Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Review: I asked to remove an account that is 7 years old off of my credit report. I spoke with 3 customer service representatives who all told me they had no authority to remove this from my account. I was told to contact the company they charged my account to which was credit solutions corp. I already paid my debt with them and they have stopped reporting it to my credit report. I could not understand how they would be responsible for desert schools to stop reporting. So finally after speaking with [redacted] and Experian and Equifax, I decided to speak with a supervisor at desert schools. This supervisor was extremely rude to me. I asked her who I should speak with to try and have this removed and she said "we WONT remove it because we took a loss." I asked when it will come off my report and she said "between 7 and 10 years."

I understand if this is a policy that desert schools must report for a certain amount of time. However, someone could've said that instead of yanking my chain and than being nasty with me.

Review: I have a program attached to my account that covers NSF fees. It pulls money from my saving account to cover such fees if there is not enough money in the checking account. I had $1000.00 in my savings account. The bank DSFCU hit my checking account for over $300.00 in NSF fees when I had more than enough in saving to cover the overdrafts.

When I called to dispute the NSF fees the customer service rep could not tell me why my account was overdrawn and could not tell me why the program to cover such overdraws did not kick in and work as advertised by the bank. There was no sense of urgency to fix my account and I was told someone would get back to me in the next "few days" to discuss the situation with me. They had no problem taking the money out of my account but when I pointed out that they were in the wrong they started dragging their feet to fix the problem and give me my money back. If they can take my money "now" I want my money back " now" because they have made a huge mistake on my account and have caused me serious credit issues by posting NSF fees on my account in the amount of over $300.00 . please help me get my money back from them asap. Thank you [redacted]Desired Settlement: I want my money back from the NSF fees. I want to know why my account program didn't work to pull from savings. I want to know what they are going to do to keep my business with their bank.

Business

Response:

Attached is a copy of our response to Revdex.com complaint ID #[redacted] submitted by our member [redacted].If any questions or additional information is needed, please contact us.Thank you,[redacted]Executive AssistantDesert Schools Federal Credit Union

Review: In May 2015 I went to Desert schools credit union to close my savings and checking account. In Nov 2015 I receive a letter that my account is overdrawn by $6.98. This account has been closed for 6 months. So I called and spoke with a representative that informed me that [redacted]g issues a credit of 28.02 to my account. Since the account was closed desert schools forced the account back open and applied the funds. Then for 5 months I was being charged a $7.00 membership fee. Unbeknownst to me that my account had been reopened. The overdrawn $6.98 was for the 5th month of the account being reopened. So I came to the branch to explain the situation and ask why I was not notified when the account had been reopened so that I could close the account again. They advised they do not notify when an account is reopened. And they could refund me 3 of the $7.00 charges. So I closed my account again and received $14.02 when I should have received the full amount that [redacted] had credited. Why would it be ok for desert schools to charge me $14.00 in fees for an account I closed??Desired Settlement: $14.00 the remaing amount that was issued

Business

Response:

Attached is a copy of our response to Revdex.com complaint ID [redacted] submitted by [redacted]If any questions or additional information is needed, please contact us.Thank you,[redacted]Executive AssistantDesert Schools Federal Credit Union

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: I am not a serial complainer - this is 2nd time I have complained about this joke institution for the same issue. Twice now, despite us having thousands of dollars in our account, this company has had issues with its 'systems' being down. the result of this has been that I am at a retail outlet and unable to pay with my debit card. This is because I was unable to go into my account and transfer funds from one account into another. We had no access to online banking and could not see that the current balance needed topping up. If I am late in paying or send a check when there are inadequate funds in our checking, this greedy institution is quick to charge me $35. Therefore I would like them to pay me $1,500 for the embarrassment of going to a check out and not being able to pay. Please note I have no issue with ALL of the staff that work at branches, they are very good. I have a big issue with the executives and directors.Desired Settlement: They pay me $1,500 for the embarrassment of going to a check out and not being able to pay.

Business

Response:

Attached is a copy of our response to the Revdex.com complaint ID #[redacted] submitted by our member [redacted]. If any questions or additional information is needed, please let us know.Thank you,[redacted]Executive AssistantDesert Schools Federal Credit Union

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: Back around November of 2013 I applied to get a auto refinance loan, I was approved but another bank gave me better rates so I never used the loan

-On 08/15/2014 I received a call from a Desert schools agent from number [redacted] asking if I was interested in getting my auto loan refinanced, she told me there was a program right now that offered as low as 2.6% and 200 cash back and no payments for 90 days, she told me she had all my info and asked me if everything on my end was still the same, she asked if I wanted to learn more about it, I told her I was interested but wanted to hear more about the program and how it worked, I was at work while I was talking to her and asked her to call me Monday 08/18/2014 in order to learn more about it. I NEVER told her it was ok to do a hard pull on my credit and she NEVER asked if it was ok to do so. The following day I received 2 alerts from my credit monitoring services that a HARD inquiry was issued on my credit file from Desert Schools. I never received a call on 08/18/2014.

