Chase Bank

After reading some of the bad reviews here, I was a bit skeptical wether to go to this branch or not. I decided to make my own opinion and walked in. Here is what I thought:
The Bank location is very convenient on a corner that I pass daily no matter what, yes to certain times the traffic can be a bit annoying, but that’s Mill Valley!
The architecture of the Bank is very nice and welcoming, inside and out! The inside is bright and fresh, with glass offices.
This is quite a modern bank, and I mean this in a good and bad way. ;)
There are several big, modern banking tablets and ATM in this Bank, however there are no typical Bank Tellers for a more personal transaction process. I can see how this change might not be as welcoming especially for the elder, who are not familiar with using tablets/​computers.
The lack of tellers did’t bother me much, because when I walked in, I was immediately welcomed by a friendly woman. She asked me if I needed help with anything and offered me a coffee and seat while I waited for a banker.
I waited less than 2 minutes and Marcia, a very friendly and competent banker walked me to her «office». I had very specific questions and was pleased with all her answers. She explained everything in an easy and very friendly manner.
I am glad I had decided to make my own opinion, and am happy to be a new Chase customer!
I think this business is a great, fresh addition to our community.

It seems the Chase Bank Mileage Plus Visa United Airlines Companion Certificate is setting both Chase and United up for a fraud lawsuit. I called the number on the certificate to book a flight and gave the instructions to the agent as printed on the certificate. After going through six agents who did not know what to do with the information and were unable to help me, one informed me that I needed to book the reservation online. I searched for a place to do so and was unsuccessful. (Keep in mind the certificate said it had to be booked via telephone and provided a number.) After calling the United website support number, I was told the reservation had to be booked via telephone (the first of multiple endless loops). Calling again several times and finally connecting with an agent who advised me to visit a special United website to convert my paper certificate to a digital certificate, I thought I had made some progress. I input my certificate serial number and received a confirmation email that I would receive a pin code and new certificate number within 72 hours. More than a week later… Still no email. I called united again and the representative was not able to help me. After asking for a supervisor and being on the phone with him for more than 90 minutes, he apologized and said he had good news and bad. The bad news was that they could not honor the certificate companion price of $ 487 (which is printed on the certificate) for two tickets — but the «good news» was that they could sell me two individual tickets for just $ 395 each. I explained that I had already bought a ticket for myself without using the certificate for less than this and had planned to purchase for my wife and child with the certificate. After being on hold for another 15 minutes and then again for 18 minutes (2+ hours total now) the agent asked for my credit card number and said he would «see what he could do» to rebook my original (and now expired) itinerary that had been placed on a courtesy hold while they waited for the printed certificate to convert to an electronic version. After the long hold, I was told the fare class of my «pending» reservation was no longer available. I asked for an explanation of how my «reserved reservation» was no longer available and was again asked to hold. Eight minutes later, the supervisor came back on the line to say my $ 487 ticket was processed with an additional $ 130 in taxes and fees. To say that I am disappointed in United, Chase, their customer service, and their marketing tactics would be a colossal understatement. These two companies have really crossed a line in terms of false advertising and taking hours of my time.

This is the worst bank experience you can imagine. We live in a modern world and everything is expected to be automated. We signed up for it, the modern world requires the firing of all bank tellers and other human workers, forcing everyone to use automation, no matter what the transaction. The bank has ATM’s outside AND inside. There is no teller. There is a person that watches over the indoor ATM machines and performs non-​ATM transactions. The past couple times I have visited the bank have required the non-​teller teller to go in the back and complete the transaction while other people wait for her to return. This is not because I don’t know how to use an ATM. I use an ATM when I need an ATM. Not everything can be done at an ATM machine. You need the non-​teller teller to do basically anything to do with cash or cashing, UNLESS you want to put the money in the bank or withdraw it from your account, then the ATM works fine. But there are still a lot of transactions that do not involve depositing or withdrawing or transferring. Basically this bank is a symbol of Chase’s big middle finger to it’s loyal customers. «We don’t care if your experience is sub par and without human on all levels… we do have humans in big comfy offices, but they are mostly there to just move money around.» Other reviewer said, «It feels like a car dealership inside» and that is the truth. Except there is no car salesman. Just giant machines explaining what it feels like to drive their cars. Mill Valley needed to get rid of a gas station/​convenience store/​service station and add ANOTHER bank? I guess. It looks decent from the outside, same person that designed it seems to be designing a lot of the new giant homes popping up all over Marin. «Make my house look like a modern bank!» they must say. But I digress… Finally, it is right in the heart of the disaster that is Mill Valley Blithedale traffic. Good luck getting in and out of there… and another thing… I guess that’s enough.

First kudos to the architect, the building looks really nice from outside and is so much nicer than the old gas station…
Now to my experience
Called the bank directly (not 800number) 4 days after they opened and tried to see if they had any safety deposit boxes, they did not know. Walked to the branch which looks and feels like car dealership from inside. Was politely welcomed by staff and was told the demand for deposit boxes is high and their manual system not so efficient (new branch, new system, I understand). They took my contact number and my email and perhaps 5x repeated they would call me the following Monday…
two weeks later, still waiting for my call