I went in for a refinance for a business loan. I had all my paperwork prepared. They took the packet of information and the secretary sent it to the photocopier. It seemed fine for the first few minutes while I waited until the secretary asked me to fill out a bank application while they were copying all my tax returns and financial statements. So I stepped into the conference room, directly next to the secretary's desk but I left the door open. I did not even sit down 30 seconds, then a female loan specialist came and started chatting to the secretary....about ME! ....Right in front of me as if I was not even sitting 15 feet away. She started saying really inappropriate things like "I just ran his credit score and it looks like he applied to other banks. He must be desperate. What's his story? What kind of business is this? What does he want the loan for?" My jaw was on the table!! I couldn't believe that 1) they would have run my credit score so quickly when I didn't even finish filling out the application giving them permission to run my credit report. 2) that they would be so crass, and 3) HELLO! I am sitting in the next room!!!! At least wait until I left the building before you all start talking around the watercooler about my personal financials. Seriously. I could have reported them for inappropriate conduct, privacy violation and running my credit report without my written permission. The credit report instance alone is has an automatic court penalty of $1000 plus attorney fees. (I googled it :-P ) Not to mention a formal report goes against the banks record for violating the consumers confidence and privacy. I turned a blind eye to this, at first, because I wanted to see what they offered me for a loan package. I received offers from two other banking institutions but I always like to get a third opinion. I was recommended to this bank by (an unnamed high ranking government official) who told me that they really seemed to care about small businesses, offer good rates and like to work locally. I am born and raised Rhodey and my business is solely Rhode Island based so I figured this might be a good fit. I received a call pretty quickly asking for a face to face meeting. I was told the meeting was with the President of the bank when the meeting was set up. Someway, the President couldn't make it and they sent a loan officer and VP. I thought that was understandable. As CEO of my little business, I know things come up. So, we are talking and he is asking me very basic questions that I find very strange. So I ask the question..."Did you actually READ my loan application?" He confessed that he didn't really read it. So here I am thinking they are genuinely interested in doing business because they read my business plan and liked it. Instead, they were looking to get out of the office for a few hours. I was a little put off because I am a very busy guy trying to run three companies and here I am wasting time when I could be doing something more important with my morning. So the meeting was bare bones and informative. I was still trying to be positive and give them the benefit of the doubt. So a couple weeks later, I get emails from the secretary and the loan officer asking for more information. The information they were asking for was all in the original application packet. I simply replied back (in a friendly sort of way) that I was not about to basically dictate my application to them when they have the answers on their desk. They need to, at some point, actually read my application/tax returns and they will see all the answers to their questions. So weeks later, I get an offer for an adjustable rate SBA loan that adjusted every quarter with prime. Are you kidding? They are handing out loans that got millions of Americans in trouble during the recession. Plus the rate was high. Plus there was a 3 year pre-payment penalty. Plus it would add an additional $100,000 in bank fees to my principal balance. So I meet with the officer one more time so to give Independence one last shot to sell me on this crazy loan and perhaps even negotiate. When I asked a few questions about the terms, the officer had to look it up himself. Once again...he didn't do his homework before showing up to the meeting. Plus there was no negotiating with them. Their offer was final. If I was not the math geek that I am, this offer may have fooled any layman on the street. It seemed like maybe it might possibly be a good deal but I calculated the numbers, it basically would have put my company OUT OF BUSINESS in two or three years. And because it was an SBA loan, Independence Bank would be paid all their money because it was guaranteed by the federal government. So as far as I can see, they are only out for themselves. Don't be fooled. This is no "Mom and Pop" bank. They do not care about small business in Rhode Island and they certainly do not care about their customers read more