CEFCU

I’ve been with CEFCU for quite a few years. I visit this branch on occasion and have never had to wait in line more than a few minutes.
I’d say it’s a low key place, the employees aren’t overly chatty which I think is a good thing. At the same time they don’t exactly exude friendliness. Personally I don’t care because all I want to do in a bank is take care of business and leave.
But it seems that a a lot of the public prefer a more friendly atmosphere.
My suggestion for CEFCU is to improve on their customer service skills to become an even better Credit Union!

Hi.

My first time banking with a credit union.
There’s nothing I can say that can make this branch stand out.
Generally, I’ve never had any big problems with them. When I go into the bank, I don’t wait more than 3 — 5 minutes to see a teller. When my card got stolen, the charges were reversed immediately. They get all the basic things done, so, nothing to complain about and nothing to brag about. A-​OK folks!

Didn’t like that I’m only able to make three purchases a month on my fuckin debt card unfortunately this is who my work banks with i was thinking about opening an account here but now I won’t they’re not friendly and have no customer service skills I asked the guy if I can have the paper with all my info on it he said no I asked well can you shred it he said yes I said Uhm okay well can you do it in front of me he said oh well we don’t have a shredder here… Wtf ?!! So how are you gonna shred it. His response was oh well we put all the papers in a box then someone comes and picks it up and takes it to get shredded. Wtf!!! Totally not safe that has all my personal information on it and then after I cashed my check I asked for a receipt and apparently they don’t fuckin give receipts either. Smh not professional whatsoever this is horrible.

Ask for malu she has awesome serivce and has done a great job on my loans– killer interest rates too.

I like this bank. they have helped me out several times and they don’t rip you off with insufficient funds fees like the big players (B Of A, Well Fargo, etc). I would recommend using this credit union.

Revised. They seem to have all their website issues fixed, therefore, I am able to do online banking without any hassle or phone calls.

This bank sucks. I moved out of the area and since there is like 5 locations nationwide, I have to mail some deposits, unlike REAL credit unions, they don’t offer scan deposits. I mailed a deposit Monday and today, Thursday still not there. They told me they have up to 7 days to process mailed deposits… mean time, I am paying fees up the *&%. They charge you an overdraft protection fee, then return the check and charge you another «returned check fee». Last month, I paid over $ 100 in fees. Switching to NavyFed asap. I delayed because of the hassle of switching my auto-​bills, but it’s not worth having this bank.

Yep, I agree with all of the negative posts!!! I was a Valley credit union member for 50 years and they were the greatest!!! Since CEFCU bought Valley it has been a nightmare. The transition was way beyond nightmare status. Too bad — Valley had good people and now those who have stayed have to deal with incredible incompetence!

Does Unilocal have negative stars?
I am adding my experience to the long list of CEFCU complaints. I too was a Valley member for over 12 years. Needless to say since CEFCU has taken over, I’ve been counting the minutes to close my accounts here. It has been one mistake after the next. With poorly staffed locations, a lack of knowledge with the staff available and the miserable banking experience I have everytime I visit CEFCU, I wont ever give them my business again. I have 6 months till my loans are satisfied, and you can guarantee my accounts will be closed and I will move to a bank that actually knows what they are doing. They’re motto «not a bank, but better.» UTTER BS. I’ll be surprised if CEFCU can remain open on the west coast. HORRIBLE!

Great service at

It’s a mixed bag for me actually —
+ i just had my card # stolen and used all over internet and i was impressed with good CEFCU handled it — they stopped most of the charges, blocked the card, and getting money back was automatic. I had a similar situation with Valley CU (i know i should use my card less in sketchy places) and they took forever to handle it and a lot of hassle. Sometimes it’s nice to deal with a larger company. I got all the doc in the mail and new cards in a snap.
People at the branch (i go to santa clara) are trying hard but seem confused now with the new processes, I’ve been given the wrong information several times too, and refer to ‘corporate’ as a black hole… They are friendly still though.
Losing my account info is a certain pain (not just from before the merger but before i knew to sign up for the new online access… all the previous account info is gone.), especially since i am doing itemized deductions. I did get my statements ordered and they didn’t charge me, but it’s very painful to go through all of them manually and they aren’t very detailed (the printouts i’ve got at the brunch are even worse…)
Hours of operation is another pain (phone hours that is).

