ScotiabankReviews 274

Scotiabank has completely lowered their standards. I have never seen such neglect in banking customer service before my experience with scotiabank. It is near impossible to reach customer service on the phone, they keep you waiting no Matter what time you call, be it early in the morning or, late at night. After holding for next to an hour, they cut you off. This has happened one too many times. I am done with this bank.

I have a complaint in with Scotiabank, and "coincidentally" they have yet to process the transfers of registered accounts to another institution. They have had all needed information since November 22nd, yet continue to say they don't have the information, and that there is a blackout on the transfer of the RIF. I have searched high and low, and to the best of my knowledge, this is not a real thing. No one, including the person I spoke with at the Office of the President, has ever heard of this. Not the CRA, not anyone at the branch, not other banking professionals... NO ONE. It is not indicated in any documentation from Scotiabank or otherwise. The Voluntary Commitments and Code of Conduct Guidelines for Transfers of Registered Plans indicates that once all needed information is received, banks will endeavour to process transfers of deposit type registered plans in a maximum of seven business days. This couldn't be further from the truth! I am waiting on the transfer of a TFSA and RIF and neither have been processed. So now I have 3 complaints in with Scotiabank and continue to wait on responses, even though I have reached out numerous times, have provided all needed documentation, etc.

27-year issue cannot be resolved. Beyond ridiculous. The bank reached out to me and told me it would be worth my while to pay them back fees... and they will not release assets. Do not work with this bank, I warn you. I want to speak to any media or journalist that will listen to warn others about this issue that is happening to others.

Although Scotiabank TV ads claim that customers rate the bank's online services the highest in Canada, my experience is that the service is just so-so. The ATM machines have complex or poorly designed screens and the machine gives cash before the customer withdraws the card, resulting in cards that are frequently left in the machine. Moreover, the online service and ATMs are often out-of-order resulting in repeated attempts/visits. Security for online services, including that provided by third parties, is excessive and frustrating. For example, I cannot reorder cheques online because my last order was two years ago. If there was a problem with my account, I am sure it would have shown up before now. I have to visit a branch to reorder--brilliant idea with COVID! The best thing the bank has done for customer service since the good old days when you had to visit the bank for everything is to increase their opening hours. Online service is too unreliable; at least with banking hours there is some stability.

I have banked with multiple financial institutions across the world, and in my experience Scotiabank is by far the worse. First red flag was when my credit card kept getting declined at payment terminals, Scotiabank chalked it up to a Chip problem and issued me a new card. However, this new card keeps getting declined now and then, leading to major embarrassment. On top of that; they have this ultra tight security system for online purchases that flags each and every big ticket purchase that one makes, so essentially the credit card is never charged, and you end up wasting your valuable time arguing with their customer care on the phone, which can take anywhere from 30 mins to more than an hour. Steer clear of ScotiaBank and their products; highly unreliable bank. I will be taking my money out of this disaster of a financial institution when I can make an alternate arrangment.

Realestate lawyers beware of this branch (Yonge and Bullock)- This branch will hold a certified cheque from the sale of you home because the lawyer deposited it. This could potentially hold up your clients purchase of their next home or a transfer to their investment account if they haven't purchased a home yet.

I spent the day on the phone trying to get the hold removed when I got a message that my account was in overdraft. I talked to the manager at this branch and she said they had to hold the cheque because a third party deposited it. Yet my parents home closed the same day and was deposited by their lawyer to a brand new Scotiabank account. No hold on their funds (and it was a much larger cheque). I've been a customer for over three years with no NSF's and a very good credit rating and my funds are held. I was told only my branch manager could remove the hold. I spent the day trying to contact her with no luck. I eventually got the number to the presidents office *******043 and was told it may take up to 15 days to resolve. If you're having problems call this number first as you won't get any help from the branch or the help line.

I contacted my lawyer this morning and he said he uses this branch all the time and the branch manager never holds the certified cheques but all of a sudden they want to hold mine without letting me know.

I'll continue to update this review. Hopefully it won't take 15 days to resolve and that this will not affect my credit rating and incur extra charges from my investment company.

I hope this doesn't happen to other customers when selling their home. I've contacted my lawyer to let him know not to use this branch as well. But to be on the safe side just don't use Scotiabank at all.

2 of my Scotiabank credit cards were subject to a fraud, I called customer service and I was transferred to the Fraud Department. I have been on the phone for 2 hrs and nobody answers, It's clear that there is a manager at Scotiabank willing to save a few pennies instead of providing the customer with an efficient and friendly service. The communication system is the worst I ever faced, there is no chance to leave a message so somebody will call you back when available. This is extremely disappointing.

I have experienced this few times, not once with various transactions. The last one being a trial wire transfer transaction of a small amount. The transaction didn't go through as the paying bank address was types as customer address. I didn't catch this while digning the WT form, my bad. Bank charged me WT Feww of USD29 and an additional USD20 to credit back by USD100. When requested to resend the WT, they said they with again charge me WT. At that stage, I gave up with a loss of USD 49 for the transaction that didn't go through. The general attitude is to rip of customer without providing any better service. I will close the account at the very first opportunity.

Please use any other bank, this bank is awful, you've been warned. Customer services is terrible. You wait 20 min and get to talk to someone who can barley speak English.

