Alterna Savings

Horrible 1 ½ month ordeal at Alterna Danforth branch and they are holding my money hostage for another 1 ½ months.
When I called and set up an appointment to open a business account, they booked my appointment with the representative who didn’t know anything about business banking. He tried his best, but he clearly couldn’t answer even the simplest of questions. He instead told me to contact the «Business Banking Representative» afterwards. I called the person. No response for days. I called the head office and the person there was very accommodating, but ultimately, I needed to speak with the Business Banking Representative at the branch. He passed the message along to branch rep. Again, no response. About a week later, I called again and left a message. No response.
By now I had given up entirely and started searching other banks and found a much cheaper alternative for an account at another bank. I decided to make the switch. Then I got a call from the Business Banking Representative — one month later.
I had decided to switch and 2 weeks after the call, I went into the branch to close my account. They were seriously confused about the process, giving me misinformation as we went along. «You were charged $X.XX because you don’t have the minimum account balance necessary.» then it switches to «You were charged $X.XX because you made an interac e-​transfer». It’s like they make it up as they go along. Then the Business Banking Rep tells me to sign a card, then tells me we’re done. I reminded him (for a third time) that I came in to close my account. Then he confirms again and again after that «You are closing your account?» «yes» «completely» «yes.» «You want to close it completely today?» «yes». Then at the very end of the process, they mentioned (as if a side note) that there is a $ 25.00 fee for closing your account within 90 days. I wasn’t informed about this when I opened the account, and there was no literature I received that mentioned this either. Why should I have to pay them for receiving terrible customer service and wanting to leave?
I called the head office and they reiterated that it was an unfortunate situation and there was nothing they could do. They really wanted me to believe that it is not as simple as making an adjustment to the fee on their end and it’s out of their hands.
Now I have to wait another 1 ½ months to close my account because of their inflexibility and horrible customer service. There are better business banking options out there.