Bellco Credit Union

This complaint is a duplicate of Complaint ID *** (the “Original Complaint”). The Original Complaint was submitted by *** ***. *** *** also submitted this complaint, but she used our member’s name and address to make it appear as a different complaintBellco has worked with
our member and assisted him with obtaining the lien release from ** ***On August 10, we received the lien release and sent an urgent request to the county to have the title sent to us (this process can take a few weeks)A phone call was made to our member to advise him of the statusHe appreciated our efforts and will wait to hear from us when the file is readyThank you

We apologize for the inconvenience our member experienced in regards to the title in questionBellco has located the titleOur Member Services Department contacted the member to let her know we were going to overnight the title to her, instead of mailing the title to the county offices in
***Once received, the member can take the title directly to the county, which will expedite the process and allow her to get her vehicle tagsThank you

Bellco has reached out to our member and reviewed the GAP claim process with herWe explained to our member that since the GAP insurance was purchased at the dealership, it is her responsibility to file the GAP claim with the GAP insurance company to obtain payment for any remaining balance after
the insurance settlement has been providedBellco provided the member with a copy of her loan documents and contact information for the GAP insurance company, so she can complete the GAP claim processWe have also gathered additional documents and will provide those to our member to use in the GAP claim processOur member has a contact here at Bellco, so she can reach out to us directly if she needs any further assistanceThank you

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:The information therein is incorrect; what was found in the course of weeks of calling back and forth to Bellco was that THEIR representative/company was in error, as the letter I was provided clearly states (attached) The nature of how this was handled, and the subsequent response definitely forces my to re-think doing further business with Bellco; as when a mistake is made a company/individual should take onus and responsibility for that, not try and convey the perception this was the fault of the consumer in some way.To the other points in the response; yes, my card was finally sent, and yes, the erroneous data was removed from my credit report, but I am now still left to deal with the fallout of their mistake.Based solely on this erroneous data of my other credit cards had their limits cut in half, an my credit score has dropped by more than points; something I now have to spent time and money on correcting
~ *** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:The *** fee that should be refunded to me was barely deposited on May 2nd, even though when I got the phone call from the managerHe claimed "he will have the money deposited immediately" yet he did not.I have refinanced the loanSince, I am not happy with the whole process of the loan requestA payoff check was sent on April 27th to pay off the loanI don't feel I need to pay any interest on the loanSince, Bellco refused to match the terms offered by the other bank and not address my concernI will like the interest waived once the pay off check is received and accept to have the loan paid off at the initial borrowed amount of the $30,000.00. Whatever surplus amount need to be refunded back to meIf this is done then I am willing to let go and everyone can go by their own business
Sincerely,
*** ***

Bellco has been trying to work with our member since May 2017, to resolve his auto loan issueSince that time, our member has not been consistent in his replies and has not returned required documents. Until such time as the loan is paid in full or refinanced into an honor balance loan, a
borrower is required to continue making monthly payments on the loan to avoid any further credit or legal issuesBellco has called our member in an attempt to resolve this matterWe ask that he please return our calls using the phone number left by voicemail, or he can call us at *** and select option Thank you

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because: First of all I have not threatened anyoneThat is a bald-faced lieAll I said was that I would continue filing complaints until the debt is cancelled and removed from my credit reportThat is not a threat, it is merely a statement of fact regarding me utilizing the resources legally available to me to defend myself against a falsely alleged debtSecondly, I do have evidence that these charges are falseThe address in question: *** * *** *** *** ***, belonged to someone calling themselves Harry ***, with an S, rather than an R, in their last nameI have several document showing this to be so. I do not know why the name is so similar, I suspect it was an aliasI also do not know why they apparently had access to all of my informationI have shown on numerous occasions that I am a victim of identify theftBellco's representatives continue to reject the evidence I've providedIt appears that I will have to take my business elsewhereI will also strongly recommend that others do the sameA relative of mine was similarly mistreated by Bellco representatives making allegations against themThey stopped banking with Bellco over a decade ago for this reasonI have documents from this apartment, which is no longer in business, that shows this name, Harry ***In addition, there appears on my credit report a California addressSomeone from California made charges to a different account I had to get with with Wells Fargo because Bellco refuses to reopen my checking accountI was forced to close that account as a resultFurthermore, I have never lived in CaliforniaBut apparently, all of this evidence of identity theft is apparently not sufficient for Bellco to remove a charge from my credit report and continue to hold me accountable for charges resulting from identity theftThe lesson, stop doing business with Bellco Credit Union.
Sincerely,
Harry ***