-On 08/22/2014 I called in to [redacted] to find out why a hard pull was issued as I never agreed to have my credit file pulled because I was not even sure if I wanted to go through with the credit application, I wanted to hear terms first. I also wanted to complain about the first agent never even bothering to call me back. I spoke to a very polite and friendly call center agent who got a hold of the branch manager named [redacted]. I spoke to [redacted] who asked me for my information and apologized for what happened, she asked me for my social security number and told me she was going to look into it and get back to me as soon as possible.

It is now 08/27/2014, I have still not heard from [redacted] and I still have a new inquiry on my credit report that needs to be removed, it is affecting my credit score and is in violation of fair credit reporting act

From the [redacted] § [redacted]. Civil liability for willful noncompliance [[redacted]]

"(b) Civil liability for knowing noncompliance. Any person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose shall be liable to the consumer reporting agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or $1,000, whichever is greater."

From the 1998 FTC opinion letter [redacted] at [redacted]...

"Any person who procures a consumer report under false pretenses, or knowingly without a permissible purpose, is liable for $1000 or actual damages (whichever is greater) to both the consumer and to the consumer reporting agency from which the report is procured."

Also from the Fair [redacted]. Civil liability for negligent noncompliance [[redacted]]

(a) In general. Any person who is negligent in failing to comply with any requirement imposed under this title with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of

(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure;

(2) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court.Desired Settlement: I need this hard inquiry removed from my credit file as I did NOT agree to have my credit pulled, Please review call logs of the call in question and get this hard inquiry removed immediately.

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to a complaint you recently submitted to the Revdex.com regarding a credit bureau inquiry by Desert Schools Federal Credit Union. We sincerely apologize for our misunderstanding of your intent to refinance your auto loan and the inconvenience this has caused you. We have taken the necessary steps to have this inquiry removed from your credit report.

In addition, I would like to apologize for our lack of response and follow up on two separate occasions. This level of service is unacceptable and has been address withed the branch staff. We are committed to quality and exceptional member service to each an delivery one of our members and strive to exceed every member's expectations. Although we fell short in this situation, I hope that you will allow us to demonstrate our dedication to delivering quality service in the future.

I apologize again for your experience at our [redacted]'s branch on [redacted]. If I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me at ###-###-#### or via email at [redacted]

Sincerely,

Assistant Vice President - Retail Sales & Branch Operations

My account was charged without my permission. I notified DSCU and was told it would be reversed. They did so but several months later they reversed it for no reason and refuse to fix it. I have accounts with other real banks and I have never had a problem like this. Everything with DSCU is difficult even the smallest thing is hard to get resolved. In my experience DSCU honestly doesn't care about the customer. They could care less how you feel. Even if you have proof that they have made a mistake they still argue about it. They also don't have very many locations and you have to drive far away to get to a branch. They closed 3 locations that I know of just this year. It is not worth doing business with these people and I would recommend you go elsewhere rather than subject yourself to this.

Review: In 2013 I returned from travel abroad. I was going through major mental health issues, and was unable to regain help with power of attorney. I cancelled and changed two payments in my online bill pay program on the banks website in November 2013, applied to start December 2013. The first payee was [redacted], and although I cancelled future payments to this payee, two checks were issued to go out to the payee, without authorization. That payee returned the fees. The bank took no responsibility for the mistake. The other payee, [redacted], refused to return the funds that the bank sent out. For that item, I changed my payments from medical, dental and vision to just dental and vision for two months, and altered the amount in my banking account, to apply for two months. The system has no way to print changes. I have banked there since 2006, and never had an issue in the past with online banking, and with the bank, this is the first time. I spoke to a banking finance lawyer who told me that the liability to resolve the issue is not [redacted], but the bank, because their system malfunctioned. I have lost 3-4 payments over $600, have another payment that was charged, and would like this resolved. I can no longer view my statements to provide the exact amounts at this moment, but can provide as my file with the information is in storage. The lawyer was not retained and no litigation has been issued or planned, just information obtained to find solutions to resolve this issue. I hope this Revdex.com complaint will fix the problem.Desired Settlement: I would like all money that was wrongly sent off to [redacted], and any fees occurred to be returned to my bank account and an apology. I would like to have the issue looked at so this issue doesn't occur again in the future and I can regain better feelings about banking online again. This company was good to me for 10 years, and I would like to continue banking with them with more faith. I think one mistake is better fixed than left unresolved with anger.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted]:I am writing in response to the complaint you recently filed with the Revdex.com regarding the bill payments to [redacted] from your account. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.In your complaint, you identified problems with payments made through our bill-pay system and, in particular, three payments to [redacted] in amounts that you did not authorize. After reviewing your account we can see where you established a reoccurring bill payment to pay [redacted] for $608.47 each month starting in October 2012. We can also see where you modified your pending payment in November of 2013, reducing it from $608.47 to $45.19. That seems to be where the issue occurred.Our bill-payment system provides members the opportunity to change or cancel individual pending payments directly from the main “Payment Center”; however, it is necessary to access the “Manage My Bills” menu in order to change multiple scheduled payments. Desert Schools has no way to make changes of this sort on a member’s behalf. It appears, from our review that you only changed the amount for the pending payment, and not for the recurring payments scheduled in the months to follow. As a result, the December 2013, January and February 2014 payments to [redacted] were sent in the original amount of $608.47.When you contacted our Member Assistance Center in February 2014 regarding this issue we indicated that only the November payment had been modified and not the recurring payments to follow; however, it is clear from your complaint that we did not explain the source of the issue adequately. However, we were correct in directing you to the payee ([redacted]) for a refund or credit. Based on your account of the change in your premium, it appears you inadvertently overpaid them and it seems logical they should refund that overpayment.I hope my explanation helps to clear-up any remaining confusion regarding changing payments through our bill-pay system. If I have managed that, you should now understand that the bill-pay engine processed the payments correctly, based on the inputs you had provided and, as a result, I cannot authorize a refund of the apparent over-payments to [redacted]. However, our review did uncover an NSF Fee which was charged to your account on 3/21/2014. On the assumption that the payments issue may have contributed to the NSF fee of $35.00, we have refunded that amount. In the event my response has not adequately explained the process, or if you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at ###-###-####.[redacted]Vice President – Contact Center Operations

