TD Canadatrust

[4X4]

Just a simple question about TD... What's with the creepy notes they've started writing while you're dealing with a teller? They kinda hide it so you can't see what they're writing. Anyone else notice this? Anyone know why? Is it just me? Maybe they think I'm going to rob them or something. I gotta stop wearing balaclavas when I go to the bank.

And since it's a pretty pointed question, I might as well spark a conversation about which banks everyone uses. I'm an old school Canada Trust guy. They always were and still are the best. Great hours, lots of branches, minimal BS... Not like that crap factory known as Scotiabank. I still hold a grudge against them for the time they wouldn't let me withdraw my money.
I went to the bank one day back when I was about 17 to inquire about some mysterious fees. It turned out that they were dinging me for using the ATM to view my account balance. I did it three times in one day to make sure my car insurance payment had gone through and they charged me $4.50 for it. That pissed me off so I told them to give me all my money and close the account. The refused to do that saying that I had to schedule an appointment to close an account. So I told them to just give me all my money and I just simply wouldn't use the account anymore, and they refused to give me any money because they knew that that was my plan.
I can't really remember how long it took, but they basically refused to give me my life savings (a whole $400) for a couple of weeks. They froze my account because I told them that I wanted to switch banks.

Since that day, they've been at the very pinnacle of my sh1t list. Just a hair above Bell.


Scotia = evil

Royal = meh

First Calgary = good

TDCT = the best

[pope04]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Just a simple question about TD... What's with the creepy notes they've started writing while you're dealing with a teller?

My HELOC is with TD Canada Trust, so I deal with them as well as the Royal and BMO.

Could you elaborate on the notes? I've noticed they seem to do an awful lot of typing when I go in there simply to make a payment......or are you referring to written notes?

Maybe the teller's writing her phone number down, but you're leaving before she can give it to you.

[burn_this_city]

I'm a scotia customer and I'm not sure why... They truly are terrible.

[bigtmac19]

I use a Credit Union, have a terrible hate for both Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal.

Credit Unions are great, it is nice to be greeted by name when you go in the branch, great service, etc.

[wooohooo]

I worked at TD during the summer... but I did more paper work with HELOCS and mortgages and so on. So no experience with teller work or anything.

However, we did use this system where there were notes about customers. Nothing that you should be concerned about just small things like customer requests Overdraft protection or something to that matter. This is just primarily in case something goes terribly wrong so we can keep the money in check.

Sometimes money wouldn't add up so we had to go searching for this and most times we had to rely on these notes to figure things out. I tell you... TD's system is very very old school but they're starting to revamp things. Implementing new system and policies. Should make things ALOT easier.
Processing should be faster.... etc.
TD really is a great bank and by far my favorite

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I'm a scotia customer and I'm not sure why... They truly are terrible.

Really? They've been great to me. My banker has gone the extra mile when I needed something. Not to mention they gave me my mortgage when I really didn't have the equity or income to deserve it (pre-boom).

TD Waterhouse does great with my investments though.

BMO gets awarded my bad thoughts (for not giving my unqualified butt a mortgage)

[Draug]

Most of my banking is done with PC Financial. No fees, and never bad customer service because 99% of the time, everything is done online. There have been a few times where I've had to call them, and the service has been fine.

I also keep an ATB account for the 1 or 2 times per year that I have to actually see a teller.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by pope04

Could you elaborate on the notes?

I do the same thing every half month. I stand in line, speak to a teller, deposit two cheques from the same company and usually the same amount, then usually withdraw 1 or 2 hundred.

I give them the cheques and then they start using the keyboard and (I assume) look for consistency from previous deposits... Then they grab a piece of paper and start jotting things down on it and they do it out of my line of vision, or else they prop up the top of the piece of paper and do it right in front of me, but block what they're writing from my sight.

Creeping me out, I tell ya.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I do the same thing every half month. I stand in line, speak to a teller, deposit two cheques from the same company and usually the same amount, then usually withdraw 1 or 2 hundred.

