I used to bank with a credit union and had no problems except for the time they harassed me daily and eventually sued me into chapter 7 bankruptcy for being listed as the geographically nearest relative on a loan that went sour. Other than that, they were great! :rolleyes:
In Southern California at least, the local credit unions all allow you to use each other’s ATMs for free, and you can use 7-11 ATMs for free as well.
I had been Wachovia customers for years and was happy with the bank and the service I received from them. Then Wells Fargo bought them and it was an absolute nightmare. Direct deposits were sometimes held for 4-5 days “for my protection” (yeah, right), while other checks could take 10 days or more to clear. You never really knew, it was very random. And as another poster above mentioned, there was little rhyme nor reason involved with debiting your account for charges. The only real constant is that they would do their best to time a big clutch of debits for the day before a direct deposit was due to come in. I had to keep a sizeable balance in our checking account at all times - money I would rather have put into a savings account or a CD - just to make sure I could cover their random posting dates. It always felt like an adversarial situation. You had to constantly be on your guard to avoid falling into one of their snares.
What finally sent me to a credit union was the endless parade of fees for every service imaginable that they charged me after my husband died and I was attempting to square everything away financially under just my name. They weren’t dinky fees, either. The sum was well over $1,000.
I threw in the towel with big banking and moved to a credit union. That was 5 years ago and I’ve never regretted it for an instant. I’ve not had a single fee imposed on me since I joined up. Not one! Deposits are always posted within 48 hours, debits are taken out right away. There is no fancy dancin’ with dates to try to catch a customer off balance and give them an opportunity to assess a charge.
The credit union had my mortgage until it was paid off, my credit card, and my car loan. And because our local network of credit unions have banded together to provide mutual services, I can stop into any credit union in the city if I need a face-to-face encounter.