Kinecta Federal Credit Union

It is with great regret that I write this review but hopefully it will be as informative to you as it is cathartic to me.
I attempted to conduct an online transaction with my Kinecta card and, upon being informed that it was blocked, called to clear up any issues. This morning I spoke with an uninterested male customer service agent who told me that Kinecta would inform the third-​party vendor who handles its credit card transactions to unblock the transaction. This was 10:00 am and was told that it would take two hours. Keep in mind that the transaction is less than $ 800 with a reputable company (A+ BBB rating) and my account is more than good for it.
Sidenote: Given that the lion’s share of the American economy (two-​thirds) is based on consumption, how efficient is this approach?
At 1:00 p.m. I called Kinecta to see if my account was clear for the transaction and was told that their third-​party vendor WAS NOT CONTACTED and no notation was made on my account. I was shocked and asked to speak with a supervisor. Cynthia, Kinecta supervisor, shared that the proper steps were not taken; COULD NOT IDENTIFY who I spoke with earlier today; and that it would take an additional SEVEN HOURS before my transaction could be completed.
I am beyond disgusted in the blazing incompetence of Kinecta and its customer service department. After twenty+ years of membership it’s time to end this relationship.

I have been with Kinecta Federal Credit Union over 10 years. I am very pleased with the service, no complaints.

Yikes! Following my most recent interactions with Kinecta I’m afraid I need to update my review. Needing to make a change to my current checking account (because of new «sneaky fees») I called the Kinecta Service Center at 800 854‑9846 and after a wait of well more than 10 minutes I reached an employee, (who will remain unnamed) that was obviously not happy with her job of daily customer interaction. After some confusion on my part regarding the required «phone» password and a lot more time on hold, this employee, with an improved customer service attitude, did ultimately help me with the needed changes. Overall though, this experience was not one I would ever like to have repeated. I’m afraid I had to take away 1 star for the poor customer service and 1 star for the new account service fee.

We give up… After 30+ years (started out with Hughes Credit Union) So many mistakes and so little flexibility for our needs. At one time we would have recommended it to anyone. In fact all our kids have accounts there. Forgotten transfers, lost or delayed deposits, $ 55 wire fee (we are supposed to be one of their best customers… what do they do for their non-​best customers), unreasonably long holds on checks deposited, not allowing our ATM to work in other countries when we have requested specifically, not handling a stolen ATM card for days (we didn’t have to pay but they didn’t process the cancellation), and more… SO sad to see this degradation.

Increased charges on everything. Bad customer service. Rates not as good as other Credit Unions. I am closing my account with them this week.

I am writing this because if I can save another person from going what I went through with this company and specifically the person that sought me out, I will feel like a superhero. I have a mortgage with this company, did a 30 year fixed with them in 2010. I refinanced with them in and the negotiations were «OK» I suppose. A woman named Lani Van Alstyne is the one you should avoid dealing with as she completely lead me to believe I could get another refi and a credit line. She contacted me! I did all the paperwork, I even paid for an appraisal 450 dollars. At first she was easy to get a hold of, email and phone. After the appraisal she said through an email they needed more proof of income, yada yada and I immediately supplied what she needed. Then… something happened, I have no idea what because she would not return my calls nor email. I got a good faith lending letter telling me my new refi + credit line would cost me 5,000 to do. WHAT? I called her yet again to please explain, to make good on all the vast paperwork, the countless hours for her I put in to do this and… nothing…ever! Today I finally got a «statement of credit denial and reasons» It said income insufficient despite that I have been paying this same company my mortgage for 5 years, and my job is still the same, everything the same. My house has increased in equity and SHE sought me out, I was fine with everything before. Also, my credit score was even better now than when I got my former loan. I might as well have just taken 450 dollars and thrown it out the window. How does she sleep at night?
I will be looking for another company to refi with as I do not want to ever give even a penny to this company anymore!

