Our Commonwealth Bank Home Loan Experience

When my partner and I decided to buy a place we can both call our own, the obvious next step was to get a home loan. We are both new to this and while we don’t have the money to outright pay for a house, we both have stable jobs that pay decently, with no credit issues in the past. It’s really highly unlikely any bank would turn us down but because we were already with Commonwealth Bank, we felt: Why not?

When we went in for the initial interview, the Commonwealth Bank guy we talked to was so easy going to the point that he said we could borrow a million dollars. 

Now, let’s think about that for a moment. If we borrowed a million dollars, how much do we have to pay back? It was clear to us that he didn’t care. Well, because we didn’t want to face mortgage stress, we decided to let this slide and just say No thanks... for now. We wanted someone who can really look after us, not just lend us a ridiculous amount of money that we have sell kidneys in order to pay back.

So we continued with our house hunt, knowing we didn’t have the funds (yet), but we knew we would… soon. After all, we had enough for the deposit and surely that would be good enough to help us get a loan, if not with Commonwealth Bank, then elsewhere.

A few months down the track, we decided to give Commonwealth Bank another shot. This time, we talked to the manager. Now, he was more conservative, which was good, and he gave us a realistic view of what our loan would be like, which was absolutely fantastic… until he caps our conversation with, Are you sure you want a joint loan? It will be tricky if something happens to the relationship in the long run?

What the…?? Did a complete stranger just give our relationship a judgment call? My partner and I have been together for 6 years now, and I would like to think ours would last longer than our mortgage. 

I felt a statement like that is like a doctor saying to a woman, Look, you can get pregnant and have a baby, but what happens if you and your partner split up? It will be tricky... Are you sure you want a baby? From my point of view, that just falls on inappropriate.

To make it worse, a week down the track, the manager was nowhere to be found - we called and emailed but sadly, no go. My partner even dropped by, but was told the manager was unavailable. A few weeks after, we got an email saying that the manager had passed our application to another staff member while he went on vacation. 

Mind you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going on vacation and passing our file. The problem was he passed our file to an employee who then passed us on to the guy we first talked to. Yes, Mr Million was back in the cards.

When we discovered that, we felt disappointed and the wind in our sails just died. We left our loan application at that. In a way it was good that we got pre-approval from the manager and that gave us the courage to hunt down even more houses and apartments - but we knew we had to take the next step of finalising a mortgage though really our hearts were not with Commonwealth Bank anymore.

Anyway, a week ago, the manager, clearly back from vacation, called us to say he wanted to follow us up, as the woman he passed us onto was about to leave Commonwealth Bank. That made me think – WTF. We were never her responsibility – why? Because she passed us on to someone else! The ball was thrown to Mr Million, and we never bothered to catch it when it was our turn to play.

So at that point, I said “That’s it.” The next day, I went online to write that we did not want the home loan with Commonwealth Bank, and we no longer wished to be contacted for it. Now, this was done using the online system, so I knew it would be in my record. But I said to myself, that's ok. I just needed to be honest.

I then received a cut-and-paste email stating that they were sorry about the situation and asking if I could fill in a survey to see if the email was helpful. Really? That was such a slap in the face – the ultimate whatever. I went online and filled out the survey, with all the honesty that I could muster. The end point of my reply: I will never recommend Commonwealth Bank to my friends and family.

A few minutes after submitting that comment, I got a reply – via my better half. Yes, they had a chat with my partner instead, who at the time did not know what I had placed in the form. They did call my mobile, but I was not able to catch the call and they did not bother leaving a voice mail. I guess what bothers me is that, to get to my partner's number, they would have to really dig deep into my customer service record, whereas if they wanted to talk to me, my mobile number is on Page One of my customer service record - top left hand side, from memory. No hunting necessary.

As I knew that my customer service record is accessible via all branches, I dropped by another Commonwealth Bank to ask about the phone call. The manager (who was really nice, FYI) said that according to my customer profile, there was no record of the original manager's phone call to my partner. I'm not too sure what to make of that, but I felt it just solidified the disappointment. Why would someone make a phone call to a customer but not make a record of it?

This is where I have to ask: why would Commonwealth Bank make so many mistakes on so many levels? I hope that not all of their home loan customers get this level of dissatisfaction, because really, a home loan is not just a financial deal - it is a relationship between a bank and its customers, and as with any relationship, it has to be built on trust and respect.

Anyway, for those of you who like CBA, I don't blame you - let's face it, I'm still a CBA customer. They have one zillion ATMs and their online system, NetBank, is getting better and better. But until I get an explanation as to why things turned out the way they did, I'm not too sure I can trust them with a home loan.

So far, CBA savings accounts - 4/5, but CBA home loans - 0/5 slices.