I give them the cheques and then they start using the keyboard and (I assume) look for consistency from previous deposits... Then they grab a piece of paper and start jotting things down on it and they do it out of my line of vision, or else they prop up the top of the piece of paper and do it right in front of me, but block what they're writing from my sight.

Creeping me out, I tell ya.

Is this a deposit into a mortgage or HELOC? Or just into a bank account?

[Locke]

I'm also a TD man. The notes that the teller was taking are much like a doctor's notes about you 4x4. You can ask Jody what they were writing, she has similar notes.

They probably saw you coming from a mile away, were you doing anything obnoxious like wearing that Cowboy hat and drinking a bud?

As for Scotia, dont even get me started on that sh1t factory. I used to be with them as a kid and man do they screw you around.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by 4X4

then usually withdraw 1 or 2 hundred.

I believe tellers have a paper transaction slip for withdraws. They are writing how many of each denomination they are giving you. I think they do some sort of balance at the end of the day and use the slips for this purpose. In some (if not all) of the branches they don't actually have a cash drawer and have to go to the back to get the cashier or equivalent to give them the money.

Life long CT guy here too. I've had the bank tell me to never get rid of my account as it's no fee on anything ever super duper grandfathered account.

[Incinerator]

another TD fan & shareholder here, I do all my banking with them, tons of branches, awesome hours, cute tellers, efficient and competent staff, what's not to like?

Scotia is also on my evil list, but my experience with them are for the most part through my clients mortgages, always a ton of problem with them during the approval process. I've pretty much blacklisted them for my clients.

[Slava]

I have a couple of accounts, including one at TD. My most hated institution is CIBC. I wrote a letter to the CEO about 12 years ago pointing out that they will never receive a dime from me, including but not limited to my getting a mortgage from them. I believe that my letter was to the effect that I would rather live on the street than pay them a single cent.

[Got Miikka?]

You folks are in luck! Here I am to dispel any presumed creepiness as to the note-writing at TDCT. I worked as a teller there for a year couple of years back.

Without any idea as to the 'due diligence' practices employed by other banking institutions, let me tell you that TDCT takes their own very seriously. Them scammers have plenty of tricks up their sleeves designed to exploit any and all weaknesses in the system; TDCT has done their best to be as thorough as possible to prevent these unfortunate scenarios.

So, for starters, a teller is assigned a limit as to a dollar figure (excluding cash) they can process into someone's account without any necessary 'overrides' from a superior. Guy comes in with a $50 cheque, even the greenest (no pun!) teller can probably put that through on their own.

Once the amount exceeds whatever the dollar limit is that has been assigned to an individual teller, they must gather a variety of information about the client from their account details and provide it to a superior, who will then choose to 'initial off' on a cheque depending on the convincingness of the information provided. Relevant details are: how long the client has banked with TDCT; how much money they currently have in the account; how many cheques from the same issuer for the same amount have gone through the account, and with what regularity; how much debt the person is in; etc. Basically, the bank needs to know with as much certainty as possible if the cheque in question is going to be legitimate or at least alternate funds might exist to cover the sum in the event of NSF or fraud or whatever, before giving the client the benefit of the doubt and just letting them have access to the funds - because the cheque, after it is deposited, must then go through a clearing process before the funds clear out of the issuer's account and make the deposit final. This sometimes takes days; for foreign cheques, it can take weeks.

A cheque can be fraudulent for more reasons than money people assume possible; this due-diligence process is in place as much to protect the client as the bank. If someone performs identity theft on you and comes into a bank with a frauded cheque to deposit into your account for quick cash - you are going to be hassled as much as the bank is. So, yeah, when you go into TDCT to make a deposit, it takes a few minutes in some cases before the funds from your cheque are given over to you in good conscience, but just remember, as long as you know there's nothing wrong with it, it should be fine. The bank just has to make sure.

