Sterling Bank & Trust

I opened an account at Sterling Bank because the customer service was good and they don’t charge the fees that usually come with an account at the larger commercial banks. Unfortunately I have experienced nothing but problems with Sterling. Every time I try to use my ATM/​point of sale card it is rejected. I keep approximately $ 300 in the account yet my debit/​point of sale card is consistently declined once for a purchase of $ 4.65. I call customer service and they tell me the card is locked, ask me a few security questions, and unlock the card. It works for a couple of weeks and then once again locked and I have to repeat the process. No one can tell me why. Today I wanted to buy tickets on StubHub to the Giants vs. A’s game, My account has more than triple enough to cover the purchase and yet the card is declined. There is no one at customer service to help me today, Sunday. I attempted to log into my online banking to transfer the funds into PayPal and the Sterling Bank website was offline. The only thing I get from the diagnostic tool is the error message: Your computer is configured correctly. Sterling Bank is not responding. I check by attempting to log into mobile banking and it won’t connect either. I then went to the ATM and the card is not working there either. Thank goodness I have other bank accounts. STERLING BANK & TRUST… USELESS!

Their lending department needs to be shut down. I rather not mention the loan officer by name but she is completely inept at her job. Does not know how to return phone calls, emails, or messages. A simple transaction encountered delay after delay because of her inability to follow up. There is no accountability at this bank. I call a supervisor and he does not even try to apologize. Instead, the blindly defends his loan officer without helping resolve or expedite the loan. Deadlines mean absolutely nothing to them. Avoid like the plague!

By far the worst Bank experience I’ve ever had. they basically lied to me and went back on a commitment they made with me. Their lie cost me an extra % mortgage interest rate. I am posting this on EVERY Sterling site so that everyone knows NOT to deal with them for anything. Im going to post this to BBB and any other sites i have access to.
Buncha lairs and cheaters!!!

This review is late in coming, but I figured it needed to be done.
I decided to take advantage of the extremely low mortgage interest rates at the end of 2012 and decided to pick Sterling Bank & Trust due to 1) their industry low advertised mortgage rates 2) brick and mortar locations.
In November 2012, I met with Anna Le, now in their Burlingame office, and told her I wanted to refi my mortgage. She assured me that I would be able to lock in a 3.25% interest rate, but kept trying to sell me on a higher rate at 3.50% which I did not want.
After providing her all the documentation needed for my refi, we locked in a 3.25% rate. I never received any proactive calls from Anna, nor did she return e-​mails, cell phone calls or texts timely. In fact, her voicemail was typically full and unable to take messages. In the rare chance that someone at this office picked up the phone, I would be shuffled off to an «assistant» with no knowledge of my pending loan.
We did the property appraisal in December and I thought it would be smooth sailing. I made call after call and e-​mail after e-​mail throughout December 2012, no response from Anna.
By the time January 2013 rolled around, interest rates were creeping up, as was my 90 day lock. I finally got a hold of Anna, and she blamed the holiday period for my yet unfinished loan. She also left all of my paperwork in her Irving Street office and made me send it to her again in Burlingame. After receiving my paperwork (again), she told me that my rate lock had expired, and the best rate would now be 3.5%.
Since, I had shelled out $ 490 for the property inspection, I was reticent to start over with another mortgage broker or bank. Anna finally started moving the paperwork in February 2013, over three months since we began the process. My loan was finished on March 1, 2013. On April 1, 2013, Sterling Bank & Trust sold my loan to another bank. Nice doing business with you… right.
In the end, SB&T does not give a damn about customer service, because they are just going to move your business to someone else. Ultimately, the $ 490 I was trying to save from their property appraisal could have been saved multiple times over had they processed my refi timely at 3.25% instead of at 3.5%. It may seem small, but it was something like $ 50 month for 30 years!!!
Please take heed, go elsewhere. This bank and its employees lack any sense of professionalism and follow through, at least based on my personal experience here. I wish I could have given my business to some other faceless bank, in the end I’m only glad that I will never have to work with them ever again.

AVOID! This place has an utterly terrible staff of women who hardly speak english and do seem to understand what people ask of them. At Sterling, they seem to make any simple transaction a complicated string of phone calls and confusion.
This bank has its head clearly up its own a*s. BEWARE OF SCAMS.

Customer service is everything and yes, you may get a different person each time (who will provide different level of service). This review is based on my experience the one time i decided to go to this location. You can have a slow computer and take some time to get things done but if you have a good customer service rep, it makes up for most of that.
Really.
I work in financial industry too and I understand the pain of computers and when the system is down etc whatever. It’s not their fault. They just work there!
Tip: If you ever need to take out cash for a large amount [meaning a few thousand dollars], call them first. They need to prepare.
I wish there were more Sterlings in San Francisco. More! I need more locations to go to! Other wise theyre a litttttttle bit out of my way.