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Seth Godin Is Right – Bank Of Montreal Does Not Care

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I recently read Seth Godin‘s Blog postings, We Don’t Have To Care, Part I and We Don’t Have To Care, Part II. Seth Godin is always right. I hate that about him 😉 He thankfully never had to deal with the Bank Of Montreal.
Here’s my Bank Of Montreal hell-story. Let me preface this with some history:
1. I have been with the Bank Of Montreal since I was a kid – well over fifteen years.
2. I have never, in my life, had insufficient funds or NSF as the Bank Of Montreal calls it.
3. I only recently got a CIBC credit card and I do not have a bank account with CIBC.
It’s Saturday morning (pre 8:00 am). I casually open up my CIBC credit card bill and see that my previous month had never been paid. This is strange. As soon as I get a bill, I hop online and pay it by assigning the same due date as indicated on the bill. Always.
I go to Bank Of Montreal’s online home. I check my balance and see that I had more than enough money in my account and that the day prior to my CIBC due date, I had deposited some cheques as well.
I call the Bank Of Montreal’s customer service line. After waiting over twenty minutes (again, it’s around 7:00 am on a Saturday) I speak to a rep who informs me that when I opened my account at the Bank Of Montreal I was told that any money deposited over $1000 into an ATM would be held for one business day. OK. I am supposed to remember that from when I was a kid? No one can notify me (how about an email) that one of my bill payments would not go through? The rep is useless and painfully uncaring.
I call CIBC and they reverse the interest charge, thank me for being a customer and explain to me how it will be corrected on my bill. The rep even goes on to explain that based on my history, etc… it would be their pleasure to make the adjustment.
I am happy. For about two seconds. As the CIBC rep is being so helpful, I go back online to the Bank Of Montreal to pay CIBC. Because I am still on tilt about my own bank’s inability to help me, I inadvertently click the wrong company – so I basically pay the phone company what I owe CIBC. No big deal, I’ll just change that. Wrong. You can’t do that online.
So, I get back on the phone with the Bank Of Montreal. The new rep also can’t do anything. The money is out of my Bank Of Montreal account. Even though he sees that I have more than enough money, that all I did was click on the wrong account… there is nothing he can do and that it may take 10-14 business days to correct.
Can the Bank Of Montreal’s service be THAT bad? I only have a credit card with CIBC and they are not even my bank but they can help. I have been with the Bank Of Montreal for my whole life – and in good standing – and there is nothing they can do. Please.
Seth Godin is right: They don’t care. They don’t have to.
I’m curious to see what my Bank Of Montreal Branch Manager does come Monday.

48 comments

  2. i recently noticed the bank of montreat slipped in an interest increase onto raise mastercard rates fromto 11.4%. i don’t recall a notice or other explanation.
    i was also given a mystery charge of 5 dollars and to this date have not been able to get an explanation.
    i recently changed to an account fee of 13.95 for unluimited use. they charged me 25 dollars, a month later changed back to 13.95 but never credited me back.
    today they show a bank payment was taken out despite the day being one day later ie 12 day.
    the bank is abusive and is dinging us for money at whims.
    jay schumacher

  3. I have been a customer of BMo for the last three years. I do use this branch every now then, whihc the closest to my work and the only one in the area. Boy it is a mission to undrestand the staff when they talk. Its pretty clear that the only language used among the staff is chinse and I do not understand a word even when they try to speak english, leave alone getting some banking actually done. I dont know how the hell BMO employs staff with little or NO knowledge of english.

  4. Hi Seth,
    Ever tried to look at things from the other side? Because of a mistake YOU made, you expect the world to serve you.. also, we dont have infinite staff to call people when a mistake is done. Especially your mistake. One more thing, next time try to read our cardholder manual/agreement, i know everything is written in there very clearly, especially how long things take to process. I know no one reads these things, but dont blame us for your lack of interest. Sorry if i seem unfriendly, I’m just defending a company i not only love, but help to make the best bank in Canada. Noone is perfect, but we try!