Review: 03/27/2015

On March 12, 2015 my wife made a deposit of $27.82 at the [redacted] branch of the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union. The teller apparently made an error and entered the deposit as $2,782.00. We understand this was an honest mistake. Apparently later that day the error was found and the bank manager when into our account and adjusted our account to correct the error this also would not be a problem except the bank manager never contacted use to explain what happened and that they were going to correct the error. We also have on-line withdrawal notification set up with DSFCU so if any withdrawal is made to our account I receive an e-mail notification. I never received an e-mail notification of the withdrawal for $2,754.18. A few days later I was in our account and noticed the withdrawal and did not know what it was for. I contacted customer service to dispute the withdrawal. They looked into the issue and contacted me to say the bank manager was the person who did it I asked to have here contact me which she did the next day. When I spoke to here she explained what had happened which is ok when I asked her why she did not contact me to explain what she was doing she stated she called the two phone numbers they have on file for me but they just rang and rang so she could not leave a message. I further asked why the withdrawal notification was not texted to me she said that was an I.T. question and she could not answer that question. While she was talking I looked at my cell phone from that day and saw that I had a missed call form the same number she was calling from but no voice mail was left. I questioned her about why she did not leave a message or call back again she replied I could not leave a message because the phone just rang & rang. I do not believe my cell phone rang & rang where she could not leave a message to contact the bank. I requested she have her supervisor contact me. She said it would be the following day which I said was OK. After we hung up I called the two numbers they have on file one of the numbers was my old home phone number which has been disconnected and when you call that number it says it’s disconnected the other was my cell phone which works fine. So I waited over a week to hear from her supervisor which never happened.

The withdrawal text notification for a $2,782.00 did not happen but an $8.65 does. How does that work?

The bank manager never made an honest attempt to contact me to explain. This wasted my time and I had to file a dispute claim.

I do not feel the manager was truthful about not being able to leave a message for me to call the bank.

I do not feel the bank manager gave the information to here supervisor to contact me.

If you can’t trust the bank manager is likely you can’t trust the bank and you shout move your money and business to a trustworthy one.Desired Settlement: 1. I would like to talk to the [redacted] bank "Branch Manager" Supervisor which is what I wanted in the first place.

2. I want to know why I did not recieve a text notification for the $2,782.00 withdrawal. Can the bank over ride the system? Just take the money out and disable my text notifications?

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted]:I am writing in response to a recent Revdex.com complaint we received involving a transaction you processed at our [redacted] branch located at [redacted].In reviewing your transaction I completely agree that we did not handle this issue in the appropriate manner. I understand the service you received during this situation was neither satisfactory to you norwas it the caliber of service we pride ourselves in providing to our members. I do apologize for this issue and have taken steps to ensure future transactions or account adjustments such as this are addressed differently.I have also been advised that [redacted], Regional Director of that location has contacted you by phone and has corrected the issue to your satisfaction. Again, please let me apologize for anyinconvenience this may have caused you, your membership and satisfaction is very important to us. If I can be of any other assistance to you please feel free to contact me at ###-###-####. Thank you for your continued patronage.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: I am done with this bank I have told them I do not want overdraft protection on my account. if I don't have money on the account than I should be able to make purchases but even after I requested this it still messes with my account. It tells me I have an available balance of 135 with all pending transactions with two transaction amounts for 100 and 40 dollars but yet when I look through all the transactions it shows i'm going to be negative yet it still shows I have an available balance of 135 on 12/26. I am so tired of this bank I am going to close this account I have had it with them first it was the deposit then it was the faulty cards they issue in leiu of cards that actual work and this overdraft protection issue. Its so hard to keep track of what you have if they do not post transactions within a reasonable amount of time. and now i'm going to be out because they still want to get me for over draft after I have told them if I don't have money in the account than I shouldn't be able to make purchases. not only that but they continue to harass me with letters il get a letter which states they increased my overdraft protection from 600 to 800 than 2 weeks latter they send a letter saying the lowered it from 800 to 600 and this has happened 3 or four times within the past 2 years. its really irritating that they send letters like this when I do not want it and quite frankly it is harassment.Desired Settlement: if desert schools does not correct this matter than I will forward all the issues I have had with the bank for the last 2 years with the attorney generals office and the Arizona department of financial institution. and possibly seek legal action because quite frankly. I will also be closing my account with desert schools. I am sick of this I want to know what is in my account and it is the banks responsibility to report this in the proper manner

