Extremely Disappointed -- Mishandling of My Legitimate Funds…read more
This is actually 0 Stars. The 1 was to save them some humiliation.
I do not recommend Ocean Bank based on a deeply frustrating and unprofessional experience involving a legitimate counter check that I personally picked up at my home branch and was issued by a bank officer after verifying me in person. The check was flagged by the bank as "fraud" without any prior notice or verification with me -- despite the fact that it was written on their own counter check form and deposited into my nephew's Chase account to pay for his medical school expenses. The check was given to my nephew on April 7 and by April 8 the funds were sitting in his Chase account. On April 10th, Ocean Bank stops the check and messes up everything with no rhyme or reason.
Even after I personally confirmed with Ocean Bank that the check was 100% legitimate, they still reversed the funds after Chase had accepted the deposit. This created unnecessary confusion, embarrassment, and financial harm for my nephew. To make matters worse, Ocean Bank offered no explanation or resolution, and when I raised concerns and asked for accountability, they abruptly closed my account without reasonable justification.
This kind of treatment is completely unacceptable from a financial institution. A bank should be willing to verify transactions with its customers before taking drastic and damaging actions. Instead, Ocean Bank showed a lack of transparency, professionalism, and respect for my rights as a client.
Ocean Bank's fraud prevention policies are overly rigid to the point of burdening customers. While banks have a legal and fiduciary duty to protect both themselves and their customers from fraud, an overzealous or poorly implemented fraud detection process can result in legitimate transactions being blocked or delayed--damaging customer trust and potentially causing financial hardship.
Mr. Gomez's multiple attempts to reach me were the same day within short time frames. He never provided a specific message as to the nature of his calls. When checks are flagged by systems, there should be a legitimate reason which to date is unknown. There was not anything wrong with the check.
The flagged check was a counter check issued directly by Ocean Bank, it's especially troubling. That means the Ocean Bank is flagging its own documents as suspicious, which reflects either poor internal coordination or outdated fraud logic in their system.
Reasonable fraud controls usually give more than just a few hours for customer verification--especially when the flagged amount isn't unusually high or when the account history doesn't indicate suspicious activity. Closing a long-standing account because a customer was upset about this seems retaliatory and unprofessional.
Ocean Bank should balance fraud prevention with customer convenience. If legitimate transactions are frequently stopped without thoughtful resolution, the system is likely harming more than it helps. Excessive flagging can erode confidence, especially when resolution processes are inflexible or dismissive. Evidence is documented in Jorge Gomez's conversation with me as he returns Ocean Bank customers Internal Revenue Service, IRS checks all the time. This part was disturbing because for one, he does not de-escalate the situation and offer solutions or next steps and delivers arrogance about obstructing Ocean Bank Customers in their role as taxpayers complying with the IRS. He is causing Ocean Bank clients to be non compliant with their federal tax liabilities.
Please do note that prior to the returned check, I could not pay using any means. I could not transfer funds directly to another bank without it getting stopped.
Executive Leadership at Ocean Bank should use my unresolved concern as a case study. Perhaps in the future review this case and consider whether improvements can be made--like extending the time before stopping a check, offering better communication channels, or recognizing your own Ocean Bank issued checks as low risk.
I trusted this bank with my finances, and they failed me. The VP forwarded my concerns to another VP of Sales and Service manager and she emailed me two weeks later a summary of what I had explained in the letter with a vague reason for stopping the check and closing my 30 year old checking account. If you value customer service, integrity, and fair treatment, I suggest looking elsewhere.
My intent is not just to complain, but to help improve a process that, as currently applied, fails loyal customers.
