state that you do a lot of business with the bank but did this particular teller actually know you? If she didn’t, then she was following the rules laid out to her and shouldn’t be blamed.
Society has changed (for the worse, I believe) from a time when everyone knew you down at the local bank to one where no one knows anyone anymore. To the bank as a whole (and I mean any of the big 5 banks) you and I are merely numbers on a screen. It’s unfortunate but it’s the reality of the day.
September 11th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
A violation of my rights as an individual? Wouldn’t the bigger violation be if we cashed your cheques for someone else? The only reason anyone in the line would think you’re a theif was if you argued… THAT’S why she got the manager… You created a situation! JEEZ – If anything, be happy that the bank is PROTECTING YOU!
September 25th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
i applied for a SECURED line of credit that totaled less than half of what I have for equity in my house. the remainder of my mortgage is with TD.I get paid in cash and haven’t yet done my 04 and 05 taxes however I have been at the same job for 9 years and provided a letter of employment verifying my income as well as a phone number for the bank to call my employer and verify everything. the branch manager told the loans person to deny the line of credit because he said that this didn’t verify my income. then when I complained about it he started asking me all these questions like why I get paid cash and how my company does their cpp and and income tax deductions etc. a bank’s job on this sort of thing is simply to exercise due diligence in verifying that I make the money I say I do and that I am employed where I say I am.I provided all of this information. the rest is none of their business! this is a SECURED line of credit for god’s sake. they are guaranteed their money. they have forgotten their place as a business and now seem to think they are the government.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Obviously more to the story… That wouldn’t happen… If the MANAGER had to get involved, you obviously gave them a reason to doubt you…
October 6th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
ALSO… If you oew back taxes, legally banks are not allowed to lend you money… SO if you get paid cash there is an assumption that YOU OWE!
October 15th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
TD bank has gone downhill since merging with Canada Trust. EVERYONE I know that had an account with them has left and I’m the last one in my family to finally give up.
Treating people like they can’t be trusted with ATM deposits after 13+ years with a perfect record is unacceptable. I hope this bank goes bankrupt and all the snobby young people that work for them end up at McDonalds!
November 30th, 2006 at 12:53 am
Stephanie, that attitude of “that obviously wouldnt happen.. what did you do give the manager herpes so he would doubt you?” attitude is exactly why people dont like YOU or TD Trust Customer Service. You think youre effing fox mulder from the x-files and everyone is out to get you. how dare you tell that lady she MUST have done something to make the manager doubt her. the first rule of customer service is the customer is always right. if she says she did everything legitimately you should be kissing her ass and apologizing and trying to find out why she was treated unfairly.
December 7th, 2006 at 5:38 am
Wow!! Lots of posts since I first wrote about my TD banking experience. It’s coming up on a year and I’ll be depositing another yearly check again from the US bank. So we’ll see how well the “code” works on my account in getting it deposited.
Yes, I still bank with TD. I couldn’t convince my husband to move our accounts. Although we’ve moved some money to another financial institution.
I wanted to comment after reading posts on how others have been treated as a customer at TD. I believe for those of us who live on a budget, how we are treated at our banks becomes very important. If you read my story again…..I was most upset by how the on-duty manager dismissed my dilemma without bothering to find out what my concerns were. Had he taken a few minutes to talk to me, I might have walked out of the bank frustrated by the 5-day hold, but nevertheless feeling that at least he had listened.
The irony of my story is that if I was an independently wealthy person, it wouldn’t have mattered to me if my check was put on hold for 5 days or 30 days. However, we are a one-income household since I have chosen to be a stay-at-home parent. So my yearly income check is important to us. It was the reason I worked with the bank eight years ago when I first moved to Canada and received the check. I worked with them to make sure my check wasn’t held. And for seven years, I was able to deposit the check, no problem.
I do understand the dilemma that the tellers are forced to deal with. Crooks are getting better and better at defrauding banks. So I have no problems with tellers questioning me. Although it is annoying sometimes, I understand. It’s the managers where I place a higher level of responsibility for customer service. I know that with the technology today, it isn’t rocket science to review a customers banking practice and account, in order to help out their regular customers. Especially when a customer has been banking at the bank for many years.
So what I’m trying to say is this. No matter how wonderful TD’s customer service plan is to resolve issues…..it takes time to go through all those chains of command for the assistance. In my case, I wasn’t called for 3 days. Some of us don’t have the luxury of lots of time when it comes to our money. We need it quickly for our day to day living.
My theory is that banking today is not for those of us with limited income. Just take a look at all the fees that accounts are charged. Banks really don’t want the business of the “average joe.” It’s not a money making deal for them.
So….this is the crux of the problem. We need the banks, but they don’t need us.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
That is the reason people are leaving banks and joining Credit Unions like Libro in SW Ontario. There banking is made better, you are an owner and not a number.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
i need a telephone number to contact Td Canada Trust the reason is we sent in 2 checks for collection and I need to know a status on these checks.
Debbie McHugh thanks
January 27th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Stephanie, your comment about the bank not being able to look after their client if they owe taxes is ridiculous! A bank does not know the personal goings on of their client, unless the government has tried to freeze their bank account.
The problem with customer service at a bank, is that sometimes they do not understand the concept. They have so many rules to protect themselves, which is their right.
My daughter just bought a house, has been at canada trust since she was 8 years old, has a visa (10,000 limit) and a line of credit($15,000), and she provided a letter of employment, and a hand written payslip, and she was denied a mortgage.Hand written does not work fot tdcanada trust.
She went to a mortgage broker and the mortgage was approved with very little fuss.
The tdcanada trust “mortgage broker” had her in tears, telling her that no bank would approve a mortgage with a handwritten payslip. She suggested that the company go out and buy a typewriter so that the mortgagae could be approved. Stupid, Dumb, terrifying, scary, nonsense!!
Did I mention that my daughter had $16,000 in her savings account??
February 2nd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
In response to Mr. Phillip Rosen’s reply regarding “..a bank does not know the personal goings on of their client..”, Mr. Rosen you are 100% mistaken. I have several filing cabinets that are filed with breech of client confidentity and information disclosure files where Canadian Banking Institutions were at fault. I would suggest not continuing your spread erroneous information since an Canadian Banking Institution can access any of their client’s taxation records at a moment’s notice.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
The comment was “if you owe back taxes the bank is legally not allowed to loan you money”.
That comment is incorrect.What law are you saying is in place??? There is no such law!
A bank cannot access Revenue Canada information!
They can access the credit bureau information!
I would suggest that you stop spreading erroneous information, or tell us what you are talking about a little clearer! This is supposed to be about td canada trust. They do make mistakes, and the key is whether they try to correct the mistakes and make an improvement in their service!
I sent in a complaint, regarding my daughter, and she was contacted the next day by ct agent whose job was to find out what the complaint was, and to get someone to contact my daughter. This was done very promptly!
February 17th, 2007 at 2:01 am
I will be honest here and come right out and say that I am an employee of TD Canada Trust. I have worked there for over 2 years and am now in a sales position. I would like to comment on a few of the postings.
First of all I agree that there is no excuse for poor customer service. If that has happened to any of you it was wrong, no matter how you treated the employee. But there is a difference between poor customer service and following procedure.
Secondly, I feel that it is important for me to stress to you just how much we believe in a good customer experience. Every branch is rated on their customer experience by surveying people who have visited the branch recently. TD Canada Trust has been rated number ONE amoung the top 5 banks in Canada. It has received this rating in customer service, best internet banking, and best telephone banking. (For all of you thinking this is biased, these studies are conducted by an impartial company). We truly do appreciate your business, afterall you are the reason we have jobs!
Thirdly, I feel that everyone has to remember that banks are companies! They have shareholders and need to be accountable to their shareholders. With this comes the need for service charges and due diligence. Would we expect to not pay for other services, such as telephone, internet or cable? We are providing a service with physical locations, staffing, and therefore operating costs that need to be covered. It is similar to how everyone complains about taxes, but expects optimum service from every crown corporation and public sector.
In regards to holding cheques… Yes it is a huge inconvenience. No one is more aware of that than us! Believe me we will look for every reason possible to justify not holding your cheque, but there is not always an out. Although I know many of you still do not agree this is what we base our decision on:
- Do we know you?
- Are we familiar with this company
- Is this transacation unusual for you
- have you had these before? (If so it would need to be of similar amount and noted with a comment in your
account history)
- what else do you have with us
- would we be able to recover this money if it were lost?
There are other conditions as well… But the main point is that in many cases we cannot see whether there is money in the other account. In these situations we are forced to base our decision on your relationship with TDCT… And although your tenure with us does have an impact, alone, it does not provide sufficient justification for taking on the risk. I describe cheques as this: if we do not hold them we are loaning you the money until it clears. If we do hold it we are simply saying, we are not comfortable of the source and need to protect not only ourselves, but you as well… ( also, we CANNOT obtain information from other banks regarding these cheques by calling. They cannot guarantee that the money is in the account due to privacy regulations).
I would also like to respond to complaints about ID. Lets be honest here, if you noticed money missing from your account you would be the first to complain! It is our responsibility to obtain photo or government identification for large withdrawals (many times for greater than 1,000). It is for YOUR PROTECTION!!! Also, do not feel upset just because a teller needs to go speak to a supervisor. Every teller has a signing limit depending on their experience…. Which means they may simply need to obtain permission to perform the transaction, not that they think you are a criminal mastermind!
Lastly, bear with us! I think we all become a bit uptight when it comes to our finances. We are there to help you, but you need to let us! We do not want to give you a hard time, but unfortunately we are dealing with money so there are strict guidelines. TDCT loses millions and millions of dollars due to fraud, so you must understand why we need to be so careful. Keep in mind with PC you must deposit at the bank machine, so this could mean that every one of your deposits are held! If you have questions about hold limits at the ABM Ask! (they are based on credit bureau, so we are somewhat limited to what these can be set to).
(P.S. the comments about owing taxes. Martin is correct. If you are behind on your taxes and you are attempting to obtain credit from TDCT that requires you to provide income confirmation, you will most likely be required to provide confirmation your taxes are in order as well.. I’m not even going to go into explaining to Philip why we would not accept a written paystub).
Hope this helps to explain the method to the madness.. I know things can seem ridiculous at times but if you simply ask why, there is a logical answer for every policy.
Ryan
March 4th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Attention Philip, perhaps reading before you insert your foot into your mouth a second time might help…
Banks certainly do know their clients credit histories, anyone doubting that statement is a fool, which you indicate that you certainly are in your opening statements. You certainly have little knowledge of Canadian law, corporate or otherwise.
Any financial institution that didn’t know their clients previous credit histories would be out of business in a hurry. Whatever information you are raving about regarding how great TD Canada Trust is, was likely something you have been previously spoonfed. TD Canda Trust’s mistakes are numerous and many, and rarely do they admit them. Incidentally, your extreme and excessive use of exclamation marks at the end of each of your statements makes said statements read like the rantings of a lunatic. This entire office has been laughing up a storm since your previous post.
March 5th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
To all you readers. I work for a bank, and the problem is not with you, its that haveing the cheque bounce for whatever particular reason causes the company harm. I work for a bank not TD, but we all follow the same procedures.
I get frustrated dealing with people like that. IF you knew there was a hold on the cheque then take note if there was a hold last time, there will be a hold this time around.
IF you need the money right away, have the cheque certified or in a draft form, or cash. Why you guys still use cheques if you need money immediately boggles me. WIRE the payment if you have to.
March 20th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Martin Von Beek- I am glad you think my comments are funny!!!!!
I thought this was to advise some of the difficulties one has encountered. I do not know what your problem is, but my daughter arranged her mortgage through a mortgage broker, with very little delay, using a letter from her employee, and a hand printed pay stub! I have found out that no bank will accept a hand written pay stub, but they are entitled to their own special rules, as it is their money.(exclamation point)
Von Beekster- your antagonistic attitude amazes me(exclamation point) What is bugging you(question mark) Why so hostile(question mark)
My daughter owes revenue canada and that is not on any credit report. So my whole office and bridge club are laughing at you and your office- You know it all and are always right (question mark)
Owing taxes has nothing to do with a bank, unless Revenue Canada tried to attach that person’s bank account. Then and probably only then would a Bank be aware of a real problem.
Why so hostile (exclamation point) I just proved that you put both your feet, in your mouth and I accept your apology!!!! There is no one set of rules that cover every situation!!!!!!!!!!!!
TD Canada Trust did not end up with the mortgage, but at least they contacted my daughter and she was satisfied with their response.
March 24th, 2007 at 1:10 am
Dad, you’re an idiot.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:14 am
When a cheque is on hold… it is so that the funds from the chq can be verefied. (SO THEY CANT USE YOUR MONEY!!!)duh… furthermore… have you ever considered why your bank didn’t decide to extend you the credit? (If your financial situation was good eanough they would not have had any reason to hold the cheque). was it for an abnormally large amount? more than what is normally deposited into your account? If you had taken that cheque to any other bank and had been in the same situation they would have not givin you the money right away. (unless you went to western union) Perhaps you should consider weather or not your tiresome rants regarding the length of your loyalty to TDcanada trust had any thing to do with your financial situation? If you dont have eanough money in your account to cover the chq if it comes back, they will not give the money to you right away! understand? no one cares how long you’ve banked with them, that doesnt make your credit outstanding. You are just a fool who expects something for nothing!Any other bank would have treated you the same way, perhaps even worse. Are you aware that scotia bank puts a 7 day hold on any chq that is deposited into the bank regardless of how long you have been a customer. and where did you get the idea that being a customer four 8 years means you get what you want from the bank… and why do u seem to think the bank is ususing your money, you still have it, and some interest! hey not bad! for an ignorant fool who can do no better with their money, if you could you would not be posting on this website. it wouldn’t hurt to just get educated on finance.. maybe it would make you sleep a little better while your money is on hold. The bank doesnt conspire about how to hold you money and use it before you can have it! hahahaha
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Ignorant:
I totally love your rant! People just don’t get it sometimes.
May 26th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
What cracks me up these days is that people are absolutely helpless without credit. Live within your means, people! Other than a mortgage or a car loan, why do you need things like lines of credit, overdraft protection, or credit cards? So many people in this country use credit as an income supplement. That’s a guaranteed recipe for financial disaster!
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:44 pm
There is no one set rule for how abank treats you as a customer.
Ignorant says that Scotia Bank puts a 7 day hold, but my Scotia Bank puts a 1 day hold. I have a commercial account for 7 years and no overdraft protection, but have not been overdrawn except once 6 years ago when I made an error, which was corrected the next day.
I cannot understand the hostility in Martin von Beek!
Every person has different dealings and for him to be so antagonistic about spelling punctuation, I hope he is not married so he does not take that attitude home to anyone.
What a horrible person!
puts a 7 day hold
June 5th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Yes, Each Bank has it’s own set a problems. I personally believe It depends on the staff/ Management more than Anything, and your relationship with them. I personally love my Royal Bank. But I’m sure if there was a major change in Management, it might not be so pretty.
And if anyone is looking for a Freebie from a bank:
http://canadianfreestuff.com/2007/06/05/switch-to-td-canada-trust-bank-and-get-a-free-ipod/
I know you dislike TD Bank, but after reading all the comments, I think Everyone dislikes Banks period, because they look after our money, and can not be trusted.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
This is incredible find for me. 3 of the employees in our office had a very similar experience yesterday and that forced me to perform the search on the internet for similar issues. Here’s our story:
We work for a Software company. The company has an account with TD. We have our personal accounts with TD. We have our personal accounts with TD since we came to Canada 3 years ago.
My company pays my salary in checks, but the salary amount is usually not the same – it’s based on the number of hours we have worked. The first time I went to deposit the check the teller told me that for the local cheque (the payer and the payee both bank at TD Canada Trust) it will be a 5-day hold. At first I couldn’t believe it, but thought that it’s the first time so it’s okay.
The second month, I met a different teller, who didn’t mention anything about the hold. So, I was surprised and I asked her. She told me that your company is also TD, and your account is also in TD so there is no question of a hold. I was so happy and assumed that either the previous teller didn’t know a thing, or maybe one of them is not following the rules. I didn’t say anything because I was happy that there is no hold. The next month was no problem either with a different teller.
Yesterday, when 3 of us went (at different times) to deposit our cheques, we had very similar experiences. The teller spent 10 minutes just tapping on the computer. Then she asked me whether I have ever deposited anything from this employer before. When I mentioned to her the dates, then she said a long “ah..” and realized that maybe she was not seeing the transactions. Anyways, after another 5 minutes, she did clear the cheque. But, by the time there were at least 15 people behind me in the line, and were getting too frustrated. I was frustrated too as I had to wait for 15 minutes to deposit my salary cheque that I have been doing without much issues for last 4 months. This same thing was repeated for all the 3 employees today (maybe they met the same teller).
We are switching to automatic deposits from next month to avoid all hassles.
I have had 5 day holds and once a 20 day hold on US cheques in TD. I thought that maybe that’s normal procedure so didn’t care much. But I always assumed that if the bank is putting a hold they should be paying interest on it for that time because ING Direct pays you interest on their 2-3 days hold-period, so if TD doesn’t that would explain why their tellers love to put the hold. Also, I agree, their managers sometimes are not helpful at all. When I had gone to add over draft protection I was simply told a cold ‘no’ by the manager. The reason was that I have a credit card with them. So, if I cancel my credit card then I can have overdraft protection.
I am switching to PC Financial very soon. I am done with the coldness of TD employees.
June 9th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Go ahead and switch to PC Financial. When you have your first problem with them, good luck trying to resolve it over the phone to an agent who couldn’t care less.
With PC Financial, you get what you pay for!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Amit,
You rant makes no sense whatsoever. They can’t legally tell you that you have to have a credit card to get overdraft. And the manager wouldn’t be the one giving you overdraft.
Also, you DO get paid interest for the hold periods. The money is IN your account, it’s just not available. Next time, educate yourself a little more before you post something that makes you sound like an idiot.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Stephanie,
I believe you did not read my post correctly. They did not tell me that I need to have a credit card to have overdraft protection. They told me the opposite. They told me that since I have a credit card with them I can’t have the overdraft protection. If I cancel my credit card, then they can provide me with overdraft protection.
Also, I never said that they do or don’t give interest during the hold period. Looks like you have some serious issues while calling others idiots. I only mentioned that I always thought that they provide interest during the hold period, but as mentioned in one of the posts above (by Neil post 2) they don’t pay interest during the holds. I was only expressing my surprise about the no-interest during the hold period after reading that post as I always believed that holds include interest.
Jeez, please get a life before attacking someone else for no reason. Or, are you a TD employee who is out to attack anyone who ever says anything bad about your company?
June 12th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
James R. Gordon,
Can you enlighten us with the kind of problems you have faced with your PC Financial account? It’s good to be warned in advance, so it will be very helpful if you can tell us about your own experiences with PC Financial.
Thanks.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Hi Amit,
There are probably more than one TD employees posting here.
But even if they are not from TD don’t be surprised. The ignorance at the Canadian banking system is surprising. Most people have never banked in another country so they let the banks make billions while they spend time defending the fact that the banks give little to nothing in return. I still want to do a post about this someday but I haven’t had time.
PC Financial. There is no real problem with them for day to day banking. Everything is free and they give a great interest rate on some of their savings accounts compared to the other banks.
The problems arise when you have a problem or need something special. For example when applying for an apartment you may need a letter from your bank. With a local branch you can go in and get it same day. With PC you have to wait a week and there is a service charge for it. Same goes if you ever need to apply for a loan. It’s very impersonal.
I’ve been banking with PC for a number of years with very few problems. There were one or two snags but not enough to make me give some bank a monthly fee for the privilege of them holding on to my money and making a fortune with it.
If you are only going to bank for yourself and you don’t expect to do much specialized stuff, go ahead and get a PC account. I’d get one in addition to the regular bank account anyway because everything is free to use. I really don’t see why people don’t switch to them for day to day banking. It’s much better and the way it should be.
Most banks in the UK don’t charge a service charge and they give a high interest rate. Wonder why the Canadian banks don’t do the same? They’re very profitable so why?
The answer is because Canadians are too lazy or too stupid to vote with their dollars. They allow the banks to mistreat them. I applaud the fact that you’re doing something about switching your bank account. It’s the right thing to do and if more people followed your example, we’d have a much healthier marketplace. I wish you all the best.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Editor,
I find it funny you castigate the Canadian banking system but applaud PC Financial. PC Financial is run by CIBC!
Amit,
The problems I’ve had with PC Financial range from minor, like having to pay extra for a monthly statement since I refuse to bank on my computer, to quite annoying like having a deposit not register into my account through one of their machines which resulted in me having to run around and fax proof to them after going through a long conversation on the phone and finally getting access to my money over a week later.
I prefer having a branch to deal with.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Thank you for the tip. I know that it’s run by CIBC. It’s the one service they do right when it comes to service fees.
I’ve also had problems with PC financial so I’m not saying they’re perfect. The whole point was that the Canadian banking system rips off customers while making billions. Try looking at the banking websites in the UK and compare the service fees of which there are few to none. Or how about the whole checking system where people can rip off other people, when in places like Japan they not only have no service fees, but they also have instant account transfers making cheques obsolete. How many times have you had someone write you a cheque that bounced? Why can’t we transfer money from account to account through an ATM like in other countries?