Business

Response:

Attached is a copy of our response to the Revdex.com complaint ID #[redacted] submitted by our member [redacted]. If any questions or additional information is needed, please let us know.Thank you,Sandy K[redacted]Executive AssistantDesert Schools Federal Credit Union

Review: I have been a member of Desert Schools Fed Credit Union for several years now. Currently, I have a money market savings account there as well as a CD. Prior to 2009 I had an advantage checking and money market savings there in which the majority of my money was in the savings (both accounts combined approximately $6,000). 2009 is when the customer service rep convinced me that a CD was better option than having that much in a money market savings. So at that time (2009), I closed and transferred out my money from the advantage checking and most my money from the savings to the CD, leaving $1260 in my money market in which the minimum was $1,000. She also switched me to paperless statements at that time. Well understanding that everything was taken care of, my plan was to leave both the accounts as investments and emergency money in my savings. A year later, in 2010 the minimum balance for my money market changed to $2000. Since then my account has been debited $15 monthly in which I was unaware of this entire time. I discovered this was happening this month (April 2014) when I called to ask about unlocking my account online to check on my CD. The representative informed me at that time that my account was having money taken out. The total that Desert Schools has drained out of my account is $687. I did not receive any notification of the change through email, phone call, or mail. If the notification was online, I have not checked my statements online for years because I would always get locked out so I just let it go thinking I don’t need to monitor my savings since it is a saving. I do understand it is my responsibility to check on my account. Still, I feel that I should have received proper notification and it would have been a simple fix on my end. I just want my money back.

I went into the Ahwatukee branch on Thursday, April 10, 2014 to speak with someone about this situation. I spoke with [redacted] (member solutions representative) who told me that he would have to speak with [redacted] (branch manager) because there are too many fees and he could not help. He continued to tell me that it was my responsibility to have come in to check and that I should have changed my address since I moved a year ago. He was extremely unfriendly although I remained composed. He said that he would contact me in a couple hours to let me know what was going on. He did call me back that same day and stated that [redacted] would have to speak with the regional manager about the situation and that they are working hard to resolve the matter.

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 I called [redacted]’s direct line and left a detailed message asking her to return my call since it had been 12 days later and I had not received any updates or info as to what was going on. There was no call back. I then called the Desert Schools customer service line on Thursday April 24, 2014. She informed me that the manager ([redacted]) was on vacation and that she would be returning April 25, 2014. She also said that if I would have read the policy information I would have seen that I have to file a dispute within 3 months to get my money back and that this should be a lesson learned. I am frustrated now especially from how condescending she was toward me. I understand that if I was acting irrational and irate over the phone or in person this may give the customer rep a reason/justification to speak to me like I am 5 years old, but I was not acting anything other than professional. The call was supposedly recorded as well to verify for quality assurance. She proceeded to inform me that the manager would contact me on Friday, April 25th to update me. Tomorrow my account will be debited again and I mentioned this to the customer rep. I said I am not sure if I should close the account because then I may not be reimbursed. She gave an unclear response saying the manager will call you.

I am asking that the fees be reversed so that the entire amount taken ($687), be reimbursed back. This is wrong and I wonder how many others this may be happening to. I also ask for an apology on how I was spoken to. It was uncalled for.Desired Settlement: I am asking that the fees be reversed so that the entire amount taken ($687), be reimbursed back. This is wrong and I wonder how many others this may be happening to. I also ask for an apology on how I was spoken to. It was uncalled for and degrading.

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to a complaint you recently submitted to the Revdex.com regarding $690 of fees that were charged to your Money Market account over a 46 month period. The $15 “Low Balance Fee” was assessed monthly from June 25, 2010, through March 25, 2014, as a result of your account balance being below the required $2,000 minimum to avoid a fee. As a clarification, you state that $687 of fees were charged in total while our records indicate $690.

When you enrolled in online banking and e-statements you also agreed to receive notifications through that online channel. In your letter, you acknowledged that you had not attempted to resolve the issue which resulted in you being locked-out of online banking and, as a result, had not checked your e-statements “in years”. Your choice to not check your e-statements is presumably the reason you also claim in your letter that Desert Schools did not provide appropriate notification of the change in the minimum balance requirement from

$1,000 to $2,000.

In fact, this change was communicated to all accountholders in a notice which accompanied the March, 2010 statements. Additionally, Money Market account holders with balances less than $2,000 received a second notification concurrent with, or just prior to delivery of the April, 2010 statements. Both communications occurred well in advance of the May 1, 2010 effective date, but in your case, as with all other e-statements users, those communications were delivered through the online banking channel.

You also mentioned that our Ahwatukee branch team at 4940 East Ray Road did not respond to your issue in a timely manner. I agree that we could have handled your situation more effectively. We fell short in our commitment to help you resolve your issue in a timely manner and, as a result, your low-balance situation continued for another month, resulting in a further low-balance fee. I would, once again, like to offer my sincere apology for that delay. As you are already aware from a voice mail message of April 25, 2014, I initiated a credit of $400 back to your account as a gesture of apology for our ineffective member service.