  5. BMO does suck. I have actually wrote a letter to the editor of my local newspaper, and they are going to publish this, with names, and everything. They closed my accounts due to items going through that I had not authorized, and I had to go in and fill out a delaration, once I did that I opened a different account, and informed my payroll department. I sent a request to close the original account and I was told it would take 1-2 business days, well 4 days later the account was still opened, and the same people that I had done the declaration for tried to take money again. I was fuming, and then the payment bounced back, and BMO tried to charge me for an NSF fee, I asked how can I be charged when I have confirmation that this account was to be closed before these funds came out?? They did not want to help me, and when I called the branch assistant manager kathy, she said “we have decided to close all of your accounts, pleease take your business elsewhere” Well if she thinks that this will end there, than she is wrong. I will let everyone know how BMO does not care, and the best part of this is I have kept all the on-line messages in regards to this, so eventually they will realize that it was there error, and by then, it is too late. Even my grandmother, and my brother have since closed there accounts and went elsewhere.

  6. I had bad expericences with BMO too. I take an appointement and after I waited 1 hour and a half, I decided to leave, since the rep was not available to talk to me.
    So, I decided to liquidate everything with them, my mortgage, my account.
    They are too arogants and they do not care. Do not do business with them anymore.

  7. These kind of issues happen with all the banks not only with Bmo. This is how the banks earn money from you. I will suggest all you BMO haters read your cardholder Agreement as someone said before, or watch the news more often, this should help you to learn more about the bank business. So stop complaining And just balme yourself of being a lazy Ass for not reading or trying to learn what’s going on around you.

  8. Lee, of coz you didn’t get anyone to help you out, you should book an appointment with a Fsm but not a rep. maybe next time u should make a phone call before you go there. Also, why don’t u put urself in the REP’s situation. If you r really busy at work, do you want ur customer to complain about u while u r trying ur best to service all the clients ?

  9. Have a little respect and thank you once in a while for the service you recieve. What you you don’t understand is it has nothing to do with the bank… Its your ATTITUDE and lack of appreciation for anything in life. You would feel the same at any bank you went to! Change your attitude!!

  10. BMO is the worth bank u will deal with the stuf know nothing about banking it is fish market

  12. They tried to rip me off. After years of saving to pay off my mortgage early I came into the bank at Eglinton and Brimley to give then a final payout check. The loan manager got on his calulator and told me I owed $9730. Silly me I payed the man. When I got home I checked the figures and they didn’t add up. They over charged me $118. The next day I tried to call the bank but only got voice mail, then I got put on hold for over 40 minute,when I finally talked to someone they were totally useless and told me to call the branch. Again I got only voice mail. It took forever for them to get back to me. When I finaly was able to discuss the matter with a loan officer he said he would look into the matter. He calls me Monday admits I was overcharged but since I already paid it was too late for me to get my money back. I told him in no unclear terms about the battle he would face and the stink I would cause. Five minutes later he calls me back and says they will send me a mnoey order for the overcharge.

  13. While I have had my complaints over the years, the biggest irritation is a willful electronic lie on their part. On numerous occasions I’ve had a message at their cash-dispensing window that my card cannot be accepted. Experiencing a very unpleasant shock with visions of stolen identity and zero balances I would go home and check online. There was always a balance and normality.
    Eventually I confirmed that BoM doesn’t LIKE to say “we messed up; there’s no money in the cash dispensary”. Lies of various kinds are acceptable in our society and BoM makes use of this version.
    But read ‘THIEVES OF BAY STREET’ by Bruce Livesey to inform yourself of the real sins of Canadian Banks and the damage they do.
    TWL

  14. Don’t give me this bullshit that Bank Of Montreal tries. They disrespected me because I only had $500 in my account, lied to me about investment information, and charged me money for making a deposit. Oh I got all my money back that the wrongly charged me, but I am still sour after one douchebag working there told me that I didn’t make enough for him to help me. After numerous complaints, all I got was a useless apology, and that there was NOTHING that they could do. All BMO employees are monkeys in suits…actually, that would be a damn insult to monkeys. After all the bull that BMO has put me through, SORRY ISN’T ENOUGH!!!!!

  15. Absolutely correct — BMO DOES suck and could care less about its customers. I had to call 4 times to get a simple issue resolved, which involved having access to money I deposited. They agreed to release it to me right away when I spoke to someone at the counter; when I tried to pay a bill later, it wouldn’t go through because the money was still held. First three times I called, they said they’d take care of it and did not; on the 4th time, I left an angry voicemail threatening to take it up with the manager if the issue wasn’t fixed (after which they fixed it quickly and released my money to me). Soon after, I closed my accounts with them, switched over to TD and have been very happy with the service there. Never again, and would tell all my friends not to do business with BMO, either!

