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November 2023 by Diane Harrington
They allow walk in business employees to cut the line like their time is more valuable than the rest of ours is. I go on my lunch break from work and really resent this. Extensive lines, 2 day or more wait to get an appointment with anyone.
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November 2023 by Charlotte Dadzie
One of the ATM machines was not working, and they did not give me back my cards. The bank was already closed and the staff I called on the phone weren’t of any help (not even security). The lady on the phone was just like “we’ll put a block on your card and they’ll help you tomorrow”. So basically if the ATM machine was going to start working again they would allow someone to steal my card?! How very convenient. This bank needs to be held accountable for things that happen when they’re closed. The app also needs to notify people of what they’re spending and what they earned so that there are no surprises when they check their account. They also need to work on their security system so people don’t have to keep changing their PIN.
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September 2023 by Lauren Broido
Service not good. You are going to wait a long, long, long time to speak with anyone either in person or on the phone. There are great customer service reps in the branch, but they are difficult to see. And please, forget trying to contact them by phone. You will be a hold prisoner for a long, long, long time. I'm done with them. Waiting now on hold for something that is obviously their fault. The first person couldn't figure it out after 20 minutes on hold so now I'm at seven minutes so far waiting for the second person. I expect to be disconnected any minute.
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September 2023 by Ai I.
If I could give FHB a zero star then I would have done it already!The line is always long and the service is super slow. I noticed that the AC is always broken and they just had couple of fans around in that place.Leave the door open or fix the AC before people suffer from heatstroke!Why built all the teller stations if you just gonna be four opened for personal and one merchant teller that took forever to get to the people.Fix this issue please before people start closing their accounts and go elsewhere.
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October 2022 by Brian S
The worst of all worlds, First Hawaiian has the terrible service of a large bank coupled with all the limitations of a small bank. You cannot call the local branch without being diverted to the main number, where you can expect 45-60 minute hold times. Once you finally get someone, they will either be completely incompetent, or belligerent. Your issue will never be resolved, and no one cares.I should have known when I walked into the Hilo branch, and saw that all of the desks, including the main teller counter, were eaten through by termites, that this bank has no standards. That's an apt metaphor for the entire bank, an institution that might have been decent many years ago, but has since rotted from the inside out.The service I've received from First Hawaiian has been the worst from any bank, and I've been a Bank of America customer. THAT is saying something. Seriously, use any other bank. It can't possibly be as bad as this one.
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October 2022 by Brian S.
The worst of all worlds, First Hawaiian has the terrible service of a large bank coupled with all the limitations of a small bank. You cannot call the local branch without being diverted to the main number, where you can expect 45-60 minute hold times. Once you finally get someone, they will likely either be incompetent or belligerent. Your issue will never be resolved, unless you get extremely lucky and manage to get the one manager who actually knows anything. I should have known when I walked into the Hilo branch, and saw that all of the desks, including the main teller counter, were eaten through by termites, that this bank has no standards. That's an apt metaphor for the entire bank, an institution that might have been decent many years ago, but has since rotted from the inside out. My particular issue was that my ACH payment to the State and County for taxes was rejected by First Hawaiian. I spent over 3 hours on hold and fighting with various representatives before finally getting a manager who acknowledged: 1) They migrated their systems in May, and now require customers to add 00 to the start of their account numbers for ACH payments. This isn't documented anywhere online, but supposedly they sent letters to this effect to customers. The manager told me to check my online messages, but (surprise, surprise), there was no such message. She was at a loss as to why I wasn't notified. She also acknowledged that First Hawaii had been working with the State, but hadn't quite gotten the issues resolved since May (five months ago). 2) Each ACH payment is checked by a human before being rejected. This means a bank employee deliberately rejected ACH payments with valid account numbers just because the customer didn't include the 00 prefix, even though prior to May numbers without the prefix were accepted. That's right, First Hawaiian changed their systems and then gave their customers NO grace period to change all of their saved payment methods. 3) The bank provided all new customers with starter checks that have invalid formatting for account numbers. These checks don't adhere to the ANSI X9 standard that all interstate banks are supposed to follow. The checks have the account number and check number transposed, have a special character interspersed with the account number (making the actual account number almost impossible for customers to deduce), and are missing the leading 00s that are now apparently required by First Hawaii's new system. The bank left these improperly-formatted checks in the hands of customers, only replacing them when the customer ordered new checks, and knowing that the old checks would result in issues with ACH and other forms of payment. These checks don't match any of the sample checks on any ACH processing websites, virtually guaranteeing First Hawaiian customers will have their payments rejected. The service I've received from First Hawaiian has been the worst from any bank, and I've been a Bank of America customer. THAT is saying something. Seriously, use any other bank. It can't possibly be as bad as this one.
