Bankwest / Commonwealth Bank Of Australia
Reviews and Complaints

I recently transferred $480 using Osko PayID to a friend who banks with Bankwest. I made the payment in 44 seperate payments. It was actually meant to go to her mother's account so she transferred it back to me using the same Osko PayID method and Bankwest will not release it back to me and are holding the money because they want my friend to go into a branch and verify her ID. During these Covid times it is very hard for her and now I am $480 out 9f pocket because they are holding the money for no reason even though they sent her an email confirming the funds transfer. I need my money back ASAP and the issue of verification has nothing to do with me regardless. How is this fair?

23 rd December 2019 my $10, 000 got transferred from commonwealth's bank account. To martin rees in Melbourne bank account to Nab account by mistaken and unfortunately both bank couldnt get hold.of him
And both bank didnt try hard enough to refund the said money and yesterday commonwealth'sbank staff said to me to go to the police and report nab bank and have this matter under investigation

Ref: Loan Acc: 302-985 / 0400121
I have been with Bankwest for more than 3 years on a variable home loan.
In May this year I was advised by my mortgage broker that Bankwest has some attractive offer on fixed rate and it's ending soon. As this discussion was just a week before the RBA was suppose to announce the rate cut, I was hesitant. However he explained that it's just an application at this stage and once it's approved the bank would send a new contract and that's when I could decide to go ahead or not.
However it turned out that based on the application my loan was changed to fixed loan without me signing any further documents. Upon querying it with my broker he said it seems Bankwest has recently changed there loan process and he wasn't aware of it too.
I completely felt misguided as I was given re-assurance that it's just a quote and neither did it have monthly instalments figures for me to make a decision.
As a long standing customer of Bankwest I shouldn't be penalized for lack of training Bankwest mortgage broker are provided.
I have tried to resolve this with the mortgage broker (Anil Varandani from Focal Point Home loans) but unfortunately don't seem to get anywhere. I have tried calling up Bankwest, however they re-directed me to the mortgage broker again. Seem I am going in circle and not getting anywhere with this issue.
I'll appreciate if this could be resolved amicably and my loan is reversed back to variable.
However I wouldn't hesitate to approach the fair trading under the new Banking code of Practice if the matter is not resolved in next 2 weeks.
Regards
Tarrun Narang
[protected]

I personally went to Bankwest Carindale branch to go through the loan contract and sign them off with one of the bank staff members. The front counter staff named as Wendy served me and my husband in an extremely poor manner. When I told her my request of getting assistance of signing off the multiple loan contracts, she basically said to me just sign them. When I explained that I need someone to go through them before signing them. She Wendy just basically said to us to wait on the side and she need to serve another customer behind us! Extremely poor manners and made us feel very disappointed.

The ceo bankwest
Level 20, 108 st georges tce,
Perth, wa, 6000

Date: 22 november 2017

Dear mr munchenberg

Re: complaint and request for remibursement: international transfer of funds

Executive summary:
• bankwest was requested during the course of 2017 to make 4 international transfers from my bankwest bank account to the same beneficiary in each case namely:
1. 20/03/2017 - us$ 1, 620 (Aud919.99) - bwa ref no [protected]
2. 05/04/2017 - $usd 1620.00 (Aud2251.25) - bwa [protected]
3. 27/06/2017 - usd 2400.00 (Aud3332.87) - bwa 329951365rn, and
4. 23/08/2017 - us$1, 175 ($aud1560.63) - bwa ref no [protected]
• identical instructions were provided for all 4 transactions however the final 4th payment did not take place.
• after fruitless attempts to obtain an answer from your international money transfer division I have been forced to make an additional payment to the said beneficiary in zimbabwe. If I did not make this payment I would have forfeited the first 3 payments for a holiday that has been booked.
• I was informed by a bankwest representative that "all they can do is make contact with their representative" hence it is necessary for me to make a complaint and request/ demand reimbursement.
• I have suffered a loss of us$1, 175 ($aud1, 560.63) which I do hereby request and demand from bankwest and as such submitted as a complaint for resolution.
• in addition as a customer with bankwest for 14 years this horrendous experience has questioned whether I should seek another banking relationship.

I would appreciate it if this could be investigated as soon as possible and if this matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily I will submit this complaint through to the financial ombudsman service (Fos).