  16. I also have an unpleasant experience with bmo’s service. I call inquiring about a bill not getting to my mail box, and they just basically said they don’t care; however, if the payment is late it is my fault and bmo will charge me. I asked for the manager, and all he did for me is to encourage me to file a complaint. Bmo suck and I never want to do business with them again

  17. The bank of montreal are horrible .
    They now have bounced two medical payments. They are automatic payments and come out a day before thier 12dollar monthly service fees is due.
    Instead of putting me 2dollars over they went back and bounced my payment to my health provider!!!!!
    Dont deal with BMO

  18. I have to completely disagree that BMO is the best bank I would rate last of all banks in Canada. I agree with Seth they do nothing to help their customers, nothing at all.

  19. You think BMO is bad. You should try TD Canada Trust. They allowed my husband to alter all the accounts and line of credit even though we had both signed an agreement that this could not be done without both signatures. They said it was a error by the teller and that it should not have been done without my signature. However, they refused to change it. Let that be a warning to anyone that should your spouse decide to rob you, the TD bank is fine with that.

  20. Had I read this years ago I would have commented something similar to what the “BMO employee” wrote on top. 5 years down the road my approach is totally different. As an employee I was first a BMO customer. I still am. How many times do I end a phone call with a client with a heavy heart and guilty conscience and thinking “man do I wish I could’ve help this person out”. I love my job. I love the customers I work for and what I love most is the sincerity in their “thank you” at the end of the call because I know I helped someone out. But I’m a customer too. I bank too. And I get stuck in situations like these too. I can’t even get helped out. They always say you need to walk a mile in someone’s shoes to understand them and boy do I know how true this saying is now that I’ve noticed we’ve been walking alongside this whole time. All I can say is anytime you think of a possible change or amelioration to bring please speak up. Email, call, write… Without you no changes will be made. A lot has changed since the first person had posted but at the same time nothing changed much. Your voice can be heard. I’m not saying to call in and yell at us (nobody likes being yelled at :P) but let your complaint be heard. Who knows maybe your voice will have revolutionized the banking industry a few years down the road.
    Cheers everyone.

  21. BMO is probably the worst of the banks in Canada. If you are “helping” them achieve that, your conceded attitude probably explains everything.

  22. Stay away from the Bank of Montreal and all of its subsidiaries as well. People in their investment company called Nesbitt Burns are completely incompetent. They lost a quarter of a million dollars of my retirement money and are still only interested in the fees they can charge, and have admitted the fact that their so called experts are really no experts at all….Whatever you do, do not invest your hard earned money with them.
    Nor should you ever get a loan from them…If you ever miss a payment, they will send your file to what they call their Special Accounts Management Unit. This unit is more like a glorified collection agency working on behalf of the bank. They will make you feel like a liability and make your life miserable….I am not sure about the other banks but I would recommend trying anyone else but the Bank of Montreal.

  23. I have been working with the company for three years now and try to be the best I can possibly be at my job. All I can really say is no bank is perfect. They all have their own faults. I have got in trouble from clients a few times for not returning a call after a busy day that maybe Conexus credit union would have because they have 7 tellers on the front line and are completely dead in the Bank. At the same time my brother made a coin deposit in their machine which was approximately around 120 dollars. When the receipt printed out it showed a balance of 62.50 cents which was completely wrong. He fought with Conexus for over two weeks and never did get the money returned.
    Me however (I may actually reverse to many charges) but if a client had something go through the account they don’t know about I reverse it practically right away especially if its a client I know well which I do most of my clients. I give the best friendly customer service I possibly can even if the clients extremely rude and deposited an empty envelope.
    One thing I will say is dont group all BMO employees in just because you had a bad experience with one or two. I have had bad experiences with quite a few tellers at other banks, but then I have had great experiences with others. Like I said no bank is perfect. Had it been me you talked to about the hold on your deposit, I would have most likely taken the hold off apologized. And reverse the NSF fee right away for you. I don’t know if that’s every employee but that is me!
    Sorry for your bad experience, but unfortunately it does happen.

