Oriental Bank - Nationwide Branches

Elba Orengo | Dec 29, 2023

I am giving 1-star because I can't give a 0! My mom moved to California to live with me, she is 85 and I'm her caretaker. My mom with her altruistic mindset decided (against our advice) to keep some of her assets in Puerto Rico, "to help the economy of the Island" (her words). But now she needs to transfer all her accounts due to her physical and medical needs. Because of this, she requested the cancellation of a CD she has with Oriental Bank. She called countless times to the San Patricio branch, and so did I. However, every time the calls got immediately transferred to the headquarters in Hato Rey. Then, we get "educated" with the fact that we need to contact the branch and not the headquarters. No matter how many times we clarified that THEIR switchboard is the one at fault (I'm guessing the switchboard is suffering from some sort of IT-dyslexia!) we still get the reply that WE need to CONTACT or VISIT the branch (hello, our home in California is precisely 3,594 miles away!). Finally, one representative told us what to do and sent us the form we needed to fill out in order to cancel the CD and get a check for its value. We did EVERYTHING! And guess what, instead of a check she got a notification that her certificate of deposit was RENEWED!!! We called again, and again, and again, to DEMAND her check. Surprise, surprise the dyslexic switchboard STRIKES BACK! She needs her money, and she can't travel to Puerto Rico! 0 star is probably too much!