We have recently been in touch with our member and have been able to resolve his concerns to his satisfactionIn regards to the member’s concern about providing his Social Security number (SSN) to the payee, at no time would the member’s SSN be provided to the payee. A SSN is used as a
method of verifying the identity of a user on the service. We apologize for any confusion on that issueThank you

Bellco has been trying to reach our member since May regarding his past due loanHowever, he has not respondedSeveral letters have also been sent, with no response.We have again tried to call our member and request he return our call to the phone number left on the message.In short, a
licredit is a valid loan and Bellco has the right of offset for amounts due to the *** ***Our member needs to contact us at his earliest convenience.Thank you

After researching our member’s concern we found the reason for the delay in the member receiving the payment coupons booklet was a delay in booking the loan in our system due to a discrepancy in the information provided by the member at the time of application. Although our member signed the
loan documents on February 12, 2016, the loan finally was booked and funded in our system on March 15, 2016. The payment coupons booklet was delivered a short time thereafter.Since payment coupon booklets are sent after the auto loan is booked in our system, due to the amount of time between the paperwork being signed and the member supplying the needed information, the payment coupon booklet was delayed.The reason the member incurred a $convenience charge for making her payment was that she used the online credit card payment system offered through a third party that charges the cardholder a fee for using that service. If the member would have used any of the other methods explained to her (including shared branches), no charge would have been imposed.Bellco has left our member messages to discuss how payments can be made without incurring a service fee. We have located three shared branching locations which are located between the member’s work and home. In addition, our member can mail in payment using the address labels and loan coupons in the payment coupon booklet. At this time, we are able to provide a one-time refund of the $convenience charge the member was charged for using the online credit card payment system to make her auto loan payment from her primary financial institution to BellcoPlease contact Bellco using the phone number left on voice mail in order to discuss these options and how best to provide you with the $refund.Thank you

Bellco has tried to contact our member regarding his concerns on his loan paymentWe want to assure him that payments are processed on the day they are received, unless received after 3:P.MThen the payment is processed the following business dayOur concern is where the payment is
being mailed toWe would like a chance to discuss this with our member to assist in making sure his payments are being sent to the correct locationPlease return our call using the number left on voice mailThank you

We apologize for not providing you with the proper member service expectations, but these investigations can take up to two weeks.  We have been able to resolve the matter and you will receive a call from the branch to confirm. Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve your concerns....

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: 1. Please provide me who and when this 2- step process was explained to me. It's ironic you state this as when I called on June 17 and spoke with customer care he was stunned as to why my account was set-up this way. At that time my automatic payment was cancelled since its obvious I cannot trust Bellco to properly extract money from an external account and apply it properly to the correct account. 2. When I called in November 2016 and made Bellco aware of this problem, I was told this was fixed and I wouldn't have to worry about this happening again. The gal I spoke with said she "fixed" the issue. 3. The late fees should have never have been charged. 4. Even after I corrected the issue and applied the payment Bellco didn't apply, I still received a letter saying you were reporting a "member" with perfect credit to a credit reporting agency. Please review your records....again.Nothing is completed timely with Bellco. I spend hours each time I have to deal with this issue and I shouldn't. Why do people have automatic payments? To not have to deal with things like this. What would be nice is if Bellco could actually fix this issue with their problems extracting money and applying money to the correct account during holidays. Holidays aren't anything new. Change your system so this flawed system doesn't effect anymore "members". I have resolved this issue myself by selling my home and paying off this nightmare of an account. I just hope this message will be seen by potential home equity customers of Bellco so they can see what they are getting themselves into.   
Sincerely,
[redacted]

In reviewing our member’s concern regarding the two payments at issue, the following has been determined: When the member setup her automatic payment, it was explained to her how Bellco’s automated payments work for [redacted]s.  This process takes two steps:  first, an ACH is conducted to...