  24. I’ve just read through everyone’s comments and I am wowed by soooo many people who feel the same way as I do. I have a BMO master card and a BMO line of credit, a savings and a checking with BMO. I don’t have my mortgage with them because they couldn’t offer me the interest rate Scotiabank was able to. I too, have been with BMO for 10+ years and have had to go to the Manager several times on issues over the years. This last incident is icing on the cake for me! I’m a contract teacher and so when the educational world takes the summer off, well so do I. I am not part of the rich teacher’s union so I am not paid a million dollars over the summer holidays. I have to apply for EI when I’m off. Everyone knows when you are an EI benefactor you are a financial lean machine as you are only paid 55% of your wages or a maximum amount. Well I fall under the maximum amount which is less than 55% of my wages. Anyway, my story is as follows; my mortgage payments are w/d by Scotiabank from my BMO acct. as does my mortgage insurance. I was online and noted my balance low but I had enough of a balance to cover my mortgage insurance and I would be paid automatically deposit within 2 days. BMO withdrew their $13.95 bank plan and set me short for my mortgage insurance payment by $2.00. I do not have OD on my account and thought okay…..let’s get OD protection to make sure this never happens again. Nope. I can’t get OD Protection because I’m an EI recipient. The same day while I was sitting in BMO (I made an appt.) to discuss my options for OD protection they dinged me again. BMO would only reverse the one charge of $42.50 but not the second of $44.87. Why are the NSF charges only a day apart and both different amounts? Why would they reverse one and not the other? When they reversed the one chg they put a note on my acct stating Reverse NSF – Bank Plan came out. I pay $13.95 a month for this BMO account but the money in the account is mine right? Hmmm…..not sure about that. There has to be written in their policy that they cannot be responsible for causing a customer’s account to be overdrawn. ??? A BMO Employee posted on here about a BMO Cardholder / Manual Agreement and how our lack of interest in reading their fine print banking jargon is our faults. That is a terrible thing to say and a terrible attitude. I believe that the money in my account is the money “I” worked for. It’s my money and I should be able to decide who gets paid first. $13.95 cost me an NSF with BMO and with my mortgage insurance company. So a $2.00 difference with BMO ended up costing me $87.37 with BMO and another $45 with insurance company fees. $132.87 for a $2.00 difference in my account. BMO reversed the first fee but wouldn’t reverse the second. NOT GOOD ENOUGH! I’ll be telling the bank manager that today and then, I’m shopping for a new bank!

  25. this is the most incompetent bank ive ever dealt with. idiots run this place. seriously. (im a working professional yet)they treat you like you are a homeless nuissance to them. make you wait on them while they chit chat and dont even give you proper customer service. its your job to serve people and be friendly. it wouldnt hurt to smile or be somewhat approachable. if you hate your job, no need to take it out on your clients. the teller insinuated i had no funds in my other bank account for direct deposit. because they failed to properly set up the account. to maintain anonymity ill spare the idiotic details. DO NOT bank with BMO. they seem to not know what is going on with each other and play the blame game on their own bank “we here at this branch dont do that”. its the same company. they threw their own team under the bus. pure jokes!!!!!! TD all the way and Scotiabank. Ive never dealt with such a backwards bank. respect your customers please. we all have bad days too and we also work. but I think taking out uncalled for rude comments on your clients is the worst kind of redirected misery. the woman at the front desk needs to smile….if you hate your job quit!!! they make mistakes and try to cover it up & play the blame game. absolutely rodiculous. i thought i was the only one w a bad experience but it seems to be common since 2009 & still going !!!! they actually look lost…in a drunken fog of nonsense.

  26. I never has accounts with BMO but I did have a BMO USD MasterCard. Paying that bill was extremely frustrating. They used to mess that up all the time. Several times they took the US cash I gave them, converted it to Canadian then converted it to US again. I wouldn’t see that until next bill of course when it showed I didnt pay the whole thing (due to their exchange). I paid them US cash on a US bill. Real simple. The conversion “mistakes” always happened after I walked out (yup has to pay those in person cuz BMO is 1985) Then they starting mailing in all payments. So the branches couldn’t even process payments. I quit that card and it took several tries. They said they closed it but next month another statement. Closed it again and called in a week and guess what – still open, with double talk about how then cant really close a MasterCard account. 3rd time a charm.
    A friend of mine had all her business accounts with BMO and went thru problem after problem. They even accused her of inserting an empty envelope into a cash machine. After she insisted they watch their own security tapes they didn’t apologize but denied having accused her. Unfortunately for them they accused her in writing. Whoops they really started the doubletalk then. “Clerical error” Just a monkey show. She closed all her accounts and now sees how different banking can be.
    Anyone who banks with BMO is asking for abuse. Just watch their commercials. They want only the stupidest people banking with them. Anyone with a brain will complain and BMO doesn’t like that.

