Self-Help Federal Credit Union

This location has had a few name changes through the years, now Self Help Federal Credit Union, or SHFCU for short. Same employees. It maintains the feel of a local, community credit union. I recently returned after having difficulties across town at Golden 1. Kim’s usually my go-​to contact here, but the other employees are very capable too. I last noticed that they have a bi-​lingual associate too for the Spanish speaking customers. They have 1 ATM here, but keep in mind that your ATM card is good at many thousands of other ATM’s surcharge free using the Co-​op network. (I usually always go to 7 – 11 for free withdrawals). Great, unheard-​of-​rates here for checking and market-​rate products that aren’t found elsewhere. Gotta ring the doorbell outside to get in during normal business hours for security. So far, I’m very impressed and glad I returned.

So… I work for the City of Vallejo. This bank is directly across the street from City Of Vallejo City Hall. I need change for a $ 20 bill (rolled coins) for petty cash back at the office.
I go in, show my City badge and ask for change for $ 20. «Do you have an account with us?», they asked. «No, I just need some change for the City to give to customers.» «I’m sorry, but we can’t give you change unless you have an account with us». Are you kidding me? I think to myself.
«Would you like to open an account with us today? «they ask. Haaahaaaaaa not if you were the last bank on Earth… love how nice they are. Avoid this place!

I had to close my account today… and was not happy to do so. I originally came to this bank because I LOVED the idea of a community minded credit union that didn’t take a bailout.
BUT…if you have out of state checks that you’re trying to deposit, you WILL have a minimum 5 day hold before the funds are released. And if you make a purchase over 500 bucks? There’s another hold for 5 days. I had two purchases like that since I opened this a account about a year ago… and both times, I had holds that basically froze my entire account… even though I had plenty of money to cover the purchase and then some. I even transferred the money from my savings to my checking to cover the second large purchase and my account still got frozen! ugh! Even the ATM at the bank wouldn’t let me pull money.
For what it’s worth, I have had many other bank and credit union accounts and none have given me this level of difficulty.
My only issue with customer service happened today when the teller couldn’t give me a definitive answer as to why I had the hold on my account. So I begrudgingly closed my accounts and will look elsewhere for my banking needs.
It’s too bad they’re hamstrung by bad account hold practices.

I am really sorry that the other 3 people had such a terrible experience with this Credit Union. My husband & I receive nothing but great service at the Santa Clara Street branch here in Vallejo. Although, anytime a company/​business gets Customer Service complaints I am not surprised, these days good customer service is the exception, not the rule. What is really sad is that it only takes one or two, (Gwen & Martha, as examples), to cast bad feelings upon it. I gave 4 stars only because, consistently, they’ve only had 2 or 3 Tellers on the first three or four days of the month, which are the busiest. I always figured that perhaps there just aren’t enough available. This month, however, my husband reported that they had five or six and the wait time was almost non-​existent. We also appreciate that the tellers always greet us by our names as well as apologize to the people waiting if it’s taking more time than usual due to customers with lengthy business to conduct, I would want them to take the time necessary to help me, so it’s not a problem to me. I also let others go ahead me if they seem in a hurry as I try not to be when I go in. It seems that the problem, with 2 reviewers, is that Martha & Gwen need to taken to task, if not dismissed, altogether and not sure what branch they are at. I’m bad with names, so if they are at my branch I’ve either not had contact with them or else I didn’t need the assistance beyond withdrawal or a quick deposit.
On a side note, if I were either 3 of these ladies I too would be livid and demanding a Supervisor that was over the whole branch. I say this because I was in customer service for 40+ years and expect more.

Community Trust Credit Union has consistently offered me the worst possible customer service at every turn. Their lack of professionalism is almost unbelievable. On one occasion when I deposited a large check here the teller loudly announced the amount of the check to the other tellers, and to the entire credit union.
Today I called to let them know that I would be traveling out of the country so that my account would not be put on hold for suspicious activity. The customer service representative just said «OK» and almost hung up on me without taking any of my information. When I objected, stating that I had not even told her who I was she was very snappy and told me that I needed to go into the credit union to fill out a form.
I plan on closing my account as soon as possible.

If I could give zero stars for my transaction dealing with Martha and Gwen, I would. I have never experienced such incompetence and poor customer service as I did today.
I went to Community Trust today to withdraw money for my father with his atm card as he is disabled and unable to use the atm or go to the bank easily. The atm promptly «ate» the atm card and I received a message to contact the financial institution that issued the card. The financial institution was Community Trust, so I went inside the bank to talk to a teller.
The first teller I dealt with (Martha) asked me to provide information regarding my parent’s bank account, which I did. She informed me she would be unable to give me any information regarding the card as I was not a joint owner and that they would be unable to retrieve the atm card from the machine. Now here is where the situation begins to get very sketchy. I ask Martha if she would be able to call my father regarding the card so she could verify information and start dealing with the issue of the atm card. Martha agrees, she calls, but unfortunately my father was asleep when she called. Within a minute I had called my sister, asked her to wake my father, and to have him answer the phone. I ask Martha to call my father again to try to deal with the situation.
Martha then refuses to call my father.
Um, what? She called him one minute before, why would she refuse to call him again?
Martha then continues her statement that because I was not on the account, she wouldn’t be able to give me any information. I let her know that I understand that but would she please try contacting my father again to help resolve the situation. She refused and was very rude and dismissive in both tone and body language. I could understand if it was policy not to contact anyone on the account, however, why would she call once and then refuse to call a second time? When I tried to continue to ask her to help resolve the issue, she stated that she would not be able to help me as there were customers behind me.
Um, WHAT? I was a customer in front of her that had an issue that was NOT resolved. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she directed me to Gwen.
Once I dealt with Gwen, I began to see where Martha picked up her poor customer service skills and incompetence. Gwen was rude and offered no input as to how to resolve the situation. When I explained the situation to Gwen, all she did was repeat what Martha said, she did not even provide any general information on the policy of what to do if an atm card is taken by the machine. I informed Gwen my father was going to call the the credit union so that they would be able to speak with him regarding how to get the card back, Gwen said ok.
My father called the credit union and was put on hold for fifteen minutes. My father calls me to let me know he was not able to reach anyone on the phone and that he left a message. I then stand in line and tell Gwen my father called the credit union to attempt to talk to someone about the issue but that he was not able to reach anyone. Gwen THEN tells me that calls directed to Community Trust go to a call center, and not directly to the Community Trust location at Marin Street. Um, what?
So, Community Trust refuses to call my father regarding the situation?
And when my father attempts to call Community Trust, no one at a CALL CENTER picks up the phone?
I then ask Gwen if the credit union refuses to contact my father, and if my father can’t contact the credit union, how can the issue be resolved? Gwen then continues to babble about how she is not responsible for calls to the bank, calls go to the call center not the bank, etc. etc.
Guess what?
My father continued to call the credit union. My father finally managed to reach someone (in this credit union, NOT a call center like Gwen said) after an hour. The woman promptly dealt with the issue, had the card retrieved from the atm machine (yes, it is possible Martha!), and we were able to pick up the card IMMEDIATELY from the credit union.
Incompetence is once thing, being rude and incompetent is a whole different beast. Martha and Gwen definitely need more training and customer service skills in order to become competent and capable tellers.