However, you informed our branch manager on May 5, 2014, in a telephone conversation, that you were not satisfied with this gesture and wanted a refund of the remaining $290. We are not prepared to do that. Desert Schools stands by its decision that the minimum balance increase in May of 2010 was more than adequately communicated and that all of the fees charged from June 2010, through March 2014 were appropriate. Had you resolved your online banking access issues, and reviewed your e-statements and our notices, this fee change would have become apparent, and you could have taken appropriate steps to avoid incurring low balance fees on your account.

You should also be aware that your Money Market account balance is currently below the $2,000 minimum and will continue to be assessed the $15 low balance fee each month until that situation is remedied. Our Ahwatukee branch manager, [redacted], indicates she has already contacted you, on May 12, 2014, in an effort to offer solutions and assist you in taking steps to avoid this.

Thank you for allowing us to respond to this matter and if I can be of further assistance, please contact me at ###-###-#### or via e-mail at [redacted].[redacted].org.

Review: ISSUE: Desert Schools Federal Credit Union is reporting me for being 30+ days delinquent for my November 17th payment. This is the second time they have falsely reported me 30+ days delinquent. I believe June 2014 was around the first time they falsely reported me 30+ past due. After several phone calls and follow-ups they corrected the first incident stating that they were doing it as a curtsey. November 2014, 2nd time they are reporting me 30 days delinquent to the credit bureaus. My car payments are due the 17th of every month. Legally I have 30 days, NOT business days and NOT 30 days to have my payment post, to make a payment before it’s reported to the credit bureaus. I called customer service on both incidences that I was reported late to confirm how much I needed to pay to avoid 30 day delinquency reporting and on both occasions the representatives gave me the minimum amounts to avoid being reported 30 days delinquent. When I was making the November 17, 2014 payment I was at a share branch and called DSFCU customer service to get account information as well as payment information so I could do a transfer from my savings account to my car loan account, this was on December 15th, 2014. The payment posted December 18th and that is the reason they are reporting me delinquent. I have attempted to get this issue resolved through all 3 credit bureaus, [redacted] and [redacted], but DSFCU has stated that the information is correct. I am making sure that I exhaust as many avenues as possible to build my case before taking legal action. I have been denied credit and will do what I can to make sure the consumers are protected.Desired Settlement: I would like them to correct the delinquency they have reported to the bureaus and most importantly correct the way they are reporting clients payments otherwise I will take action.

Business

Response:

Your recent concerns lodged with the [redacted] have been forwarded to me for review. I have reviewed your account and the situation you described as well as Deserts Schools’ practices asthey pertain to your account and have summarized my findings below. Your complaint indicates that though you have remitted all of your monthly installments late, they were all remitted on or before the 30th day of delinquency and should not be reported as being 30 days late on your permanent credit profile. You also indicate that Desert Schools has reported your payment history incorrectly. Further your comments in the ‘Desired Settlement’, implies that the credit reporting practices of Desert Schools is not compliant with regulatory guidelines. As a furnisher of consumer credit account data, Desert Schools adheres to all applicable regulatory guidelines for reporting payment history under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Additionally we follow the standard electronic data reporting format provided by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). Within the CDIA’s Metro 2® Format guide it states: “The “clock” for a 30-day delinquency starts 30 days after the due date, as opposed to the billing date.” Although you may have made your payments on the 30th day of delinquency, because the account actually reached the 30th day of delinquency it is a reportable delinquency. Your payment history is charted below and does confirm when payments were due versus when they were received. Our records confirm that you contacted the credit union regarding your 10/17/2013 payment which was received on 11/18/2013. Per your request we processed a one-time courtesy reversal and corrected your credit report accordingly. It is also important to note that the majority of payments have been made via the check-by-phone service offered by Desert Schools. As such each time you authorized payment it was disclosed to you that the payment may take up to 48-business hours for the transaction to be processed and the payment applied to your loan. In fact, when the check-by-phone payment was authorized on Friday, 11/14/14 for the 10/17/14 due date, the representative from our Credit Assistance department specifically explained that the account may report 30 days late because the account was already 28 days, the check-by-phone may take 48- business hours and it was a Friday. Despite the information you received from the representative, you elected to continue with the transaction. It is the 10/17/14 payment that is reporting over 30 days. The payment you made via shared branching on 12/15/14 was credited to your loan on the same day.

Consumer

Response:

[redacted]:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: In late January 2014, I applied for a car loan and was approved. Due to the fact that the car I had found and reserved was valued well below its [redacted] Value, I asked the representatives if it would be possible to do an immediate cash out loan. I was very specific as to my goals. They were:

1. Purchase the vehicle

2. pay the taxes and registration

3. due to the car being purchased "sight-unseen" have a little excess to ensure it could be put in to tip-top condition

4. pay off and consolidate excess debt, resulting in having one large payment, but no others.

The representatives explained that they were unsure, and wanted to be 100% positive that the desired solution could be obtained, thus she took it to the managers and/or underwriters for confirmation. It was confirmed that this was possible.