  27. BMO is the worst bank I’ve ever dealt with. I used to do all my business with them but now I’m down to just my USD MasterCard. I paid the balance in full at a branch a week ago. They said they would put my payment in a bag to MasterCard. Now they say they can’t find my cheque and I may have to make out a new one. I’m planning to cancel my card once this mess gets straightened out.

  28. BMO is not the best. BMO is below average in customer satisfaction. TD Canada Trust is the best and deservedly so. Here are the latest ratings from JD Power posted at
    http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1200141/j-d-power-reports-canadian-retail-banking-customer-satisfaction-improves-as-customers-increasingly-understand-fees-and-services-however-customers-stil
    The 2013 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from more than 21,000 customers who use a primary financial institution for personal banking. The study includes the largest financial institutions—banks and credit unions2—in Canada and was fielded May 7, 2013, through May 24, 2013.
    Overall Customer Satisfaction Index Scores J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings
    (Based on a 1,000-point scale) For Consumers
    Big 5 Bank Segment
    TD Canada Trust 781 5
    Big 5 Average 765 3
    BMO Bank of Montreal 764 3
    RBC Royal Bank 763 3
    Scotiabank 759 3
    CIBC 750 2

  30. Thankfully I only had to deal with BMO for a short time leading up to and after my Father’s passing. They were absolutely horrible to deal with. I provided them with a Death Certificate etc. in order to close my Fathers account and they talk to me and looked at me like I was speaking another language and inconveniencing them. They didn’t know what the hell they were doing, they had to look into it and call me back. I never once got a sorry for you loss only procedural robot talk. It’s Funny how all the other companies and banks I dealt with in this matter were the complete opposite. They all were professional and had the common decency to be kind and polite and/or even say sorry for your loss. Never once had a positive experience while doing my Father’s banking for at least a year leading up to his passing. I always hated having to go into his branch in Burlington. They all seemed to be a bunch of unfriendly, condescending programmed idiots. They will never have my business or anyone else in my family’s business going forward. Disgusting.

  31. I’ve learn several just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting.
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  32. I came here because I have to return travellers cheques that i got 10 years ago. But i know i am going to get screwed. Im already preparing to open an ‘account’ just to cash the chques without enormous fees. But they will get you one way or another. I opened my first account at BMO when I got my paper route. But closed it just because their rates suck and sfees just go up. I still have rsps and gics there. I have to say I never had a bad experience with them though. But all regular banks suck. Their rates suck and they all screw you when youre not looking. Even my credit union are aholes as they turned over sevral of my rsps at 0.25%. No bank has done that to me. And PC tried to rip me off on a mortgage quote. Basically the payments were for a twice a month period instead of biweekly. But i calculaled the formuals on my own. Everyone probably gets screwed on morgages! . Whos gonna calculate it?1 Bottom line is if you dont pay attention youll get it from behind.

  33. I don’t even want to restate the frustrating experience with this shit bank anymore. I
    hope all these comments can be posted on all Canadian newspaper and let everybody know how bad they are and stay away from them.

  34. One must wonder where these people work. At their desk or in the cafeteria. I have yet to call, and I’ve made many calls, and not hear, “I’m in the office today but either away from my desk or on another line.” Where do these people work if not at there desk?
    In fact I have phoned on a Thursday, been told my call will be returned before 5 p.m. On the following Tuesday night I called the bank manager at home to try to resolve the issue. Very poor customer care.