Your best bet for expediency is to try to visit the same branch with your recurring cheques and hopefully - provided the teller staff doesn't turn over madly like it so often does - employees will recognize you and the process will gradually become quite quick and painless (although, some clients have been known to "go bad" - people known and trusted by a branch for years; these jerks are just another part of the small group of asses who ruin it for everyone else). Um... I guess your other hope is that whoever these people are that serve you consistently are not so stupid as to fail to recognize you after a period of time; sadly - such incapacity does exist.

There is more to it but I haven't run a teller line for a while so I can't remember it all... hopefully this at least clears up some of the confusion!

[Coach]

I'm a scotiabank customer. Im usually ok with there service. Ive been thinking about switching to TD for a while but am just too lazy

[4X4]

Thank you, my fellow Niner... That explains it perfectly. I only noticed the creepy notes this summer and beyond, which directly coincides with a substantial increase in my take-home.
The apparent randomness must be related to sometimes dealing with tellers with higher limits.

[Got Miikka?]

I actually still work for TDCT - as a Financial Services Representative now - but I am on leave while out here in Toronto. Haven't decided if I will go back yet when I get into Calgary in January, but if I do - come see me, I'll ensure you're well looked-after.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Locke

As for Scotia, dont even get me started on that sh1t factory. I used to be with them as a kid and man do they screw you around.

Too late. You've started me. Biggest bunch of turds I've ever had to deal with.

Long story short, I transferred a decent amount of Euros by wire. Got daily quotes from one of the managers that was always more or less within a cent of midmarket on XE.com.

Got a phonecall one morning before 0800 (since when does the bank phone you at that time) by an irate lady. Said my money had arrived.

Asked her the rate.
She gave me a ridiculous quote.
I asked her why such a crap rate, meanwhile was checking rates on computer. Euro had crashed a full 2 cents overnight.
She replied that that was the rate.
Asked her when did the money arrive.
She foolishly told me 1621 the prior afternoon.
Asked her why wasn't it processed then.
She replies that "she missed it".
I tell her that's too bad and I wanted the rate at the time it arrived at the bank (which I had been promised).

Next thing I'm standing holding the phone about a foot from my ear as this lady has the mother of all meltdowns. Who the hell do I think I am? I was SOL, this was the rate and I was taking it ......... NOW!

I tell her I'm taking nothing, take her name, tell her I am now recording the conversation, instruct her not to touch the money and tell her to get stuffed.

Next stage. I have to take it up with the branch manager ... she's worse.

Tells me first of all that they have a branch policy stating that their business hours are 1000-1600 and that they don't do transactions after that time for money arriving in the bank. I was therefore subject to next days rates.

I ask to see the policy and query why if their business hours start at 1000 fruitcake was ringing me at 8ish.

Sorry .. customers aren't allowed to see it. For staff's eyes only.

I call BS on a policy regarding customer service and say I think it doesn't exist. Later found out she was lying.

Next ... she tells me that even though the Euro had dropped 2 cents from the time of arrival I was in fact getting a better rate now than I would at the time of arrival. Work that one out.

She's unaware the whole conversation is being recorded and won't confirm the telephone conversations by e-mail.

Cut along story short, I instruct her not to touch the money (she's threatening to send it back) and go to the next step (office of president). They tell me she has no right to do anything against my wishes until the matter is resolved. They question the information I gave them regarding what she told me. I play the recordings. The fella on the other side is speechless.

30 minutes later I get a call telling me I will get the rate I was supposed to get (+ a bit extra as a goodwill gesture for the hassle). Apologize and say they will be investigating the manager, FEX person and the branch's practices.

I honestly believe to this day that it might have been a branch specific scam and they were blatantly trying to rip me off.

footnote. This happened in Ottawa. My experiences in Calgary were nothing short of excellent.

[jtfrogger]

I bank at TDCT, and love the bank. I do much of my banking in person, and the tellers know me. Many of them greet me by name, even if they are helping other customers. Also, the online banking is very easy to use. I also use TD Waterhouse for my investments.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

All banks suck.........that is all