Are Canadian banks too stupid? Too greedy to invest in solutions that help the end customer?
These are questions to ask. The fact that one bank is worse or better than the other is irrelevant. The whole system is shit. At least at PC financial you can squeeze the same banking services out of CIBC without paying for them to use your money for their own bottom line. That’s the really insulting part. Banks should be paying their clients for the privilege of storing all that money which they can then further invest. It used to be that way once even in Canada. So instead of pointing out that PC Financial is owned by CIBC, we should all be asking the question of, if they can provide this service for free, and other banks around the world can treat their customers better, why don’t our own banks do the same for us?
June 16th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
To Amit:
To EVERYONE:
Here is a simple solution to all of your problems with ANY major bank:
INVEST in them. You can’t complain about not getting anything back from the banks. They will put you through retirement…
You will appreciate what they do for you as a shareholder, and you will be a happy camper with the returns. Any of the top preforming canadian equity mutual funds ALWAYS include at least 3 of the “Big 5″ banks.
BUT – invest in the MAJOR banks. Investing in PC, or ING will not get you the returns you’re looking for.
Simple solution. The service charges and interest you pay in your lifetime will never amount to the returns you potentially could earn if you invested in the banks. Ask any investment advisor.
Canadian banks will never follow suit with the system they have in Japan, it just doesn’t work for our economy. The financials sector of the market will always dominate…
June 19th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
I opened an account for my son and my name was put on jointly. He added his wife without my consent and then she put cheques through and the account went into overdraft. I have had nothing whatsoever to do with this account ever and it was opened 7 years ago.
She is american and now because nothing has been paid off and it is at its limit the bank is insisting that I pay the overdraft.
I have had nothing ever to do with this account. How can I ever be responsible when she was added without my knowledge? Does anyone have some advice?
This is TD canada trust
June 21st, 2007 at 12:51 pm
New Subject. I have been dealing with the TD Bank for over 30 years. I have never encountered rudeness by any of their staff. However, have any of you heard that their policy has changed regarding joint accounts? A friend’s husband died and they froze the joint account into which her CPP and OAS funds are deposited each month. She can’t pay her bills! If this is indeed true I expect many of us will be looking elsewhere for a bank without this procedure. Oh yes, apparently CIBC has started to do the same thing. Looking forward to your replies.
June 26th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Zippy…
It’s not a new TD policy… When you open an account, you have a “survivorship” option.
If the account is joint WITH survivorship, anything made payable to the deceased goes to the survivor.
If the account is joint WITHOUT it, the account is frozen.
The deceased person has a right to choose (before they die of course)…
Just make sure that your account is registered for survivorship. Most are.
July 1st, 2007 at 11:28 am
hello, iu have been wiht TD for over 25 years, from Montreal to Calgary.
i never really had a problem till one day, i have my mortgage with the Royal bank and my wife and i split the payments so every month i go and take out 600.00 from the bank machine and take it to the royal, one day thry said there was a limit on the account of 200.00 a day. i got upset with the manager they fixed it right there no problems. I also have NEVER had a hold on my account i was 16 and able to diposite 1000.00 and take out 1000.00 right there, even now i deposited 20,000.00 and started to pay bills and take out money right a way. i dont no what changed that one day but that was the only time i had any hold on my money.
July 1st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Has anyone been following the TD strike in Sudbury? This exemplifies the greed of the banks. One teller, who has been working for TD for 35 years, makes 9 cents more per hour than some of her colleagues who have been there for 2 years.
Ed Clarke (the CEO of TD Canada Trust) however, gets 12 million dollars!
What a pathetic joke.
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
RE: Sudbury Strike
There are only 8 branches in all of TD Canada Trust that are unionized… The employees chose to be unionized and that is what they have to deal with.
The rest of the TD employees are treated fairly within the rest of the bank.
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
My situation was similar as I receive US cheques weekly but at my branch they deposit them without a hold. The problems arise when I once took the cheques to another branch that was closer to me and was informed by the teller that there would be a 5 business day hold on them.
I said that was fine as long as the hold was removed with 2 weeks and the teller (i.e. agent of the corporation) assured me that was no problem. 14 days later I returned to get my cash for my vacation that those cheques were for and guess what? The cow of a bank manager at the Burrard and Davie TD Canada Trust branch informed me that there was a 30 day hold on my cheques.
Without losing my temper I reminded her (with verification from the original teller) that an agent of the corporation that she purportedly represents guaranteed me a 5 business day hold.
She said that it didn’t matter and with a look of disgust stated there was nothing she could do, the hold would stay.
The 6 cheques I had deposited were each ~100 USD and were from companies that I had deposited cheques from for over 2 years problem free.
I hope that misserable sow got some satisfaction from screwing up my vacation because I tell ya, when I moved my business account to RBC and got my mortgage with ING I was sure satisfited.
The moral here? According to TD Canada Trust it makes more business sense to screw a customer over a routine deposit and lose out on tens of thousands in mortage interest.
Well done! Bravo!!!
July 7th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Stephanie:
You’re a corporate shill.
How would you know if “the rest of the TD employees are treated fairly within the rest of the bank”?
Methinks I smell a mole.
July 8th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Martin von Beek is an idiot!
July 20th, 2007 at 2:11 am
[...] I’ve been meaning to do a quick post comparing banking fees in Canada and the UK ever since a reader posted this complaint about TD Bank. [...]
July 22nd, 2007 at 2:41 am
Recently, I cancelled a series of cheques ( 10 to be exact). I called Easyline as my branch is not open convenient hours for my schedule and explained to them that I had written these cheques to a landlord who promised to destroy them when I gave notice of my moving, to protect myself I called and asked the CSR how to go about making these cheques uncashable. He told me ( as best as he could in his dialect ) that he had cancelled those cheques and they would not be cashed. Well low and behold…2 of the cheques were cashed this past week. I immediately called my branch who told me not to worry…(cause it wasnt there drained back account) that if in fact they were cancelled then the cheques would be rejected and go back through the landlords acount. When this didnt happen, I called Easyline, who informed me that the bank had “cashed out” my cheques, meaning that the landlord didnt have an account there, he simply went in and had them cashed. They told me to call the branch, it was there responsibility because someone had overlooked the teller screen where it says these cheques were not to be cashed that they were cancelled. I called my branch…now get this….they don’t have anything on their screen saying these cheques were cancelled, they would look into it and call me back. I waited fro 3 hours and got no call. I call my branch and speak to a lady who tells me she can look into it for me, and yes she sees right there on the screen in front of her that they had been cancelled…and assures me the responsibility is on the bank to refund me the money… she would call me as soon as she got the funds back in my account. No phone call! I call back..and am told that she has taken an extended lunch break and will not be returning today…I ask about my money and I am told that “no…the money is not being refunded..there is no notes on any screens in the bank that say the cheques are cancelled… and Sally Sue said she never told you any such thing.” I call Easyline…and geta supervisor on the phone who assures me that the cheques were in deed cancelled, the bank will be responsible and that they could be in a pile of trouble for cashing a cheque for a customer who does not have an account at that branch, also…she informs me that if it is not taken care of by the end of the business day, the money can’t be given back as the cheques can’t be “revaulted” after 5pm as they are automatically sent for clearing. Said supervisor places me on hold so she can call my branch and straighten it out…she comes back on saying ok the customer service manager for your branch is going to call you to verify your banking information to redeposit your funds..I thank her and wait for the call…the call doesnt happen, I call my branch and speak to this lady who tells me she didnt say anything such thing and that it was impossible due to the fact that the bank doesnt see any note saying these cheques are cancelled. Again, I call Karen…my new friend at Easyline supervisor department….who is as frustrated with my branch as I am now…she puts me on hold and comes back to tell me my branch is accepting no responsibility for the funds therefore she is sending it for investigation. It will take 5-7 business days to pull the call I made to cancel the cheques several weeks ago…( if you can imagine the CSR who took the request works at the call centre in India..hence the dialect issues) All in all, the bank I have trusted with my money for over 16 years, is lying and denying any responsibilty for the mistake that wiped my entire paycheque out of the bank, all because a teller didnt pay attention to her screen on a busy Friday morning…Oh I might mention…when I did manage to reach the branch manager..he was too busy to help me as he was leaving early for vacation…and…the response I got when I asked about the rule they have that says they srent suppose to cash a cheque for someone who doesnt have an account with them I was told ” well we verified the signature on the cheque with your signature card here” …what a laugh… I married and changed my last name and have never been asked to sign a new signature card at the branch.. so if they had verified the signature..they would have seen 2 totally different names which should have been a red flag! I am still waiting for final results…BE AWARE………It has most definately been my experience that the TD Branch I deal with will go to any length including lying to cover up their mistakes… I will never trust them with another cent of my money!!! If I accidentally forgot to make a payment because I didnt see the due date they wouldnt be long expecting me to come good for it….
July 25th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I have previously worked for several financial institutions, and being that we are in a fully electronic age, I almost never entered my TD Canada Trust branch unless I absolutely have no choice. I have a part time position with a well known global retailer and although my pay is electronically deposited for some unknown reason they cannot do this with our vacation pay, I get one cheque per year. I have been apart of this process for 3 years and not once have I had a problem depositing these cheques. Actually I would prefer that my ID was asked for it would mean my protection.
I do not understand humans, we want our security, privacy and protection but when staff tries we become monsters. Take for instance credit cards. These must be signed it is the only way a merchant can verify the card holder, even if we ask for ID we still need something to verify, but no 50% of the credit cards given to us are unsigned or have ID request written in the signature field. When we ask for ID we are screamed at, some very violently. But working on the other side with the credit card companies that would be the first thing out of a cardholders mouth when there is fraudulent purchases on their cards. Why did the merchant not ask for ID.
I have come to the conclusion that no matter what we do in Canada to protect the consumer we are the bad guys.
Oh and by the as an ex-employee of several banks let me tell you the best is TD Canada Trust for security.
July 27th, 2007 at 2:24 am
Amanda:
I worked for TD back in 2005 and I can totally empathize with your story. The problem with the bank, as I see it, is that the call centres are chock full of morons who don’t know anything other than speed, speed, speed (to get you off the phone) because that pleases their supervisors. I’m not saying all call centre employees at TD are like this but the good ones are definitely in the minority and have to swim against the current.
As for the branch staff, once again there are really good, dedicated staff within our ranks but there are also awful, incompetent imbeciles who couldn’t find their way to the bathroom without help.
The problem is that, while the training at the bank is very good, once certain employees get out into their jobs all they do is cut corners and suck up to their boss (and yes, some of the bosses are just as bad — I guess it’s true that incompetence gets you promoted).
I won’t even touch the issues of outsourcing to India and the hiring of unqualified members of visible minorities right here in Canada.
Best of luck to you.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Well, update to my sega… after dealing with a wonderful Easyline supervisor, being placed in contact with a Senior Officer at the complaints dept, going on to the TD Ombudsman and threatening to go on to the Ombudsman for Banking Services in Canada.. I am told not to deal with my branch anymore over the issue. The supervisor from Easyline would be the mediator during the rest of the investigation. Today I get a call from this supervisor who tells me that my branch absolutely will not cover the funds even though it was through their error ( I am told the screens Easyline has and the bank have are identical), however, the customer resource centre has deemed that I am entitiled to the funds back. I am being awarded back the funds. What consequences my branch will suffer for such poor customer service, the lying and refusal to omit error or the fact that they cashed cancelled cheques for someone without an account is beyond me. I will not be returning to the branch as I no longer am dealing there. I am greatful for the assistance I received from Easyline and hope that my complaints will be followed up with on an administrative basis.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Amanda,
You are, no doubt, one of those people who badgers EVERYONE with a problem, which confuses the situation. You cause your own confusion. Calling 5 different people makes it hard to deal with a problem.
Idiot.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Amanda:
I worked for TD back in 2005 and I can totally empathize with your story. The problem with the bank, as I see it, is that the call centres are chock full of morons who don’t know anything other than speed, speed, speed (to get you off the phone) because that pleases their supervisors. I’m not saying all call centre employees at TD are like this but the good ones are definitely in the minority and have to swim against the current.
As for the branch staff, once again there are really good, dedicated staff within our ranks but there are also awful, incompetent imbeciles who couldn’t find their way to the bathroom without help.
The problem is that, while the training at the bank is very good, once certain employees get out into their jobs all they do is cut corners and suck up to their boss (and yes, some of the bosses are just as bad — I guess it’s true that incompetence gets you promoted). I won’t even touch the issues of outsourcing to India and the hiring of unqualified members of visible minorities right here in Canada.
Best of luck to you.
August 14th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I had the same exact situation happen to me last night. I deposit the same check in the same bank at the same branch every single week. Last night I went to deposit the check and they said that I could not even deposit it because it was no good. Keep in mind that this is a payroll check. The idiot teller spoke to the manager and said that he was surely going to approve it because I am such a loyal customer. What the hell ever. He would not even come out of the office to meet with me! Then the teller tells me that I can deposit the check but there would be a five day hold on it. I have bills that are due today! I couldn’t afford to wait. I ended up going to a check cashing center and paid $25 to get the check cashed. Are you kidding me? Isn’t the purpose of having a bank account to be able to deposit, withdraw, or cash checks without incident? I have banked with them for over a year. They had no problem accepting a $15,000 check though. I have never had to have a hold placed on any payroll check.That doesn’t even make sense! I would completely understand if it had been a non-payroll check . How the hell can they get away with that crap? Needless to say, I called corporate and they couldn’t help me either. I told them that I am going to not only make them lose business, I am going to post on every website that I can find how completely ignorant they are to loyal customers. It’s sad and pathetic. The name of the nbank is Best Bank. Don’t ever ever ever bank with them they SUCK!!!!!
August 17th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
just because the manager looks old it doesnt mean he is not doing his job right, its called ageism!
August 17th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Customers Burnt by Banks Laziness
I run a small (one man show) business. I just returned from the TD Canada Trust with a returned “Certified Cheque”. On July 03 of this year I deposited a cheque for US$4238 and the teller looked it over as I did. It looked good to us, she deposited the funds and made them available immediately. Apparently one of my customers sent me a counterfeit certified check and on July 25 the funds were removed from my account.
Next day, I go to my bank on the 26th and ask what is going on? The bank tells me that “certified” does not mean they are not guaranteed funds and that I will have a copy of the cheque in 1-2 days. I wait a week and nothing. I call and leave messages with the “Customer Services” manager. Still nothing. Then I go back in on Mon Aug 13 asking for a copy of my check again and am told I will have some kind of word on it by the following day. Just now Aug 17 after leavening more messages on Aug 15 and Aug 16 and receiving no calls back. After 3 weeks of the runaround, now seven weeks have passed since I deposited the cheque, making it even more difficult to track down the perpetrator.
I think someone should have told me at the bank teller when I deposited the funds, that it is possibility the “Certified Cheque” will not clear. While in the bank today I ask why the tellers don’t tell people there is a possibility the funds won’t clear and you will be liable to pay them back. The manager told me that they do sometime but don’t have the time to tell everyone. I said well if the banks were liable for the funds they would be telling people and holding funds. The manager told me that they would be bankrupt if they were liable. So, they think that it is okay for their customers to take the hit and they don’t have to do a thing.
I am learning that cheque fraud is the fastest growing crimes amongst business and consumers and the banks could stop it but are doing nothing. Just letting there customers take the fall. All they have to do is tell there customers that they might want to put a hold on the funds if it is not from a trusted source and they tell me they don’t have the time to be bothered with that type of blanket rule. Or someone from the bank can verify that the cheque is legit with one phone call. If there 4 grand was on the line they would call. You know I will do it myself next time.
Everyone I have spoken to on the matter is shocked that the cheque was returned as they this a certified check is as good as gold. I don’t want it to happen to others.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
I agree with one of the previous posters who wrote that after the merger of TD and Canada Trust service has tanked.
I’m currently dealing with a joker at TD CT named Arun who must be about all of 20 years old says that he’s some sort of Service Manager at the Electronic Delivery (call centre/telemarketing).
Again like another poster wrote, much of TD CT staff are part time tellers, and their “managers” are woefully inexperienced.
I was shocked that Arun hadn’t bothered to read the PIPEDA act, and the Access to Banking act.
Know your rights as a consumer, and if you aren’t satisfied with their response, you’re entitled to take the matter up the chain of command, TD CT’s Ombudsmen’s office, and you have to, file a complaint with the Canada’s Financial Ombudsmen, the FCAC, and Canada’s Privacy Commissioner.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
What about depositing cash in the bank atm?? The main branch in Toronto and where I have my account. I deposited $100.00 CASH (this was at CIBC) and it is on hold for 5 working days!!! Not a cheque where it has to be cleared but real cash. I now have to line-up and deposit cash for it to go into my account if I need it to pay a bill within 5 days. Anyone know why??
November 1st, 2007 at 3:26 pm
In trying to extend my Line of Credit using my farm as collateral, I have been told that I must get a Certificate of Survivorship since my dad’s name is still on the title although he died ten year ago and I was told and can find proof that joint tenants do not have to do anything when one dies everything automatically goes to the other.
It will cost $300 for a lawyer to do this certificate.
I cannot even talk to the legal department at TD/CT personlly anymore. It is all e-mail between them and my local bank rep.
What happened to service? They are making more money and giving less personal serivce.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I’m pretty sure any excuse that a bank gives for needing a “hold time” is bull. I used to live in the US and regularly have to explain to American friends what a hold time even is. My current bank (PC) even holds cash deposits for two weeks because I’m a non-citizen.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:50 am
I partially feel sorry for you, and partially hate people that act like you. Everyone thinks that if a business doesn’t provide everything they want, the way they want it, and when the want it, the bank is providing horrilble customer service.
Now I know that you were frustrated about the hold, but why do banks have holds in the first place? Because people take advantage of a system to commit fraud and crimes. Its not the banks, the bank gains nothing from a hold save an unhappy customer. However, they have to be careful because if they aren’t, criminals will take advantage of them. The teller was just doing his/her job in being careful, and as a bank teller myself, I would have done the EXACT SAME THING. The manager response I can understand was frustrating, but that is where you take the role of an adult and instead of pounding your fists on the table, politely as to speak to the Branch Manager, or some one higher.
Your actions, as you described them, did nothing to remedy the situation, and only made things worse. You could have had the issue resolved had you a little more patience for a trying system that is in place because it HAS to be in place.
EDIT: Reading over these comments makes me even more livid. There are rules and regulations that are in place to prevent fraud and criminal activity. The bank doesn’t make anything from most of these rules, and in fact would probably like not to have them so customers would be happier. The reason these exist is because PEOPLE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SYSTEM. One bad apple ruins it for the bunch. Again, the common idea is that if a bank/business doesn’t do what I want, how I want, when I want they’re providing bad customer service. Grow up people, this is the real world. Learn to be mature, and know what bad customer service really is.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Yup, we’re in post 9-11 and we’re all going to pay for it, one way or another! After 36 years of banking with TD and a few hundred thousand coming and going, I ended up disabled on a fixed pension. Went into the branch, got everything organized – away I go. Then, TD merged with Canada Trust! I couldn’t believe the changes – employees gone, bank procedures changed even more, some just cut out from under you. Attitude? Heh heh. After being refused cash from 3rd party TD bank customers, (ok bank whiners I already know the deal with these so don’t waste your breath)I went over to the Bank of Montreal, opened accounts, they welcomed me with open arms, took my cheques, held them for 2 days and personally called me when they went through.
TDCanada Trust – get stuffed! The best for last…
My daughter got a student loan via line of credit and has paid it down to $3000. I had co-signed. My daughter is now 28 and working. End of last May, her fiancee was killed by a drunk driver. We called TDCanada Trust and advised there would be a payment delay (time off for funeral etc.) his family is in Kamloops. Well, she fell apart when her boss gave her 3 days off (including the weekend) and he fired her. Again, another call to TDCanada Trust and no problem, etc. etc. 8 week wait for Medical EI. Then she went back to work to 2 jobs just to keep busy.
TDCanada Trust is calling Vancouver BC from London Ontario day and night, Private Name, Private Number and harassing me and her for 2 $45 payments. On the $3000. balance.
They know she gets paid just before Christmas so I have just lost it!!! Diane in London, Ontario at TDCanada Trust, get a little background and humanization before rudely mouthing off over a now trivial balance. There’s no way any intelligent person would harass us like she is given the circumstances. I even offered to go pay it myself but she had to go on and on about how my daughter must live up to her payments. Then who were those other TDCT people we talked to who said no problem?
Merry Christmas as I stick a pin in my voodoo doll.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I just found this blog even though it has been on for a while. MyMunny, a bank machine at TD will automatically put a five day hold on a deposit no matter what is in the envelope. It does it because it is just a machine and cant tell what you are depositing. The tellers and supervisors then check deposits later, but there is no system for releasing those holds currently. I used to work for SCotiabank and the machine would automatically put a six day hold on the deposit,however ,there is a system in place to release the funds on deposits that contain guaranteed funds (Drafts, money orders, certified cheques and government cheques) or cash. I have tried to relay this information to my TD Branch and show them what was done, but there has been no progress.
