Bank of the West

I friend of mine sent me a check that is drawn from your bank. I went to a local (Lakewood, CA) branch to cash it. I was informed there would be a 9.50 fee to cash this check. I could not understand why since it is your check. The manager told me that Bank of the West is not a non-profit bank (how many banks are?) and that they have to charge this fee. This is utter nonsense. The account holder pays for their accounts. You service them, which includes cashing checks for payment from an account. Are you actually going to tell me you impose a fee if an account holder makes a car, utility or mortgage payment and the checks are tendered by different banks? No, this was a classic case of a bank charging unwarranted fees to folks who dare not to do business with them. This fee was needless and put a very bad taste in my mouth with Bank of the West.