Umpqua Bank

Oct 20th, 2023

I dont trust Umpqua for any of my banking needs anymore and feel completely disregarded as a person to spare the ego of the local branch team. I opened a HELOC with Umpqua that allowed you to lock in an interest rate when you withdrew funds. The big catch was funds had to be withdrawn within a short window for you to access the rate lock promotion. So I withdrew funds needed for a remodel ahead of time to ensure I received the low interest rate. And the rate was as promised for a year so paying interest on the funds before we needed them was worth it. Then another need for major housework came up and I wanted to lock in a rate and withdraw the remaining balance. When I called the West Seattle branch to confirm I would get the Smartlock for this new withdrawal, staff ultimately said they were unsure of the details and transferred me to the main line. We took down notes from the phone call and left with the understanding of what the interest rate would be and the deadline for withdrawing funds at that rate. And we were never told we had to fill out paperwork to lock in a rate. It felt like the honor system. Then we got a surprise bill and saw our interest rate was just the current Wall Street interest rate and neither of the rates we understood to be locked in. We called the West Seattle branch and were told many conflicting things. Then we got emails that put blame on us for not understanding the intricacies of this promotion. Things were said like I specifically remember telling you when we opened your loan as if they suddenly remembered details of our one face to face encounter from over a year ago. So we decided to call the main line we had been directed to before and did actually get someone who cared and investigated our situation. It turned out that from one phone call, our takeaway was that we locked in a rate and just needed to withdraw funds. But on the recorded conversation they said we needed to call back again when we withdrew funds. An easy miscommunication. The person helping us tried to appeal and get our rate locked in as discussed on the recorded conversation. But we were told the person who said they would not honor this conversation and misunderstanding was the West Seattle branch manager. The same people who told us conflicting information about how this program worked and on multiple occasions transferred me to the main line because they said it was confusing. But it gets worse, we are stuck with the interest payments on funds we never would have withdrawn at that time without a locked in rate. AND we either have to pay $150/year to keep the loan open or pay $500 to close it early.
Oct 14th, 2023

Around the time that I opened an account at Umpqua bank (in 2011), the branch in West Seattle was still under construction. But I was so eager to get away from Bank of America that I made the trek over to Magnolia to open an account. Despite decades of banking with BofA, it seemed like every time I walked into the branch they treated me like a stranger. What I was looking for was friendlier, more personal service. And for many years that is what I found at Umpqua, especially with Kelsey White and Barbara Salinas who were all-stars at the West Seattle branch. However, over the years the charm of Umpqua wore off as I discovered that trying to get certain things accomplished at Umpqua was more difficult than it had to be. Despite stellar service at the branch, the experience of dealing with telephone support from the main office often left a lot to be desired. When I found myself running up against the deposit limits of mobile banking, the branch staff were able to intervene and bump up the limits for me. But after a while they reverted with no warning and it took more work to make them permanent. Even then, I constantly had issues with the buggy app on my iPhone. Other banks also have limits. But their apps dynamically tell you how much more you can deposit and when you'll be past the limit, while it was always a guessing game with the Umpqua banking app. On the rare occasions when I needed to send a wire, the bank policies were more limiting and less flexible than at other banks. Paperwork needed to be filled out in person before 2pm. If you missed the cutoff, for some weird reason they could not just hold the paperwork to submit the next day. You had to come back. At other banks, they just hold the paperwork for you and submit it the next day. Sometimes I'd travel abroad for work and would want to order some foreign currency before I left. Again, it required paperwork and a wet signature at Umpqua (whereas other banks let you do it through their website and very conveniently delivered it). It just seemed like, time and again, everything "extra" that I tried to do at Umpqua was clunky and tedious, which is counter to the image of modern banking that they put forth. But still, I stuck with it mostly because the people were so nice, and again, Kelsey or Barbara were always so willing to help iron out the wrinkles. But the final straw came after I once again hit roadblocks one afternoon, that ate up more time than it needed to. And after a rude, adversarial, and unprofessional interaction with Nancy Marroquin at the branch, I was done. I made my decision that day (after eleven years of banking at Umpqua) to close my account. Absent the friendly service, I could just no longer justify the trouble and aggravation of trying to get things done at Umpqua. As much as I regret having to go back to a "big bank" I find that everything I need to do can be accomplished much more easily and doesn't waste as much time as Umpqua did with its Byzantine paperwork and policies.
Apr 27th, 2023

Great folks like showing up even at drive ups and call you by name and always a smile even with a mask on you can tell .
Jun 1st, 2020

I cant say enough good things about Umpqua. As a business owner we went through several banks before we came to Umpqua and I can say that after 6 years with them we are very pleased with their service. Tim C and the crew have helped us secure loans when we needed them and worked diligently to get us into the PPP loan when COVID hit. For businesses and personal I would highly recommend them.
Apr 19th, 2020