Capital One Bank

This has got to be the worst bank in history (not specifically this branch but as a freaking whole!!) I’ve only had an account with this bank for 2 weeks, and in that time, they froze my checks because of ‘suspected fraud’. Then they froze my credit card because of ‘suspected fraud’. This forced me to transfer in money from another bank to sustain myself, which they promptly put INTO THE WRONG ACCOUNT!!! When I use their customer service i just get juggled between people, wasting more of my time. If I was only with this bank, I would literally be stuck with only $ 58 until they get their act together. Ugh, I’m closing my account with them, and let this be a cautionary tale for anyone interested in this company.

After having yet another of those typically-​dreadful experiences many of us have come to expect from modern commercial banks at a particular Wells Fargo location just across the street from Capital One, I decided to stop by the Cap One just to gather some info and intel, having recently learned that the company had entered the banking business and was becoming quite successful at it. I admit I do not normally handle much of the banking needs of our companies — and when I do, I’m usually able to handle it all online, but this was one of those rare cases where I just happened to be in the neighborhood, quite literally, and figured it would be a quick and easy way to accomplish the task at hand. I was wrong.
I was there to take care of what should have been some easy business matters with an account I’ve had there for almost 20 years. After about a half hour of what I took to be completely unacceptable for anyone or any company to endure respectfully, I decided to not only do the transaction but reverse it, much to the chagrin of the teller and his supervisor.
Instead I made my way across the street to Capital One — with whom I’ve already had a credit card account for many years and to be fair have had very few complaints or problems.
I have to say I was immediately impressed with the sleek and modern design of the interior of the facility — a coffee and espresso bar, free wifi and plenty of sitting room — lounge chairs, love seats, couches galore and instead of the usual annoyingly glaring brightness of fluorescent lighting found at the Big Five, this place was warmly lit just right, not too bright or glaring and had a generally cool youthful and relaxed atmosphere. In addition I found their customer service reps to be at least on the surface genuinely sincere and interested in assisting me. A definite contrast to Wells Fargo.
I decided right then and there to open up a few new accounts with them in addition to my corporate credit card. The banker who I eventually ended up with was a gentleman by the name of Olsen Henry. He isn’t an expert by any stretch of the imagination, simply due to the fact that he’s still learning — so if you’re working with a lot of money or at a higher level as I was, he may not be your best bet for corporate banking matters; but he made up for any lack of knowledge or experience ten-​fold through his manners and integrity and a seemingly genuine willingness to help, reaching out to his supervisors whenever needed.
I highly recommend anyone interested in a more modern youthful and authentic banking experience to give Capital One a try. Especially if you are sick and tired of feeling like just another number or slave to the machine as with all the «too big to fail» banks in the U.S.
What Capital One appears to be attempting to provide is a paradox to be sure — old-​fashioned traditional and personable customer service, combined with a variety of high-​tech modern products, services and amenities that we’ve come to expect in the modem world EXCEPT in banking. Perhaps Capital One is changing that. Or perhaps it’s just this one location. Either way, I was and still remain pleased and impressed. Mr. Henry has followed up with me a few times by calling whenever he has a question or just to make sure everything is going well with the online and app portion of the new accounts. That’s a far too uncommon experience these days. (Wells Fargo reps for instance claim they «aren’t permitted to make outgoing calls to customers» even if they need to do follow ups, which forces the customer to have to call back in. It’s a joke. Hopefully one that will die off soon.
If you do a lot of banking on your phone, their iPhone app is excellent BTW. Absolutely no complaints.

I have had Capital One credit card for almost 10 years now and in my experience this is the best bank of all. Customer service is superb, always friendly and willing to do extra when you call, US-​based agents, never waiting on hold. My card was stolen twice (I use it online often) with huge fraud charges — Capital One reimbursed all of them and send replacement cards overnight. No foreign fee charges when using the card aboad — so convenient! Email and SMS notifications if you have others using your card. Did I mention they will not call and wake you up in the middle of the night if they suspect a problem with your card? I know this sound like an ad, but this is a true experience from a happy customer of many years.