  35. I am self employed and have a lot of insurance policies to pay. As a small town contractor in construction payment for work can become hard to get on a regular basis and the juggling of materials payroll advertising insurances GST payments and house hold bills (not to mention running a job site) is challenging. But usually I manage. But on some occasions like once or twice a year I miss one by hours ( working late or forget). Anyway twice in the 6 years of operating I had the NSF fees waved and was happy. But today I had one $30 and another $100 payment bounce due to not getting to the bank by 5. I had a waterline break and had to deal with it. Anyway the teller informed me that I was SOL on waving the NSF fee’s this time. So now I will pay $180 in fees because a algorithm found no money in my account at a certain time. Bugs me because I sure wish my business could run that same algorithm! So I decided to close my account with BMO today. While I was shopping for a new bank I was informed that some banks will call you to inform you that a NSF is pending with your account. Such a simple thing and I am sure a algorithm connected to a automated phone could inform me of a NSF as easily as it could rape me of $180 for one. So simple but a shame our society and industry does not think like this. Terrible as this experiance is causing a terrible trickle down effect as I am now thinking of ways to lower my overhead to make my life easier to manage. I pay way too much to insurance companies advertising and employees and need to look for hard for a change. Sounds silly but times are getting tough and losing $180 on a already lost $130 and juggling this HEADACHE called self employment with no real help is finally enough for me. As Donald trump says YOUR FIRED. Sad but true. Time to down size. Thanks for the help BMO.

  36. I am self employed and have a lot of insurance policies to pay. As a small town contractor in construction payment for work can become hard to get on a regular basis and the juggling of materials payroll advertising insurances GST payments and house hold bills (not to mention running a job site) is challenging. But usually I manage. But on some occasions like once or twice a year I miss one by hours ( working late or forget). Anyway twice in the 6 years of operating I had the NSF fees waved and was happy. But today I had one $30 and another $100 payment bounce due to not getting to the bank by 5. I had a waterline break and had to deal with it. Anyway the teller informed me that I was SOL on waving the NSF fee’s this time. So now I will pay $180 in fees because a algorithm found no money in my account at a certain time. Bugs me because I sure wish my business could run that same algorithm! So I decided to close my account with BMO today. While I was shopping for a new bank I was informed that some banks will call you to inform you that a NSF is pending with your account. Such a simple thing and I am sure a algorithm connected to a automated phone could inform me of a NSF as easily as it could rape me of $180 for one. So simple but a shame our society and industry does not think like this. Terrible as this experiance is causing a terrible trickle down effect as I am now thinking of ways to lower my overhead to make my life easier to manage. I pay way too much to insurance companies advertising and employees and need to look for hard for a change. Sounds silly but times are getting tough and losing $180 on a already lost $130 and juggling this HEADACHE called self employment with no real help is finally enough for me. As Donald trump says YOUR FIRED. Sad but true. Time to down size. Thanks for the help BMO.

  37. HAHAHAA I have business account with them for over 5 years I am telling you they are are very bad customer service is very bad the managers are very bad you cant”t do nothing about it even when you call the area manager they don:t bother to answer your call and they don:t call you back .I am sorry to have account with them and I regret being with them for five years it is waste

  38. I agree with you they are the worth bank will deal with I have business account with them and boy I have so hard time with them I regret having any business with them,they are very bad the customer service is big zero.

  40. What a load of garbage. you must work for bmo. I also have bank accounts at national bank, scotia and td and by far bmo is the worst i have ever dealt with. this includes the especially upper management. i am waiting for my dealings to come to an end so that i can terminate my accounts with them.

  41. I have an account is SK. I was travelling out of province. My direct deposit went in at midnight SK time. I was stuck at a gas station for 2 hrs b/c after I was told by a phone rep that I had full access to my funds as it was past midnight where the origin of my account was. When I attempted to purchase gas for my rental, I got declined. I called back and was rudely informed that the money was in my account but since where “I” was located it was not midnight and they would do nothing b/c the funds are set to automatically release at midnight even though they had already cleared my account and was able to pay bills, transfer between accounts online. I ended up missing my flight home almost loosing my job and having to pay for another ticket. I went to my branch and explained the situation and was given no help and charged $25 fee to close my account.

  42. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t bank with presidents choice. There are no fees! I keep an account at TD only because I have had it for years and don’t pay fees. Also I use TD for my US account. Other than that Presidents Choice offers better interest rates and I don’t have to hardly ever go into a branch. I also get cash at the grocery store or Walmart while paying for purchases from my debit card, which is very convenient and there are less transactions ( not that it matters because transactions are free! ). Please don’t pay monthly fees…..you don’t have to……and you don’t have to deal with non-caring staff. I worked in banking for many years so I know what I am talking about.