It has come to the point where it is almost like a bad joke. They call to put people on hold, when you call back their «6 minutes hold time» turns to over an hour. You’d expect a bank or credit union to know basic math at least. Terrible customer service, this company is an insult to humanity. Everything about this company is just terrible, I got stuck with them through refinancing my car, I can’t understand why anyone would willingly choose to do business with this company. It’s funny how people talk about their satisfaction when they walk into a branch, as long as they smile they can do whatever they want to you? Crack kills people, so does dealing with companies like these…

We have been banking with Kinecta for almost 40 years and I am so disappointed in them. We accepted a pre-​approved credit card offer with a balance transfer deal, filling out the form and getting a message saying thanks, you’ll hear from us soon. That was Oct 30. No word for 2 weeks, so we call. Oh, they need a little more info. Then more radio silence. Sent a secure message, and a few days later get a call — oh, they have another question. More time passes, the cards arrive in the mail, but no word on the balance transfer. No answer to an additional secure message. We call… after much searching on their side, it turns out it may be another 30 days to complete the transfer. Seriously? Over two months for a pre-​approved offer? Other places seem to be able to complete this in a few days. Save yourself the headache and go elsewhere!

Duane, manager, just helped me with a mortgage inquiry. He was very helpful! Great customer experience. My mortgage lending experience was awesome with this credit union. Very competitive with the rates when I got it on my last house. I highly recommend for loan. Open on Saturdays 9:00am-2:00pm.

If I could give them –0s I would. Unfortunately this company gets a 1 star. I have had an auto loan with them for about 3 yrs now and of and on have been dealing with their crap. It’s not until this summer when things hit the fan with them. Now I will say they are not entirely at fault with this situation. My old mobile insurance definitely has a part in it. However, The fact that kinecta would help screw their customers over when all the evidence is right in front of them is beyond me. I have no idea how many different departments and people I’ve talked to at kinecta with no one willing to help me sort things out. Instead they would tell me «too bad. You have to pay this. You are in collections and you just have to pay.» After that last call I had my insurance companies old and new send all the information they needed with proof that I indeed did have insurance and never a gap in between. Now after all that kinecta STILL wanted me to pay what they had sent me to collections to while the insurance information «processed.» Yes they said it could go towards my next payment but seriously this situation is clearly not my fault and I expect this company to step up and help me out on this. I mean I have been paying my car payment on time every months r the past 3 years. It’s the least this company could do.
Now forward 2 months later to yesterday… so not only have I had this 866 number calling my phone at 11:30 pm the last couple of days but they also call to tell me I am in collections AGAIN for the past due amount of the extra insurance…
This time they actually let me talk to a supervisor right away. Good job kinecta!
Her customer service etiquette sucks by the way. She was actually going in circles with me trying to tell me they didn’t have anything. Umm no Hun keep looking at your notes it’s all on there.
We finally got it figured out and they «FINALLY» took that extra fee off of my account. We shall see when I call back in a few days. However, Cindy, for being a supervisor and seeing all the mistakes that were made, not once did she apologize on behalf of kinecta and not once did she sympathize with me.
I told her I wanted to speak to her again in a few days just to make sure everything went through and she told me there was no need… I told her ok well I was told that the last time and clearly nothing was processed correctly.
She again said there was no need but if I wanted to I could. Oh did I mention there was some slight attitude the entire time she spoke?
I will definitely be calling back to make sure it’s taken care of by the end of the week. I will also call back 2 weeks from now again just to make sure and most likely a month from now since it’s obvious no one knows how to input information or sort through it at this company.
I will also be refinancing with another company because there is absolutely NO WAY I will be giving this company anymore time and ESPECIALLY more money!
I’m really surprised this company still has business with as many people that complain and say they are a fraud and scam their customers. It’s true.
Look elsewhere people. Don’t waste time and money here.
The slightest mishap and they will take that and run with it as an opportunity to screw over their customers.