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October 2022 by Shiva Arari
Two or three tellers with 30+ people in line. Always takes 30-45 minutes just to cash a small kine check. Really unacceptable. Tellers are always very pleasant tho. #beggingemployerfordirectdeposit
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October 2022 by ryan mariano
Very slow. Be prepared to spend 30 minutes to an hour in line. Bank cards take 2 weeks to come in which is very inconvenient. Will be switching to bank of Hawaii
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September 2022 by Iuka Akui
Lots of parking! Friendly staff quick service and great banking
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July 2022 by Come on S.
WARNING!!! They charged me every month when I didn't use my account regularly!!! They had been debiting my account after around a year of no transactions even when I have money in their bank!!! No warning given by phone nor by mail. They aren't my primary bank and lost my trust in them.
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July 2022 by Lance T.
This review is solely for the upper management in Honolulu to understand. There is a major problem going on at the bank ever since they switched over to the new system during the Memorial Day weekend. It appears that the employees were not sufficiently trained with the new system. I do not understand what was the reason for the upgrade. However after 6 weeks, it appears that the issues are still evident. There are long lines and a typical deposit/payment is taking a long time. The typical wait time is about half an hour to an hour. I want the executives or anyone who is responsible for the new system to know that many customers are extremely frustrated and will be switching banks very soon. I'm not a genius but I'm wondering if this new system was worth it? This is the kind of idiotic decision that can ruin the great reputation of the bank and possibly face an untimely demise. I also noticed that there are less tellers to service the customers which increases the wait time. I'm pretty sure that some of the good employees have left the bank for better paying jobs since the bank pays peanuts to these hard working tellers. Anyway, I will continue to be loyal to FHB but will watch them like a hawk to see if they understand the severity of the situation. Only time will tell. Good luck.
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June 2022 by Susann T.
The line is a 45 minute or more wait to process with the teller there are no accommodations for senior citizens or handicap. The branch located off puainako the tellers spend more time spraying and wiping the counters than with the customer. It's a miserable experience every time. Worst bank horrible customer service in Hilo . Try any other bank but this one
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June 2022 by michael phillips
been banking here for years love that they greet you upon entering and most of the tellers know you by name love the personalized service and the bonus open on saturdays
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June 2022 by Jaylyn B.
Been banking here nearly 10 years. Today was the last straw and officially switching banks. The phone app is horrible, doesn't even show your running balance after each transaction, among many other flaws... setting up any auto pay is a nightmare. Calling customer service is further disappointing and frustrating. Tech help seems rather untrained, and just explains that the app has issues as though that's the solution. Then I recently received over $130 in overdraft fees... which I decided to go into the bank to see if they could refund any of them as $60 of it was for the same exact auto payment, which they never paid anyway. I asked the woman if there's any protection I could adjust my account to avoid such hefty fees, cold hard No. She said she "could" request a refund but since it was almost a month ago they probably won't. I explained to her I tried coming into the bank twice however both times the line was out the door and I didn't have enough hours to spend there. I would have called but due to past experiences also knew that was a nightmare, she agreed with me the phone service is horrible but that the overdraft fees were in the book I received when I signed up 10 years ago. She clearly had no desire to help me with the fees, but did offer me another book of their rules to read. The way I was treated felt clearly unvalued as a customer. I told her she can keep her book as I'll just switch banks. Looking back at all the numerous issues I've had with this bank throughout the years I'm relieved to end this bad relationship. Worst bank overall I've ever had... And I have many many others in multiple areas to compare to.
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March 2022 by Ikaika P.
This bank sucks. They close at 4pm on Fridays now. The wait times for a teller are unbelievable. No sense of urgency no matter how long the line is. You used to be able to get service with the first teller if you had mobility issues but no longer. That line is a mile long with business customers. The people that sit at their desks near the front won't even look your way. They are NOT going to help you even though they have no customers. You can't pay your credit card bill online unless you have a checking account with them. They don't have a branch in Hilo with drive thru service.