I have been a member with Valley Credit Union for nearly 12 years, bought my first car through them, refinanced my home with them 8 – 9 years ago. Never had issues paid off my vehicle, never missed a mortgage payment. Employees have always been there to assist and speak to me as a partner.
Recently I lost my job and advised the new CEFCU of my situation, been doing as much research as possible without loosing my mind, over all the bad news that I am hearing and reading is not very positive and the future to keep my home looks very meek. But wait there is a small glimmer of hope there is a program called, «Keep Your Home California» which is a Federally funded program to assist Unemployed Californians pay for their first mortgage for the first 9 months of being unemployed. You do not know how excited I got, so I immediately called the program they told me that yes I meet the requirements for this assistance, but then they took away every hope possible of being able to help me stay current on my mortgage. What disqualified me was not anything I have done, not my credit rating which by the way is in the high 700’s, it was not that I was pass due, because at the time I was current, I was told that if was because CEFCU does not accept the funds from the program as payment towards my mortgage. THEY DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN KEEPING CALIFORNIANS IN THEIR HOMES!
I asked what commitment does CEFCU have to make to Keep Your Home California and they told me nothing, «JUST ACCEPT THE PAYMENT» on our behalf. The program does not give this money directly to homeowners because there are less then honest people out there and they may just pocket the money. Can you believe that less then honest people, that’s like a slap in the face after what banks like CEFCU have done in the past and continue to do.
I have done everything that they have asked of me this is my second time to try to modify my mortgage with them the first was when my spouse lost her job two years ago, which we where denied back then. I just hope that they understand that this is a lose VS. lose situation for everyone involved. I do not understand why they would not except the monies from this program, this will help many families and homeowners, at minimum it will by us some time to look for work.
Those that say that Credit Unions are better, boy I am having a hard time believing that any more. CEFCU tells me that they do not see themselves participating in any of these programs I only mentioned one, there are plenty, I have not heard from them on my modification, which my gut tells me I will be loosing my home. The crazy thing is that it does not have to happen this way, there is no reason for me to loose my home. If people were just reasonable and willing to help. They say that the Board of Directors take each case on a case by case basis, I wish I had the opportunity to get in front of the Board of Directors because I rather represent myself, rather than some financial counselor or employee representing me and my situation. it’s like an interview you know your chances are better if you can get it, rather than relying on a piece of paper to decide your faith.

CURRENT MEMBERS PLEASE READ: It’s been about half a year since my last two cents on these people, and I can assure you that nothing has changed, if not worsened! Today I just received a letter in the mail that a laptop containing thousands of member’s identity information has been stolen, including social security numbers, bank accounts, etc. I’m sorry but I just can’t trust a bank that has no idea what data and customer privacy security are about. Not to mention their TERRIBLY written online banking portal. I’ve never seen a buggier piece of sh! t in my life. DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE WITH YOUR MONEY! EVER!

It seems like everyone who came to CEFCU in the Valley CU merger has a horror story, which doesn’t necessarily reflect the service and satisfaction that you might experience if you come in as a new customer.
That said, I’d like to revisit the horrors of the merger. They sent out THE WRONG INSTRUCTIONS by postal mail for how to access the online bill payment systems. Seriously, the wrong instructions. There’s no way that anyone following the directions could have logged in because they gave incorrect info on how to convert your old account number to the CEFCU account number for the bill pay.
Today? I found out that ten years of bank statements just don’t exist anywhere I can reach them easily anymore. I can file a records request, but it will cost $ 2/​month, and they won’t be able to send me the pictures of the checks. And the statements don’t show who the check is written to – just that it was a check for whatever amount. So it’s really not at all helpful for looking up records to amend my 2010 tax return. The rep said «we sent everyone mail,» but you know what? I READ ALL MY MAIL, and somehow I missed it. So… I’m just screwed. (Have to call every single medical and dental provider from 2010 and ask them to pull up my records, which is just embarrassing.)
But putting the horrible merger stuff aside, here are some things that should be annoying to everyone:
* If you order checks through CEFCU, they cost a whopping $ 31.50 a box. Never mind that they were free from Valley CU – that’s highway robbery of people too nervous to use a third-​party printer, or who just assume that the bank will charge them a fair market rate for printing checks.
* The online interface is a little bit stupid – for example, you can’t see the balance of your checking and savings at the same time. If you log in to your account, you can’t get back to the stuff on the home page – clicking CEFCU logo just takes you to the top of the account information. And you might want to go back to the home page to, I dunno, pay your bills now that you know you have enough money to do so. Similarly, once you’re in the Bill Pay system, you’re not getting back to the CEFCU unless you re-​enter the URL for the main page or go through the History button. It’s just stupid design.
I’m working up the energy to join another credit union, even though it means changing everyone’s direct deposit. I would never have chosen CEFCU in the first place with their customer-​gouging check prices and stupid, stupid online interface.

I just canceled my membership here today… Miss VCU.

