ESSA Bank and Trust in Wilkes-Barre, PA

If i could give them 0 stars I would. I called to make a payment by phone and was told that there was a $10 fee. Not a big problem, I was headed in their area the next day so I figured that I would drop off my payment in person. I then asked the representative, Don, if there was a fee for paying at the counter. He raised his voice and began to argue with me telling me I was asking ridiculous questions and being rude to him and that he doesn't have to listen to me. (I felt that I had a valid question being that if I pay my at&t bill at the counter they charge me $5, so I just wanted to be prepared with money). He was carrying on and on. I asked to speak with his supervisor and he told me i could "speak to whomever you want to". The way this man carried on was ridiculous. I asked SEVERAL times to speak with his supervisor and he kept carrying on and on and on, that I had to hang up and call back so that I could get someone else on the phone to tell me who was in charge there. I then left a voicemail for his supervisor, Joe Warden, to me call back. It makes me sick to think I am going to be giving these people my money for the next couple of years!!! Let's see is Mr. Warden calls back.

I have become affiliated with Franklin Security Bank through a car purchase where the loan originated from Franklin. I pay all of my bills online through the website for the respective company. Not so for Franklin Security Bank. Upon speaking to them, this is not an option unless I open a checking account with Franklin Security Bank - not going to happen, I am 26 miles away from the closest branch. Of course, I can give them full access to my other bank account so that they can automatically suck out the payment every month, since I do not take advantage of this 'convenience' with any other bill this is not acceptable either. The only other option is to send a paper check to a Chicago address. Apparently Franklin Security Bank is just a step above a paper ledger and an abacus at every teller window. I can appreciate a new bank just starting out, but this is 2011. You need to provide a basic level of customer expectation or suffer the consequences of your poor business decision making. I will send every payment by check. And I will avoid the Franklin Security Bank technophobes like the plague. I find the true irony in the "Franklin" name. This bank is named after one of the greatest innovators and inventors in colonial America yet the bank cannot figure out how to process an interbank transaction online. Idiots!

ESSA bought Franklin Security Bank. We never had a problem with FSB. Since it's been ESSA it's just been a 180 into an awful experience. If you need them for an auto loan go somewhere else. There are plenty of other places with better rates that won't treat you like crap and charge you for everything. Try Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Their rates are better and they're just a better bank. If you just need a bank, don't go with ESSA. You'll regret it. It's not a real bank. When something goes wrong you'll regret your choice and trust me, ALOT will go wrong. Banks are everywhere. Choose a real bank, not these con artists!

Two words that best describes ESSA " Incompetent Ignorance". One of the worst banks from management to teller. Never will I or my family and friends do business with such a horrible bank.