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours sincerely

_
Dr. Robert john childs and dr. Maria graca nunes
26 bantry bend
Mindarie, wa, 6030
Contact number: 08 [protected] (Home)
08 [protected] (Work)
Email address: [protected]@optusnet.com. Au

Chronological detail of all discussions/ transactions that took place:
• on the 23/08/2017 I carried out an international money transfer of $usd 1, 175 or $aud 1, 560.63 via the bankwest online banking facility (Bwa ref [protected]) to pay an account received from enstack tours t/a sengwa safaris, kariba, zimbabwe, for an upcoming vacation in early january 2018. Transfer fees and conversion fees were paid to bankwest. This money is due 6 weeks before the vacation commences. Vacation is due to commence 5/01/2018.
• on 3 previous occasions earlier this year, similar payments through bankwest, were made to the same recipient, same bank account, received and were therefore successful. These transactions were:
1. Bwa316070986, $usd 675.00 (Aud 919.99) 20/03/2017
2. Bwa [protected] $usd 1, 620.00 (Aud 2, 251.25) 5/04/2017
3. Bwa 329951365rn $usd 2400.00 (Aud 3, 332.87) 27/06/2017
• in early september 2017, mr. Ngapoko tuoro (Bankwest imt department) e-mailed me requesting details of invoice for this payment and also names, dates of birth and addresses of all the people involved with the holiday. I immediately e-mailed him the information he requested.
• on the 29/09/2017 the recipient in zimbabwe (Mrs maureen edkins, enstack tours t/a sengwa safaris) advised me that the funds had not as yet, been deposited into their bank account.
• on the 29/09/2017 after finding out that these funds had still not been received, I immediately contacted bankwest imt, advising that the funds had not been received by the recipient in zimbabwe. The recipient spoke to her banker (Mr. Kingson juma) from the cbz bank who advised that I should contact my bank and institute a trace on this money.
• on the 29/09/2017 bankwest (Mr ronnie carwardine from imt) advised me that for a fee of $25 they would have 3 attempts to try to trace the funds. I applied and paid for this service.
• on the 13/10/2017 after enquiring, bankwest (Mr ronnie carwardine) responded and advised that they have/ their correspondent banks had no response from the beneficiary bank cbz bank in zimbabwe. Bankwest would send another request.
• I then took it upon myself and contacted the cbz bank zimbabwe. Mr kevin kampila from cbz advised me that the funds have not been received as yet and advised me to speak to bankwest to find out correspondent banks details. On the 16/10/2017 cbz zimbabwe advised me to request an mt103 swift doc and details so they could attempt to check from their end in zimbabwe. Bankwest e-mailed me the details which I forwarded to cbz zimbabwe.
• on 19/10/2017, mr. Kevin kampila cbz bank e-mailed me, explained that funds had not been received and that the bank of china, their correspondent bank "seems omitted". I passed on this e-mail to bankwest.
• on 23/10/2017 mr tat - yiew chiam from bankwest sent me an e-mail explaining that they had no reply from bankwest's correspondent bank.
• 03/11/02017 bankwest advised me the beneficiary bank - cbz zimbabwe - has not provided them/ their correspondent bank with a response and that they had closed the case.
• on 6/11/2017 I advised bankwest that I managed to contact cbz zimbabwe (Mr kingson juma) without any problem and cbz zimbabwe requested the name of the correspondent bank, bankwest had sent the funds to. Bankwest (Mr ngapoko tuoro) replied and advised that they sent the money to bank of new york mellon who sent it onto citibank us.
• on 6/11/2017 I contacted cbz zimbabwe (Mr kingson juma) who advised me that citibank us is not the cbz zimbabwe correspondent bank - they do not have accounts with either bank of new york mellon or citibank us - their correspondent bank is bank of china and they forwarded me the bank of china account details which, in turn, I forwarded onto bankwest. Cbz bank, zimbabwe (Mr kingson juma) commented in an e-mail that it would impossible to have received a transfer from citibank us as they do not have an account with this bank. I therefore requested that bankwest please contact citibank us to trace the funds and provide transaction details including date, reference and amount so that the cbz bank could at least attempt to trace. I also suggested, as suggested by cbz zimbabwe, for bankwest to possibly telephone citibank us.
• on 7/11/2017 bankwest (Mr sam macgregor) then advised me that the correspondent bank/s are not obligated to provide this required information however they are hoping to assist in tracing the exact whereabouts of my funds. When (Or if) they respond they will provide this information to me so I can get the beneficiary to liaise direct with their bank. I was also informed that it is not possible for the bank to telephone another bank so as to not breach privacy laws. He requested details of successful transfers earlier this year. I immediately sent an e-mail with these details.
• to date 22/11/2017, I have as yet not received any further communication from bankwest imt. I attempted to e-mail imt bankwest (+copied in mr macgregor) on 18/11/2017 and have had no success with a reply to my e-mail which requested an update/ follow up, regarding details of transfer requested in email dated 7/11/2017.
• in the meantime on 17/11/2017, I have had to duplicate this payment so as to not jeopardise my entire family holiday and lose all the monies already transferred. I have therefore transferred yet another $usd 1, 175 to this recipient. I carried this out by means of another source as I did not want a repeat of this terrible experience.
• in the light of the above set of circumstances I wish to make the following complaints:
O the service from bankwest has been unacceptable:
 bankwest is very difficult to deal with as I have to deal with a different person each time I phone and explain my problem.
 I was advised that I would be contacted and this never took place. As the customer I have to make contact each and every time.
 the imf department cannot be contacted directly by phone; only via e-mail and I had to follow up on numerous occasions as nobody ever got back to me.
O as a result I was forced to make contact myself with cbz who were prompt in responding and they gave advice and requested the information regarding the transfer. I was told by bankwest that the correspondent banks are not obligated to respond to queries regarding this transfer.
O as a medical professional (I am not a banker), and having paid the bank a service fee for the imt transfer and the bank has received the foreign exchange margin spread on the transfers, it is my expectation that bankwest would follow up on this query.
O I have been with bankwest for 14 years and this horrendous experience has had me question whether I should remain a client of bankwest.
O as a result of the above I am out of pocket in the amount of $usd1, 175 or $aud1, 560 which I believe should be reimbursed.