pull money from her other FI’s account, and transfer this money into her Bellco deposit account; second, the funds in the Bellco deposit account is automatically withdrawn to make her loan payment.  Since these are two separate transactions, timing issues may arise, which is what happened in these two instances.The issue with the November 2016 payment is essentially the same as her May 2017 payment.  The deposit into her Bellco account from her other FI did not occur prior to the scheduled loan payment due to holiday or weekend issues that were not taken into account when scheduling these automatic transfers.  On both occasions, the FI-to-FI transfers were delayed by a day or two because the transfers fell on a weekend or on a holiday.  This means the funds were not in her Bellco deposit account when the payment was due, which caused the late payment.In both cases, the late charges were either reversed or waived.Bellco did not report either payment as late to the credit bureaus, so the member’s credit has not been negatively impacted.Bellco values all of our members and pride ourselves on exceptional customer service. We apologize for any inconvenience these two instances may have caused our member, but both were addressed in a very timely manner to ensure that the member’s credit was not impacted.  Bellco also went a step further and reflected these late payments as being received on the due date. In the future, we recommend that the member keep at least one month’s loan payment cushion in her Bellco deposit account to prevent this from happening. Thank you.

The member misunderstood the teller’s comments.  Once the member reported the alleged error, a case was opened.  The investigation may take up to 45 days to investigate.  In the meantime, provisional credit was provided to the member in a timely manner and a letter was sent to the...

member detailing the actions taken on the account.  Once the investigation is complete, the provisional credit may be permanent, or the credit may be debited from the account.Thank you.

Thank you for alerting us to the delay you experience in having the lien released on your auto loan. Because the loan was refinanced so quickly and prior to the lien being perfected with the Colorado DMV, we had to wait until the paperwork was completed and returned to us.  This process caused...

the delay in releasing the lien on the vehicle.  The lien release was sent to the state on December 13, 2016.  The state will have to process the lien release on the vehicle.Thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/28) */
In reference to Revdex.com complaint #XXXXXXXX, Bellco has called our member and left voicemails asking him to contact us in regards to his title issues. The member is responsible for obtaining a VIN verification prior to the submission of title...

documents to the county. Our member received the VIN verification form during the closing process and this document needs to be completed.
Please ask our member to return our call so we can finalize the process in order for him to obtain his plates.
Thank you.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Bellco has not left voicemails with me. In fact I have called numerous times, only to be told by the general customer service department that even they are unable to get a response or get a hold of someone in the title department. They then tell me to leave a message with the title department, which is then never returned. Only after I filed this complaint have I been able to get the requested info from Bellco.
During the closing process, we were told that next steps were that we would receive documents in the mail to register our vehicle, and this is what we have been waiting on for the past 2+ months.
I withdraw my request for a refund, however I recommend that Bellco make their title department more accessible - if not to the customers directly, then at least to their own general customer service reps. If they are unwilling to make themselves available via phone to customers or CSR, then consider publishing an email address where the title dept can be reached, and also ensure that customer inquiries are read and responded to and not ignored.
Standard operating procedures could also be developed so all parties are clear on steps that need to be taken and responsibilities of each party in situations like this, both Bellco reps and the customer.

In October 2014, our member set up a recurring electronic payment (i.e., ACH) in order to make payments on his loan. The payments were processed on or about the first day of each month.  Since that time, the payment arrangement continued to remain in effect until Bellco receives written...

