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Agreed. Bank with a local credit union. It's a better deal in general, and, when you hit an issue, you can talk to a human who a) gives a shit, and b) can actua

Agreed. Bank with a local credit union. It's a better deal in general, and, when you hit an issue, you can talk to a human who a) gives a shit, and b) can actually do something to help you.

AdamJacobMuller 9y ago
I spent about 6 hours in a local credit union finalizing a loan for a new car I purchased early last year. They had made some mistakes, specifically saying they could extend the initial certification beyond 30 days when they could not, and couldn't disperse the funds without having the loan re-certified by a loan officer. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and there were no loan officers on-hand. Double unfortunately, they needed the original bill of sale (pink carbon paper) to certify the loan. Every single bit of the process of getting this loan was like pulling teeth. That said, they pulled it off even on a Saturday. They realized they had made a mistake, they called in a loan officer who came to the branch on a Saturday and certified the loan. They even stayed open about two hours late so we could drive to the dealership and get the pink-slip and drive back. While the whole process was kafkaesque compared to dealer financing, unlike dealer financing these people were friendly and genuinely seemed to want to help and they did genuinely everything in their power to actually help. And, I got a crazy-low interest rate on my loan too. If they just spent a bit more time on their process, say, a PDF with a list of information on what you need to provide for a loan and when and things like approval expiration timelines they could make the process so much more pleasurable. In any event, A+++ would credit union again.
romwell 9y ago
I used to give this advice. But recently I realized that my primary credit union account, opened around 2007 or so, charges an ATM withdrawal fee ON TOP OF the ATM fee of the bank that owns the ATM. I withdraw cash so rarely that I haven't noticed this when the policy changed (when I opened the account, the credit union was REFUNDING the ATM fee assessed by other banks). Needless to say, I'm getting out of there. Probably to another credit union, though; I've had less-than-pleasant experiences with banks in the past (especially before the Obama administration outlawed opt-out "overdraft protection" scams that these banks were running).

Agreed. Bank with a local credit union. It's a better deal in general, and, when you hit an issue, you can talk to a human who a) gives a shit, and b) can actually do something to help you.

AdamJacobMuller 9y ago

I spent about 6 hours in a local credit union finalizing a loan for a new car I purchased early last year. They had made some mistakes, specifically saying they could extend the initial certification beyond 30 days when they could not, and couldn't disperse the funds without having the loan re-certified by a loan officer. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and there were no loan officers on-hand. Double unfortunately, they needed the original bill of sale (pink carbon paper) to certify the loan. Every single bit of the process of getting this loan was like pulling teeth. That said, they pulled it off even on a Saturday. They realized they had made a mistake, they called in a loan officer who came to the branch on a Saturday and certified the loan. They even stayed open about two hours late so we could drive to the dealership and get the pink-slip and drive back. While the whole process was kafkaesque compared to dealer financing, unlike dealer financing these people were friendly and genuinely seemed to want to help and they did genuinely everything in their power to actually help. And, I got a crazy-low interest rate on my loan too. If they just spent a bit more time on their process, say, a PDF with a list of information on what you need to provide for a loan and when and things like approval expiration timelines they could make the process so much more pleasurable. In any event, A+++ would credit union again.

romwell 9y ago

I used to give this advice. But recently I realized that my primary credit union account, opened around 2007 or so, charges an ATM withdrawal fee ON TOP OF the ATM fee of the bank that owns the ATM. I withdraw cash so rarely that I haven't noticed this when the policy changed (when I opened the account, the credit union was REFUNDING the ATM fee assessed by other banks). Needless to say, I'm getting out of there. Probably to another credit union, though; I've had less-than-pleasant experiences with banks in the past (especially before the Obama administration outlawed opt-out "overdraft protection" scams that these banks were running).