And that seems to be the major problem with the banks. The degree of centralization in the decision making progress handicaps the banks ability to react quickly to customers needs and the competition in the market. This high degree of centralization is the cornerstone for most financial institutions. It Creates a set hierarchy, creates downward pressure on wages and makes things run smoothly in an industry that contains very few companies (oligopoly) and little need for change. As you may be able to tell I have a fair amount of education in the world of business, which could mean less to the bank in all honesty. I have about as little chance of being paid properly as you have of exerting you will upon these major financial institutions to create change at this point in time. Do you want to know why? Because for decades the Canadian Government kept a tight control on the banking sector creating extremely high barriers to entry. These barriers have been reduced since the mid 90s with more foreign competitors and new competitors allowed into the market. However, the schedule 1 banks still have such a tight hold on the Canadian market and have banded together to cling to the values that made them profitable in the past. Because of this change is slow, difficult and futile mostly. I understand most of you comments with deep compassion but ask only 1 thing. Dont blame the tellers, and sales people (especially if they are young, Ive known a lot of incredible employees that were young and talented and the bank was just too stupid not to pay them enough to keep them or listen to what they had to say.) usually they have no control over your situation and it only causes many sleepless nights for them. Trust me I was there before. I still wonder if the employees were paid more how many would be happier and nicer to the clients? (Many are very customer friendly,many are not). What does everyone else think?
December 31st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I once deposited five hundred in CASH in the TD atm in my neighbourhood. It took eight days to be released. I called and begged them to release it. They refused. They were rude. End of story.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:12 am
I have done business with Canada Trust (that’s what it was once called) for nearly 40 years. Today I visited the local branch to have some money withdrawn from my RRSP. They could not help, as it was in a TD Waterhouse self directed account, so the lady at the bank called them and gave me the phone. After explaining what I wanted, the person on the phone told me that there would be a $25 charge for this. I of course balked at this, and said why would I pay you $25 to get MY money. He said that was what the fee was to withdraw from an RRSP. I told him I would withdraw only once, and it would be all of the funds, from my chequing account, savings account, two RRSP’s, my two business accounts, and my business trading account.
The lady whose office I was in said that the local branch would compensate me for the $25, but I said that was not the issue, it was the principle of charging me to get my own money out.
I later called TD Waterhouse, and asked to speak to a manager. When he came on the phone, and I explained the situation to him, his response was essentially “you have to do what you have to do”. So guess what I did? I went across the street, opened up a CIBC account, explained what accounts I had at TD Canada Trust and TD Waterhouse, and they said “leave it with us”. We will have it all transferred into your new CIBC accounts.
So, after nearly 40 years of looking for “the green machine”, in a few days, I will no longer set foot in their esteemed establishments, in which customer service seems to have become obsolete.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Ever heard the saying give a little get a little? Imagine working in a job where you speak with over 100 people a day and most of those people talk to you like you are stupid, uneducated, worthless. The others think they are superior to you or think that if they talk to you like garbage you will somehow fall to your needs and go what they say with little definance? Well that is what it is like to work for a bank and listen to people like you bitch and complain over and over and over and over and over and over and over…you get the point. When you call the bank to complain about something remember that the person on the phone didn’t write the rule, they don’t even probably care about the rule. If there was something they could do they probably would do it, however, most of the time they can’t. The only people who could make “an exception” don’t talk to customers, refuse to work on the front line and perhaps probably wouldn’t know how to complete a financial transaction if you begged them. You people need to relax, settle down, SLOW DOWN. The real problem is this…. people have become lazy, uninformed and expectant of others to do the work for them. The bank is a bank, a business, just because you think something should be done a certain way to appease you, doesn’t mean its the best way to do it for the vast majority of its customers. If there is a policy deal with it. The greatest corralation that I can make is this: If you created a rule in your home for your children to follow and they didn’t agree with it would you change it just to make them happy? Probably not. I will leave with this…the customer is not always right, in fact they are usually wrong, so shut up deal with it, otherwise withdraw your money put it under your pillow sleep with a shotgun and don’t deal with the bank.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
The thing is, whether the bank is right or wrong, whether their policies make sense or not, the fact remains – we’re all human. We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Respect given, respect returned.
The bank is a business, true. However, the people working for that bank are not. They are people who should accord the customers of the bank (ie: those who pay the high salaries of the CEOs) courtesy and respect.
I work in customer service, and believe me, there’s plenty of times when I would love to tell someone off because they don’t understand policy. But, I’m not allowed to and I wouldn’t want to be treated that way, so I won’t treat someone else that way either.
There are lots of ways to tell someone to go to hell and they enjoy the trip. For those posters who tell everyone to shut up and deal: how’s YOUR level of customer service? Are YOU happy with how you’re being treated? If not, maybe you should look into how YOU’RE dealing with the representative.
If you (the general you) really want change – invest in a Credit Union. Sure, you’ll pay a ‘membership’ fee, but at my CU, I don’t pay any fees, other than withdrawals from non-CU ATMs. Vote with your dollars, don’t just bitch.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Hi everyone,
I’ve recently had an issue with fees imposed on a transaction I made. Before entering the transaction I went in to speak with a Financial Services person who assured me there would be no penalties. I made my decision based on her advice and now see that there were fees charged anyway.
Does anyone have contact emails for TD- someone in a position of authority? I’ll be moving everything away from the bank, but would like to send an email to someone to let then know why.
Thanks
February 4th, 2008 at 4:53 am
TD Canada Trust is horrible. Iv’e had an account with them from over 12 years and never had a problem with them. I always deposited my work cheques through the machine because it was faster than waiting in the long line-ups and with a $2000 partial hold it helps because I can take my money if I need to without holds as long as it’s less than $2000. Well my wife wrote me a cheque of hers from her credit union into my name with my bank…I put it into to machine and then it was fine…About 10 days later I go to the bank to withdraw money from my account for rent and it said my account doesn’t exist, so I went to the teller which later directed me to the manager. The bank manager told me that the cheque bounced and they closed my account for bank fraud. I phoned my wife and asked her if the cheque was good…she said yes but she underthrew the money by $130 so it bounced and it was an honest mistake she didn’t keep as good of track….They refused to give me back my money and reopen my account so I took it to the BBB and I’m filing a civil lawsuit against them
February 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
me and my husband have a joint bank acc at td(we kive in bc), i am a stay at home wife and my husband works 6 days of the week. we have been td customers for 10yrs and once and a while i would recieve early morning phone calls askin for my husband so they can offer him some bs, as usual i tell them he is at work what is this about and they tell me and i decline the offer. Well a week ago i recieve another call i ask what its about and the lady would not tell me, i told her 1. my husband works unitl at least 7 so calling him wont happen 2. why wont they tell my im his WIFE!!! she continued to be rude and told me to tell him to call a number. when he got home he tried calling and it turned out it was the main bank in ottawa and they arnt open past 1pm our time so he figured he cant get ahold of them it not important. so its comming to payday and he goes to deposit his check at the bank and they inform us his account is temporarily closed and they cant tell him why he has to call, so he tells them hes at work and its closed by the time he can, of course we get a rude response and we leave….how does this make sense they are our main bank???
March 6th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
The problem that lies here is customer education. Customers don’t have a clue about how things work at the bank nor do they want to learn. They just want things fixed when things go wrong right now without hassle. Sorry to burst some bubbles but life doesn’t generally work like that. I work for TD and the obscene amount of ignorance I see on a daily basis really makes me wonder why I continue to work for a bank. The funny thing is it’s customer ignorance not the banks. I have been a firm bank hater for many years, hating the fees I’m charged, slow service at the teller, rude service I’ve received, etc. I’ve been banking with RBC before I started working for TD. Everything people complain about. I got my job with TD kind of on a whim, was a little skeptical about it but heck it paid well. I can’t believe it now but I’m almost up in arms defending the bank against things like this.
4 years later I’m still with TD bank, and it’s the customers that make me want to quit, not the bank itself. All you people complaining and griping about your situations are so ignorant. Educate yourself, the people coming into this blog defending the bank, have posted reasons for what happens generally. There is a REASON for everything done at the bank. EVERY and any bank.
Do people come into YOUR place of work and TELL YOU how to do your job? Do they ask you to break privacy laws? Do they complain to you because you were just the one there to unleash their anger at? Welcome to the world of being on the other side of the counter. The employee.
Before you go into a bank or any place of business in fact to gripe, think to yourself the rationale behind what is happening before you take it out on the person you are going to confront. Society nowadays is taking such a downwards slide to complete and utter ignorance and stupidity it amazes me. People don’t respect anyone, even when they are legitimately trying to help you. Of course there are exceptions, but I deal with on average 80-100 customers a day in my job, and 90% of the problems that arise are due to the customers ignorance. 10% are in fact bank error and are correctable by using the proper channels. These proper channels may sometimes be inconvient but they ARE HOW you need to fix the problem. Why are you fighting with me when I am telling you what needs to be done to fix it?
Do your research when you choose a bank. READ your documents when you open an account. Find out everything there is to know about what you are opening when you go to bank. You don’t go to an insurance company and buy their insurance without knowing what you are getting? It’s the same freaking thing at a bank. There are banks without service charges, if you don’t need teller assistance, go to them. That’s why they are cheaper, they don’t have to pay for open branches and to staff those open branches so YES they can afford to NOT charge you service fees.
Deposit a cheque, needs funds right away? Why do you expect the bank to HONOR a cheque they have no money for at that moment? If I give you an IOU for 1000 dollars, what guarantee do you have I will pay you back? All you’re giving the bank is a I.o.u when you give them a cheque. THEY still have to try and cash it and get the money. Thus the hold, what the heck do you expect. I’ll give you a piece of paper and you give me actual money. OKAY, let’s do that. To expect that money this instant is not rationale at all. Go to money mart, get them to cash it, that’s why they charge you obscene fees to cash cheques, cause essentially a cheque IS NOT a guarantee. It’s an honor to pay.
Privacy laws are a huge issue with clients as well. Let me please break a government law so I can help you. Sorry, spouse, I will not disclose information to you because your married. It’s not worth the jail time for me. Just because you have a joint account with someone doesn’t mean you are that person. Just because you are married to this person doesn’t mean you are that person. Please understand this concept. It’s not rocket science. If you want your spouse to access your personal information, they need a power of attorney. If it doesn’t make sense to you, maybe you should be complaining to the federal government about it not the bank. The bank doesn’t make the laws it abides by them. When your divorced spouse tries to get into your account next time to clean up your account to teach you a lesson claiming shes your spouse and we reject them, you’ll be thanking us that they weren’t able to screw you. It happens all the time. We don’t know your real life situations, your relationsship statuses, and everyday dealings. All we are doing is protecting each individuals private information because the LAW requires us to do so.
One little tidbit I bet a lot of you don’t know is that on a joint account ANY ONE of the joint holders can close the account without the other persons permission. So potentially, your joint holder could drain your account, close the account and you could do absolutely nothing about it. And the bank would do nothing as well. Because they can’t. When you understand the privacy laws, it makes more sense. The law doesn’t care that you are married because heck what if in 10 years you aren’t. This is one thing I don’t understand why people cannot grasp the concept. They constantly insist that I break privacy laws because “I’m the spouse” and then I’m the idiot when I have to refuse them. What a wonderful world we live in.
The bank bases its policies ON LAWS created by your government. They base their policies to protect YOUR money. Why on gods green earth would you want them to NOT DO this? For your convience I understand but we don’t live in a perfect world. To expect that much is retarded. Hate to break it to ya honey but the world doesn’t revolve around you, even though you may like to think it does. Even that next guy with 1 million dollars invested in the bank may run into the same problems as you do. He might just have someone else fixing the problem for him. There is no measure of a client to importance based on money. I’ll treat mr joe shmoe the same way he treats me. And I find most fellow co workers will do the same. Money is not the issue, its a matter of how you treat me trying to help you. Golden rule people. Learn it, live by it when you’re complaining about something.
I really could go on but I’m prob just wasting my time anyways. The amount of ignorance I’ve seen over the past 4 years from our customer base is making me want out. I really don’t expect it to change. People are generally lazy and think they are always right. They expect people to jump through hoops for them at thier every demand or else they’ll switch to another bank. In all honesty if you’re not happy, it’s your perogative, go do it. I bet you won’t cause you’re just as lazy as the next person who made that empty threat to get their way. That’s why there are OTHER banks. that’s the whole concept of competition. Go if you don’t like it where you are. What’s stopping you?
Td is a great bank in comparison to others and they really do stress customer service to insane levels. If you don’t recognize it, you probably do all your banking at machines, never visit the branch or call in. Only call or visit to complain about something that went wrong. In my opinion it’s the customers that need to change not the bank. But the odds of that happening are about slim to none. The bank is making the necessary changes to adapt to customers but I personally don’t think customers will appreciate it at all. They will continue to complain and gripe about the same things because they don’t want to pay, they are always right, etc, etc.
Going back to my initial point, educate yourself about your bank and you’ll find it very worthwhile.
From being an avid bank hater for the majority of my life, once I learned everything about the bank and how to properly manage my accounts, banking has never been so easy. I’m still not a big fan of banks because of the amount of money they make and some of the charges I have to take but even a nice call to Easyline could result in some reversed fees once in awhile. Try it and you’d be surprised.
But there is a reason for everything, the bank isn’t out to screw just you. They are trying to protect your money and at the same time please it’s share holders as it IS STILL a business.
You just think they are out to get you because it’s not working in your favor. Why do you expect them to to kill themselves for you when there are other people that need to be helped. Yes, you’re not the only one with problems. Be reasonable, listen to what is being told to you and trust me you’ll find it will do wonders for complaints. Be unreasonable and well expect what you give. Don’t expect for the piddly amount you pay in service fees, that this random teller who has no idea whats heppening to you is going to immediately be able to fix your problem when you start yelling at him/her. It might need to be escalated, it might take some time. Use some common sense and courtesy. They will try their best to resolve it and honestly may need help sometimes. Those that WANT to be helped will get helped. Those that are just looking for someone to unleash their anger on will get nothing in return.
Reality check, you and 6 million other people are going to experience the EXACT SAME THING. Fact of life, you pay for what you get. Take care of yourself and proactively practice responsible banking. You’ll notice way less problems if stay informed. Ignorance is cause of the problems, knowledge is the key.
Or just keep complaining and threatening to take your business elsewhere. You have options, use them. It’s easier to be an a** then it is to be reasonable. But you can get way more accomplished by NOT being an a**
March 7th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Ps. For all you people griping about holds on cheques, holds on funds. You are the most consistent set of idiots that the bank has to deal with on a regular basis. I’ll tell it to your face so you can revel in you glory. These are the worst type of people to deal with because they are all the same. Extremely hostile, lazy, overbearing thinking they know absolutely everything, and always the one using empty threats to switch banks.
I understand they are upset but these are are the most irrational people in the whole banking world today. There is no pleasing them unless they get their way.
But why can they not grasp the idea that a cheque is not money in your hands? It’s not rocket science. It’s a promise to pay. It’s a “I have the funds in my account, you can get it when you trade this piece of paper for actual money” (Sometimes there no money in the acocunt anyways) Until the money is received, or taken there is no money exchanged. WHY DO YOU IDIOTS EXPECT TO GET MONEY RIGHT AWAY? Cause you bank with us for 80 years. That’s nice, we appreciate your loyalty and will continue to serve you as best we can, but that person who gave you the cheque, we have no freakin clue what the deal is with him/her. Cheques can bounce period. No matter who you are. Because it’s a payroll cheque? Uhh it’s still a cheque, it’s still NOT money. Because I deposit it every week. It’s still a cheque, it can still bounce. I’ve heard every reason there is to use. And the main fact still remains that it is STILL A CHEQUE. IT IS NOT MONEY. WE HAVE TO EXCHANGE THIS CHEQUE FOR MONEY. IF YOU WANT MONEY RIGHT AWAY, GO DEPOSIT MONEY. DON”T DEPOSIT A CHEQUE AND EXPECT IT TO TURN INTO MONEY WITHIN 10 minutes.
So get on with your life instead of harrassing the bank about holds. There’s a reason for them, accept it, use alternave means for funding, ask for an overdraft, use a credit card or LOC, borrow money from your mom and dad, deposit the cheque at a teller and ASK about the hold, cash it at money mart/any cheque cashing store, or just wait till the cheque clears. You people have so many options yet you exercise the most blatent and disrespectful way to deal with it cause you’re too lazy to look at your options. Now, now , now I want it now. Grow up and start acting your age. I want it fixed now because I pay 25 dollars in fees every month. Whooopdee doooo, that still doesn’t mean we have the money for your cheque this exact moment.
FYI. BY FEDERAL LAW ANY BANK IN CANADA CAN USE ITS OWN DISCRETION TO HOLD FUNDS ON ANY CHEQUE INCLUDING DRAFTS, MONEY ORDERS TO VERIFY FUNDS FOR CLEARING. THE ONLY CHEQUE THAT A BANK IS OBLIGATED TO CASH IMMEDIATELY IS A GOVERNMENT CHEQUE FOR NO MORE THEN $1500.00 AS LONG AS PROPER ID IS PROVIDED.
ANY DECISION TO HOLD FUNDS IS PERMISSABLE BY LAW AND IS SUBJECT TO DISCRETION BY THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AS LONG AS IT’S NOT A GOVERNMENT CHEQUE VALUED AT NO MORE THEN $1500.00
As you probably noticed, I literally hate dealing with these people. Cause they tend to be people that are unreasonable and insist on being jerks because they never get their way. And then turn around and verbally abuse our staff because they didn’t get their way. Real solid people if you can sense my sarcasm. I work for the bloody bank and have to deal with holds too, I’m no exception so the bank is not out to play favorites. It’s about the actually clearing of funds. They have to get the money first before they will release it to you. Why wouldn’t they?
Scenario 1
Because you have bills to pay right now, you have a cheque you want to cash outright. Well what happens when that cheque bounces, and the bank already gave you that moeny and you already spent it? Who has to try and recover it? The freakin bank!! And they have to wait for you to get another cheque from the deadbeat that bounced the cheque. IN the meantime, your pissed at the bank for holding your account cause they want the money they gave you for that “promise to pay” Start the vicious cycle rinse repeat. If you waited the time for the cheque to clear, wow you wouldn’t be in this mess.
Scenario 2
Appreciate it if the bank DOESN’t HOLD your funds because that is a huge favor they are doing for you. You are still liable for any bounced cheque you deposit. So if you spent the money for a cheque that was not held because you’re such a good customer, and cannot get the money from the person who wrote you that bad cheque, guess who is gonna have to come up with that money. YOU. And the bank is gonna want it ASAP. There’s no next week, it’s now or we’ll take it however we can, and guess what, we have ALL your information including when your deposits go in your account, so we’re not worried. You took the chance not waiting for those funds to clear, you are now 100% liable for returning that money to the bank.
It happens ALL the time. “That’s my rent money, thats my grocery money.” Well you should have thought about that before you spent money that you techincally didn’t have. Why would the bank not take the money that is rightfully theirs? You would do the same if you ran a similar business, you would do the same in fact if it was a friend that owed you the money. You wouldn’t say you know what? “Forget about it, we’ve been friends for 20 years, you can screw me over like that anytime you want to.”
Use your common sense people. Holds are there for a reason. They aren’t cause the bank wants to use your money to make more money, it isn’t cause you’re a target at the bank, it isn’t cause you’re a deadbeat or a financial guru, it isn’t cause your a minority, it isn’t because you’re a kid, a man, a woman, a senior, a teen, a dog, a cat, or a mouse. Come up with whatever you want as an excuse to blame the bank for holding your funds. There’s essentially one ultimate reason the bank puts your cheque on HOLD when you deposit a cheque into your bank account.
One reason only. To clear the cheque and make sure they get the money for it.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
You are absolutely right, the TD Bank is the worst bank to deal with. Mangement think that they own it and also treat their staff like animals, there is no respect here.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
You all need to realize banks are not in the business of cashing cheques your cheques, if you want your money right away, go to a money mart and pay for it. Why do you think those cheque cashing places charge to cash your cheque, because its high risk. Their are many reasons why cheques are held and none of them were created to damage your ego’s for being a loyal customer.
Their are so many fraudulent skeams out their, even if your not doing one, how is a teller suppose to know. Their are many long term customers, who built their relationships with the bank only to defraud it. Plus, any cheques written to you, do not count against your creditibility, its who wrote them. Many people write cheques without having money in their account to cover it. Then, the lonely little teller who thought it was ok to cash your cheque gets fired because the cheque bounces. All cheques have to be cleared, cheques written from another country can take up to 30 days to clear. Every single cheque has to be verified and sent to the bank inwhich they were wrote on, a long process.
How about you go to the airport and tell them not to search your bags, just let you walk right on the plane because your a frequent flyer. You people disgust, quit blaming bank employees for following procedure, its their job to follow it, you don’t have us coming to your place of business yelling and creating a scene over how you do business.
As “i work for td” said, read your documents when you open your account, the hold funds policy is in there. Don’t blame bank employees for your ignorance.
