I hate my credit union (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

because of the bank holiday on monday my direct deposit paycheck got pushed back a day, so about 5 electronic transfers didn't make it through, for each one they charged me 15 dollars. They also sent back a check, for 16 dollars and charged me another 15. I'm going to strangle them. Of course their fees pushed me negative, causing the latter check to take a hike. They cleared another one for 3 bucks, but since their fees put me under, I got charged another 15 bucks.
my last credit union had me covered, just had to pay interest on the "loan" amount up to something like 500 or 1000 bucks. Guess after 4 years this one still wants to fuck me in the ass on everything

I seriously have 4 of the transfers on ONE letter, but of course each one is 15 bucks. WTF.

 

[Cam S]

Wow, I would be in there talking with the manager pronto! I use to bank at a credit union, but they F'd me around too so I switched to TDCanadaTrust and havn't looked back.

 

[Philip_G]

WTF can you do, they're not going to do a damn thing about it. I could go in and bitch, and try to get a credit, threaten to leave then close the account once I get it, but there's no way they'd give me a damn thing. WORSE I commute 150 miles a day to work for another week, I have NO time I can go down there during business hours. I lost almost 200 bucks (a full one third of my paycheck) to these assholes in 2 days.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Hi Philip,

Bummer, man. Some tips:

1. Find another credit union.

2. Rearrange your deposit/electronic transfer schedule. My paycheck goes in between the 28th-31st. My first electronic transfer (house payment) is on the 10th. So if something goes wrong, I have a week and a half to figure it out.

3. You might consider dropping some of those transfers. I only have two, my house and my insurance. And personally, I'd like to get rid of the automatic transfer on the insurance. The house I don't mind. I understand not wanting to write checks; I opened a credit line with a $500 limit with my credit union. Many of my monthly bills (electricity, phone, cellular, etc) are billed to that card automatically every month. Then I manually transfer the money from my checking account to pay off the balance. Works like a charm: I pay less bills. The credit card gives me a buffer should something go wrong. The low limit prevents me from not paying it off and going into debt
(because if I don't pay it off, next month's bills won't fit on the card). If someone takes more money than they should, I have a great dispute policy in place, and it also doesn't affect major items like my house payment. If they try to charge too much it's automatically denied due to the low credit limit. Etc, etc. Only down side is not everyone will auto-bill to a credit card - city won't, so my water bill is paid by check. Natural gas will, but they want a $5 fee every month. Hell if I'm going to pay a $5 fee on an $8 bill (summer months).

Still, they screwed you. How is it that a direct deposit doesn't go in over a holiday, but a withdrawl can come out? You need to pose this question to the bank manager. And, save some money up so you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. Put in a buffer. I have an extra $700-$1000 sitting in my checking account that I "don't know" about. It's not written down anywhere. In fact, I'm not even sure exactly how much it is - a couple of years ago I deposited $400 and change from my tax return and decided not to write it down. Since then, I've made similar deposits on several occasions and purposefully did not write them down. So I have this happy buffer that keeps me cool in case something goes wrong, or whatever. (And before you ask, no, I don't balance my checkbook every month. I simply check the deposits/withdrawls to make sure they correspond to what I have written down and make sure nobody is taking any unauthorized withdrawls. I don't bother to make sure the balance lines up.) Oh, and my credit union will also transfer money out of savings automatically to prevent checks from bouncing. If your's will do this, you might put some money into savings, too.

Good luck.

 

[Philip_G]

they'll xfer from savings but the fee is hefty for that as well. I only have $5 in there anyhow and that's the minimum.
since it's the first direct deposit from a new job, re-arranging all the auto deducts simply isn't practical right now, perhaps later. Though they'll get moved once I shut off my check debit card this week, as they'll get declined.

I also wonder where the money I had in there went, I haven't spent it, even w/o the DD I should have been A-OK. My CU offers no protection on their debit visa cards, so if someone grabbed the # off the net I'm out the 600 or so bucks I fear is missing as well.

this CU has treated us like shit from day one, I've bitched for years that I need to move and just haven't gotten around to it. THe (lack of) customer service really is astonishing in this place.