After over a month of dealing with out of state title issues, and this was not the fault of desert schools, I had finally, with the help of desert schools and the dealership from which I purchased the car, managed to get the title to an acceptable state, i.e. arizona would now accept the transfer of the Texas title. On the day that I am supposed to finalize my paperwork and have the car shipped, I was told that desert schools could not do what they had promised, but would still be able to obtain the loan to purchase the vehicle. Unfortunately, I had, after a month of planning and hours of due diligence, I had already set my financial situation up for what had been promised. As a result, I am now scrambling to reorganize again. This requires hundreds of hours and is not what I was looking to do. The personal and financial strain that this has created is unprecedented. I hope that a reasonable solution can be obtained.Desired Settlement: I would like what was promised to me. A $36,000.00 dollar loan resulting in the agreed upon cash out and purchase of the vehicle.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted]:

Desert Schools FCU began charging me a service fee in August after I lost my job and no longer had a paycheck being directly deposited into my bank account. According to Desert Schools, this makes me ineligible to have services fees for my checking account waived. REALLY?! I don't have a paycheck so I get hit by the bank?! I've made manual deposits into my bank account in order to pay bills. Apparently, these don't count because they're not coming from an employer. TO have fees waived, I would need to use a debit card at least 3 times per month. Unfortunately, using a debit card increases one's risk for ID theft and other problem if the card is compromised and the bank doesn't catch the unauthorized activity before checks/payments start bouncing. Therefore, I pay my bills directly online which the payments are debited from my account directly by the companies I am authorizing payments to. This also isn't considered acceptable in order to meet the other requirement of the bank.
So, basically, I'm being punished via a monthly service fee because I'm trying to be a smart & conscientious consumer by taking measures to protect my bank account & minimize the risk of being compromised by not using a debit card to pay bills during a time in which I'm looking for a job and don't have any income.
This is another example of how financial institutions continue to [redacted] over the consumer behind their backs, only to claim it was the consumer's responsibility to opt out of something they didn't see coming.
As soon as my mortgage payment clears in the next few days, I will no longer be nor will I ever become again a member of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Review: I recently responded to a credit card offer via a paper mailing that was presented as a product offered by Desert Schools Federal Credit Union. I chose to respond to this offer for a balance transfer given that the offer was provided by my trusted banking institution. All of the paperwork related to the credit card offer and receipt of the card itself indicated that the card was a DSFCU product, including logo and business name. I noticed that this card was not showing up on my DSFCU banking page and called to inquire how or when that would happen. I learned that this card is actually managed in its entirety by [redacted] Financial Services and as such requires a new log-in on a separate and unrelated website. It is not possible to manage this card from the DSFCU online banking system. While the DSFCU paperwork does indicate in small print that the [redacted] is the service provider, there is no reason to believe that as the consumer of a DSFCU product that I would not be able to manage this card from my DSFCU online account as would any other DSFCU product. I do not believe there was transparency in the credit card offer. I feel like I was misled as a consumer and would not have accepted the offer for my balance transfer if it was clear that the card would be managed in its entirety (including a separate log-in and website management) by a third party representative. I chose this card based on my trust with DSFCU and 15 years of banking with this institution. I am disappointed in the outcome of this transaction as a whole and feel like it puts me in a financial bind given that I was assessed a 3% transfer fee totaling $360.00. I would like to transfer my balance back to a known institution, though that will result in an additional 3-4% transfer fee depending on the product, which is not a smart financial decision based on the fact that I'm trying to pay off this card.Desired Settlement: I would like to have the 3% transfer fee refunded. I plan to cancel this card and transfer the balance.

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to the complaint you recently filed with the Revdex.com regarding your Desert Schools [redacted] credit card. I appreciate your membership with Desert Schools and thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.Desert Schools Federal Credit Union has a longstanding partnership with [redacted] Financial Services to provide Credit Card services to our members. Through this partnership our members are able to take advantage of special offers, including 0% financing that would otherwise be unavailable. The marketing and promotional material that we and [redacted] use correctly discloses our partnership with Elan and indicates that the offers and servicing are through [redacted] Financial Services.The offer you received provides 0% financing on the transferred balance and purchases made on your card for a period of eighteen months, which creates a great opportunity to save money on interest. It is true that viewing the balance on your credit card currently involves a separate website log in, distinct from your Desert Schools Online Banking. You will receive regular periodic statements on your card balance and you can make payments at any time, even multiple times per month, to the card through the Desert Schools Bill Payment system. With the 0% interest and the ease of making online payments I hope that you will find our credit card to be in line with your goal of paying off the card quickly.I do apologize if the nature of our partnership with [redacted] was unclear to you at first. We have attempted to contact you by phone and I would be happy to speak with you directly about your concerns. Please feel free to call me at ###-###-####.