I have been a Scotiabank customer for close to 40 years and I have to say they have hit a new low. As they increase our rates the service they provide is horrible. One can no longer call directly to a branch but rather have to go through a call center where just about every individual I spoke to does not have a grasp of the English language. Additionally, the last few small business advisors and mortgage specialists are horrible. They do not return calls or follow up. Over 2 years ago I sold my corporation and Scotiabank could not figure out how to transfer all the corporation accounts to the new owners. For over 2 years I could see their credit card statements and they were allowed to use my credit. The only way to resolve this was for the new owners to change banks and I closed the business credit card. I made multiple calls to stop this breach of confidentiality and wrote two formal complaints and no one even bothered to follow up. Who are these people? It seems to me that Scotiabank's goal is to take our money and not deal with us. I wonder if all banks are this pathetic?

Wish I could give a 0 rating as the customer interaction and trust level of long time customers is basically not existent. They have impeded the movement of funds, tried to increase my mortgage rate unless I complain and threaten to leave. Visa cut off due to a couple days late, but there is a 2k payment that they are stopping from being made, which should unfreeze the card. They need to learn how to deal with people, and not be solely targeting making money. Right! Will never happen

A bank has only one goal, make money any way they can. So sad

I will for sure be looking for a new banking alternative.

The worst customer service from Rhea, Ramir and Maria C at Nairn and Panet. So rude, they speak wile you are speaking, refuse to listen, holding for 40 minutes is commonplace. A debit memo of $400 was taken from my account and no one can tell me why. Rhea the Assistant Manager is the worst ambassador of any business. She could learn about client service from a 14 year old. She yelled at me, kept cutting me off, speaking while I was speaking, it was absurd. DO NOT trust these people with your finances and everything that you work hard for. Race discrimination is also rampant at the Nairn and Panet branch. 3 hours on the phone and no one can tell me where my money is.

If you want timely, efficient posting of account transactions, do it with another bank. And fi you want
Efficient local in person banking do not go to the Kelowna Dilworth branch.

To deal with Scotia Bank It's mere wastage of time & money. If you visit the branch as per appointment, you still need to wait there a lot that spoils your whole day schedule. If you try to contact them on phone, they put you on hold for 40,50 or even more & then disconnect without saying a word.
I'm so very much disappointed.
Please verify the facts before even thinking of choosing This bank.

Good luck

Do not apply for a Scotia Bank credit card. The bank does not help you when you have any issues with online purchases. I used my card for an online purchase with Walmart. It was a third-party purchase and Walmart and the third party were pointing fingers at each other as to who is responsible for the price match. This item was a cabinet bed and I was concerned that if there was an issue with the bed there would also be finger-pointing, so I decided to return the item. I never opened it. I emailed Walmart and responses were to come within a few days. They never did reply via email. I called customer service and was told they would send me a mailing label so this item could be returned. I never received a mailing label. 3 more calls with promises of a label. By this time my credit card payment was due for this item. I called Scotia Bank and they understood and told me not to pay it. They would put it on hold while they dispute the charge. That changed a number of days later when a different person called back from the resolution department. They told me to return the item and if Walmart then did not give me a refund Scotia Bank could then help me. I explained again that I could not just return the item to a store. It had to be shipped back to the third party. I asked Scotia Bank to help me with a mailing label from Walmart. Scotia Bank said they can not call a company on our behalf. I was willing to sign giving permission, but they just don't do this. This is a long story, but in the end since I did not pay for this item as I wanted it returned, Scotia Bank did not view me as their customer, they sent it off to collections. Nice work! I have never in my life not paid for an item. Never! The customer service with Walmart and Scotia Bank was absolutely unacceptable. The way I was treated by Scotia Bank was also unacceptable. They started harassing me instead of trying to help me. Do not use this bank.

I called at 24/7 customer service number and after getting all my information when it was time to book an appointment for the issue i have, that person just cut my call without saying anything. I called twice and both of the time my call was down. Didn't even helped me with the issue.

It was really great experience to talk to Customer representative (Mackenzie) to resolve my banking issues. I feel so glad. Thank you Mackenzie for your wonderful support.

Scotia has made some terrible mistakes. I called the customer care to block one of my credit cards, that i misplaced by accident. The customer care actually cancelled my debit card, as a result i lost my online access to debit card and other accounts. Grave mistake!

Was on the phone for an hour. Trying to get these nsf charges reversed. Due to unauthorized transaction on my account. The agent and manager did not want to refund the account. Even when i called those merchants it was fraud. Even though i did not authorize it. I still had to pay. The agent kept on telling me it wasnt the banks fault that i got charged the nsf. It wasnt my fault either. But i still had to pay. This bank just ripped me off. For something i did not authorize.

I tried to send money to my family overseas. Unfortunately the wire got lost, my mom never got the money. However, Scotiabank returned the money into my account, even though they didn't get the money back. Not until 4 months later. When they called me again, saying they finally got the wire back. So they asked if I wanted to send the wire one more time.
The staff of Scotiabank is trustful, ethical, and really competent. The Scotiabank assistant Parik", he was so polite and even talked to me in Spanish, since is my mother tongue, making it easy for my to understand.