 

[Reginald Trent]

I've never heard of a holiday interfering with an electronic deposit. Those things are sent like automatically like clock work, regardless of holidays.

Sounds like your credit union is at fault and I would call and make sure they credited my account accordingly. I believe credit unions are regulated by state government. You might want to check with your state if the CU continues to give you static.

 

[Philip_G]

nah, for whatever reason whenever there's a bank holiday in between the timecard due date, and the direct deposit date the DD gets pushed back a day, it's simply company policy, no matter where the holiday falls. There really isn't any further explanation beyond "that's how it is"
I really don't know how the bank policy effects our payroll dept, because they're open anyway.

 

[SteveK]

Phillip- It sounds like you should be more upset with your employer than with your credit union. Your employer should always deposit your paycheck on a timely basis, irrespective of holidays. If the money did not get deposited on time, your credit union can't be held responsible if your automatic deductions went through as scheduled. Yes, it might not hurt to find a different credit union with more generous overdraft provisions, but even with them you'd need enough money in your savings account to transfer to cover the shortage.

Also, the recommendation to have a bit of a cushion in your account is a good one, although I would recommend balancing your checkbook on a monthly basis and knowing exactly how much of a cushion you have. Having a few hundred dollars extra would likely cover all of those automatic deductions, even if your paycheck is delayed. I know it's not easy when you're living from paycheck to paycheck, but it's certainly easier than paying hefty charges for bounced checks.

Good luck!
Steve K.

 

[Lee L]

Wow, just about every company ot there moves the payday up a day if it falls on a holiday and there is no excuse to delay payment for any reason even if there happens to be a holiday before payday. You should check with the labor board, they may even be out of compliance with your state laws.

 

[Andy Hardin]

I agree with SteveK

Maybe I'm biased (as I work in the banking industry) but the only fault you can have with the credit union is that for the fees. I'm sure if you have been a good member with a solid history those things can be taken care of.

The only other thing that they did wrong was to perform the tasks that you expected of them, the money from the employer simply did not come in. Not their fault.

Give them a call, but if you start it with a confruntational attitude nothing may be accomplished (just like any other business). Explain the situation to the person you talk to, if they can't help you, ask to speak with a manager. Ranting and raving at them about a problem that essentially is the employer's fault and not theirs is not going to get you very far.

 

[Philip_G]

there are other issues at hand I haven't mentioned, I don't think I'll bother talking to them, just quickly move the account to a competent CU.

 

[Philip_G]

friend of mine works for USBank, they've got some really nice deals on free checking, and she works there if I run into any snafus, guess we're going to usbank

 

[Cam S]

What exactly where the "other issues" Philip, if you don't mind me asking.

 

[Philip_G]

it boils down to general incompetence. They fuck things up on a regular basis it seems.
last summer they had to bring in an independant accounting firm to go through ALL their records and find lost money.

 

[Cam S]

So these "Other issues" had nothing to do with you though? I would really get out of that CU fast!!

 

[Philip_G]

nope.
it's all good, USBank has some awesome promos going right now, so we'll go over there. Already a done deal, once I get the direct deposits moved I'm ooooooutta there.

 

[Reginald Trent]

Philip, with all due respect. I also think your beef should be with your employer not the credit union. After all, how is it their fault for not honoring checks written on your underfunded checking account due to a screw up by your employer? How were they to know the money was coming but late? Frankly, it's the fault of your employer. Everyone I know gets their paycheck electronically deposited a day or so early if a holiday would otherwise interfere.

Beat up on your payroll department at your job not the credit union.

 

[Philip_G]

I'm not terribly worried they bounced them, but I'm fairly irked at the 150 or whatver they charged me in fees, sending the account negative and causing more fees.
Like I've said, this is the tip of the iceburg and I'm done with these people

 

[Reginald Trent]

It's fine if you want to change financial institutions. However, I think changing it for reasons as stated for this thread is the wrong one.

But your employer is the reason the funds weren't present to cover the checks, so why is the credit union the bad guys? After all, you wouldn't be in this situation if your employer had sent the money on time.

Sorry, it just seems like misplaced anger to me.

 

[Philip_G]

how many times do I have to say it, there are other issues, it's a nice way of saying I don't wish to go into it.