Credit Unions?

[kengwen]

Anyone want to recommend (or recommend against) a credit union in the bay area? Details appreciated!
I am in love with San Francisco Fire Credit Union, but unfortunately I don't qualify to join them, so looking for someplace else...

Comments

[ertla]

I'm presently looking around for an alternative to First Tech federal credit union. This outfit has big bank syndrome, in a milder form. They were formed out of a merger between Addison Avenue FCU and a single state outfit called First Tech credit union. They kept the Addison Avenue _federal_ credit union status, and its customers, and precious little else. Addison Avenue credit union was a rename of the excellent Hewlett Packard Employees FCU; I'd been a happy member/customer for more than 15 years by the time the merger happened.

The justification for the merger was pretty much that "bigger is better". I started having visions of Wells Fargo immediately, and doubly so when I found that the First Tech people got to vote (govt requirement, I guess) and the Addison Avenue people did not.

The "merger" played out like an acquisition - a sloppy one. As an example, they discontinued the phone number printed on the back of our credit cards before those credit cards were replaced. You can imagine the fun that ensued when I got a call from a phone number I didn't recognize, claiming to be my credit card company, and wanting me to verify some charges - i.e. give strangers private information. I ignored the number they left - who knows what scammers they might be - and called the number on my credit card, finding it had been discontinued. I sorted it out after a trip to the new website, but wasted considerable time. And have I mentioned the maze of twisty voice menus.

Yesterday I got a notice about changing the terms of my card ending in a certain 4 digit number. Let's call it 1234. I looked at my credit card; the number didn't end in 1234. It farther claimed they were changing interest rates based on people's credit scores, somehow implying this was a government requirement. The changes were increases. They were, however, getting rid of the annual fee. My credit card (originally from Addison Avenue FCU) has never had an annual fee. I called them. Perhaps because it was late in the evening, I got a human being relatively fast, and they were equally baffled, though by the sound of it they'd had lots of complaints. Eventually the first part of the mystery was made clear - I have a different number on my credit card statement than the one printed on my card, and they'd given the last 4 digits of that number. No information on the imaginary annual fee which they've so graciously dropped.

My mortgage, credit card, savings and checking accounts are all with these people. They used to be an excellent choice - before "First Tech" took them over. My advice - run a mile. They are probably better than Wells Fargo or Bank of America, and that's about all I can say in their favour.