My family’s been banking with Kinecta for well over 40 years, and it’s a long way from what it once was. These days they scam their customers with fee stacking after they neglect to release holds on funds they’ve already paid out. I’ve also experienced them processing multiple authorization holds for the same amount and from the same retailer. Any other responsible and ethical bank would recognize something like that as either a mistake or fraud, but not Kinecta. They not only process it all, their authorization holds have lasted much longer than at most other institutions – again even after the transaction has gone through, probably in the hope they can help overdraw your account and then start cashing in on that fee stacking they’re so fond of.
When you call to try to resolve the issues, their paid thieves (oops, I mean customer service employees) verbally shrug their shoulders and explain that’s just the way the computers have been coded to process transactions. Too bad, so sad, and congratulations, you’ve unwillingly increased the scam bank’s bottom line with your money! Thanks for banking with us, you masochistic fool!
On the flip side, several times a year they randomly cancel your debit cards due to their own security breach issues. Except they don’t actually notify you of the cancellation, or even the issue, they just start declining transactions. Even beyond what that says about their system security (nothing good!) it’s not only embarrassing, but really difficult if you’re in a situation where you can’t just walk away from a purchase, like at a restaurant after you’ve eaten. And then you have to wait weeks for a new debit card because they can’t be bothered to replace the one they’ve cancelled in a timely manner. Over and over and over again, the past few years. And I won’t even go into their horrible website or nearly nonexistent customer service hours – just know the outdated term «banker’s hours» still applies. It’s been a long time since I or my family have used Kinecta as our daily use accounts because of all this and more.
Howard Hughes and his CU have both been dead for a long time, and Kinecta is a sad, smarmy shadow of HAFCU. After so many decades, neither I nor my family trust Kinecta in the slightest. I might as well give my money to a ghetto check cashing place, because that’s the level of banking they’re approaching. My family and I are all closing every account we have with them this week, and good riddance.

Never an error with my funds. They have always provided helpful, professional, & friendly service. I’ve been banking with them for better than 25 years now.

Crooks!
I don’t know how these people sleep at night. I guess they got used to scamming people. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BANK! DIRTY DIRTY SCUMBAGS!

Not Professional. Julia Chang (Mortgage Professional for Kinecta C.U.) Customer is not the primary focus, the pocket comes 1^st.
Working in the wrong line of work. seems to not understand Mortgage
Lending and Good Faith. Focused what the commision she will make instead of whether the deal goes through or not. She is in the Wrong Line of Work. Customers «BEWARE»
Kinecta C.U. you lost a customer because of The professionalism Julia Chang has performed.

I have been a member for just a few months. I was hesitant to join because they have so many negative reviews online, but they have the closest credit union branches to both my home and my work. When I joined, I was told by their employee that a hold would be placed on my checks for the first month. After a couple months, I was shocked to discover that they were still placing holds on my account. I complained to the manager of their Manhattan Beach branch on Rosecrans. He told me that there would be holds placed on my deposits for an indeterminate amount of time. The only way he was able to retain my business was because he promised me that I could contact him after making a deposit and he would release the hold individually each time. Reliant on that promise, I deposited my check last night at that branch. Today, I popped in to ask him to follow through on his promise. He is apparently on some «customer service» retreat. I am not surprised, because their company seems to retreat from providing anything approaching good customer service. I was informed by a person named Aldo Navarrette that he was the person in charge. Mr. Navarrette further informed me that he would not be honoring his manager’s promise, despite saying he had no doubt the manager had made that promise, and that he would only be releasing approximately 40% of my money to me. I told him that I realized that I was only one account, but that if he didn’t honor his manager’s promise I would be closing my account, but he didn’t seem to care about either honoring his manager’s promise or about losing my business. How do they stay in business?

I had a nightmare with my son and an ATM card and I got immediate help by going into the branch. I disagree with those negative reviews. I love this branch. If there are any issues, which I have had, I have had Lucy, Lakendra, Gevork and lastly the branch manager Moses right there to fix my issues. I believe anyone who has problems there, like anywhere, if you take it to the proper level you will get a very positive result. The atmosphere is always pleasant when I go in and I go there at least 3 times a week. Everyone says hi and they take great care of their customers no matter what. If I leave a message at the greeter bay I get a call back within an hour every time. Thank you Kinecta and Moses for running a great branch in Manhattan Beach.

wow after reading this reviews I am happy that I did not open account.
I was trying to open business account saturday. The big lady asked me for several documents and give me all info. But then I think she noticed that the bank closes in 5 minutes so she said her system does not let me pass. I asked whats the error code since my credit score is 810… She said just to try it again next time.