By the way, all banks are the same, all are competitive. All hold cheques. They are a business like any other, and must ensure they protect themselves against risk. So the next time you come in complaining, rememeber we are not in the business to cash cheques.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
What I’ve noticed is a lot of ignorance on behalf of the customer when complaining about the holding of fund deposited into a bank machine. The information stating your funds will be on hold is right there on the screen, then it also gets printed on your receipt. Quit blaming the banks for your ignorance.
Also, the machine can’t tell whether your puting money, a cheque or a empty envelope into it. So way state that you deposited $500 cash and it shouldn’t be on hold, maybe you shouldn’t have deposited it if you needed it. hmmm?
Anyways, I work for the bank. Just like in any business you must protect yourself against risk. Putting a cheque on hold till it clears is a smart idea. Remember, cheques are a manual form of exchanging money, it is not a automatic transaction like a transfer. Why should a bank give you a five day advance of money? Because thats what they are doing when they don’t hold your money, it still takes them five days to get their money from the bank that the cheque was written on. Think about it.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
TD has 14 million customers with 14 million opinions and 14 million different financial needs and circomstances. Maybe there should be 14 million differently policies in place? no? then stop complain, its your bank, not your wife and kids! you expect too much from your banks, they are a place to hold your money, not your personal entorge or financial advisor! Everyone complains about putting cheques on hold, then 1 guy comes out and say “why didnt the bank put the cheque on hold, it turned out to be fraudulent, they should be liable” PATHETIC!
April 12th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I think there is something definately going on with TD. My story is a bit different.
When this bank merged into two, way back when, they came out with this comment ” sorry to all may be inconvenienced.” or words to this effect. Inconvenienced alright and dam well lied to.
I had opened up a joint account w/ Td with my then husband back in the 90′s. We added onto this account a line-of -credit. Low and behold, this account was made into “two accounts” each with separate numbers. Yet some TD employees say this is only “one account”.
I had CLOSED this “one acct”.,some time ago with a Dr.’s note, yet TD just had to ding me one more time, through collections, with this line of credit account.
TD told me that “one acct” is joint but the other only has my name on it,(my name is apparently the only one on their computer) but that what Eqifax has it as a joint account, yet only dinging me for the money. A Td rep who told me later that this IS all ONE ACCOUNT and wouldn’t be at all made into two accounts. She said also that this can happen to married couples all the time.
Meanwhile the collection agency working for this bank, is stating to me that THEIR INFORMATION from Td is contrary to the was given them and what I am telling them. They(collections) said they will look into it. Equifax says they too, made investigations.(WHAT JOKESTERS THESE FOLKS ARE).
Needless to say this acct(s) are all paid now (to get credit back on track and from completely going insane over this). All I have to say is TD is a completely rediculous bank who knows how to scam the innocent and discriminate against people too! Great heaps of doggy due to TD and all their little games they play!!
April 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I agree with the TD employees who are saying that a lot of customers are overbearing and rude.
Many of them think it’s just dandy to pay their credit accounts whenever they want to. Does anyone remember what the definition for “due date” is? It’s not a suggestion. It means the payment is due on that date, not 4 or 5 weeks later. I understand the folks who are experiencing sudden financial hardship, but I’m referring to the dolts who think the rules don’t apply to them and they’ll pay it when they want to and then they come and bitch to us that their credit rating sucks. Gee…who’s responsible for that?
Then you get the jerks who try to pull the old, “Scotiabank doesn’t call me when I’m late.” schtick. Oh really? I guess when you sat down with Scotiabank to apply for your credit product, you told them, “I’ll pay when I want to and ignore the due dates.” I’m sure the bank agreed to that!
People these days are lazy, rude, stupid, and out-and-out ignorant.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Had a slight problem with adding a payee(Chevron their credit service is GE Money)to my bill payments.
Called TD Canada Trust. Find out the call is outsourced to India. So a corrupt country has all my banking information “wonderful”. My account started with with a 9, the rep tells me it will not take.
So I call GE Money (time on hold three times 15 minutes) which is outsourced to the Philippines, great more of my personal info around the world. I’m told he can not help and to call TD Canada Trust. I loose it, ask for a supervisor. Finally get someone in the USA. Still not resolved call back TD and ask to speak with a Canadain rep. I get one after another 10 minutes on hold, and problem still not resolved.
I was told if I want to speak to a rep in Canada just to ask for one “lovely”. My main phone is my cell so everytime I make a call, then get rerouted costs airtime.
It’s maddening to see Canada been sold from under us, including our personal security(infomation) and also taking away employment from Canadians.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I used to work for TD Canada Trust. They are by far the worst employer I have ever had. My branch manager was the most unprofessional pompus person. If you feel the bank treats you poorly as a customer, then you should work there for a day! Did you know that bank tellers DO NOT GET BREAKS! NO JOKE once the manager knocked on the bathroom door, asking how long until the person would be “back on the line.” It was a brutle place to work! There is NO loyalty to the staff at all!! TDump is junk. Further, WHY pay fees, PC Financial is the answer! TD stands for Totally Dismantled, as in Totally Dismantled Canada Trust.
June 15th, 2008 at 12:15 am
I am also in the middle of a nightmarish experience with TD Canada Trust. I live in Ottawa and I have been with TD for 14 years. Three weeks ago, $6900.00 were taken from my account in the GTA, over three days. They used a fake driver’s licence and my SIN. Four times, the guy said he had forgotten his card, and it worked every time. I asked TD why hadn’t they asked for my PIN (the person DID NOT have my card) my Easy web password or some information about my credit card? They replied that the teller followed guidelines… really? Why didn’t TD compare signatures? The response was “we don’t have the technology!”. Three weeks later, they still haven’t put back the money in my account, saying that the Investigation unit in Toronto is working on the case! Imagine that, a very good client for 14 years, no NSF cheque or problems of any type and they treat me like a criminal, instead of protecting honest people’s money. Because of them, it has been a real nightmare for my wife and myself. They have been careless and very arrogant but I’ll make sure that the 200 people who are on my mailing lists know the whole story.
June 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Stop complaining and take my advice.
If you’re dissatisfied with your bank, close your account and go to a credit union. Credit Unions make their money depending on how many customers they have. Every customer is vital to their survival. While banks have to be accountable to their share holders, credit unions have to be accountable to their members. Banks don’t care whether or not you keep your account. Unless you’re super rich, you’re just another customer.
I’ve had my share of terrible bank experiences, with Citi Bank being the worst of it all. Can’t say I’ve had any experience with TD Bank. I’m not here to pretend like I have. It’s one thing to post your rant and call it a day, it’s another thing to argue over and over. Some people, on either side of the fence, will never see the light.
So close your TD account and find a credit union.
One last thing, anyone else notice how a big bank can affect the customer service of the credit card company they own? Providian used to be really great. They got taken over by a large bank, and they became really chicken sh*t. I paid my card off and closed the account because I was so disgusted with them.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Its amazing how everyone says, when they ‘need’ credit products, obviously, your living beyond your means if you need such things. I understand about mortgages and car loans, but day to day living expenses should not fall under that catagory. How many times have I stood in a bank line, overhearing a customer ask for a Credit Card advance and then talk about how they are going away on a vacation or buying rims for their car. If you want to talk about a business making profit, why not treat yourself and your estate as a business. Your bills as employees and make your money work for you, not the other way around.
We live in a society that says its ok to live paycheck to paycheck. But YOU the individual has the power to break the mold. Where I work, we make 600 a week after taxes and about 50-70 percent of the people are broke 4-6 days after payday.
Banks do offer rebate levels, if you maintain a certain account balance. And judging from the vast number of people who are complaining and using that as an indication for the rest of society, it means 90% can’t maintain a balance of 1,2, or 3 thousand dollars to have these fees waived. Think of it like this, you work almost every week of the year, and you can’t put away 1,2,or 3 thousand dollars to waive those fees? We can blame the rise in gas prices, the rise in taxes, but how many WANTS have you satisfied, and this includes everything from smoking to drinking, to entertainment. Why can’t you satisfy holding on to 1,2, or 3 thousand dollars a month. Think about how long that should take you and then do it. IF you can’t, maybe that is the real problem here.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:30 am
P.S Here’s a thought, take a cash advance of 1,2 or 3 thousand dollars and put it into your account. Ask the bank to place a perm hold on it, pay off your credit, however long it takes, and never pay bank fees for your day to day banking again.
Or is that just too much forward thinking?
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 am
I’ve had numerous problems with TD Bank. I’ll just share one here. I opened an RSP account after having been a customer for over 10 years. At a meeting with two TD reps to arrange investing the money that was in my RSP account into a savings bond or GIC I was told that I missed the cut off for that last week. I can’t imagine what the two young reps were implying. It was in the fall so it couldn’t be a miscommunication in terms of making the RSP contribution deadline. These two actually believed I couldn’t contribute to a government bond or GIC. Since then two other TD reps have confirmed that ofcourse I can make those investments but I can’t bare to think of making investments based on the suggestions of any TD rep after this experience. I thought of changing banks then, but didn’t… however! TODAY I’ve decided to join a credit union! What was the straw that broke this camel’s back? Today I called TD Easyline and found out that I was chatting with a man working at a call center in India! I blame myself for not knowing that TD Canada Trust was outsourcing before today. I’m disgusted. Taking jobs away from people in this country who support your business to save money is a horrible way of conducting business. It’s also bad karma. I can’t wait to walk in to TD on Monday and withdrawal all of my money. I urge others to rise up as well and stop supporting a bank that puts their bottom line before qualified staff, customer service, and employing Canadians. Shame on you TD Canada Trust. Shame!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I honestly don’t think any of you would be happy no matter what bank you were dealing with. Do you understand how many people try and cash fraudulent cheques and things of the like on a daily basis or are you really that naive? Now what would it do to the bank, never mind the economy, if they just handed out cash, no questions asked every time they were handed a cheque? I can understand your frustrations if you have to deal with bad customer service, but just because your foreign cheque is put on hold for a few days, or if they ask you for some photo ID? Come on! Personally, I’ve been with TD for 7+ years and always recieve great service from them. I’ve only dealt with one less than friendly teller (I can’t even say she was rude, she just wasn’t super friendly) but besides that they’ve always done their best to help me out. I have some friends who work at a number of different banks and I can assure you that these things are standard bank procedures. Your issue here is just with banking in general, not with TD. These people are just trying to do their job, a little patience never hurt anyone.
I know that if I were given a fraudulent cheque, or if they suspected that I was I would definitely hope they would take such precautions. And even if I knew beyond any doubt that it wasn’t a fraudulent cheque I at least have enough tact to understand I they have a job to do and in life we can’t always get every thing we want the second we want it. That’s life. Deal with it.
August 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Dave, part of what makes this country great is that you have the option to walk in on ‘Monday’ and withdraw all your money. So in that same logic, a corporation has the same right to outsource their call center if they wish. You have right to take issue with them, just like the credit union will charge you in aspects of banking you didn’t expect, and have shorter hours of operating compared to the big banks. It just amazes me however, that in today’s technological environment, how people still need easyline and still have to walk into banks. Basically, your part of the old generation, and as soon as you die off, a new and better way of banking will be born.
Holding Checks seems to be a big issue, here’s an idea, direct deposit. Oh, and lets me honest, people who give you money, demand a draft. But then it makes me wonder why is there an exchange of cheques going on out there anyways. Email money transfers anyone? Won’t you old people die out already? I’m talking 60+ who are intent on walking into branches on a daily even weekly basis. LOL who does that?!?
August 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Oh, I should add, what system of banking should be born? One where every check brought in will be held, kind of like the British system. But I admit some work will have to be done between the banks for this to happen. Part of it is because if those same ‘old’ people see 3 major banks merge they will flock to the other 1 or 2. And banks don’t want that. Time will fix it, because the fraud rate seems to be crazy high.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Working for a Living:
You’re an offensive twerp. How dare you say that “old people” should die out. Do us all a favour and die out yourself.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I too deal with TD Canada Trust and have for the past 20 years. I’m not saying that they are perfect and have never had an issue, but they have always promptly resolved any issues that I have had and I have always had friendly service at any of the branches that I have ever dealt with and on EasyLine. I know that sometimes mistakes that have huge impacts on financial situations are made and those are unfortunate. Some employees are probably better equipped than others to deal with situations. I for one am glad that the follow procedures to keep what little money I have safe.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
First and foremost I don’t think ONE bank is any worse then another. I have accounts at 3 different banks and will transfer money accordingly. I do this because one in particular has ticked me off over and over and when I say I’m taking my business elsewhere I do. I will let them see the amount of the funds that COULD have potentially been in their bank and then I immediately transfer it. I have been asked why I do this and when I reply because your bank has screwed me time and again and given me nothing for being a valued customer so I transfer my funds to prove a point. I will be given promises and apologies and I will leave my funds there and when they fall back into their arrogance mode my funds are transferred. Please understand the one account is a business account and will have anywhere from 200-300 thousand dollars run thru it. They usually get my point loud and clear. Then I’ll get some snotty little tart who thinks she knows it all and carries around the attitude of…”you need us and we don’t need you” OR “thats the way it is so deal with it”. Well I’m 40 years old and have been around the block a time or two. Maybe I’m getting cranky in my older years or perhaps like most I’m tired of the corporate bully. Ever seen fried green tomatoes?? You know when the older woman smashes the crap outta the young girls car and says….I’m older and my insurance is cheaper??? Well thats kinda like what happens when I get attitude. I very nicely lean across the counter and request that ALL my funds be withdrawn or transferred. The look on their face is very rewarding. You should see them jump thru hoops then. Sometimes it works……most times not. However my point is always made. It hasn’t always been this way. there was a time when I was a single Mother busting my ass to make ends meet. I lived check to check and usually there was more month then money. A hold put on a check was devastating and what the bank workers on here don’t realize is, it can make certain families go hungry.
I read this entire thread and granted I can see both sides to a point. I know the bank workers are only doing their job but lemme tell you, I know your checks aren’t held because you are part of the banking family. For a moment pretend you aren’t with the bank……Imagine the first check of the month comes in….you have 3 kids to feed….mortgage or rent due….groceries to buy and bills to pay. You are just grateful that you made it thru the last month and you think you can sit down and breathe a sigh of relief. You made it. Suddenly someone pulls that proverbial rug out from under you and takes that moment of serenity from you by saying….”i’m sorry there is a 5 or more day hold on this check”. A check you busted your ass for.
All those things….rent…groceries….bills….food are now unattainable. So forgive the common folk for getting upset with you frontliners. Now lets add insult to injury for a moment and say you’ve banked at this establishment for YEARS and never had a problem before. Yup…this is where hostility comes in and rightly so. The last part of this thread was all about the ignorance of the customer. Well my apologies but when your so called policies change more times then joe blow changes his undies how is one to keep up with this?? If you’ve noticed most of the complaints were from long standing customers who had been doing the same thing over and over for years and then one day….BOOM….you can’t do that anymore.
Tired of people bitching- I was just floored at your comment and you remind me of the tart I was referring to in my comment. You asked everyone if we knew what it was like to talk to people who only want things their way and speak to us like we’re idiots and they thought they were superior and the such…..ABSOLUTEY because we all use major banks and your comment proved without a doubt that yes we had in fact experienced that kind of person.
However……you are so wrong. I would love to see everyone withdraw their money and do exactly what you said because you would be without a job. Banks have forgotten it is the little person that got them there. AND at one time yes they were there for the customer, for a safe place to put their money. The customer is what made the banks and kept them going and for that they should be treated with respect.
With the growing population and the growing rate of organized crime the banks have made money hand over fist and have gotten it into their heads that they don’t need the little guy. Yes….you read that right….I did say organized crime. Banks wouldn’t be where they are without it. They needed a place to disperse their money from bogus companies and the banks needed cash to invest, however it was the little guy who was the banks bread and butter. The age of corporate conglomerates have made banks forget about who got them where they are and its unfortunate. Maybe to get our points across we should have a banker come to the grocery store and pay for his food to be told….I’m sorry there is a 5 day hold on your goods, you will be able to eat in a week. The banking machines have only added more problems. At one time you could put a check in and take it out immediately…now there is a hold on everything. The odd thing is and something I have issues with is….as a customer if you use the bank machine or do online banking (which is what I do) anything after 5-6 at night is then posted as the next business day however banks can post all weekend long and between 6pm to 6 am the next day. Or automated debits can be posted at night or back dated to a certain day…..THIS I do not agree with. I think anything posted after 6 pm regardless of who you are (bank or customer) should not be processed until the next business. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. As far as the bank and customer relations…..I don’t think the customer should suck it up as one banker so nicely put it. That is the exact attitude that makes your customers irrate. The problem is not the customers knowledge of your beloved policies but rather the constant change of your policies. What was policy when that customer first opened their account and was mutually agreed upon should then be policy for that client ALWAYS. Unless in a case where a customer has had some questionable transactions then in that case the bank should tell the client that they are changing the status of their account or card for that particular reason. Don’t let the customer find out as they go to pay for a one hundred dollar purchase that their funds have been held.
Respect is a two way street. The person on either side of that counter are equally as important. Yes…one has control of your money but the other has control of your job. Without that customer there would be no bank.
I am 100% for the little guy. I think society as a whole has evolved so far that we have regressed. I think we need to go back to the times of cash jobs and the barter system. Where people genuinely respected what other people could do. Example the talents of a carpenter,farmer or blacksmith who work their tails off to provide for their family….that is a true talent. What is it bankers do??? Count other peoples money. So maybe we should in fact take our money out of the banks and stash it under our mattresses…….I bet it would add up quicker!!!
September 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Sept 16, 2008
Training “newbie” very very very junior and very very very inexperenced bank staff by imposing situations on bank clients so they might learn how to do thier job this is defrauding a client of the bank of their professional epxertise experience know how unless that bank client choses to “work for free” but then who would willingly workk for free
A) The same do not take individual responsiblity for themselves in self education or fianncially pay for their education .
A) The internet is filled with highly qualified advice on how to dress for the banking profession deprotment, how to behave in public ethics principles safety; during one or two occasions I have politely referred to these issues :
A) Response the “communication reported oh no I can’t do that; that person is one pay grade above me; that would make my working relations on site truly hideous” Senior female mentoring is out.
B) So much for the intimidation harassment female bullying laws of Alberta and Canada.
C) Observed though is this same bank employees keen understanding of “Safety Starts with Yourself” not necessarily on behalf of the Banking client though
D) This mind set ensures the working relations of the banking client are truly made hideous instead and to be sure reseaching intenational bankinbg with bank empoyees is extremely inadvisable these days.
E) I think it only fair jsut Edmund Clarke President CEO of TD Canada Trust Company and Toronto Dominion Bank Corporate Communications Director 12rh Floor 55 King Street West Toronto, ON 51 (please provide a telephone number, fax number and email addrss for this gentleman to my email address please)
E) i) Rule of thumb – the Chief always appreciates insight on his employees or troops)and definitely should be
F) Made aware of this these junior female bank clerks are defintely not able to exercise good judgment, self educate themselves, dress properly for the banking profession, however they do know how to dress for nightclubs in their work environment;occasionally come to work as if the cat dragged them in.
G) Express demonstrate they are unable to show individual initiative in paying for their education; H) Seem to appear that by creating situations imposed upon bank clients they might get a free education professional banking contacts in the community while destroying the bankinbg clients security and good relations with TD Canada Trust apparently and if the CEO of TD Canada Trust Edmonton Clarke does not work for free why should the clients of the bank be made to work for free?
I) At one point this summer I thought perhaps it would be good to network and mentor these very very very junior, very very inexperienced banking females however they truly convinced me by their actions which is not the same as by their verbal commonly termed slang “lip flapping these days” that thisowuld be a very bad idea.
J) A clue for these feamles dressing for a date with your “udders” flopping out for all to see; or thier skirts hikded up to their ass prsentes themselves as “Whores” not banking clerks but accoridng men if you dress like a whore you ar a whore and there are no more double standards for women
J) Just in case these very very very junior females were not trained by senior emn or senior women this same described dress code sexually triggers male customers; taking unprofesional advantage; if a man signed a contract with a bank in the same such environment the contract would be null and void in a Court of Law. This is offensive to women too.
K) I really must send Edmond Clark an invoice for all theis education; training $1 million should suffice I beleive; seems reasonable practicable and Mr. Clarke hopefully reads this web site.
L) Especially newbie female bank staff with their militant feminist training shocking similarity to all reports is merely an exentsion of training women during the Nazi Regime of Hitler. Women have not advanced at all it seems to appear.
M) These very very very junior females who impose violence on women (read Erin Pizzey writings Debrett’s Whose Who – Times London Reporter)
N) Deliberately create situations imposed upon bnak clients that consist of the Bank client being an idiot not the bank employee by all means.
O) There are patriarchal females and females (true equality with men; have never consented to or given up responsbility for themselves to men.
P) The difference between non patriarchal societys- and patriarchal societies a 180 degrees in thinking and every aspect of your lives. OH yes.