I was a member of Valley Credit Union for 11 years and stood by this bank through all the hard times. To say I am a loyal customer is a great understatement. Since CEFCU has taken over, experience with the CU has become intolerable. They took an existing HELOC and tried to charge me $ 1200 for property insurance (which I already carry) despite multiple emails sending them copies of my insurance. I finally went through the third party insurer who immediately reversed the charge and attempted to contact CEFCU. After repeated attempts, I finally got this reversed and immediately closed down the HELOC.
I am no longer able to view balances at affiliate credit union ATMs — this was always available when I was with Valley Credit Union. It’s obviously very inconvenient to go to a CEFCU ATM which are in San Jose for me as I live in the East Bay. The website is frequently glitchy and when I try to access my account from my phone or iPad, it asks me security questions I never set up and can’t answer (such as favorite restaurant in college — I couldn’t afford restaurants in college!!).
They have suddenly and without warning taken down the electronic statements. I never kept hardcopies because I have been able to freely access these for the past 11 years. Now, I have to pay $ 2 per statement just to get access to my own financial records. This will cost me a large sum of money as I feel that I should be keeping at least 2 years of records for financial accounting and tax purposes. This is the last straw. As soon as I receive these statements (at a cost of about $ 100, I will be cancelling my account — I’ve already begun switching to USAA which has excellent customer service. Customer service here is very slow and rude. This has been a nightmare. Stay away from this Credit Union. There are many good ones out there — no reason to shop at this one.

Adding my name to the list of people who’ve had bad experiences with CEFCU.
If you say CEFCU with the right inflection it sounds like «eff-​u.» I think they planned it that way because that’s exactly what they said to me. OK, they didn’t really drop the F-​Bomb but they may as well have.
Here I was all happy with my Valley Credit Union account. This was an account that I used as a savings. I liked it. VCU was good to me. They answered the phone when I called. It was easy to get a human on the line.
Then they were sold to, acquired by, I dunno, but VCU became CEFCU and a thousand puppies died a horrible death in a big vat of CEFCU bile.
For weeks I had no access to my money. I couldn’t even access a statement.
Their central time zone/​no weekend hours are unacceptable to those of us on the west coast. It wouldn’t be so bad if their website worked. Every single time I tried to sign on I was told my password was invalid and I had to call to reset it.
I decided to close my account and put my money in an account held by a local credit union. I told the operator on the line that I was going to close my account after my direct deposit had become active in my new account. The clerk on the phone said OK. A few days later I got a voice mail from him asking me to call him to settle the closing of my account.
My new credit union tried to access the money I had sent to them. CEFCU denied them the money saying there was no money because there was no account.
They closed my account without my permission. When I tried to get it straightened out they told me it was my fault and they told me they closed my account because I was irate and was going to close it anyways.
Don’t use CEFCU. Your money will be safer inside your Grandma’s mattress.

I too was a Valley Credit Union member for 21 years and never had a problem. I’ve been with these knuckleheads for over a month and problem after problem. Did not have access to my account for almost 2 weeks. All these transactions hit my account from a month ago that I was not expecting. I get charged an additional $ 1 on top of the $ 2 that the other banks Atm’s charge if you don’t have an account. Called the CEFCU about this and it’s the same answer, «oh sorry your account needs to be modified or it shouldn’t be doing this, or your account online needs to be updated» whatever. When I logged online to view my account, it asked for password reset cause my password expired. WTF? after 3 weeks. Called the bank and again, «oh sorry a few people have had the same problem. Will let maintenance know». just tired of all these little inconveniences and I too do not trust this Credit union, that I have never heard of until now, with my money. It would have been nice If Valley would have given us heads up that they were making a change so it’s members had a choice to continue or go somewhere else. I am DEFINITELY taking my money and going somewhere else. BEWARE of this credit union! They don’t know what the hell their doing!!!

THE worst credit union I’ve ever seen or heard of. Was a Valley Credit Union member, they switched over to CEFCU. Transactions from 2+ weeks ago have still not shown up. No mobile website, I have to call them and wait on hold to find my balance on the go. When they first switched over and I had to pay my bills online with bill bay their systems were down for days. When I called to explain that many of my bills were now late due to their system errors they literally said «Yeah, it’s going to be hard for a little bit»… YOU are the financial institution, DO something about it. When I call almost daily to ask what the heck is going on with my transactions not showing up they admit to having literally no idea when they will show up. When I ask whats the longest amount of time they have ever seen a transaction not show up, «You know, I really have no idea». No one in that place has any idea when I can get an accurate account of how much money I have? I’m switching to Patelco, or someplace that has enough customer service skills to make me happy and satisfied, not just a place that has repeatedly admitted how much they suck and how difficult it is to work with them.