Terrible.
Unfortunately I was roped into working with Kinecta as this was a bank that my mortgage broker has a relationship with. Really, the trouble started right away, it took them way longer than anyone thought necessary to complete the loan, and they asked for the same documents over and over again. Fine, I got my loan, no worries. We were a little late, not a problem.
Today in the mail I receive a savings account notice. I guess in the fine print for my mortgage it requires that I have an account with them. I don’t have to use it, just let it float. Fine, whatever, I don’t care.
Then I look at the paper, it’s opened with a $ 5 balance, but they will mail me (by default) a monthly statement. The charge for this statement is $ 2. Conversely, I can go paperless for free. Okay, kinda inconvenient, but whatever.
So I call them up, they say that they can’t change it over the phone because I need to set up an online baking account so I need to go to their site and enroll. I ask them, «why, if I have a mortgage with them, and a savings account do I need to enroll in online banking when I don’t plan to use it. Can’t you log into the account I already have and change it to paperless. You have all of my information.» They claim that they cannot. Super inconvenient, super frustrating, but okay.
so I go online, their site looks straight out of the invention of the internet (1990’s), whateve. I click «enroll» and they want my freaking social security number. I might as well just hand my SSN, Birthdate and Home address to a homeless person. There’s no way. So I call them back up, tell them «no way» there’s got to be a better way. Can they just enter it into the system, can I speak to a supervisor? No dice. They want me to come down to the branch. I ask them, if I come down to the branch will they just enter it into the system? No, they will enter it online. WTF, seriously?
Guys — these are literally my first interactions with this bank (my loan was approved in March 2014). Its off to a terrible start. If you’re looking for a credit union, or contemplating a loan, a mortgage, go somewhere else. Nothing but red tape, bureaucracy and unfriendly people (who I am sure are barraged with outraged customers all day).
I’m already sorry that my loan is with them, I am going to see about moving that to another bank ASAP.

Awful.
After finding out our current rental property was going to market, we were offered a great purchase price for place far below market value. That’s about the only good news.
Being our first home purchase we began the process of picking a mortgage company. This is where the nightmare started. My wife being an account holder, we decided to try our credit union first.
What can I say? It’s been an absolute nightmare and has made life 1000% more frustrating than needs to be. After speaking with a rep, she said all she needed were the last two years of tax returns, bank statements, and a credit check and they’d get us pre-​approved.
That was over 3 weeks ago…
Took a week to verify documents even showed up. (Sent instantly via email). Then it’s been a never ending circle of «let me look into it» followed by «I’ll get back to you». Mailing me on Tuesday and getting back to me next week to parrot the same thing isn’t helping.
At this point we will probably just go to another mortgage broker or lender. Hell I don’t even care if I was straight up denied the loan, if it didn’t take a month to figure that out.
Just avoid this company at all costs. Your mortgage officer doesn’t care about you and probably never will. Good luck finding anyone who will even try. I only got replies after contacting THEM first. If you have a deadline, tenancy termination, or sell by date — good luck with these jerks.

I just noticed that my review has somehow vanished? It’s not in the «not recommended» section either.
My grandmother was getting a divorce and wanted to refinance. She has an account at Kinecta, though the mortgage is through another bank, so she’s giving Kinecta new business. I had to be involved several times. Her loan agent, Thomas Blalock, was a bumbling, lying idiot. He requested several documents, which I scanned and emailed him ASAP. He would reply that he had received them, only to call a week later and ask if we ever sent the documents.
He and the Kinecta team NEVER gave her a lock sheet or any written quote of her refinance plan. After SIX MONTHS of going back and forth, she decided not to get the loan because the interest rate seemed to increase every time they spoke. I doubt it was a coincidence. I had to track Thomas down after we received a letter stating that per their review board, our refi had been declined, only to find out that no such decision had been made. He claimed that he hadn’t even presented it to the board yet. What?
Their Weiss rating is in the toilet AKA right where Kinecta should be. Their tellers are polite, but that doesn’t excuse taking six months to not close a refi. If, for some reason, you decide to refinance with them, get everything in writing and don’t let them jerk you around!