These statements are made without prejudice to any parties whatseover and are true to the best current written available information.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Sept 16, 2008
There are a few typos; and editing errors
We are not perfect.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Jesse: Amazing how out of all that, you pick up the most insignificant thing I said. No wonder our society is in such bad shape. It always comes down to LCD’s like you. (LCD = Lowest Common Denomination)
September 18th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Kelly: You make a lot of good points, but at what point does a person have to take responsibility for their own actions? Is it a banker’s fault that someone is living on social assistance? Is it a banker’s fault that someone is living living beyond their means? Is it a banker’s fault that when all LCD’s are spending their money at the LCBO and Beer Store and then when the final call comes saying tommorow at 5pm we are shutting down X utility unless you pay us and they go get a check from their relative for x amount of money and a banker has to hold it? Is it a banker’s fault that these LCD’s use their Visa’s to buy lunch at Kelsey’s, dinner at East Side Mario’s and buy that oh so amazing pair of boots for 250 dollars and then when their visa is maxed out, omfg, I have to feed my kids and you want to hold my cheque?
When do people have to be responsible for their own actions and how many times can the same person be dependant on one last cheque to feed their own family. Because what some people dont’ realize is that sometimes these very LCD’s write bad cheques so that they can feed their families and a poor teller has to face the concequences. Bad planning on someone’s part does not constitute an emergency for the banker. Their are always exceptions, but its like wow, how many people are blowing thier money on garbage and don’t want to face the reality that they are in that situation because they want to be there.
Case and Point, you were in that situation now you have 200 to 300 grand? Did you win the lottery? Did you steal it? Or did you work hard for it and changed they way you did things and watched how you spent your money? Cause you can, even with your change in economics be living hand to mouth if you don’t spend wisely or spend too freely on things that are not essential to live. Just my opinion.
September 20th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Working for a Living:
I stand by my evaluation of you. Saying that old people should die off is NOT insignificant.
And you have the gall to call ME the lowest common denominator?! Look in the mirror.
September 20th, 2008 at 4:32 am
Oh, and since you’re so much in favour of people being responsible (as am I), why don’t you learn how to properly use grammar? What the hell is “case and point”? It’s “case in point”, pinhead.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 am
Right now I am in the middle of a foreclosure with TD Canada Trust not because I was not up to date or current with the bank but the claim is that I did not sign my mortgage renewal documents. When I went numerous times to the bank to get them they would not give them to me or they did not understand what I wanted. The list goes on and on they lost RRSP contributions and then they informed the credit agencies that the account was deliquent when it fact they had lost 3 months. They closed my account without my permission and then told me about it later. They “refused” that anyone make a deposit to my account other than me. AT a meeting I was told to give my bank card to the person making the deposit so there would not be any conflict. The answer to the question of why a deposit could not be made to my account was that it was a security breach. A letter from Suellen Wiles which is the Top VP with TD Canada Trust in Toronto wrote about my account and listed the name of the branch. That branch had been closed for at least 7 or 8 years………they are clueless. Question is this how can we get people to listen that there are abuses going on here and they need to change the arrogance that they promote. We need to have a voice.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 am
What Kelly said I agree.(104) And I agree with (106) we should be responsiblity for our, your own the (customers) actions………
WHEN THE BANK IS WRONG AND THEY ARE ARROGANT TO THE END THEN WHAT……….:?
However if you go to the bank to take out RRSP Loan which they highly advertise (almost 30 grand) and they do not advance you the money for three months. INSTEAD they send you a bill telling you that you owe interest on the RRSP money, that you have not got yet. There is a problem and it is not the customer it is the bank.
So I called the person “finacial adviser” I told her that I was not paying interest on money that was not been advanced. She was indignat. She apparently could not get her head around the fact that I was not paying for something they did not give us. Simple right. NOT!
SO, after an hour and half of trying to explain what she was wanting me to do was wrong the “Finacial Advisor” stated that since we had gone to get the loan at the end of February that they were just to busy to process all the RRSP’s. I think that somewhere in there she was finally understanding however she still insisted that the money for the interest on the RRSP’s be paid.
Even though I stated to her that the money that was to be advanced was not so therefore it could not be investing in any type of transactions, in other words I was not making money on the loan the money was in limbo for me.
The “Finacial Advisor” was indignat and still was arguementative. Understand at this point we still did not have the loan money, none of it. So, I said fine I will pay the interest that you want to charge me on money that I do not have, as soon as you pay for my invoice.
The ‘finacial Advior” was silent. What do you mean. I said to her my time is money and for a hour and half I have been trying to tell you that we have no money from TD Canada Trust and regardless if the money was advanced or not you want us to pay for something that we do not have and in order for me to explain it to you; you either not accepting and/or not understanding the reality of this situation I consider this a lesson in education teaching you that TD Canada Trust has not done and because of this and that my time is money there is a fee.
Therefore you will be billed for my time. You will be getting an invoice for $250.00 for this time on the phone for services advice and council and from the work that you were preventing me from doing right now which will go into overtime and because you are getting paid by TD Bank at this time to be trained for my prof. services there is a cost involved. SO, does she apoligize…….NOPE. Well the “Finacial Advisor” states that they will overlook the interest payment. In future do not let it happen again or else the payment and or charges will stand………you think it end there.
NOPE, faithfully I go each month to make the depoist to pay back the loan to the RRSP at the start there was no problem then slowly there were probles each time it got worse until one time and you are not suppose to look at the screen but after 45 minutes you will do anything she finally found the name and was ready to depoist the money. We live in Toronto the account was in Ottawa. The name was the same but what caught my attention was that it was a Doctor. I said to the teller I know for a fact that the person the money is going to get credit for the payment first is not a doctor and second guess what does not live in Ottawa. So, she gets annoyed finally someone comes in to help. Finally as I walk to the door and out I have no reciept. I go back and ask for a handwritten ……signed reciept from both of them. I continue to make the payments still problems with the payments………then months go by and there is a reason that the credit needs to be check (that was another nightmare) and guess what we are deliquent with RRSP payments not for 1 payment but for 3 paymnents……..are you kidding me. So of course there is a lot of stess and accusation and incompetance going around but……..ha ha the hand written reciepts were still in my purse. I held on to them for dear life (because they were always makeing mistakes this is not new) So with the brutal cold the and running back and forth to the bank etc. My partner goes to the bank and tells me to fax it to them. So, you call the bank to get the fax number. Hello, of course no one picks up the phone it is automation at it’s best. So I wait someone has to call and if this was not me it would be really fun almost on que TD Canada Trust calls so I think he is calling to give me the fax number……..if fact what they were calling about was the RRSP payment and to tell me that the account is deliquent and that I need to pay. So I ask him for the fax number and I am told that he has no way of giving it to me. Do you work for TD Canada Trust I say he says yes I ask if he is sitting in front of a computer with TD information he says yes. So look up the number and give it to me. NOPE, he is only in collections. Finally my partner calls……understand the only reason we all found out about the mistake is that Tranunion was notified Equifax was notified everyone knew but us. SO,this is still not the end of what happened but fair to say that we had a deadline and they messup the credit so bad that there were more problems that we had to face regarding this matter and it took them 7 months to find the money. TD Canada Trust could not find it….no sorry for the mistake……nothing. It is the customers responsiblity to make sure that the teller is putting the money in the right place. Yup.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Nina: If they way you present the story is accurate, then you are deserving of an apology from TD. Banks do make mistakes, just like we the customers make mistakes. I would not blame you for leaving to go to another bank, or contacting the ombudsman to address your concerns. One time I had 225 thousand dollars in my IBA COMPANION account and told them to change it to a GIA account for the higher interest. Unfortunately, the teller forgot. 3 days later I checked on Easyline and saw that my account wasn’t reflecting the change. I went in and said on one my savings accounts it should be changed to a GIA and I’m losing interest. Change it and let me know about the lost money and what you can do if anything. The teller walked in at that moment and saw something was wrong and fully admited to her error. That to me was enough, so I know where you are coming from. The lost interest up to that point was like 25 dollars. But it was the human aspect of it. All banks can be good and bad, sometimes who you talk to makes the biggest difference.
Jesse: I love you. Attack me all you want, fact is, people abuse the system and then expect others to pay for it. People can give all the reasons they want why they don’t have money, in the end there is only 1 out of 100 who are really in need or in a true emergency situation. Thanks for correcting my grammar, unlike some, when I make an error, I own up to it, learn from it, and move on. Those LCD’s I talk about, and that the old people should move on and die out, you misread the first, it was sarcasm, and the second was cynicism. You read the surface content well, but you miss the underlying message. It was suppose to be that unless a major overhaul takes place within the banking industry or with the population at large, we are doomed to having the same discussion about held checks and poor customer service over and over. Which is why I stated, out of all that, you only commented on what you thought you understood. But I’m sure you know more then me, as your superiour grammar would dictate, my hat is off to you, and your perfect life where you are right and everyone else is wrong which is why you probaly find your self in situations and ‘discussions’ all over the place.
I’m willing to concede that my statements were a bit overzealous, but when I look in the mirror I am happy with what I see, and love all of the people in the world. Unlike you, who puts people down at every turn. You calling me a Pinhead hurt. I’m not sure how I’m going to recover…
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Kelly: There was a point you made, a very good one in fact,
“The last part of this thread was all about the ignorance of the customer. Well my apologies but when your so called policies change more times then joe blow changes his undies how is one to keep up with this?? If you’ve noticed most of the complaints were from long standing customers who had been doing the same thing over and over for years and then one day….BOOM….you can’t do that anymore”
Somtimes, change is a hard thing to accept. Its done for reasons that at the time might not make any sense. But they are done for a reason. One that I am aware of is Double endorsed checks. For years and years this type of thing was allowed. If a check was written in the name of Y from person X and person Y wanted to give this check to person Z for a debt or purchase, they would simply sign the back of the check and hand it over. Now this is not allowed, because the bank was acting as a middle man between X and Y and if something went wrong, like an NSF, the bank would contact X on behalf of Z and X would not understand how Z came into possession of thier check. And much time and effort would be wasted to find out what occured. So the bank, decided, that checks could only be negotiated between Customer A and B. Well of course long time customers were unhappy, especially those who were using this with no issue. It wasn’t changed because of this reason, rather, with people who would find a lost cheque or steal one, sign the back fraudulently, and then cash it through their own account. Saving the back from fraud has many benefits, mostly to stock holders but its the way it is.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
TD is the worst when it comes to rewarding customer loyalty. I am a customer for the past 11 yrs and a few months ago the ‘Manager’ decided that I had to come in another day (with my kids in whose name the overseas drafts were made) even though I said I did not need access to the funds and was prepared to have it on hold for a WHOLE MONTH. They simply would not agree. SO I wnet back in another day and they tried to pull the same attitude on me agian and I put my foot down. The draft was deposited with one month hold…which was ok by me.
Just 2 days ago I went to the same branch to open a business account. I should have known to walk away when the ‘Financial advisor’ tried to dissuade me from doing transactions online…i.e pay my vendors online. ‘Paypal’ seemed to be a dirty word for her. Anyway my IT services business acount was refused because apparently ‘paypal’ was the wrong thing to say (even though I use it with my personal td visa card and account) and IT services apparently was not a preferred business for that branch along with “Telecommunications, Web and Internet” businesses. The Manager and the ‘Advisor’ had no clue what my business really was. The only thing that mattered to them was that ‘PAYPAL’ threw up a red flag.
Moreover the ‘advisor’ did not call me to inform that I was being refused an account and I wasted all that time going there instead of finding another bank to deposit my checks…whcih I was holding onto.
They were ‘busy’ was the answer and seemed to imply that my time was not as important as theirs.
What a bunch of inept, unprofessional people.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I am just amazed and feel completely not appreciated. I’ve been with TD over 10 years, have a good credit history, have a long history of doing business with TD, have had loans and lines of credit with them – all repaid. I had NO HOLD on my access card for many years, over 7 years now.
And suddenly I find that two of my recent deposits are on hold! I called Easyline and branch and they told me TD has implemented a “system wide change” for ATM deposits the hold decision is directly tied to Credit agency and they have no control over it anymore!
I’ve told them that I never had late payments, I have a good history with the bank, NEVER had my deposit cheques bounce, plus I have an overdraft protection. Back I heard a BS story that with the current financial crisis they are implementing protection features etc, and that I am a High Value customer. I work in financial district! I know what rules are being imposed by the Feds – it concerns loans between financial institutions (cause they are the ones who freaking caused this crisis in the first place!).
The most beautiful of all this is that I have another account in BMO (I’ve been a customer for only two years) and with them my hold is only 1 day! Not business day, but 1 day! And I’ve always felt that customer service in BMO is more CUSTOMER oriented, personalized etc!
I’ve wrote to TD Ombudsman, and expect a response. If they do not correct my access card to NO HOLD, I will take my business completely our of TD, they do not deserve loyal customers as obviously they do not appreciate them.
October 8th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Yutia: I have heard of such things, I believe they have implemented that since September 30th, 2008. Now on top of that they have raised Home Equity Lines of Credit by 1% and TD prim is at 5.75%. They are doing this because of what is going on in the U.S but at the same time say they are immune, or well “situated.” However, I do understand that sometimes that when you have too many credit products that it brings your credit rating down too. Not sure how that works.
I will be going to TD myself to see if mine has changed, if so, its life, fortunately, things such as Direct Deposit exist and whatever checks I do get I have the cash to back it up. No biggie. Guess we are all going to have to suck it up a bit and live beyond paycheck to paycheck…
Where have I heard that before…
October 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/08102008/2/biz-finance-canada-s-banking-system-kept-high-dry-strict.html
Not sure if that link will come through, but for us Canadians, its actually a reason to celebrate, because I have to travel for business purposes once and awhile and recently, I’ve seen how bad it is out there, especially for the U.S and U.K home owners. My home is worth approx, 750,000 thousand dollars, and after everything is said and done, with the economic downturn and everything I bet on the canadian real estate market I can get 700 for it, it might just take an extra month or two. I was at a conference, and a Indian or Pakistani man was telling me, that he once used to drive around Suburban Chicago looking at all the million dollar homes and dream one day he could move there, and recently he did, for 400 thousand. Only difference was it was in a newer area.
So maybe our banks lack customer service according to some people, but then again, maybe not…
October 8th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
750 thousand dollars, not 750,000 dollars…Sorry Jesse…LOL…
October 8th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Hi Yulia – same thing just happened to us. We have had a “no hold policy” on all our cheques for 8 years. When I went to deposit my husbands paycheck it told me that I would only be able to access 200 and the rest would be held for 5 days. The BEST part of the situation was when I went to the teller to complain and she told me “we don’t qualify” – I told her that I was confused because we have “qualified” for the last 8 years. I think the truth is that banks spend huge dollars marketing customer service etc. and in the end they really just don’t care. We are not perfect by any means but have never bounced cheques, mortgage payments, car payments etc. We were told by the teller that anyone with less than stellar credit history were being flagged and all access cards were being changed to reflect the hold.
Bottom line is that they just don’t care about young families, small business, students – anyone who might show or reflect the daily struggle of trying to exist on this planet and in these times.
Nothing we can do either because our voices will never be heard in their sea of retail marketing noise.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I saw this situation posted back at #51 and i have a similar issue with C Trust. My ‘joint’ account is with my daughter (who’s now 32). It was set up years ago so that i could deposit money for her to have quick & easy access when she needed it. Last October she decided to set up a Line of Credit for $1500. on that account and neither her, not the bank, informed me about it. Her own Credit history is poor so it appears the branch used my credit history to establish the L of C. I found out about it when i rcvd a letter from C-Trust stating i owed them $71.11 as an amount overdue. When i stopped into the bank to pay them, i then discovered the true amount owing due to the Line of Credit issue. My questions are: Does C-Trust not have a responsibility to inform me i was being used to secure credit in this situation? Am i now responsible for the full amount?
October 9th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Michelle: I’m sorry to hear that’s what the Teller said, its actually a combination of your Banking History and Credit Bureau. Having said that, this might shed some light on your and others situtaion. Some people who had No Hold codes (meaning deposit a check and have access to full funds) a long time ago, don’t realize that the addition of Credit Cards, Loans, LOC, Mortgages and so on CAN bring your Credit rating down and thus at the GREEN MACHINE, your Hold code gets set at 200 to 2000 dollars. However, if you walk inside the branch, the Hold Code the teller has should not be affected change. Remember, this is a time of economic uncertainty. Measures need to be taken to ensure against normal fraudulent activity as well as losses due to forfeiture.
Just like people no longer complain having to go through Airport security checks, (post 9/11) one day, mandatory holds on cheques at banks will be the norm too.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Working for a living wrote this gem:
“my hat is off to you, and your perfect life where you are right and everyone else is wrong which is why you probaly find your self in situations and ‘discussions’ all over the place.”
A little presumptive of you, isn’t it idiot? Not everyone else is wrong. YOU are wrong.
“I’m willing to concede that my statements were a bit overzealous, but when I look in the mirror I am happy with what I see, and love all of the people in the world. Unlike you, who puts people down at every turn.”
Once again, presuming I put “people” down at every turn. No, pinhead, I put YOU down.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Also, Working for a Living, try doing some research. TD Prime is not 5.75%, as you stated on October 8. It is now 4.35% and was 4.50% prior to October 14.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Just like Yulia and Michelle I now have a hold on any deposits over $200 through the ATM. Again like many others I have been doing business with TD for the past 25 years (while it was still Canada Trust). I found out this little gem when trying to retrieve some of my hard earned money through the ATM, no phone call, no letter, no email. Wouldn’t it have been fun it I had already filled up my gas tank, then tried to pay for it with debit! Nice one.
I contacted the number on the back of the ATM card, my branch, a spectial number for further customer complaints and the TD Ombudsman, but no luck. The financial ombudsman will not deal with issues that are due to bank policy. I have now been advised that I am welcome to line up and make any deposits through a teller. So for the five business days that the bank is holding my money, who is getting the interest? No me, but you know the bank only made several million interest so far this year, instead of the billion from the past few years. Sigh! Poor Bank!
Oh, BTW, the “Credit Bureau” is a private company, not a government agency, so they can pretty well do anything they please. Its a scary thought that the bank may be making changes based on what a private company has to say. Perhaps they should ask Mac’s Milk for advice too.
It must be a whole lot of fun screwing loyal customers since they do it so much. Good bye TD. Watch my dust as I leave and go elsewhere.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Jesse: Thanks for the update, as long as I know that I have you to correct my errors, I don’t have to do any of the work. Its what smarter people do. LOL.
Jewel, I was looking into the ATM hold code matter a little further, turns out when you first signed the agreement for the access card, its in the cardholder agreement that at any future time based on changes to your banking related history / credit, that the hold code is subject to changes without notice. In fact it is your responsibility to monitor that. I’m not the bad guy Jesse makes me out to be, take the information for what its worth. I’m just displaying my views, and getting information as I see it.
Here’s why Jesse doesn’t like me,
1. I remind her of her ex husband. YOu know, the one who helped paid all the bills and had an opinion, it was the opinion that had to stop or he had to go. We all know how that turned out.
2. Its the internet, I make statements that do not reflect me personally, why? Because its the internet.
3. Whenever I get someone like Jesse on board for a flame war, I take much pleasure in showing the people in the office why you should learn from people like her. She is very good at trying to insult me and bring me out, but with people like her, they try to bring you down to their level, because that’s the only place they can beat you. Insult ME as much as you want, correct ME as much as you want, it doesn’t change the fact that people have to take responsibility for their own banking, I’m staying on topic. Leave TD, RBC, SCOTIA or whatever else, and find out that in the end, when a situation occurs, its you WHO ACT the same ill mannered way, nothing changes on the bank’s side.
So get a tissue and deal with your issues. (i’m copy writing that lol)
Yes, everything is a joke to me. Because its the internet.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Oh, I only come back here over and over because of Jesse. I have much respect for her, its like a love / hate relationship. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll find out she’s that cute 26 year old girl who lives down the street and we can run away to mexico and be together forever.
I LOVE YOU JESSE!!!!
October 15th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Jesse: I was refereing to Morgage rates based on a 5 year closed fixed rate. Prior to October 14th before the rate change was listed, and post May 1st, 2008.
http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/mortgages/numbers.jsp
October 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am
I included the Prime + 1% on that stat.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I just don’t know why people always complain about their banks. Even though you take your business away, I am sure that you will have the same problem other than TD (as mentioned above). I really think that all the banks should make up a policy regarding holding ALL cheques to the maxium required amount set by the gov’t. I guess it will then solve all the problems for all these people who have no money in their accounts and would ALWAYS like their cheques without holds.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
And here i mistakenly thought this site might provide some intelligent answers rather than just people blowing smoke at each other…..
November 17th, 2008 at 4:14 am
The customer is always right is the worst idea ever invented. Good customer service is important but you are not always right. When I worked for TD for all the good customers there were the ones who complained no matter what. You could have been paying the same account fee for 2 years but all of a sudden you noticed it. Or you get a NSF fee each month and we are supposed to credit it for you each time. People don’t feel the need to take responsiblilty anymore, they just yell and scream for a manager and expect to get their way. Gee sorry sir but I can’t tell you how much money is in your 25 year old sons account that you have no legal access to. Well I am his father. How the heck can I know that.
My personal favourite was a lady telling me she was leaving our bank now because I didn’t know if the PLUS banking machines located in Sout Korea were in safe neighbourhoods.
Ya I don’t miss the 10 percent that think they do no wrong.
