Devon Bank Complaint Department

Naturally, I’ve become the complaint department for this bank and I knew I would. A few weeks ago, I got five complaints in two days. Countless more since July.

I explained all your problems and turned it over to the ProbateSharks.com Investigative Team. You can also ask for their help here - verenusl@gmail.com. Lucius Verenus. (Lucius means "light" and is no relation to Lucifer.  I just looked up it's meaning because the guy intimidates me a little.)   They pulled through the other day with a list of organizations (and have numerous other resources on their site).

How do you report banks or financial institutions?

The first thing you should do is call the main office of Devon Bank, the head branch. I tried to get someone involved at the top and nothing happened but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make the effort. You don’t have to go through the great lengths I did, just make one call.  Keep a record of your email, phone conversation, all the people you spoke with and what was said, dates, times, etc. Regardless of the outcome, it’s a good faith gesture on your part and shows that you’re trying to resolve the problem before you report them. Obviously, if you’re writing me then you’ve been unsuccessful or simply don’t know where to turn.

ProbateSharks suggests you contact the Better Business Bureau but when I looked up Devon Bank, it says they’re not accredited. In order to be endorsed by the BBB, you have to ask and when you do, you’re making a promise that you’ll solve consumer complaints and live up to their standards (which are quite high). This is Devon Bank’s page:

http://www.bbb.org/chicago/business-reviews/banks/devon-bank-in-chicago-il-283

Then follow the rest of the links on their site:

http://probateshark.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-report-unethical-banks-and.html

File a complaint with the IL Department of Professional Regulations, the Federal Reserve (and I don’t think Devon Bank is under their jurisdiction but you should consider filing a complaint anyway since their site is so user friendly), the FDIC and the Attorney General’s office consumers' complaint division. Most of these web sites have online forms but if you have to mail it, make sure you keep the originals and send copies registered mail.  They don't want personal information either.  Like your social security, credit card or bank account numbers.

There is also a website that you can check your banks rating. They call it the “Texas Ratio” and this is the description:

To calculate the Texas Ratio, you divide a bank's bad debt on the books by the amount of money it has to absorb the bad debt. If the number approaches 100% (or higher), the Texas Ratio suggests that the bank is more likely to fail.

You can look up any bank on this website:

http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/bank-ratings-search.aspx?t=cb

Devon Bank’s rating is here:

http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/memorandums-memos.aspx?fedid=347639

In fairness, I checked my bank with both the Better Business Bureau and Texas Ratio. My bank is accredited and its score is perfect on both sites. Banks are FDIC insured too so I'm not completely sure why the ratio is important other than measuring desperation?

I would appreciate it if you would still notify me in regard to the problems that you’re having with Devon Bank and I hope you find this information helpful.