  43. Worst Bank ever, not only in Canada but perhaps world-wide. Very incompetent staff and management. I used to be their client until June 2013 when I discovered a security breach to my account due to their incompetence; I was lucky to discover and close my account subsequently. I also had a cousin who used their service in the USA and had major issues with Credit card balances and banking overall which was a horrible experience. Friends who banked with or worked for BMO have been leaving as clients / employees have been leaving due to the incompetence and bad treatment of both sides…it appears to have a very incompetent management and their services just suck. It was funny watching a guy using a BMO ATM machine at Union Station in downtown Toronto a few days ago and because the machines was too slow (and perhaps faulty), he was frustrated close to the end of his transaction to kick the ATM with his feet while yelling “such a rotten bank”…!!
    True, it seems to be horrible and rotten. Stay away from this shit (BMO)

  44. And probably this rude “typical” BMO employee who left a defensive comment on the top is no longer there as most likely they already let him go. It is a known fact that BMO has NO loyalty to its employees before its customers and this is the cause of a poor service. In modern management, beyond the stinky level of BMO’s management, employees are thought of as “internal customers”. But what we have seen in the past few years is that BMO is abusive to both its internal and external customers…Run away

  45. BMO service is the worst. I do believe that a lack of intelligence on all levels is the root cause. If you are bored, try calling a “telephone banking manager” and have some fun. If you are mentally nimble enough to talk circles around a 4 year old you will be able to confuse these poor souls. They have certain scripts to follow and panic when you make them have to think. Then remind them that the call is being recorded and they start to squirm. They treated me like a criminal when THEY had made an error and it took them a month to correct it. Everyone I dealt with from the teller to the bank manager was incompetent. It was only after getting in touch with the Office of the Senior Vice President that anything was done. There are not many institutions that are as useless as BMO. Their ignorance will fortunately cause their fall.

  46. BMO is the worst bank in Canada, no respect for clients.
    I initially had a bank account at BMO when I came to Canada (which I closed later), and a Line Of Credit (LOC).
    I went to the new branch at 5673 Hazeldean Road in Sttittsville, Ontario (opened Feb 2014), went there on Feb 22nd.
    The branch manager Michael Posternak decided to call the police because he supposedly couldn`t verify my identity (eventhough he had 2 pieces of ID in front of him) because my previous accounts were domiciled in Quebec and we`re in Ontario.
    So due to an internal system access issue, he thought it was easier to call the police because he found it odd I was trying to open a bank account and I had an existing LOC.
    After 30 minutes, the police was able to determine I am who I claimed and let me go. I shaked the police officer hands and tell the bank manager I would be sure to complain.
    Apparently some fraudsters do try to seize control of LOCs that haven`t been used for a while. I understand the concept of false positives, but what I can`t understand is how this guy had no access to any kind of information so that I could validate who I was, so due to a fault in the bank system he thinks is acceptable to call the police.
    I was very calm and respectful throughout as I had nothing to hide, but I am going to make certain BMO`s total lack of respect towards clients is known everywhere among friends and online as well. I am also calling BMO`s complaint dept first thing on Monday (they`re closed now)
    This manager could have simply asked to call the number that appears in the file as my home phone number (they did have access to that in the system) and ask however picked up if they knew where D S was…my wife would have told them, he`s at BMO!….or he could have asked if there was any other way in which I could validate my identity…heck I have a TD account just across the street where the manager knows me personally!
    Hope this testiomonial helps someone to decide which bank to go to.
    David.

  47. David:
    Do not bother with the complaint to a BMO department. People who handle complains are no more competent than others; there is an overall incompetence, ignorance and careless with this this bank that suggest not to waste your time with them. Just move away, recommend to others in all your networks (including social media) to do the same whenever possible. If you want to file a complaint, you better do with an external entity such as BBB (Best Business Berau) for more visibility and attention. The more external actions through public media and other entities plus the widely spread word of mouth is what will punish this shitty bank and hopefully either straighten or shutdown one day.
    Cheers,
    R.

  48. Hope they will close this bank one day or change all the management ,stay away from this bank

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