My life is better off without you.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hello everyone..Interesing blog…I also work for TD canada as a customer service representative and i am very happpy to stumble upon this site ..Thanks for all your knowledge sharing and wonderful responses..i enjoy reading them
January 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 am
I had the same situation. I think TD should be held responsible for such a demenor act. You would never go into an interview and get asked such questions of your race or religious views. What gives the right for a bank to question things about your money?
I went to the bank New Years Eve…all excited about the day and looking forward to getting 08 behind me. As it was a disastor for me.
I left my job after 12 years to start my own business, and I recieved a substancial severance package.
I went to the teller as the ATM was out of order. I proceed to ask to deposit cheques into my account. Next she looks at me and asked me where I got this money. I was taken back. Who in the right mind asks a customer where they get thier money? I said if you look on the cheque it’s from the University of Victoria…then she asked what was it for…so now I am boiling inside. Trying to be civil. I asked why do you need to know. The teller says, she has the right to ask and whether she wants to release the money.
I felt degraded right there. I wanted to say alot more to her at that moment. But, bit my lip and said it was a severance package from my employer.
As I left I found the number to the branch and tried to speak to a manager. Of course, they are busy and the girl I talked to said she could help me in my complaint.
I told her the story and all she said was it was just the banks policy and sorry to have inconvienced me.
I think I must of missed that part in the commercials where they say customers are the priority…guess they whispered but we can do what we want with your money.
I will NEVER use the TD for anything else or recommend ANYONE to them…it is poor customer service and shows how seedy the company is.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes and just needed people to be aware of what the TD practices. It’s very poor service.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:37 am
Robyn:
The banks need to comply with numerous laws. Money laundering is one of them. They’re required to ask certain questions. I once had a $14K cheque held for 5 business days because it is a large amount. I didn’t, however, whine and act like a spoiled child because of it.
For you to equate the bank asking you about money with asking you about race or religion is just asinine.
Do TD a favour and go someplace else. See if another bank won’t do the same thing.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I would strongly advise against anyone dealing with TD Bank. I purchased a silver certificate last year and was told that it was backed by actual silver in their vault.
When I went in to surrender my certificate, and get the silver they told me they didn’t actually have any silver. They would have to purchase it from Scotia Bank. As if that wasn’t enough they charged me storage fees for holding silver that they did not possess. I do not trust TD. It is my opinion that they are crooks.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Banking is not TD’s only problem. Their Auto Insurance
may be a scam as well. While searching for a quote, this week, they gave me an annual rate of over $1300.
not too bad, thought I.
A flyer had come from the Royal bank and offered a $25 gas card for a quote. Royal, quoted less than $1000 for identical coverage. [We bought from Belair
Direct as they offered us no [zero] deductible for
collision and comprehensive]
I called TD back and asked for their Ombudsman. They
stalled and eventually gave me a number to FIFCI ??which I knew to be a dead end.
http://www.group.tdinsurance.com/en/customer
care/solve/problem
This link is a great web sight for explaining how to complain to TD’s Ombudsman about TD Auto Insurance.
The only neat thing is that it leads nowhere and never gives a number or web address to use.
TD’s Ombudsman must be a lonely job
Welcome to more TD sillyness.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Nothing to do with the above issues, but appropos to dissatisfaction with TD BANK.
My wife and I were Commerce Bank customers in New Jersey, USA. We had no problem when TD (which had no previous local presense) bought out commerce, but were very disappointed that the first thing the new foreign-owned bank did was to remove the red-white-and-blue logo to replace it with green. That seems both disrespectful and short-sighted for a foriegn corporation hoping to benefit by the goodwill (and commerce) of a US population.
I realize that I’m on a Canadian-based website, but I just wanted to put my two cents out there…I’ll decide what to do with my account in the coming months.
Thank you for hearing me out.
Dave Brown
February 6th, 2009 at 2:35 am
As a former employee of TD, I can tell you something. It’s just a business, they rip you off all they can. YAY GO TD, love the customer service!!! I must say that their policies sicken me and I never knew cross selling credit products was so big for customer service representatives. I strongly believe it’s wrong to push credit products on people especially those who are new to the country or do not have a full understanding! There should be some new law because clearly people have lost their ethics!
February 7th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
To Jim:
Why would you compare RBC’s price with TD’s and then want to call TD’s ombudsman because their price was higher?? It’s called competition.
I think I’ll complain to the president of Zellers (HBC) the next time I find something identical that’s cheaper at Wal-Mart!
March 8th, 2009 at 8:33 am
In response, I do work for a bank and can take sides with TD on this call. If you need the funds asap then you should be wiring the funds to your account as cheques are subject to clearing. Come on, a US CHEQUE?? Who are we kidding, why would any bank release the funds with what’s going on in the market? I have a TD account and LOVE their service and the fact that they called you back to address your concerns shows me that TD is doing something right!
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
hello! i have been t.d. bank for approx. 14 years, (td bank plse check. recently i misplaced my bank card for mty chq. acc. i attended the surrey branch on king george hwy, and requested a replacement card. i was given a new card and went to the atm machine in the bank. i was informed that there was infufficient funds available for withdrawal. i returned to the front dest and told them this was impossible as i had a 4 thousand dollar overdraft on that account. upon investigating further it seems the person on the front desk had cancelled the card i had been issued by td bank at broadway and nanaimo 4 or 5 years before was a mistake and that i was not intitled to a second atm card. now this was at a time when my wife, who was thai, was in thailand,and that now i would have to pay 30 dollars canadian to send her 100 dollars canadian, which was unacceptable at this time. the staff replied that they understood my concern, but there was nothing they could do about it. bottom line is i had to pay for the transfer and that was that. so be it. next incident my paycheck was deposited in my account for the upteenth time, but this time there was a hold on it. i continued to do my banking at the end of the month, and found out when i went to send money to my family in thailand that my paycheck was on hold and i was using my overdraft to cover my regular bills, which again cost me extra monies!!!!!! I say again that i have been with td bank for 14 years and only in the last 6 months have i encountered these issues, of which i have no control, they made the mistakes, BUT I PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! time to find a new bank that has time to check out there customers/clients. later ron haring
April 16th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I hate TD bank! they suck. I have no idea why they are ranked number 1. recently I found an old passbook account which had a balance of $50 from 2007. Having moved house recently, this was unearthed and I took it in to get it updated – and lo and behold I had to pay them!!! they had been charging me $2.25 a month since July 07 – for the privilege of owning a passbook!! this is insane – I cannot understand how people have not rioted in the streets about the insane charges applied to banking here. I’m from the UK,(live here now) and believe me it was a real shock to discover there are charges for ordering cheques, operating a bank account, ATM withdrawls, using a passbook, and the list goes on and on. This is at best archaic, at worst plain outright theft. To make matters worse, about 2 years ago, my husband in error paid our mortgage twice in one month and missed the second month (after a TD rep on the phone advised him not to make the 2nd payment), and it screwed up his credit rating – not just his but MINE! I can’t even qualify for a credit card now!! And I have $30,000 in the bank! (now Im with RBC.) I hate, I hate, I HATE TD Bank.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
As an employee of a financial institution-in a management position which I also get overlooked because I am young,but I do know my stuff. I must say that I do absolutly ubderstand the side of the customer in this situation that the cheque is large and to you it may seem ‘frequent;. But one thing you must understand as well, frequent to the bank means every two weeks etc. When you receive a cheque once a year it is not justified as a frequent deposit AND it does take time for it to be cleared through our clearing department. Because it is a US cheque it is technically International, which takes longer then a domestic CAD cheque.
I would also advise other that we are currently in tough economic times right now.. and one thing you must see through our side is that although you have been a long standing customer- to which we really do appreciate- we are becoming more tight on cheques, there have been many long time customers who have lost a great deal of money throught his time and will do anything by any means necessary to get cash. This includes providing the bank large fake cheques which we release right away because it is a long standing customer, this loss in turn hurts the customers in return as well..
Please take this into consideration
May 28th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
“trained monkeys” is right, poorly trained
My branch they can’t even do a international bank wire, they do not know how. I tried to help “the manager” fill in the form, they don’t know what IBAN is how to use a swift#. She threatened to call the police and “close my account if I didn’t leave” after she told me she was trying to do me “a favour” and I said she wasn’t doing me a favour “It’s costing me 30 dollars!”
Ha Ha lol
firethemall
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I found your article previously before when I was thinking of joining TD’s call center and was looking for employee experiences with it.
I can see both sides of the story. Working for a bank can be an extremely difficult job at times, between there being so many rules and regulations on federal, state, local, and individual company levels. There are times where all we are trying to do is protect people’s accounts and we get screamed at for it. We simply ask for an ID and that is just too much for some people to handle, so we get cursed at and called stupid and moronic. We want to protect your money. That is all. Many people seem to forget that most employees are not the ones who make the rules. Sometimes it’s not even the company- it’s the government that enforces rules you dislike.
But TD Bank’s call center is a whole other story. I just completed the training program on Friday. A whole 9 day training program. That is all we were given to take on customer phone calls. And Monday they threw us to the wolves and taking phone calls. Nine days is not even nearly enough time to prepare someone for a job like this. It was nothing like what they teach you in the classroom, which actually consisted 70% of the time of bashing other banks and other companies and just how wonderful TD Bank is and how they love to wow their fans so much. And after an overwhelming 4 hours of phone calls, when I said that I did not feel prepared for this at all and is there some other way I can get more preparation, despite doing extremely well in the classroom training, I was basically told I had to resign. So I did because I was not about to take on a job where I have people’s financial lives in my hands and I have no idea what I am doing. I also seen many senior employees breaking rules that were prohibited. We were told that we are not under any circumstances to read a person’s SS# or account # out loud and I seen many employees do it that have been there several years.
Also as a customer of TD Banknorth, I recently discovered that my account was dormant. And that I was also supposed to receive notification that my account had become inactive. Never received any. When my account went dormant, I was supposed to receive notification. Never received any. It’s been 4 years since I opened that account and it had any activity. I am lucky that my account was not escheated because somehow I have a feeling I would never have received the 30 day notification of escheating for that.
July 6th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
So get this, TD Canada Trust does not “trust” TD Insurance.
My settlement cheque of $10,735 spent so much time in the mail that it eventually went “stale”.
1. ok I’ll admit that yes its in both my name and the lien holder. Presented proof of payment, sorry no, ok what do I need to provide? a release letter should do.
2. ok, here’s the proof of payment, account balance, statements to that effect and a release letter. Sorry no, you have to get them to endorse it, but you said…. Sorry no. So I closed unused accounts. They had the nerve to ask why. Manager would only talk to me when I told the clerk off when closing the account.
3. off it goes to Toronto. returned, stamped signed released, paid in full, phone and account numbers. Sorry no, we can’t accept an endorsed cheque from a business, they have to cash it and send me a cheque from there account for that amount. This time the Manager would not even talk to me.
4. Send it off, lien holder cannot deposit it due to concerns of stale date. So I marched right over to ATB, the opened an account, deposited it and cleared it in 10 days.
While I was at ATB, I transferred all of my accounts, and consolidated my debt something else TD was unable (willing) to do.
This company is a bunch of crooks. they are rated #1 because there is no where to complain to ergo no bad reviews. Oh, and complaints have to be filed in writing, no email, verbal, or in branch complaints, they have to be sent via mail to head office.
It gets even better. My room mate who has been paying maintenance enforcement regularly through automated direct debit was recently notified hes in arrears. How? TD no longer offers this service, oh, and is not required to notify you of removal of services. when he went to the branch to correct the issue, he was told he has to pay it and to stop being a dead beat dad, IN FRONT of all the other customers, by the branch manager!
the only thing they have going for them is the extended hours of operation, but even then thy only offer services the machine can do anyway so why bother?
July 21st, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I’ve been hesitant to contribute to this exchange of comments (as the “grammar police” do intimidate me…), but I will say that I am both discouraged and gratified to learn that we are not alone in being treated poorly by TD – our issues are currently with the TD Ombudsman, but I have little faith in a TD employee investigating our complaints against TD in an impartial way.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I have been with TD over 5 yrs, and pay them over $200 a year in various fees and what not. I still get treated like a useless good for nothing customer, and time and again TD has gone out of their way to piss me off.
I would move to another bank, but I think the other three are just as bad, and will probably treat me even worse.
I hate to say this, but the third world country that I’m from has banking services that are ten times better than any canadian bank. Its a shame that these banks hide behind the veil of regulations and policies to treat their customers unfairly.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I just attended a Toronto Blue Jays “Back2Back” event, sponsored by TD Canada Trust at their TD headquarters in downtown Toronto. I also work for the bank. I was sent an e-mail about this event last week and it mentioned a $10.00 price to get a BBQ lunch and to get autographs from some of the 1992/1993 Blue Jays who would be in attendance.
Well, I travelled downtown (about 60 km from home), paid to park, and went to the event (which was also open to the public). Imagine my surprise when I got there and saw a sign indicating they’d be charging $20.00 for autographs! I’ll say again, there was NO mention of that in the e-mail or anywhere on the website. I complained about this to a TD employee down there and suddenly she became very smarmy and said, “but all funds go to the Children’s Aid Foundation”. That’s not the bloody point! I don’t care if the funds were destined to go toward bringing Heaven to earth. It was typical corporate bait-and-switch!
If nothing else, it gave me a taste of what some customers must go through when they encounter a TD employee who really doesn’t listen but instead gives some spiel to you in a Stepford wives manner without using her brain for anything other than a space filler within her cranium. What a joke!
August 19th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
After reading most of these, I just have to give the other side. 20 years with TD, renter, small o/d used often, wife and I just normal retail store employees. Put US Dollar cheque in the bank 4-5 times a year, sometimes in person, sometimes in ATM. No holds ever, exchange at ATM deposited next day, telephone banking for problems handled quickly and professionally. Even lost my card in Nevada and had no problem calling and fixing the problem. Have had problems with many places over 30 years but never with the TD Bank, or any of the 4 or 5 branches in Calgary I have gone to for convenience. Every place, be it Walmart, Sears, BM, RBC. etc. will have good and bad employees. But the TD gets my gold star for service, and I’m pretty hard to please.
August 23rd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
If everyone would please remember, that as a business the bank and it’s fine employees are trying to do their best, they are on their feet 8 hours a day, with disgruntled people, who for their own reasons have no money and/or have bounced cheques in the past it’s not the fault of the Customer Service Representative. When you get a meal at a restaurant, do you verbally abuse the waitress if it’s not perfect. She is “serving” you is all. When you go for your Doctor’s appointment if the Doctor misdiagnosed you, do you walk back up to the receptionist and “chew her out about it”. The world would be a friendlier, happier place if people realised, these are jobs. You could be the “teller” one day trying to earn a living, and have the best day you can, before someone “swears, gets loud, verbalizes their distaste for you and your company that you “work for”. How does a teller know if a cheque is good. She doesn’t. Thus by initialing it, she is taking responsiblity for it, if it should bounce, the bank takes measurements to find out “why the teller didn’t follow policy and procedure” by placing a hold on the funds”. My family lives back east if they write me a chq for Christmas, I don’t drive 3000 miles to cash it at their bank, NO, I put it in my bank and if they hold it, it’s not their fault if that’s all I have for money. Please realize that. Every bank wants your business, but they too want the respect that every individual should show, no matter where they bank or shop. My best customer service is when my experience with the customer is as nice as the experience they gave me.
Plus how does an ABM machine know what’s in your deposit envelope? Some people try to deposit peanut butter sandwiches in the ATM, saying it’s $2000.00. Should they get money back, just because everyone should be trusted. If your a “good, trusted customer”, why would you care if a hold is placed on a cheque, don’t you also want the satisfaction of knowing that the cheque cleared. Let me tell you quite honestly, Mother’s, Father’s, employers, Lawyers, every walk of life has bounced cheques, and/or put stop payments on cheques for work they received but then decide they do not want to pay for. Is this the “tellers” fault and should they be held accountable. If my employer bounces my paycheque, is it the fault of my “teller”. Should she pay it back or should you because you received the cash, or should your employer? Think about it. If you think this doesn’t it happens frequently. Ever thought of asking for cash instead of a cheque from someone. If it’s your right to receive payment, it’s your right to ask for cash. Then see if your bank holds your deposit then?
September 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I don’t feel for any of yor complainers. You are all idiots who feel that you are special because you had a bank account for awhile. Everyone likes to shit on banks but the fact is they are a business like any other, and they exist to make money, which they do quite well. They don’t exist to make exceptions for you and change the rules for you. They’re holding your cheque because they have rules to follow which limit their risk. An unverified cheque from the U.S. is a risk. The clearing systems between our two countries are not related in any way, so a U.S. cheque can take up to 30 days to clear if it’s cashed or deposited in Canada. If you had assets to back up the cheque, they probably wouldn’t hold it, unless it was a really large amount, so stop complaining.
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Dear Mr.Dan:
You must go back to the top of this thread and re-read the reocurring incident with the lady and her annual US cheque. Its a classic example of not reading between the lines and having good judgement based on the situation,lady’s banking history and deposit pattern as a customer. THIRTY DAYS to varify a cheque from our neighboring country business bank account——–I brought a $15k cheque to RBC from Scotia and it was varified in several hrs!! They picked up the bloody phone and varified it with a call to the Scotia branch…done.
Whatever the circumstances, I am usually not surprised when i hear of banking mishaps. I think most banking staff members are under-educated and operating at an unexceptable level of incompetence, you really need to keep an eye on what they are doing and triple check their work for errors, I have discovered many over the years with various banks. TD is the 7th largest bank and when they get it WRONG they will be shat on! At the end of the day we are all working to earn a buck. As a business, TD should realize that their success is directly dependant on those folks walking through the doors who have decided to conduct business with them otherwise those doors would be closed tight and sharholders disappointed!
People: continue to fight for excellent customer service and don’t let anyone rip you off with regard to service/product quality, time and money. There are many institutions ready and willing to receive your business in this country. I personally deal with several banks and tend to favour the credit unions for SUBERB service and expertise.
Stay tuned for another incident where I will share illegal details of Coercive Tied Selling which occured in 2005 during a mortgage deal with a TD rep who got greedy! It is currently under review by TD’s district VP within their Ombudsman group.
Cheers & make it a great day!
-Sydney
November 5th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
So my experience with TD is totally different from Lynnette. I have had an account with TD for about 7 years and recently I noticed extra fee when there is direct withdrawal from my overdraft protection account. I called the call center and they refunded me about 7 of those charges. I went back to check my account which I normally do not do…and found that those charges have been happening for about three years. Over 40 charges. I called help desk again and spoke to a manager who first told me there was an error for over three years on my OD account and that error resulted into the charges but he can not verify if the error was TD or not. (Cause the conversation is recorded). I ask him if TD uses third parties and he said no, which means the error is caused by me or TD, and he can not verify that…!!! (Make me feel smart)
I then ask him, why did they refund me the 7 charges if they do not know where the error is or who is responsible for the error, he jumped the que and told me I can only be refunded for error within last three month and there is no point in investigating further. The paper I signed when oppening my account state that TD is not responsible for error occurred more than 3 month ago, in a nut shell…I should forget about those previous charges and be happy that I got refund for the 7 most current charges.
The guy was extremely rude towards the end and I did not want to spoil my day.
Definitely my struggle is not over, any idea?
November 7th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Dear Sydney,
A risk is a risk, and the risk is the customer’s problem; if you are not financially responsible in your own life, it will show on a balance sheet, and if this is the case, you are a risk to the bank and yourself, so don’t expect the bank to kiss your ass or do you any favours. As a banker, I find that the people who complain the most are always customers that we really have no reason to make exceptions for in the first place (no savings, bad credit, poor job history, etc….so why would we go out of our way to put ourselves at risk?) You think we’d hold a U.S. cheque if the person had a mortgage in good standing with our bank and a savings account with enough funds to cover the cheque? The answer is NO. I don’t care if you deposit your Grandma’s check from Tulsa every 15th of December for the last ten years – if the client is a RISK to the bank, sorry, bank wins. For example, maybe Grandma is getting a little foggy and she forgot to deposit her funds this month, and the cheque bounces and the client doesn’t have enough funds to cover the returned item, and the bank is now on the hook. Bad move on the bank’s part to allow the cheque to be deposited without a hold for someone with no savings to back that up. Having a Scotia cheque clear in a few hours is like comparing apples to oranges – our banking systems do not co-exist with any linkage to the US and this is why it takes so long.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Since you now live in Canada, perhaps you would be interested in knowing that in Canada we don’t have “checks” – we have “cheques.”
December 1st, 2009 at 11:48 pm
FYI PEOPLE… any chqs deposited into your account take time to clear from the account it is drawn off. Therefore if an item is deposited without a hold we are loaning you the money since the funds have not been removed from the source. So I really don’t think people have a right to get mad. You want access to your money then bring in cash
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I’ve recently run into issues with TD Canada Trust. I went into an Oakville branch and requested a bill payment to Bell Mobility. The teller sent my funds to Bell Canada. Now, you’d think Bell was Bell, but that’s not the case. Bell mobility cannot access funds from Bell Canada and vice versa. When I learned of the error I returned to the branch and was informed that if I signed the receipt I was responsible. Of course I signed the receipt, but I didn’t inspect it. I saw Bell, and didn’t think anything of it. TD has been pushing the fact that we can trust our tellers, but that is obiously not the case. Bell Canada will not return the funds because there “was” a balance outstanding. TD says they aren’t responsible either. They did reinburse me for the $60 fee I incured due to the error, but not the $250 for the error it self. I’ve since had to pay Bell Mobility $250 “again”. Being a single mother, $250 is a large amount that isn’t easily replaced. The icing on the cake was when I spoke to the branch manager Scott, he had the nerve to laugh in my face. I’ve decided to take my story to the Toronto Sun with hope that TD will own up to their mistake and refund my money.