Review: I called Desert Schools Credit Union this morning and asked them to cancel all of my automatic payments so I could get caught up on my account which was overdrawn. They said they couldn't cancel them but when asked to speak to a supervisor, he said he could give me a list of the automatic payment recipients. I wrote them down, being today is Saturday - I planned to call on Monday. Then later in the day I received a call for the service of accounts Department which I returned. She specifically told m,e I have until the end of June to get caught up on my account. I was going to pay $400 per paycheck so I would be able to catch up by the end of June. Then I wanted to view what last went through online and my account has been closed, and I am assuming they sent it to collections when I spoke twice on the phone today and had automatic deposits added to the account which put it in the positive for a few days every two weeks. Anlther lady at the bank who was able to remove some of the fees told me it would be thirty days straight with a negative balance before any action was taken. I am so confused why they would do this. Please help me resolve this issue. I am so upset but also don't want to see this on my credit report.Desired Settlement: I want an apology and I want three months now to get my account in the positive. I also do not want this to appear on my credit report.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted]:I am writing in response to the complaint you recently filed with the Revdex.com regarding your account being overdrawn and information you obtained about bringing it to a positive balance. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.In reviewing the details of your account, it appears your account has been negative since April 28, 2015. You indicated that you made deposits into your account to bring it positive. Although you made a deposit on May 11th and May 26th the account did not have a positive balance for at least one business day as explained in our Statement of Terms, Conditions and Disclosures. Additional debit transactions cleared the same day you made your deposits therefore keeping your account in a negative balance. Since the account did not meet this requirement and you have had a negative balance for over 30 days, the account is subject to collections activity.On May 29th, you spoke with our Credit Assistance department and were informed that they will give you until the end of June in order to bring the account current. As long as the balance is brought current for at least one business day by June 30th, then your account will be returned to an open and active status. Your online access is currently unavailable until your account is brought current. If your account is not brought current by June 30, 2015 then the account will be charged off. A charged off account does not reflect on your credit report. At this time, we are not able to grant you a further extension. We do encourage you to contact our Credit Assistance department at ###-###-#### if you would like to discuss this matter further to see what options you would like to present to bring your account to apositive balance.I do apologize if any information provided to you was not clear on how your account functions. I hope my response adequately explains our processes and addresses your concerns. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at ###-###-####.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not satisfied because I was told on the telephone that as long as I had my account positive by June 30, 2015 nothing would happen. I telephoned Desert Schools at least twice on that day plus a day or two before. I was NOT told that Desert Schools Federal Credit Union would freeze my account. An automatic deposit was made Saturday the 6th, it is now the 10th, and almost Thursday. I still cannot gain access to my checking account details, statements, or my positive funds via my debit card. It has been positive for three business days and my checking account is still frozen. I am on a limited income and although it is only $86, I need my money. The bank will not allow me to make purchases even though I have my account in a positive balance for three business days. The prior message said I only needed to have it positive for one business day in order to have access. So no, I am not happy with their response.

Regards,

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to your follow up letter on June 11, 2015 to the Revdex.com regarding your account issue not being resolved. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.In your response, you indicated you were not able to log into online banking and that you were unable to conduct transactions on your account even after bringing your account to a positive balance.Our records indicate that you had a direct deposit to your account on June 8th which brought your account to a positive balance. An account that is in collections is not automatically returned to active status after it is brought current. In order for the account status to be changed, it requires a phone call from the member so that we have an opportunity to review the account. It does look like you contacted Desert Schools on June 12th at which point your debit card and online banking access were restored. We apologize for the inconvenience you may have experienced.In response to your letter, we also had a supervisor from our Member Assistance Center contact you on June 15th to ensure that you were able to log into online banking and that your debit card was working properly. During that call we were able to have you log in successfully as well as confirm your debit card was working.I hope my response adequately explains our processes and addresses your concerns. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at ###-###-####.Sincerely,[redacted]Vice PresidentContact Centers & Credit Services

Review: In the last couple of months, I have been in dispute of how Desert Schools applies fees when over drafting using a courtesy overdraft program afforded me. When I do shared banking with [redacted] and overdraw my account, on at least 4 occasions they have not properly indicated the balance on my account after the withdrawal. There are pending items for which FUNDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN WITHHELD. What happens is that the balance on my receipt for the transaction does not match the ledger balance online or on the bank statement. As a result of this, the bank instead of charging one overdraft fee for the transaction, goes back and charges overdraft fees for each pending transaction for which the funds had already been set aside. I am requesting a review and subsequent reimbursement for pending items that were already paid. I have receipts and can product the statements showing the differing balances.Desired Settlement: I want a refund of all NSF fees for items that were already paid and a change in policy which I believe is deceptive and possibly fraudulent or a change in the way ledger balances are maintained with shared banking institutions.

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to the complaint you recently filed with the Revdex.com regarding the discrepancy in balances and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees being assessed to your account. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.For the discrepancy in balances provided on your receipts and online, I am unable to research or respond to this portion of your inquiry as specific dates and transactions were not provided. If you are able to provide additional documentation regarding the dates of the transactions and balance discrepancies we would behappy to research this further for you.In regard to transactions in which funds have already been set aside and were assessed Paid NSF fees, in accordance with the Statement of Terms, Conditions and Disclosures that govern your account, once the Credit Union approves an authorization, the amount of that authorization will be held against the checking account orapplicable overdraft accounts until the completed financial transaction is submitted by the merchant or one business day, whichever occurs first. While the funds are on hold for an authorization, they are not available for withdrawal by any means. Additionally, if an item is paid against insufficient available funds, a notice will besent to you and a fee will be imposed as set forth on the Fee Schedule adopted by the Credit Union.As a courtesy and exception to the above stated account disclosures, we have refunded $140.00 in Paid NSF fees to your account. I hope my response adequately explains our processes and addresses your concerns. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at [redacted].

I have pretty good credit I applied for a car loan with this bank, and the reason for the denial was based primarily I believe on race.

