Citizens Business Bank

Anne M. _{on Yelp}

Dec 10th, 2018

The manager is THE most unhelpful person.  After being in Banking for 17 years and knowing most of the rules and regulations it does not cease to amaze me how difficult Paul makes every transaction.  I work with a non profit and we have a bank account there.  If not for the convenience I would seriously lobby the group to move the account.  Really really crappy manager.

Mmj Ppj _{on Google}

Sep 15th, 2022

I tried to work with this place over a year because once I had established all my auto debits and transactions I didn't want to redo everything somewhere else. I have a plumbing business in Southern California. My experience here the entire time was pretty horrible other than a few bright highlights here and there. I recently noticed some exorbitant fees on my account and pulled the plug after more than a year of trying to deal with the incompetence and difficulty of financial transactions of purchases, regular debits, alarms on my account that stop transactions (regular auto-debit transactions) and the app that fits with the culture mentioned above. This bank made my life difficult for over a year and now that I realized how much I was paying for the unpleasant experience, I'm picking up a check for my balance. Imagine hiring people who move around on their hands and knees and tell you that's why they can't do anything you ask for...thats how I felt dealing with these people. They did order me a new debit card, without me asking recently when I mentioned the chip was falling out over the phone... so that was good... and honestly they've always been nice, just not efficient or helpful. They nickel and dime you into an expensive account which goes with the culture I guess. I'm tired of being frustrated here. Good luck this place sucks.

Alec B. _{on Yelp}

Jan 4th, 2018

I work right next door at the gym and always have felt welcome and have been dealt with very good customer service here! Very quick and easy process

Tamara T. _{on Yelp}

Oct 12th, 2015

I don't normally write negative reviews but I really feel I need to in this case.  My dealings with Citizens Bank in Laguna Beach were very unprofessional and I'd like to warn others.  I recently was assigned Administrator over the Estate of my brother who passed away.  Within a week of my brothers passing I contacted all the banks explaining the situation (going through probate) and giving my name and number.  About 8 weeks after his death a friend of my brother calls me to say he was contacted by a person at the local Citizens Bank asking what was going to go on with my brother's account?  What the heck!!  Why would someone there think it's o.k. to speak to just anyone about my brothers account?  Probate takes a while and which is why I called them in the first place!   He lived in Laguna and I live out in Ventura County.  My brother had accounts with Wells Fargo, B of A, USAA and Citizens Bank.  All of the banks besides Citizens allowed me to walk into any branch show them the Death Certificate,  Court Doc's, I.D. to close the account so the funds could go into an Estate Account.  Citizens however, insisted that I had to go to the Branch where the Account was opened.  I did contact their closest bank to me which was in Burbank to confirm this and the guy on the phone said, "Well, the two managers would have to talk or they'd have to e-mail my branch manager with everything. It would be easier to just go to the branch you opened it at." I explained that it would be a 5-6 hour roundtrip in traffic to do this.   I asked the Laguna Assistant Vice President/Service Manager what he needed (assuming it would be the same as the paperwork). He said just the Death Certificate and my I.D. He said they had a form I'd fill out there and it would be notarized.  I mentioned the court docs and he said no they didn't need that. So, I drive 3  1/2 hours to be at their branch at 10am and he copies the death certificate, takes my i.d. and fingerprint and then gives me a check for over $80,000.  They were at first going to put it in my name and I asked him to please put it in the Estate name of my brother.  The Service Manager was very nice but I'm sitting there thinking ANYONE can get a copy of the death certificate and I was surprised they could just give my brothers money away that easily.  I could have been some crazy ex-wife or something.  He never looked at any papers showing I had a right to be withdrawing that money.  I left and about 2 hours later the Manager called to say his boss told him to get a copy of the court documents.  Luckily I had not left town yet or I would have been extremely pissed off. I was only a little annoyed to be driving back to the bank.  The next day the same Manager called to say he needed me to scan a copy of my I.D. and send it to him.   Besides the fact they so easily gave me the money, what I'm truly annoyed at is this banks policy to not allow you to walk into any branch and close an account.  What if I had lived in another state and was handling this Estate. Before writing this review I did contact Citizens Bank through their organizations website.  They called me within 24 hours and said they were sorry I had a bad experience and they'd be forwarding my message to the Branch Manager in Laguna.  They said I'd hear from the Branch Manager soon. I knew nobody at that branch would call me and they didn't!  Honestly, I don't need anyone to call me anyway. I just want to warn the public that this branch operates like an old mom and pop bank in a world with much more professional banks that are way more user friendly and secure.