October 2023 by M.L. L
We opened up a fiduciary account for our little guy at the First National Bank when it was conveniently located down the street on Park Blvd in Massapequa Park. We thought it was a good idea to teach him how to save. He diligently collected all the coins he found and the cash he received on special occasions. It all added up to $165. He was excited about having a “big boy’s” savings account. Back then, First National Bank was operating with an antiquated records system, relying on physical passports with no online account access. Bank statements were only issued quarterly. Despite these limitations, what appealed to us was there were no service fees and the bank's reputation for being a friendly neighborhood establishment where everyone knew your name.Fast forward, the bank ended up closing up and moved to Massapequa, on Broadway. Since we seldom go that way, and their banking hours are pretty limited in comparison to the bigger banks, we never found a time to close the account. We figured since there were no service fees, there was no rush until we got a call in August asking us if we wanted to close the account because there were no funds in it. Naturally, we were shocked. It turns out that they had updated their terms of service and fees were deducted because we didn’t hit the $500 threshold, and we were receiving paper statements. $15 dollars was deducted each month. Since we rarely got statements and the statements probably got stuck in the deluge of junk mail we received daily, the changes never came to our attention until they asked us to close the account.I finally left work early to visit the bank and close my account. Despite having only one customer ahead of me, the service was exceptionally slow. They were already being assisted when I arrived, and I ended up waiting for nearly 40 minutes. Finally, an unenthusiastic associate by the name of Ms. V. Leon called me over. I explained the situation, and she offered to refund me $16, but I would have to return the next day as the refund wouldn’t appear until then. She mentioned that I would need to speak with a manager if I wanted to explore the possibility of more fee refunds. Unfortunately, the manager was only available two days a week. Considering the lengthy wait and the uncertainty of additional fee reversals, I decided to close the account to avoid taking more time off from work.I received $50 in an unmarked envelope with no accompanying documentation, apart from a request to stamp my son’s passport as “Closed.” I had to request a record of the withdrawal amount for the account closure. While I assume the $50 was accurate, it struck me as peculiar that it was such a round number, considering I know there were some cents remaining in the account. They never provided a final bank statement. I didn’t get a chance to ask for more information because Ms. Leon was slow as molasses and I needed to pick up my child.Ms. Leon was very unpleasant to work with and did as little as possible. There is something pathetic about a bank stealing money from a young child’s account. If they had the time to call to close an account, they surely could have picked up the phone and let us know the terms of the account had changed as they had claimed to be a “friendly neighborhood bank.”In conclusion, you are better off using one of the larger banks in the neighborhood. They may not know who you are but at least you have the option of better technology, more ATM access and longer banking hours. There will be a manager onsite more often than just two days a week. There is nothing friendly or convenient about First National Bank. The Ms. V. Leon referenced in this review is the same lady complained about in another review, where the person couldn’t get her address updated properly.
