I have been a member here for 14 years, and had been mostly satisfied - until fall 2016 [almost a…read moreyear now.] I am currently seeking another banking option.
The "upgrade" started last year, leaving the online banking not-so user friendly. They also removed the ability to check your balance at an ATM st this time!
Then their "downtime maintenence" started.
The "downtime maintenence" will last from the time the bank closes, and will last until the bank opens the next day. Although their staff will argue that it is "only a few hours." They are either greatly mislead, or intentionally playing this worthless upgrade down. And there is no "after hours support," either. Only an 800# at a separate institution to report lost & missing cards!
During this "downtime," you cannot access your online banking. You cannot swipe your card to make a purchase at a retailer, and forget about getting money at an ATM! You are stuck without access to your money!
This has happened 3 times since Christmas 2016! And, it always starts with the ominous online message that you get when you go to "online banking." It's the pink box of death that says the site is down for maintenence, and it apologizes for any inconvenience. It has always lasted till 9am the next business day.
Incident #1:
At Christmas 2016, I had a business dinner in Pittsburgh to attend. I couldnt access my balance online. We went to a gas station to get gas & money from the ATM. We could neither pay for gas NOR get money! If we had enough gas to get into Pittsburgh, our cards would have declined for our meals! And we would have been stuck in Pittsburgh, unable to get home. There was a few hundred in our account- and we couldn't even access it!
Incident #2:
Thank goodness, we dodged Mother's Day crowds, and went to dinner the night before. On Sunday, we went out for ice cream. Again, both of our cards declined, and I knew there was sufficient funds to cover ice cream! I checked the online banking. There was the pink box of death! We, luckily, had enough cash on hand for our ice cream, but we had to cancel the trip to Walmart for needed items! The pink box wasn't removed until the next morning, when the CU opened up!
My thought went to how many members took their moms out to dinner, stuck with big bills that they couldn't pay! When I went to the credit union the next day and inquired about the "downtime," they confirmed that it was system wide! When I asked who would plan for a scheduled downtime on Mother's Day, the one young male teller got very cocky & arrogant with me. "What do you expect US to do about it?" [Well, if it's scheduled... maybe select a day that's not a holiday?]
#3- final straw!
We visited my brother in SC last weekend. Keep in mind- my hubby's acct had over $1400, and my acct, almost $500. Between us, we had $1900.
The parts were delivered on Tuesday and the repair done that day. The CU closed at 4pm; the garage was closing at 6pm; my brother got hubby to the garage [after work] at 5:30m.
We checked the balance earlier in the day, "just to be sure." Our balances were unchanged... $1400 & $500. The repair bill - $550. Not a problem! EXCEPT- hubby attempted to swipe the card & it didn't go thru. Then attempted a partial payment on my card. That didn't process as well. He went to the ATM, with an unsuccessful attempt to get money. I checked the online banking page. IT'S THE PINK BOX OF DEATH!
It's now 5:50pm. By the grace of God, my brother & SIL had that in their other accounts, and were able to consolidate funds. Now, because Elliott FCU had created, twice before, a financial crisis, I had gotten a little wiser, and started to stash some extra money on a prepaid Bluebird card, AND I have a small [$300] credit card for backup. By 5:50pm, our car was paid for by my brother & SIL [and I had to leave them a check!] Our emergency stash of funds was what we used to get home; the credit card covered our hotel room & gas!
I continued to check thru the night, to see when the Pink Box of Death went away. It was still there when I went to bed at 2am, and was there at 830am on Wednesday morning. It came off at 9am.
Now, we had over $1900 in our accounts. This CU caused the financial crisis!. This never should have happened, since we had more than a sufficient amount in there to cover the bill.
This is an unfortunate trend with this credit union!
Let me add another fact here, to demonstrate the lack of professionalism and ethical business practices by Elliott FCU.
I placed a lengthy review, like this, on FB, around 1pm on Thurs 6/15/17. Elliott FCU removed my review & stacked in SIX 5 fake reviews. When I returned to find my review gone, and six 5 reviews [all placed within 2 hours, oddly enough], it ensured my 1 review would have less of an impact