If anyone has any other suggestions let me know.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
All I have to say is I did email the TD ombudsman and the reply I got was they must have the information come from someone from the TD branch, mainly a manager. I could not just request that the ombudsman look into the situation. I was with TD for 20 something years & left because of all of their fee’s. I moved over to PC financial, I know a lot of people don’t like these banks that don’t have an actual mortar building you can walk into, but I’ve been with them for years and have never had 1 problem.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Gee Ruj can you be any more petty with that comment!
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
It is rare for me to complain unless it truly is upsetting to me and I know my complaint is valid and justified.
Here are three messages of complaints regarding one issue sent to Canada Trust. I would not have taken this this far to post; but it seems impossible for the individuals responsible to just say sorry and admit a mistake.
#1 This message is in regards to Canada Trust Employee Diane Johansen Canada trust 3190 Edgemont Boulevard, North Vancouver British Columbia V7R 2N9.
Hello, My name is Christian Rondow customer of Canada Trust.
On Tuesday December 15 2009 I easily deposited my payroll cheque into my account without incident as usual. I then asked to only deposit my wife’s payroll cheque into her account. Just a deposit, nothing else; just like I had done without incident several times before. My wife is working very long hours before Christmas. This seems to be a common thing for a spouse of 20 years to do for another while one is busy.
After providing the correct information my wife gave on a post it note for her account information. The teller shifted around for a while, went though some check list, looked down worried and had me wait uncomfortably for eight minutes watching her.
She then proceeded to Diane Johansen. Mrs. Johansen then proceeded to say to me in a patronizing tone “I can’t give you any of your wife’s information”! I responded “I don’t want or need any”; I just want to do the usual and deposit it. Mrs. Johansen responded and stated that I am not welcome to deposit my wife’s payroll cheque into my wife account and she should do it herself. I was floored. Why? Mrs. Johansen would not give a constructive response. Eventually the teller deposited the cheque, and was more confused than thorough. If she would have personally checked my wife’s account, she would have seen a consistent record of the same payroll in my wife’s bank history. Instead I was only met by confusion and ignorance on behalf of the teller and Diane Johansen. After coming home and passing the deposit receipt on to my wife she discovered that not only was I harassed during the deposit, the teller decided to put a seven day hold on the payroll cheque the week before Christmas. These cheques have never been held before. Why now?
Discrimination, ignorance? lack of thoroughness on behalf of the teller? Either way, I refuse to enter that bank again. Also in the new year I am changing my accounts to another bank, and so is my wife. Today was uncalled for. To be told I am not welcome to deposit my wife’s cheques, that she should do it herself. Unbelievable.
I am to assume nothing will be properly done about this. That somehow we deserved to be mistreated this isolated time. I intend to post this online, because I sincerely believe I was discriminated against. This has never happened before. I will not feel this way again. Explain to me why it has now become policy of Canada Trust to be ignorant, rude, incompetent, and unprofessional? Or is this just the traits of Diane Johansen.
I have a right to assist my wife when she needs me to, and my wife does not deserve to have her funds held before Christmas because of Diane Johansen’s inability to thoroughly do her job.
It was prejudicial, speculative, and ignorant.
#2 Chris T, thank you for responding so promptly. I view this as a difficult member of staff of Canada Trust and not a complete reflection of all the staff or company.
This morning my wife and I attended the Canada trust branch that is concerned here. Dianne Johansen was yet again rude, patronizing, and refused to politely answer any questions. Mrs. Johansen refused to be professional, or courteous. She appeared to be more concerned with herself, making excuses, and to be honest was lying to cover for her mistakes. She was inflammatory, speculating, and was caught basically lying to cover her tracks and lack of thoroughness. Bottom line; Diane Johansen was only concerned with herself and not concerned with customer service or behaving in a kind professional manner.
Now for the positive side; Tony Lee, another member of staff, was polite, witnessed the situation and took time to meet with me in his office. By the time the meeting was done; corrections were made, everything was explained, and both My wife and I felt validated and that the situation was corrected properly. Also, the hold was taken off the company payroll cheque that my wife asked me to deposit. It fit prior cheques that were deposited and cleared from past deposits. The cheque clearly had the company name, and with Tony Lee it was good customer service that we should expect.
My honest opinion and I am not one to commonly complain or claim victim by any means. Diane Johansen, was prejudicial, rude, and unprofessional. Bottom line. She is the only member of any Canada trust staff that has ever done this. Her judgment is incorrect, and for some reason she seemed entertained or validated by the whole event. Diane Johansen was smug, patronizing, and as I stated prejudicial.
For these reasons I will not be attending or doing business with this particular Canada Trust branch at Edgemont Village. It is a shame because this branch is only five minutes away from our home. The next nearest branch is twenty minutes to half an hour drive away. It is a shame but I am not comfortable any other way. Someone of that instability scares me, and it does not invoke trust.
My thanks does go to Tony Lee and to your time that is being committed to correct this.
Best, and Merry Christmas, Christian Rondow.
#3 Hello.
Paul Donohoe called my home today at 12:15 Pm. Paul Donohoe was being somewhat professional and polite and offered services that were not required. Power of attorney etc for accessing my wife’s account information. I explained to him that that service and information is not required and was NEVER requested by me. It feels like I am personally getting the run around until I am exhausted of this issue. As in past correspondence the only thing I was pursuing was a simple deposit into my wife’s account; exactly as I had done in the past without complication. Simple.
It is Diane Johansen’s attitude and professionalism that is the issue. For some reason it seems that this issue is either being tossed back into my lap or is being skirted around by jumping through hoops.
The result of my conversation with Paul Donohoe was somewhat halfhearted and seemed to contain no resolve. He was also hoping that the issue was taken care of by Tony Lee. How could it be? Tony Lee provided information on what both the teller and Diane Johansen missed regarding the deposit, and also an ear regarding my upset. Tony Lee was helpful and kind, but that does not cover for Diane Johansen’s mistakes.
During the entire conversation with Mr Donohoe I was only offered services and an explanation that Mr Donohoe would talk to Diane Johansen. How does that resolve this issue?
It is embarrassing for Canada Trust that I need to map this out:
1. I received no apology from either Paul Donohoe or Diane Johansen regarding the issue.
2. I was not re assured or made to feel confident or comfortable to attend the Edgemont Branch. ( Paul Donohoe seemed to not care and it seemed he was only trying to follow procedure )
3. Scenarios seem to keep popping up in regards to the original deposit transaction instead of the fact that Diane Johansen made a mistake regarding why I was there and what I was trying to do. Why can’t Diane Johansen admit she made a mistake? Why is she making up stories to cover her tracks?
4. I don’t want this happening to another customer. Ever.
I’m disappointed; By the time I was five I learned how to say sorry and mean it. By the time I was ten I learned what accountability and respect meant. Diane Johansen is older than that. Who is going to teach her, and how? Or is this the way it is at the Edgemont Branch? Diane Johansen’s judgment and diplomacy was horrible. In 40 years I have never encountered anyone like her before. And her job is customer service?
I’m not happy about my last statement or any of this obviously. But I have never been treated with such dis respect and rudeness. I now mapped it out, covered all the bases.
I was treated badly. Enough for me to make sure I pursue this, for other customers and myself.
Now can someone at Canada Trust please make sure this is resolved. Hollow words and fabrication does not cover for a good honest apology with integrity.
Best, Christian Rondow.
End of Sent Messages:
—————————————————–
The purpose of this is to inform the public, and also to make sure this does not happen to anyone else.
Thank you for your time, and hopefully this may help someone else in the future if they encounter the same problem.
It is a shame Canada Trust did not handle this properly, otherwise I have no other complaints against this bank.
December 24th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
To Christian Rondow:
I work for TD, although not in a position of authority. As I read your posting, all I could do is chuckle ruefully. It’s unfortunate you had to go through that nonsense. All I can do is advise you that there are indeed some employees within the bank who are incompetent, arrogant fools. They cannot be told anything by anyone and expect the bank management (and the customers) to mold to their own preferences. I was glad to see that Tony Lee presented a more human face to your situation and was willing to work with you.
The truly unfortunate part is that you’ll get some staff members who are full of themselves end up staying in the same position for years and years because they’re friendly with their superiors and the management never dreams of disciplining them because it’s a “buddy” who’s the offender.
I think my best advice to you would be to stay with TD but to find a better branch to deal with.
Best of luck.
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:27 am
Mr Rondow,
In law, defamation—also called calumny, vilification, slander (for spoken words), and libel (for written or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government or nation a negative image. It is usually, but not always,[1] a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
In common law jurisdictions, slander refers to a malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images. Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism. Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts, which arises where one person reveals information that is not of public concern, and the release of which would offend a reasonable person. “Unlike [with] libel, truth is not a defense for invasion of privacy.”[
I’ve cut and paste this for you please read it carefully, as you obviously put a great deal of thought into your written complaint; yet, very little thought into the consequences of sharing the “specific” information you have.
I also notice you neglected to share what exactly was explained to you by the staff member when the corrections were made?
Seems you have left out a very critical part of the story; was this to make for a better write up? What was exactly was said? What was their reasoning?
There is certainly more to the story than you are sharing, and of course I’m doubtful that the individual you slandered will be inclined to post in their own defence.
I will however be sure to forward a copy of your “fiction” to the TD Ombudsman as well as a copy to the branch itself since you were so kind to share all the participants information.
In 40 years you should have learned what is and is not appropriate and conducted yourself accordingly.
Have a lovely New Year.
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I have worked in the financial services industry for many years. Cheques are held by banks for the following reason: RISK MANAGEMENT.
Not all cheques are held; however some customer’s do have holds placed on their cheques, & it is largely based on the customer’s credit, track record & relationship with their bank.
If a customer has a bad credit score or a poor deposit history (a history of bad cheques, insufficient funds, etc), the bank should hold the cheque NO QUESTION. If a customer is deemed to have a limited relationship with that institution combined with poor credit, there is even more reason to hold the cheque. For example, if a customer only has one account, this is a limited relationship. A mortgage, RRSP, or other credit facility held in conjunction with bank account(s) helps to cement the relationship – therefore risk goes down when there are ‘anchors’ in place and less flight risk. Also, the larger the item, the more risk, and therefore larger cheques should be held even if a person has a great credit score & relationship – it might not be their fault but if the cheque is bad and large, it looks pretty bad if the bank didn’t ensure that it cleared. Most customers that bring in large cheques are aware that they could be held and many agree with it – they don’t want it to bounce either and if they don’t need the money right away, no problem.
The majority of people who are affected negatively by deposit holds live from paycheque to paycheque & need the money that they deposit to live. It is a delicate subject, & I completely empathize with these customers. However, people must understand that it is often their character & credit that determines if their cheque is held – if a person mismanages their finances, then they can expect the bank to treat them as a risk, and a bank is not in the industry of risk. They are not interested in making exceptions that open themselves up to any additional risk.
In regards to this particular situation, TD Canada Trust should have treated the customer with more respect & at least offered a good explanation with an apology. Their decision to hold the cheque is a mystery to me as I know nothing of the client. The fact that there was a deposit history should have over-ridden their decision & so I don’t exactly agree with the hold but I don’t know all the facts – however I can only assume that if they held a paycheque (which would tend to be a smaller amount – not many paycheques over a few thousand $$ for example), then there is an issue with the account which made them feel it was warranted to hold it.
Privacy policy in the financial service industry is based on real law. If a customer brings in the correct account & transit number for their spouses’ account, they are able to deposit a cheque no problem (they cannot withdraw, check balances, pay bills, update passbooks, etc). In fact anybody can deposit into anybody else’s account with the corrcet info.
However, if the account number is incorrect the bank cannot search for the spouses’ account number based on the advice or direction of the other spouse or by trying different numbers until they arrive at the right one. As silly as it may seem, there are plenty of cases whereby spouses are in a situation where they don’t want the other one even being aware that they have their own account. My advice to customers would be to make your accounts joint with your spouse for ease of banking and survivorship. If the correct info was presented & the bank still wouldn’t deposit the cheque, then they are quoting Privacy Policy incorrectly – they definitly can deposit it.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Oh, and on a side note Mr. Rondow, I do agree with Brian about the immaturity of your post. You should not be using actual bank employees names. Your character has been revealed and after some thought I must say there is more to this story.
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:43 am
Dan:
Upon what evidence are you basing your statement, “Your character has been revealed and after some thought I must say there is more to this story.”
Are you psychic, or just psychotic?
January 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
James:
Anyone who slanders someone in this fashion by using their full name, position, employer and employer’s address is the psychotic one and crosses a line – Mr. Rondow is purposely trying to harm the reputation of the employee.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Dan:
If what he says is true (and you have no way of knowing if it is or not), then it isn’t slander. Get a grip.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
James:
Whether it’s true or not isn’t the point, it’s the use of the person’s name and employment address that I don’t agree with and it reveals a lot about the personality of the person who posted it.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I agree, it’s not slander if it’s true, and I don’t doubt that it’s true, as I have had my share of issues with TD. As a customer since the early 80′s I never had a problem with Canada Trust untill TD took it over. It all went downhill from there, bad customer service, poorly trained staff, constant turnover, added and increased service fee’s, no accountability for their mistakes, etc, etc.
Finally fed up with the stress of banking there, I closed all my accounts, transferred my investments and rsp’s and couldn’t be happier. My advise would be to AVOID TD and their predatory, thieving business practices. Do a search for the Classaction suit that is brewing in the U.S. against TD. I can’t understand how TD was ever awarded a #1 ranking with JD Power.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Issues at TD probably because you’re a jerk-off, I know your type, you’re a bank-hater!
Man all you people have a chip on your shoulder because you’re pissed off that the banks make money off of you. Well, they do, and they’re great at it. People need to understand that a bank is a business like any other that exists to make profits and to grow. You don’t like their policies? Too bad, they don’t exist as agencies who are there to cash your cheques and take risks on you. Oh and you’re pissed off about fees? Every business in the world periodically adjusts their fees and/or cost of their merchandise upwards – look at Tim Horton’s – a large coffee went from 1.45 to 1.52, how predatory are they? A business can do this to keep up with expenses or just if they feel like for profit so cry me a river. Most bank-haters will say “Yeah, but for my fees I don’t get anything!”……how about 8-8 business hours during the week and open on Saturdays, 24 hour on-line and telephone banking, an ABM placed where you need one, a branch where you need one, insurance on your money, etc. What about human tellers rather than just machines for those who like dealing with a person? I’m just bored right now and this is what I think – stop complaining and get over it!
February 5th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Dan:
Get over yourself! Why don’t you educate yourself as to how banks actually make money? Ever heard of fractional-reserve banking? There is virtually no risk involved in anything a Canadian bank does. On top of that, they’re protected by the Bank Act from any serious competition. Your whole argument is nonsense when you go on about how banks are like any other business. How many other businesses do you know of that are protected by government statute so as to limit competition?
February 11th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
You’re my hero – that’s the oldest argument in the book!! You’re upset that our banks are protected by a statute to limit competition? If they weren’t, what do you think would have happened in the last couple of years? Take a look at the U.S. & other countries whose banks are allowed to compete globally. You’re complaining about the very thing that the rest of the world has put us on a pedestal for – our regulatory measures. Canada has the best banking system in the world because of our ‘statutes’ & other countries are currently basing their new systems on our model! Or perhaps you’d like your money to have been with Citibank. I should educate myself on fractional reserve banking? Did you look up that term all by yourself? You mean spreads, right? Yes this is the major source of revenue for our banks….it’s the oldest trick in the book! They also make major revenue from service fees & insurance premiums…..I never said in my previous comments how banks actually make money. Last but not least you’re idiotic arguement about there being no risk is the best one. You really think that a Canadian bank doesn’t eat their losses? So, if some asshole cashes a cheque that bounces & then moves to the moon, somebody comes along & helps the poor bank out?? You are the one who needs to be educated.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:31 am
Give me a break. You really need to get your head out of your arse. No one puts Canada on a pedestal for our banks. You’re delusional.
You need to educate yourself because you’re clearly a twit (I looked that up all by myself!).
The banks create money out of thin air. Mulroney removed any reserve requirements from the Bank Act in 1991. Since they create money out of thin air, there’s not much to actually lose, is there? It’s a fiat currency, you dweeb. When the bank opens a loan for someone, the money doesn’t actually exist physically anywhere. It’s opened in a computer ledger and then the bank pulls a neat little trick. The “money” will go into the customer’s account, where it is then counted as an asset to the bank.
I can’t really take you seriously. You don’t even know the difference between “your” and “you’re”.
Wallow in your ignorance.
February 12th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
James, you’re so wrong, it’s the BANK OF CANADA who creates money ‘out of thin air’, not the major Canadian banks like TD, CIBC, RBC, BMO, BNS. Any money that the banks lend is real money, and it is matched to a deposit of real money! No wonder you don’t work in a position of real authority. If the major banks created money out of thin air, then all of us should scoop up bank stock right now! Also, if you think that Canadian banks aren’t on a pedestal you should start paying attention. You should be proud of your Canadian banking system especially since you work for one.
http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/financials/story.html?id=2514580
http://www.getmoneyenergy.com/2009/02/obama-praises-canadian-banking-system/
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/762939–banking-reforms-not-for-canada
How about this right from Harper’s mouth:
“No major Canadian financial institutions failed and none required bailouts from the government.”
You’re too stupid to realize that I’m embarrasing you every time you post your crap on this useless blog, but keep it coming because it’s fun for me to respond to your shit-brain comments though!
I’ll wallow in my ignorance I guess while you wallow in your stupidity.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:32 am
You’re obviously a low-level functionary, Dan. Anyone who knows anything about how banking is really done (most don’t) will see you for the idiot you are.
Tell me, genius, where will the banks obtain the “real” money if everyone in Canada decided they wanted to withdraw all their funds? I have news for you…the banks would be shitting their pants.
Furthermore, I don’t give a damn what your hero Stephen Harper has to say or any other “mainstream” politician for that matter.
You’re a silly little dick with too much time on your hands when you’re not working your position as a front line teller down at the TD.
I have debated certain VPs in one of the major banks about this stuff and they know what I’m talking about. Funny you don’t, since you’re so smart.
I don’t have any more time for assholes like you, who only want to try to portray themselves as “in the know” to an ignorant populace, when all you really know is how to advise people on using the ATM.
I’ll take this opportunity to call you on your silliness from your post of February 11. You said, “I should educate myself on fractional reserve banking? Did you look up that term all by yourself? You mean spreads, right?” Talk about embarrassing oneself! Look up what fractional reserve means. Spreads are a different matter entirely. As I said before, educate yourself dimwit!
February 13th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Since you’re a big fan of copy and paste, here’s some reading material for you. Get your parents to help you with any big words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_requirement
http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/0693lead.pdf
http://www.basicincome.com/basic_banks.htm
http://mises.org/media/3685
That ought to keep you busy for awhile, but I highly doubt you’ll read a word of it. Blowhards don’t like to read.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
James go fuck yourself. I’m done as well there’s no use in arguing with an complete moron – I don’t even like Harper, I was using a quote. You’re the one who’s a fucking teller, so keep up the good work.
February 14th, 2010 at 3:36 am
You’re a joke, asshole.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:04 am
I realize that banks are not there just to cash our checks. However, since employers no longer pay cash and some won’t use direct deposit (mine does not), banks have become a necessary intermediary between one’s salary and the actual money. In some countries, normal practice is, or was, to pay employees cash. That is, legally, not under the table, but cash. Even retirement pensions were paid in cash (the postman would bring them and count the money). Since this is not how things work here, the next best thing would be for banks to give us access to our money as soon as we deposit our paychecks. Anything else is legalized stealing. Yes, the bank is a business, but customers pay some fees in order to deposit their checks and access their own money. That’s more than enough. But since some checks are risky, it should be up to the customer, not the bank, to decide whether the customer should use the money immediately. I have been with the same employer for 11 years and the bank is still placing a hold on my paychecks except for $250, so if I had a choice, I would say, by all means, don’t do that. For high amounts or people/companies I don’t know very well, I would understand, but that’s different. I have been with the same bank since 1989 and my credit score is 699, although it may become higher any time soon, having paid off some debt in January that did not appear as paid when I checked my credit score in February (all my accounts are current and I don’t write NSF checks, get overdrafts, have no bankruptcy or late payments, etc.). My bank is the Laurentian Bank. I feel robbed every month! I thought of keeping more money in the account that I never touch precisely because of the hold, but this amounts to giving it to the bank, since, although still mine, I would not use it.
