First Hawaiian Bank

I loved the service I received from Dionisia Funtanilla. I have relocated from New Jersey and she made this portion of my transition painless.

This review is for FHB in general… maybe they are now too big for the average customer.
I had an account with them to take care of my mom’s business… since she passed away, I’ve kept the account, but hardly use it. Now I find out that I’ve been charged for on-​line bill payment for at least 12 months (can’t see beyond that), which I don’t recall ever signing up for, nor every using… who knows how long this has gone on.
Since I never use the account, I don’t really check the statements anymore… after all, it’s called «Totally Free» checking account… Totally FREE!
So I go in to talk with a «customer service rep» and explain the situation” and ask that they waive the fees and turn off the bill payment. I don’t want that service, don’t recall ever signing up for it and never used it… They tell me I must have… She says they say they will credit me for that month and for an inactivity fee that I was charged (like I said I never use the account) The customer service girl said she couldn’t turn off the bill payment service and that I would need to sign on and do it myself. She issues the $ 15.99 credit
That evening, I sign on to see if I can turn off the bill payment, but I can’t find it anywhere. Then I notice that they debited my account for $ 5.99 for bill payment again! I don’t like that the bank can just take money out of my account without my authorization. I just told her that I didn’t authorize it and didn’t want it.
So I go back on Saturday and talk to another «customer service rep» Now I have to explain everything again. He tries to call «the department»…he can’t get in touch with them and says he will take care of it on Monday.
I don’t hear from him… so I go back to the bank on Tuesday and have to talk to another «customer service rep»…I now have to explain everything for the third time. He gives me a blank look (I think they are trained to do this) and tells me I «must have signed up for it and basically, too bad.
I finally ask who I can talk to to get the $ 5.99 reversed. He finally call for the Branch Manager. Now she comes out and asks me what is the problem… ok am I supposed to tell her the whole story again?
So it takes 3 visits to the bank and explaining the situation to 4 people to get everything resolved (not to my satisfaction, but how do you fight the big bank!). Every time there is anew person involved, they ask you what it’s about… They just want to wear you out. They are trained to just look at you and say nothing!
I need to learn to be like my girlfriend and just scream out «Put it Back!»
The fee that I wanted waived was only $ 5.99, but it was the principle of the matter that makes me soooo mad! I don’t know how many month’s they took out that money… at least 12!
I’ve been a customer of theirs for over 40 years. checking and credit card and at one time was a relatively large account holder with my 2 retail stores… I am not a large account holder anymore and they should be ashamed of how they treat their customers!
The attitude and indifference give an «I don’t care» because you are just a small customer of ours… good bye FHB… you are not the bank that says «Yes»…you really don’t care!

Typically, I come in here to withdraw from my mainland bank account.
It really sucks that there are no Mainland bank… well, at least in my case it does. It’s my issue and I deal with it oh well.
So, from time to time, I come in a grab some cash via MC cash advance on my debit card. No big secret but it saves me TONS of ATM fees and keeps me on a good budget.
I’m OCD, I know… Dont judge!
Anyway, I come in here and they always give me a hard time… as if they dont like providing this service. but, it’s what they offer and I might be one of the few people that takes advantage of this service… but HEY! It’s my peroggative (said in my Bobby Brown Voice)!!
Please remember that rolling your eyes, like this…
@.@
is not good customer service.
Thank you!

For me personally I think this is a really good location for a FHB branch over here at the corner of King St. and Bethel St. It is right next to Philippine National Bank where I also go to whenever I visit the FHB Chinatown branch. There is also another FHB some blocks down the road too which is pretty interesting to see the distance and closeness between them. Whenever I step in this branch, the vibe feels very old school because of the look of it. The interior design gives off a very Old Hawaii kind of atmosphere for some reason. The staff and customer service is good. The only junk thing about coming here is if you drive down here then you’ll have to go through the hassle and hustle of parking. The branch location is across form the «Winner’s Zone» arcade/​casino place which I find assuming just relating to a bank to an adult wannabee casino game station. Other than that, this location has one floor and offers your typical friendly neighborhood FHB services.

Again not sure how to review this bank. This FHB location is actually closer to my building than the main branch on Bishop. Not sure why I used to always go to the Bishop street branch. Whats weird about this branch is that it caters to mostly the Chinese clientele that would bank in the area. I do notice some of the tellers are Chinese and also the people that would help you open a new account is also Chinese. Nothing wrong with that at all just through I might point that out if your looking for Chinese friendlier branch to do your banking at.
When you first walk in. you notice the doors are really light and flimsy vs the heavy glass and stainless steer doors at the main branch. When you first walk in, you can’t help to notice how cold the AC is. I love love walking into this place after walking in the hot blistering sun from my building in the afternoon. AFter when you stand in line, you notice you might be the only one in there and your helped next. IF there is people in front of you. The line will go very fast. I normally do my banking around 2pm so i might have actually miss the lunch rush. But even though I think the lunch rush might be a lot of people but I’m sure they get everyone out as fast as possible because you know everyone doesn’t have a lot of time to do the banking, and go get lunch on their break.
When you finally get to the teller u can’t help to notice that the teller is behind some bars /​cage and really kinda awkward when you think about it, especially if you bank a lot at the main branch. I guess really its for security for the tellers and make sure no one robs the place. Hell it is in Chinatown and there are made sketchy people that walk around the area a lot.
The main branch is always busy and the lines are always super long, BUT this china town branch is soo much quieter and soo much quicker to do my deposits for my company.
I’ll be coming to this branch from here on out and will avoid the main branch as much as possible.

I went into a first Hawaiian bank branch with my father to withdraw money. A male teller advised my father to upgrade his account. I looked at the requirements for this type of account and my dad did not meet these requirements, and with not meeting these req. My father would be charged these fees. I spoke up and said «why would you recommend something like this when he does not meet what’s required, & he’ll be charged fees?» After he had nothing to say and just proceeded with my father’s transaction. I was very dissapointed with that day and my father decided to close his 2 CDs also.