I have chosen Bankwest for running my real estate investment account. I’ve purchased property nearby and I need an advice on how to to run it. Because my friend was working over there I received staff rate advantages but soon after that new agent asked us to pay difference back even though we were paying.

Last year i consolodated my loan and credit cards into the cba to help pay them off quicker, instead of 7 yrs i could do it within 2yrs,
Because i wanted life of loan, they somehow regenerated my policy so i had two going, Which made it $40 amonth instead of $20
Also had homecontents doubled up which was $100 a month instead of $50
Then I had also cancelled another home contents insurance 2yrs ago but the cba hadnt cancelled it so it was still going after 2yrs when i had cancelled that bank account and hadnt lived there for 2yrs.
So instead of only $70 a month taken they were taking$190 a month at different times and several times i had been charged $30 each if i didnt have money in the account, cause i wasn't expecting any to be taken out i didnt have money there.
I had called cba and insurance a couple of times but none of them could help me they were either rude or didnt believe me but they did return the fees.
Luckily i had gone into the branch and the girl could actually see what was happening she gave me back, any fees, and fixed the account, then a couple of months after i noticed the life of loan was happening so i had to have the amended.
They cancelled one policy of each and gave me the money back and kept the other one going, is there anyway i could get out of my loan because of all this trouble.
The only way i could get the money back was if the insurance companies said if i don't make a fuss, and that they send me a letter saying that my premiums were paid in advance, (so they wouldnt look like they have made a mistake.
I requested a letter stating that i wanted that they made a mistake not me and exactly how much and when they took out the money. (which they wouldnt do for me.
No where had i signed for the extra policies and i had not received any bank statements when i did the amounts were not on there.
This has caused me great stress and many times i was worried and concerned about not having the money,
Also when u call enquiries you don't get that days money going in or out.
Again is there any way i can get out of my loan contract or have someone to talk to about it.
Not happy

Commonwealth Bank gave us an approvval in princilple home loan for us in January for a house and construction loan. Since then they have changed their policy to not do 97% loans only 90%. We still have an approval for 97% which is valid for 12 months. We finally signed contracts and the bank ordered valuation and surprise surprise the valuation was 30k less than the fixed price contract. CBA are not taking any responsibility nor will they admit that they have any say, even though valuations in the same estate with them have come back fine! Apparently rather than tell us that they do not want to do 97% loans they get out of it by getting valuations that are really low! Now after 6 months of chosing colours etc...we have to fight for this...this is wrong.. our dream of owning our first home has been shattered... by the way they increased their variable rate as well...awesome bank CBA..we will not reccommend you to anyone.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia
from Commonwealth Bank
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© Commonwealth Bank of Australia 2009 ABN [protected]

The Commonwealth Bank canceled a 10 year old personal account without warning or notice because of a $10 overdraft resulting from bank fees.

My partner has had a personal bank account with Commonwealth Bank for a over 10 years. We have been overseas for a couple of years. Less than two months she received a replacement debit card for this account. She is going to Australia shortly for a visit, so we transferred some money from another bank for the trip. We've done this before without a problem.

When we went to check whether the funds had arrived, her internet banking page tells her the page doesn't exist! We couldn't believe it. We hadn't closed the account. When we rang the customer service number, we were told that they canceled it because it was overdrawn. It was overdrawn because of their bank fees. They did not warn us they were going to close the account. They did not notify us once the account was closed. The representative explained that it was not there policy to notify the customer.

Meanwhile, thousands of dollars of electronically transferred funds are in limbo. They were unable to assist us, or even explain clearly to us what would happen to these funds.

Other banks with which we have accounts do not cancel our accounts when they are overdrawn. They charge us fees, charge us interest, fair enough. They don't close our accounts.

We have similar problems with the Commonwealth Bank in the past, and for a number of years have stuck with them. As expatriates, it is always a little more difficult for us to deal with issues as they come up. Our other banks have always bent over backwards to help us each time. All our dealings with the Commonwealth Bank have always been difficult. There customer service has always been bureaucratic and unhelpful, even rude at times. We are in the process of putting a complaint in to the banking ombudsman http://www.bfso.org.au/ I would not recommend anyone open a business or personal bank account with the Commonwealth Bank, and we will recommending that our friends and families close any existing accounts they may have. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia does not care for its customers, and provides only the poorest level of customer service.