February 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
All valid points, Monica. If you’re a long-tenured customer, which you state you are, then they should extend a little bit of trust toward you.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Once, I asked: look, I have a credit card, so if I can use money I don’t have, why can’t I just use the money I have from my paycheck? The bank employee said “this is a way of seeing it”. But it’s true. If paying credit card bills even one day late is punished so severely with high fees, the least the banks can do is to let us use our own money to pay. Once, just once, I paid late a credit card bill because of the hold (just by a day, or a few days, so it did not appear on my credit report but I paid late fees). I was getting paid every 2 weeks and the first check went to the rent and the second cleared later than usual. My employer then agreed to start paying me once a month and I never paid late ever since, but not everybody can arrange to get paid once a month.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Monica:
If you’re physically bringing your paycheque into the bank every pay day, & you’re seeing the tellers to deposit it, then by now they should know you & they should also know that this is your paycheque which doesn’t bounce, & they should not be holding it at all. They should ensure that your profile reflects your correct employer & tenure with that employer, & they can put comments on your account – for example “don’t hold cheques from employer ABC Company Inc.” That way, should you ever have a teller who doesn’t know you or wants to hold the funds, you could refer them to this comment on your account. My suggestion is to bring in your full paystub and any employment documents, along with your paycheque, & ask for a quick meeting with the manager. Tell him/her “look, here is my paystub (which should show YTD earnings)& proof of employment (a letter from your employer or employment docs), & here is my paycheque, the same one I deposit every Thurs, please check my account history to see this, & going forward please don’t hold cheques from my employer anymore based on my history; please put this comment on my account”. They would have no reason to not listen to you – I can’t think of a manager I’ve ever met who wouldn’t help you. If, however, you are depositing this via the bank machine, then you’ll continue to face holds as the machine doesn’t make exceptions based on history, etc.
February 19th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
This is not possible. I don’t have a car and the bank is physically located at a branch that is in the same city, but very far. The reason I have not transferred my account is the 2 branches that are closer are only open until 4 PM most weekdays and until 5 on one weekday. I can simply not go: I’m at work. The branch that is far closes at 8 on Thursday, making it possible to go there on an exceptional basis, such as if I wanted a loan, but very inconvenient otherwise. I have not been there in years. And I don’t actually get pay stubs any more. Someone at the company is helping me fill the income tax statements (it’s a kind of personal favour or job benefit) and it’s not as if I was going to need to apply for something like employment insurance, so they don’t bother with the pay stubs. It’s not every Thursdays I get paid either but only once a month. I would have to bother the employer for the “employment documents” or letter and ruin my Thursday night to go to the other end of the city (sometimes, I work in the evenings, too, making it even harder). To be honest, I also kind of dislike the very idea of having to justify my situation with supporting documents as if I were asking for a loan when I have no intention of doing so. I’m pretty sure the bank can figure out my approximate income and probable employer, but since I was not required to provide that info myself, let alone prove it, having opened the account long before I changed jobs, I would rather not provide anything if I don’t have to. Earnings to date? I did not even see the actual figure myself, although, naturally, I know how much I usually get. The bank has no business getting the info if I’m not asking for a loan.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
So they’re supposed to figure it out for themselves? Sometimes, there’s a responsibility on the client to approach their institution, express their dissatisfaction, & to try & find a solution. You’re complaining about the holds yet you don’t feel its worth a trip in, so how’re they supposed to help you? You’d rather not give them your info out of spite? The bank does require your info under government mandate – even if you’re just opening a bank account for example. They need to know who they are doing business with.
You said: “The bank has no business getting the info if I’m not asking for a loan.” The fact that you’re not willing to share your info isn’t going to get you very far these days.
You also said: “the bank can figure out my approximate income and probable employer, but since I was not required to provide that info myself, let alone prove it, having opened the account long before I changed jobs, I would rather not provide anything if I don’t have to”
How’re they to know who you work for if you don’t tell them? They’re supposed to guess, based on your account history? You should update your profile with them so they know where you work, etc. They can’t help you unless you help them – there are a lot of customers to help. If you can’t get supporting employer docs or a paystub then at least provide them your occupation title, the employer’s name, address & tel # & a copy of the cheque you’ll be bringing in every month. At least that way when they go to cash your cheque, it’ll pop up on your profile which would likely decrease the chances of a hold being applied.
Don’t be so difficult Monica! If you could understand it from their point of view & try this approach, you might be surprised! The way I hear you, it’s like you’re basically saying “I have a problem with this bank but I’m not going to try & do anything about it because they don’t deserve my effort – they should just figure it out.”
February 20th, 2010 at 12:43 am
First of all, the bank said that it is a different company that is managing bank machines. That’s why it may not even work, since I can’t visit the bank branch every month, only the bank machine. Now, I realize that if I were to open a bank account somewhere, the new bank would ask for some documentation. I provided a letter from my former employer when I opened my bank account back in 1989. And as much as I would support the right of customers not to have to do that, I realize that the bank may want to know who their customers are. But I don’t think I am required by law to provide my employment information to my bank if I’m not applying for any loans or credit cards. If this is truly mandated by the government (is it really, or is it just what the bank is usually doing?), it must certainly not apply retroactively to customers who had the same account for 20 years but only to new customers or new accounts. When I lost my job from 1989, when I got on welfare, when I got a couple of other jobs and when I finally landed my current job, do you think I informed the bank? Certainly not, although they would have been able to guess by what checks I was getting. Don’t tell me that not updating my info is illegal in itself. The bank didn’t ask, and I wasn’t going to the bank but to bank machines only, so I never said anything. My credit cards are not with the same bank where I keep my money precisely because, while I am paying really well in reality, I would not want creditors to be able to simply help themselves to my account or to find out if my employer or probable employer and my income changed since last time they asked.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Sorry, let me clarify. If you were go in to open a new bank account and refuse to disclose verbally or in writing your name, address, occupation & DOB, they will issue you a letter refusing to open the account. My point was that the bank will not do business with people they don’t know regardless of if it’s a credit application or not.
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
But that’s not at all the case here. Once I had an account for 20 years, I feel that I am under no obligation to declare or prove who my current employer is, if the bank doesn’t know. They can know in reality, mind you, by seeing that the employer has been paying me regularly for 11 years. But I don’t have to volunteer the information or, even worse, provide any documentation. If anybody else sent me money, do you think I would prove to the bank who exactly those people are? I would consider myself lucky and cash the check unless there is something wrong with it, such as getting too much and being expected to pay back the difference (there is a scam that works like this). The employer is just one source of money among many others that are possible, although most people simply don’t have that many, or not on a regular basis and enough to cover their living expenses.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Disregard super-teller Dan there. He’s just here as an annoying gadfly.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:53 pm
James buddy what are you doing back? Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere fucking yourself?
March 7th, 2010 at 1:02 am
See the intelligence level?
March 10th, 2010 at 2:52 am
Well, Mr. Culligan? Where are you now? Back at the branch trying to impress people who don’t know better?
March 10th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Dan, Yes banks are a business, but business’s need customers and if they don’t treat their customers right, they will be out of business. Simple as that!
March 11th, 2010 at 12:56 am
He doesn’t care, Janice. He only cares about trying (unsuccessfully) to win an argument. He doesn’t care if he loses a customer.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
There is a big problem with Canadian banks today, the use of the “fraud” word like every person does fraud and that really bothers me. I have three comercial accounts with TD bank for the last 6 years. Last week I deposited a bank draft from National bank of Canada. They told me that they had to hold it for 5 business days. The teller tells me that if I do not want it to be frozen she would have to phone the National bank for verification. They never phoned so two days later I go back to see the teller and ask her if she did phone the National bank, she tells me that it was busy and did not get a answer. She tells me that she will phone again and call me as soon as she does. She never called me back so I phone the National bank and I got through right away. She probably never phoned to begin with. It is very wrong to hold a bank draft, it should be a crime for the bank to do so. Don’t tell me with all the technology of today that they can’t know when a bank draft is fraudulent. They are just lazy and do not care. This big institut digust me. In my business I will brake my back to serve my costumers at any cost. They need a wake up call.
April 20th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Michael – phoning to verify a bank draft is standard procedure in any bank (I work for another major FI). There is absolutely no way for us to tell if a bank draft is real or fake until we phone and verify. None. Sorry we are not psychic…
I will say that the teller should have phoned for the verification while you were at her window – not after you left. Next time, get a certified cheque or wait and make her call while you are standing there…
April 25th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Deb – Certified cheques and drafts are essentially the same thing. I have seen my share of forged certified cheques, all the way down to the fake branch stamp.
According to CIBC, for example, “cheque” refers to all payment instruments, including drafts and money orders. RBC states that hold are placed on cheques and OTHER negotiated items, which include drafts, money orders and other payment instruments.
April 28th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I have just come back from my own branch with the same issue. I finally received a settlement from a well known Ontario Government agency in the amount of $9000 and went to deposit it only to be told the funds would not be available until May 6th. This is insane as I require those funds to pay rent, bills etc. I have been a loyal customer of TD Bank for over 20 years. I was always under the impression that Government issued cheques couldn’t be held. I had always trusted TD until this point. I won’t be shaking my head at the stories you hear of people hiding large amounts of money in their homes anymore.
April 29th, 2010 at 8:45 am
@Mary – yes, I am aware that certiifed cheques can also be forged. But, if you come into our bank with a certified cheque, it will be deposited as verified funds. Not so with a bank draft or money order.
May 2nd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
I went to my TD Canada Trust Branch the other day with a certified cheque for $40,000 . The cheque was written on a RBC account. I was told they had to call the RBC branch. The RBC branch said the cheque had to be faxed to them. I could stand & wait an hour for this or they could deposit & hold 5 days. What good is a certified cheque if I have to wait? Now in all fairness the TD followed through & the certified cheque cleared in 24 hrs
May 2nd, 2010 at 11:40 pm
@Ann – Unfortunately, government cheques that can be cashed refers to Government of Canada cheques and ONLY UP TO $1500.00 dollars. ODSP, for example, can and will in cases be held as they have been known to be returned and clients’ account debited.
@Douglas – that is the procedure to verify certified cheques as, mentioned above, certified cheques CAN be forged/counterfeit and they are exercising due diligence. If TD or any FI cannot verify the cheque, the hold still stands. A certified cheque serves as a guarantee between payor and payee, not the bank and the depositor.
May 10th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I found this site while seeking the TD Canada trust complaints department. Interesting to see the number of dissatisfied people.
My wife and I recently attempted to open a corporate account with TD Canada trust and were treated in such a fashion I have vowed to never frequent this bank again.
Complaints to the management at the Oakville branch at 1011 Upper Middle Rd fell on deaf ears. My plight continues.
I wish all all best of luck with your TD woes.
May 16th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
All banksters are a bunch of crooks. When you go for a loan or a mortgage, they create it out of thin air.
Ask your bank rep to see the money when making a loan.
They will say/joke we don’t do it that way or some silly remark. Then accuse them of making money out of thin air and push them for it until their faces turn red. Then you will have the answer.
May 21st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
The Banking rules in Canada need to be redrafted. We now live in a technological advanced age where money is withdrawn from your account the instant you use your bank card. However it could take any where between five and thirty days to have a deposit actually credited to your account. Could you imagine if every one worked that way ? Technically speking we all could have a 5-30 day interest free loan. Even the credit card industry realized that many years ago and that is why the charge “service fees”. Perhaps consumers should start to charge banks service fees for holding our money? Personally I am surprised that this blog hasn’t crashed because of serfer traffic to this site! Every-one seems to ahve a couple of negative stories about their particular bank.I am not against Banks increasing their profits but at what cost? I guess eventually all costs are passed on to the consumer and even when we do have a victory agains big business very rarely do the consumers see any benefits. Could you imagine if when we as tax payers wrote the cheque for the Auto Inndustry did the banks also hold it for thirty days? I guess not or GM & Chrysler would not have been able to meet pay roll. Something to think about in this technological age that we live in today. My two cents worth a little less as the Canadian Dollar continues its rapid decline.
May 28th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
I had 360.00 dollars withdrawn from my account yesterday without my knowledge by one of the bank managers… When I called to Report a false transaction – I was denied… So what happened was someone took the money from my Dad’s account a month ago they traced it back to my card (which is not linked to his account!). So they said investigation is closed because they resolved the issue by taking money from my account! The thing is it was not me who took the money out and I was nowhere near the place where the money was taken out at 2:30AM (and did I mention that the time of transaction changes each time I talk to a different rep and tell them I was not there?)! 360.00 dollars is not a big sum, but it worries me that some twat named Mazina who claims to be a manager at TD Branch in Edmonton, Alberta can just authorize a transaction from my account without letting me know… I know no one at TD cares, but I am closing my Visa, Line of Credit, Morgage and Checking and Savings account on Monday. Mean while I am going to call my lawyer and ask him to look into this. I don’t care if I will have to spend some money on this but it would make me really happy if Mazina got canned from her “Manager” position… There were other incident I experienced with undereducated staff at TD… but plainly take the money off of my account without my knowledge??? That is too much! So, Mazina, I wish you all the worst and hope someone takes money off of your account. I am not a bank hater
… I just don’t agree with how they do things 
. I am switching to Servus Credit Union (they will actually listen and provide a fantastic customer care). For those TD employees that are on here complaining about customers being rude – switch to a different bank and life will be easier 
May 29th, 2010 at 1:41 am
I can’t believe they did that to you.
So how did the bank know the money was missing in the first place? Did Dad call them? You call? We’re they secretly watching your and Dad’s bank account for something just like this to occur? Bank Police?
Oh wait, you don’t mention that.
So what did your Dad say to you about it after the bank called him to say that the situation was resolved? And that they determined who took the money?
Oh wait, you didn’t mention how that either.
So what did they tell him about how the confusion happened? What explanation was he given as to why money was removed then re-deposited to his account?
Oh wait, you didn’t mention that part as well.
When they took the money without your permission what did they say when you marched in to the branch and demanded an explanation and spoke to the ‘Manager’ in person?
Oh wait, you didn’t do that, instead you spoke to several people who did not apparently move the money to discuss what times the original incident occurred and to proclaim your innocence?
You’re right, from the version of events as you tell it, I agree that the bank does not care, they are cold and heartless and you are better off moving your business to someone who can provide that level of service you are looking for.
Now for a reality check.
You’ve written a very nice story about how you got screwed, which is pure fiction. You’ve eliminated important sections of the story in order to rally sympathy for your situation.
Next time you attempt to rally the masses, try being a little more creative when you embellish your plight.
Better yet, include some facts, tell it like it actually happened and you won’t come off like a whiney little 5 year old, which is exactly why a lawyer would be laughing at the other end of the phone to how pathetic you are.
Oh, on a side note? As for the bank harbouring ‘undereducated’ staff? Maybe you could drop into a local elementary school in the neighbourhood and they can assist with your spelling.
May 29th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I recieved a money order in the mail and had some doubts about it’s authenticity. I took it to the local TDBank asked if they could verify it. I told the teller I had doubts about it being real. I was informed that the only way to find out was to deposit it. I stated I didn’t want access to the funds until it was verified, he said no problem, they put a 15 day hold on them. Perfect. What he didn’t tell me was they would decide what type of fund they were for(it didn’t say on the money order), he chose US, and that if it didn’t clear I would loose $100 in the conversion rates. WHAT??? They deposit fake money into my account, take the fake money back out, and $100.00 in real funds to boot?? I was upfront, I have three kids, am looking for a job and my friendly neighbourhood bank robs me of $100.00. They should have informed me this was a possibility. They are supose to have my best interests in mind right?? Would they pay me if I recieved another money order and made sure to deposit it at a time to ensure I made $100.00?? This should be theft and they should be charged. How can they think doing this is ok??
June 11th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
On May 29th, Brian wrote:
“Oh, on a side note? As for the bank harbouring ‘undereducated’ staff? Maybe you could drop into a local elementary school in the neighbourhood and they can assist with your spelling.”
Check the dictionary, moron. Undereducated is a word.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undereducated
June 11th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
James,
I’ve had the opportunity to read your posts previously. I’ll give you this you certainly do have a way of entertaining the readers here, but truth be told you truly are a pompous ass.
Undoubtedly, given the excessive number of posts to date that you have on the blog, and the negative attitude that you bring to each and every response, do you not think that the readers might not soon realize that perhaps you spend your time here behind the anonymity of the net to make up for other ‘short’ comings?
The word undereducated was in this case accentuated, as the writer had made that particular reference in his original submission, however; if you had bothered to pull your head out of your ass and perhaps read it more carefully you might have seen the error to which I was referring.
By the way James? You’ll note that I accentuated the word short, which is the word your wife uses for your penis.
June 12th, 2010 at 12:44 am
It looks like Dan Culligan is back under another name!
Why don’t you suck my cock, asshole? It’d give you something big to look at to compare to your micro-dick.
June 24th, 2010 at 12:25 am
I have some questions for Melissa. Money orders do not come out of the blue. For how much was it, since you lost 100 dollars so I would assume it was for more? You can’t guarantee that you won’t be scammed anyway, but you could have tried to see who sent it to you, if they exist and in what currency the money order was. You could also have returned the money order to them and asked them to pay in American dollars, possibly some other way (PayPal or AlertPay maybe, if available in their country, since they are strict about security or at least they would verify their customers’ real identity). In fact, if you knew about the payment, you could have arranged those things before you received it and if you had no idea you were going to get paid, then there was a problem, as nobody sends money orders to random strangers. If the people who sent the money order were honest, they would have been happy to tell you in what currency they sent the money order and answer your questions. If I’m not indiscreet, how come you received the money order in the first place? I’m never that lucky. If it was to pay you for something, there are various scams where they are paying you too much (the payment is no good) and then ask you to reimburse the difference, i.e. give them some real money.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
I think that it’s diguisting that people in this blog are generalizing Canadians, saying we are ALL stupid. I can’t believe how ignorant people can be. It’s one thing to have an opinion or stance on something. But putting people down to get your point across is WEAK.
June 28th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Hi guys,
I use to work as an CSR in one of the major bank in canada, ya that ture that we hold chq or money order for 21 business days if its drawn by forgin bank but you can avoid it by increasing your access limit on account, consult with your FSR they can help you to increase it.
Hope that will help and other suggestion is you can deposit that on your line of credit and they again put that on hold for 21 days but they’l treat that as an payment and u can use your line of credit INTEREST FREE
take care have a good one……
)))
July 7th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
James,
I haven’t looked at this site since Mar 3, 2010, but I bet you check it every night, don’t you?
“It looks like Dan Culligan is back under another name!”
Nope….my name is not Culligan…..where you got that from I have no idea….I also have no idea who Brian is, although I do like him now.
July 9th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Yeah, Dan, it figures you would. Assholes tend to flock together.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I work for TD Canada Trust, Im sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction with the banks service. Hopefully everything works out in the near future.
July 20th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
TD Canada Trust is absolutely the WORST financial institution in Canada. There’s a reason their commercials promote the fact that their branches open earlier and stay open later than others. It takes them 10 times longer to complete a transaction (of any kind)than any other bank/trust company/credit union.
My husband and I got a mortgage with TD Canada Trust
(then just Canada Trust) in 1989. In 2001 we got a home equity line of credit in the amount of $13,000.00 to be used to pay off some debt and do some home improvements. The bank took care of the disbursements (or so I was told). Two years later we divorced and the house was part of my settlement. The next few years were a huge struggle financially as my ex shirked everything financially including the kids.
I worked very hard to keep things together, went back to school, got a good job and back on my feet financially. Skip ahead to mid April of this year.
I went back to TD to refinance. I had less than $14,000 owing on a house valued at $120,000. I wanted to payout a student loan, a credit card, the existing LOC, the remainder of the mortgage and renovate the house, using a line of credit (generally you can do these up to 80% of the value of the house)
I was told that I’d be advised of approval within 2 days. A WEEK later, I was told that they could refinance, just not for the amount I wanted and only as a mortgage, not as a line of credit. I complained and the girl I was dealing with said she’d resubmit.
Again another weeks wait only to be told the same thing.
In the meantime, I’d been to another bank and a credit union and both had approved me for more than I’d requested and as a line of credit.
Now here’s the kicker.
In doing a title search they found my ex’s name still on the title (though the mortgage in solely in mine which isn’t even legal)and if that’s not bad enough 3 liens against the property. ALL 3 of which where to have been paid out by the original LOC.
It’s been a nightmare every since. One of the liens was paid out and not discharged, the other two..unpaid. One of them was mistaken returned by the party owed only TD doesn’t have any paperwork showing the returned draft. (I have proof of return which I got from the creditor). The other, there’s NO PROOF of payment in their files. They’ve held up my new mortgage for 14 weeks faxing over 1 page at a time of my 20 plus year file. They claim they got held up because my ex’s name was on the paperwork and that confused them (even though the knew ALL the details from day one). They refused to fedex the whole file overnight to the branch. The CU keeps asking for the payouts, TD tells me they’ve faxed them and the CU calls and says nothing has been sent.
And they expect me to continue to make payments plus interest on the mortgage and LOC that they’re holding up with their incompetence. They should have and would have been paid out 12 weeks ago if they weren’t such feeble minded idiots! NO ONE at the branch has been any help including the manager.
At this point, I’m consulting with a lawyer because suffice it to say I’m more than a little miffed to have been paying back money that was never advanced, and interest on money that wasn’t advanced and interest accumulated on debts that they were supposed to have paid off.
If you value your credit, your financial stability and your sanity DO NOT EVER deal with TD Canada Trust!