My experiences with Alternatives Federal Credit Union have largely been very positive…read more Shortly after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy ten years ago, I applied to several banks and credit unions for an auto loan, and Alternatives by far provided me with the best loan terms (3.9% interest, while everyone else offered me loans at 10%). So of course I went with Alternatives 3.9% loan and was able to pay it off in two years and two months. Their loan officer was very helpful and understanding regarding my financial situation. I also took their ten week Moneywise financial literacy course which was excellent and very helpful regarding developing a much better understanding of budgeting, investing, debt, credit card selection and management, etc. With their help, I went from being $53,000 in debt to almost $300,000. in savings and investments over the past ten years. Hence (like most things in life), Alternatives Federal Credit Union is largely what you make of it!...

WORST Bank in Ithaca!!!!! Their outside ATM is often Not…read moreWorking. They frequently have only 1 drive through window open, and if you go inside you'll be waiting even longer. Their staff has an attitude, they act like you are bothering them if you want service!!! I CLOSED both of my accounts there because they said they won't take my coin rolls for deposit!!!!!! Go to ANY OTHER BANK, you'll be better off!

I'd give it a zero stars but it is not an option. I have had my account with CFCU bank for 10…read moreyears. Over the last few years I have had numerous issues with the bank making mistakes. Recently needed to make some changes to my account - customer service was nonexistent. Waiting hours online - representatives do not know what they are doing, providing incorrect info continually, supposedly fixing mistakes but never do, - callbacks never come. Finally had to leave. Do not use this bank.

I have had CFCU at least 20 year. In the last 6 months the customer service has declined to a level…read moreof non-existence. My debit card had to be replaced due to fraud, called the office and they proceeded to issue a card. waited a week, no card showed up. called the office back to learn that it was never sent. The card then was sent via Fedex, activated the card then learned it was linked to the wrong account. Called the office again, said they would send another card via FedEx, never arrived. At this point I have decided to move all my money to a different bank.

Y'all, it's really bad service: no joke. It's snooty. They don't greet people. It's cold and…read morebitter. They give mixed messages. It's just horrible customer service. No returned phone messages from supervisors after two left messages. Tried many times and many locations. Closed accounts (and they charged me $20 to close) and we went to Community Bank and had a much friendlier and professional experience.

I am only selecting one star for my review because zero stars is not an option. I've been a…read morecustomer of this bank for JUST shy of 30 years, including for mortgage loans, business loans, business transactions, etc. And I continue to be regularly surprised by their ever-growing lack of sensitivity, and lack of understanding that "service" is the more important part of "Customer Service"! Their "official policies" are designed to put the onus on their customers' shoulders for all of the banks' shortcomings and/or problems. Imagine your Debit card just stops working one day ( worn out). So you ask, and wait for, a replacement (duplicate) card. And then, when trying to use the new, duplicate card, you hear those familiar words "I'm sorry, sir, your card was not accepted" so you use a second credit card for the purchase, and THEN you are told 2 days later, that the charge DID go through, so you've paid for the purchase TWICE! But rather than admit ANY responsibility for the duplicate payment, the bank runs through an army of "customer service reps", and over THREE HOURS OF YOUR TIME, very politely explaining why NONE of this is any part of their fault, AND that it is "Bank Policy" for the customer to negotiate with the vendor to recover any money lost. So, practically speaking, at that point you are spending hours and hours getting notarized copies of the duplicate Debit and Credit Card charges and paying your attorney ($150?) to send a letter to the vendor asking, please, please, please refund the duplicate $15 charge. And both bank and vendor are asking you if the duplicate charge wasn't for a duplicate order. But EVEN IF you are obsessive enough to save every receipt for every sandwich and cup of coffee, the receipts are going to list the exact same items bought, right? AND, if the vendor doesn't agree to reimburse you, it is then "Bank Policy" for the customer to file a Fraud claim with the bank, which results in the Debit Card being cancelled and replaced ( ie with new account number), and so EVERY automatic monthly charge that the customer had put in place gets refused, until the customer re-creates all that work! The abuse of your time just never stops! It's hard to imagine a lesser level customer "SERVICE"!

We'd been shopping for a mortgage loan for weeks and were actively engaged with four different…read morelenders. The best offer came from a lead bank out of Tompkins County, but they could not (or would not) lock in a rate claiming they first needed an inspection and lawyer's approval before even locking down the rate. We'd financed multiple loans in the past never experiencing this and realtors were telling us this was very unusual. The lender then went on vacation leaving us hanging and despite two left messages with the supervisor we could not get a call back - from anyone. We tried Community Bank as a hail-Mary last minute attempt. Despite the agent planning to leave that afternoon for vacation she was able to lock us in at the same exact rate and fees WITHIN TWO HOURS. No muss - no fuss. They opened up our checking accounts and accommodated us in a number of other ways. THAT'S how you welcome people back to the area and provide excellent customer service. Very grateful for everyone that helped us.

Probably the most passive-aggressive business model I have ever encountered...manipulative to a…read morefault, dishonest and unprofessional. It's painfully obvious they believe they are doing you a favor by doing business with them.

Very bad costumer service. They made a mistake in my account number. Instead of telling me, I found…read moreout about it by my employer's payroll branch after I wasn't paid. Even after I told them about it, they asked me to pay extra money for them to fix my account number on my checks. All they had to do was apologize and offer free correct checks. Very rude! No respect for costumer!

From the owner: Tompkins is a community bank offering personalized service, local decision-making and a broad range…read moreof services for consumers and businesses. Insurance services are offered through Tompkins Insurance Agencies, and wealth management services are available through Tompkins Financial Advisors.

This particular location is nearby us and we like the neighborhood. Service is fast and friendly…read moreservice on Saturday which is when we visit.

I'm not in a habit of writing reviews, but CFCU's behavior lately has been so atrocious that I feel…read moreobliged. Five times in the last year and a half they have managed to fundamentally screw up written instructions for how to handle CDs at maturities, ranging from transferring the wrong amount out to closing the wrong CD to closing a CD that was intended to be renewed. Their response when I suggested they needed to put a better system in place was "we already fixed this particular transaction and we're sorry it happened." Their "improved" online banking system no longer makes it possible to organize the accounts in any way, they're just in an arbitrary order (even though the "unimproved" system did this just fine) which means for example that every time I want to see my checking balance I have to use the "Show More Accounts" button because it's off the bottom of the default screen. Their response indicated they have no plans to fix the problem. They replaced a perfectly functional ATM with a "VTM" which then rejected multiple cards, and they told me the only fix was to reissue the cards. The last two times I visited it, it indicated that it "could not dispense cash" which kind of defeats the original purpose of an ATM.

Friendly staff, good services. Their online system is not great, but acceptable. This is the…read morefirst place to try for mortgages or any other banking services. Their only flaw has been lack of presence downtown, but they are opening a branch there in 2018.

Employees are informative & friendly. Unlike some local…read morebanks, they're not confused about who's money they're holding .

Really a bad experience here, glad to cut ties with this place. I began banking with Chemung canal…read morebecause I was looking for a local, small bank with personable customer service. It took 5+ days to get back in touch with a supervisor regarding a hidden and persisting problem on my account which cost me hundreds of dollars in fees. Between the unreliability of the management, the erratic opening and closure of branches and the fact that my favorite tellers all left because their own time there was so unpleasant, at this point it's unclear whether Chemung canal is actually bank or just pretending to be.