Five Star Bank - Penn Yan (NY)

5 /5 Kimberly Devine-Brink: I opened my first account with this bank in 1994 when it was National Bank of Geneva and went through the change to Five Star. For at least a decade of that time, I lived out of state but kept my 5* account. In fact, I may still be using that same account for my monthly bills, but Im not sure. My children had their first savings accounts with this bank, and learned how to budget here. Over the years, I have ALWAYS known I could walk into this branch with an issue, talk to someone and walk out with a resolution or confidence that the individual I spoke to would do their best to help me. 5* is a good bank, but this branch is part of the community.

5 /5 Robert Hutchins: Weve dealt with this branch for years and have nothing but positive things to say. We moved to the Catskills and because they made it so easy, we kept our accounts. Thank you 5 Star Bank.

1 /5 Pastor Frugal (The Frugal Pastor): I have never used this bank, but my parents did for over twenty years. They were loyal customers and loved the employees who worked at the counters, who were always very kind to them. My father told me all his cash savings were at the bank and how much there was in 2012. There was enough to last my mother ~8 years of senior support at the time. He died in 2022 and my mother asked for help with the finances. I found they had put all their cash - several hundred thousand - in a non-interest-bearing checking account and it was now a little less than half what it had been. Shocked, I asked for an appointment with a financial advisor, who it turns out is the President of the bank. When I shared my concerns that hundreds of thousands were left in an account that lost so much value, he curtly told me he didnt know who my parents were. I told him when I had tens of thousands in a checking account my bank reached out to me. He ignored me, sat down at his computer, and without asking looked up the value of my parents home (since he had their address). He then advised we sell it, though so he could invest it (and apparently lose over half of that value, too). When I told him that was off the table he suggested certificates of deposit for what was left and quoted rates much lower than other banks. When I told him what our bank was offering for CDs he laughed and said "let me know how to invest and Ill put my money there, too." We moved all our mothers money out of that bank ASAP. Its now split between two different banks, earning money instead of losing tens of thousands each year to inflation. The management at Five Star PY is incompetent and has zero concern for customers. The president wanted my mother to sell the only asset the bank hadnt already severely damaged after a horrendous track record no self-respecting person would accept. Fine for everyday banking, but DO NOT put your long-term savings here. I would never, ever allow them to invest my money in any form. The leadership does not care about you or your future, and will only deplete what you have and ask for more.

1 /5 JJ Borsching: I have had multiple issues with my account since I opened it. These issues would not have been a big deal if I had received assistance from this specific branch. However, I was met with hostility when I contacted them. When I spoke to the branch manager Brian I was appalled at how he spoke to me when he was supposed to be in the business of customer service. I had told Brian that I was charged an outrageous amount of overdraft fees even when I had opted out of the bounce protection. He responded with "Im not going to spend a lot of time on this so tell me what you want". I told him I wanted the fees refunded to my account and he explained that he needed to contact his manager to try and get some of them refunded. I asked if I could contact her myself because I have had nothing but problems since I opened the account and was becoming irritated as this has been the worst experience I have had with a bank. He responded with "Well then I am not going to try to get any of the charges refunded to you" and then proceeded to chuckle as he gave me his managers phone number. Thankfully, I was treated with respect and helped by the Canandaigua branch who was MUCH more pleasant and actually put effort into trying to assist me. So thank you to the Canandaigua branch. If you want to use this bank I would highly recommend NOT using the Penn Yan branch unless you would like to be mocked and laughed at.

4 /5 Spencer Hamilton: Very helpful tellers and a good overall experience.