notification of termination. The following language is included on the form the member signed authorizing the recurring electronic payments from his account:“This authorization is to remain in effect until Bellco Credit Union receives written notification of termination. Once an account is closed or a loan is paid off, it is the responsibility of the member to cancel the automatic loan payment. Please retain a copy for your records.”On the date the member made the final payment (i.e., April 1, 2017), the ACH payment was already in process. When the member made the final payment, he also closed his deposit accounts. Since the final payment and ACH payment resulted in an overpayment to his loan (which occurred on April 3, 2017 due to the fact April 1, 2017 was a Saturday), Bellco had no place to refund the overpayment since the member closed all of his accounts.  The funds were placed into a holding account until Bellco could process the refund. On April 5, 2017, a check was mailed to our member at the address we have on file.If the check has not been received, we would ask that he contact Bellco so we can update his address, cancel the check, and issue a new check.Thank you.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: This response assumes that my issue was somehow resolved quickly and easily, much less AT ALL. In fact, after rejecting the previous response, I received a SECOND unsolicited form to fill out, via email, after (FOR THE SECOND TIME) being told over the phone that I had, in fact, successfully discontinued the EFT payments/authorization. This was not the case, however, and after trying unsuccessfully on two separate days to discontinue my EFT payments/authorization, over the phone, I once again had to make a trip to my nearest branch, over this last weekend, to attempt to have this issue resolved. The manager there was at a loss; he could not tell me whether or not my EFT payments had been stopped, and merely kept repeating that "it shouldn't be this hard". He told me that he didnt THINK money would continue to be drawn from my [redacted] account, and that he would (for the second time) send a memo to their operations unit in an effort to verify that no more money would be withdrawn from my [redacted] account. He was supposed to call me back today to confirm that this was done successfully, but I have still not heard from him. Whoever is writing these responses clearly has no idea what has actually been going on, as I have now spent well over 10 hours of my life trying (and, as far as I know, doing so unsuccessfully) to get Bellco to stop removing money from my [redacted] checking account every month, now that my loan with Bellco is paid off and my Bellco account closed. This is classic predatory business tactics, and a less tenacious person than myself would have likely given up already. The respondent is transparently disingenuous and the travesty that passes for customer service from him/her is laughable, at best. Hiding behind the technicalities of their terms and conditions is a thin pretense for poor customer service and this person has not taken any steps to ensure the accuracy of their claims that this issue has been resolved, since as recently as Saturday, I was told by a Bellco representative that it is not at all clear whether or not my repeated attempts to cancel my EFT payments/authorizations have yet been successful. There is nothing to do but laugh at the respondent's attempts to brush off this issue as nothing more than my own impatience. In point of fact, however, I have gone out of my way repeatedly over the course of nearly a month now to get this issue resolved, while whoever is responding to these complaints has made no notable progress. I pity this company for the incompetence of its employees, who are clearly unwilling or unable to take simple measures to resolve this issue. Sad.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/11/17) */
Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXXX
After completing our research on the complaint from our member, we found that the new EMV-chip card and follow-up letters were sent to Mr. [redacted] at the address we have on file. However, considering he is stationed overseas...

while serving in the Armed Forces, the late payment fee will be reversed.
With regards to the customer service our member received, we apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused. Our members should be aware of additional methods of communicating with our staff, including secure email, which may prevent any excessive costs when dialing from overseas.
In regards to making payments, members have several options, which include mailing in the payment, using Online Banking, or making a payment over the phone.
Thank you.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 9, 2015/11/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The response from Bellco Credit union is not sincere nor does it adequately address the complaint. Bellco state there are different methods to pay a bill such as paying over the phone, I talked to three different Bellco customer service reps before the payment due date to try and pay the bill since online access did not work and they all said I cannot pay over the phone. This shows there is a lack of training or Bellco does not know what it's own policy is. I understand you can pay by mail but is not cost effective for the consumer to do so when you can just do it online. By the time I found out I could not pay online, submitting payment through the mail would have made my payment late. Furthermore when discussing my payment issues with the customer service reps they said I could wait until the new card came to re-set up my online access and I would not have to pay a late fee if incurred and they would type in their notes our discussion about my attempt to pay the late fee and if one was inadvertently charged it would be removed. When I called bellco after I did receive the late fee the customer service rep said no notes were on my account about my previous discussions and they refused to remove my late fee. This really goes beyond my efforts not to pay a late fee, it is about Bellco's lack of consistent training among it's employees and absolutely poor customer service and long hold times on the phone. There are too many other businesses who do treat their customers good for me to continue any relationship with Bellco and I would advise anyone else NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH BELLCO CREDIT UNION.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/12/03) */
In response to Revdex.com case #XXXXXXXX;
Bellco apologizes to our member for the experience he had with the credit card contact center representative and the inconvenience the issuing of new EMV Chip Cards has caused him.
We have coached back to our staff and have reversed his late fee as requested. His account is in good standing and there wasn't any credit reporting implications.
Thank you.