On 3/11/16 I spoke with Sean C[redacted] at Desert Schools, Rigg's Fry Branch. Due to a medical issue and 4 surgeries, I needed to reconnect with my bank after being in an assisted living home for 11 months. Sean was wonderful while helping me. He was understanding, efficient and patient. The world needs more people like Sean.

Review: I have a few problems at this point with Desert Schools. I went to the bank on Monday 11/10/14 to do some banking for my disabled son for which I am his authorized payee. I was unable to perform my banking because I was no longer listed as on his account. When I tried to find out the problem, I found out that I had been deleted from all of my accounts and my husband placed under my social security number. I was treated rather rudely by the representative [redacted], and was told I did not have an account and never did. I asked if maybe it was do to the problem I had heard about with their on-line banking system the previous week and was told "no, you do not have an account and never did." I have been indeed been banking with them since I was a child and told him so. He told me again I had not and never had. He asked me if I'd ever been to the bank and I said yes, I told him I usually used my debit card though. He asked me "If it had my name on it?" I pulled it out and showed it to him with my name on it and also showed him my Desert Schools credit card, also with my name on it. He took my debit card to his manager, came back to me and said, no, you do not have an account and never did. I also no longer had access or my name on my savings or checking account or my minor daughter's account. He, nor his manager, would look into the matter. I was sent away from the bank with no resolution nor attempt by them to resolve the problem. After conferring with my husband, who was at work, he was able to contact the downtown office who eventually found information on me from some location. I was told to go back to the bank and although they would put someone on the case to try to fix the problem it was not corrected when I returned. I was told they would e-mail them to be able to "deal" with me. I was treated rudely on my return and had to force an apology, did not get to speak with any sort of supervisor. I was still concerned about my son's account being illegally made available to a non-payee, which I wonder is an illegal act, which I will check with the Federal Government about since they are the party that sends his disability check and it is their rule. I, at this time requested a refund of the $1500 we were required to put out to start a trust but was told by the representative that that is not their department and he would have that person call. Which he did not do. I have lost "trust" for the bank to perform my Trust. We have not provided information for the Trust and so they have not actually done it yet. When talking to the representative for Desert Schools Financial, who do the trusts out of that branch of Desert Schools Credit Union, I was told I could not get a refund because the papers were done. What papers? We haven't given them our information yet? I was told they might be able to give a partial refund but there supervisor was on vacation. I either want my $1500 from them or my partial and I think the Desert Schools Credit Union should make up the difference. They are the ones who messed up my accounts. At this point I was told Desert Schools Federal Credit Union and Desert Schools Financial were two separate entities and it could not be done. They both work out of the same Desert Schools...I have already lost two days working on this, much sleep and am stressed to the breaking point.Desired Settlement: Refund of my $1500 and an apology from the branch that refused to acknowledge my issue. Palm Valley.

Business

Response:

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today regarding your recent visit to our [redacted] Branch, and the ownership of your accounts with us. Desert Schools prides itself in providing the highest level of service to our members. Unfortunately, we have fallen short of meeting your expectation during this interaction. I want to offer you my sincere apologies and assure you that we have reviewed this situation and are taking steps to make sure we address transactions like this differently in the future. As a follow up to our conversation, I have personally reviewed the accounts you hold with your husband, son and daughter, and made sure the account ownership reflects your requests on all of these accounts. I apologize that we were not able to resolve this matter entirely on your first visit, but please rest assured it is now corrected. I will also take the appropriate measures to address the error that caused this situation initially.I am pleased that you have agreed to meet with [redacted] regarding your trust, on Tuesday, November 25, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. ([redacted] Branch). As you know, completing this trust is a very important step towards achieving the peace of mind you desire for your family. I am confident that [redacted] will assist you in getting this finalized to the satisfaction of both you and [redacted]. Mrs. [redacted], the years of membership and loyalty you have shown us are invaluable to Desert Schools. I again apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused you. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to correct this and provide you with the answers you requested. If I can be of any further assistance to you, please feel free to contact me at 602-433-7039. Thank you for your continued membership.

Review: When I called to check in on my savings account with Desert Schools CU, they told me that my account has been closed some time ago (they would not provide HOW long ago, as my account "is closed"). That they had a "new policy" (January 2013) that savings accounts below a certain amount, would automatically have (large) fees deducted. Unbeknownst to me, as I never received the change in policy information - my account and money were gone. I never knew of this change (otherwise I would have closed my account IMMEDIATELY!).

Basically, the credit union has stolen my money from me, and only told me, "Too bad". (and I got hung up on while "researching" my account, with a call back 10 minutes later).

I was also told, originally that fees "cannot be reversed" changed to "I will not reverse your fees". I feel that I was stolen from, and they are placing blame on me. I was also told, that if I 'had caught it' after a month or two, THEN they could be reversed.

My last conversation was with [redacted] (for employee protection, they "do not give out employee numbers")

I also do not know how much they took out, as they would not provide that information to me. (fees for "inactivity" and "monthly maintenance fees" that started January 2013, that I was never informed of)Desired Settlement: I would like the fees reversed from my bank / savings account, as I was never informed of the fees.

Business

Response:

I am writing in response to the complaint you recently filed with the Revdex.com regarding the fees applied to your account and the subsequent closing of your account. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention .

In November of 2012, all of our members were notified of a new $5.00 Limited Membership Fee that was to begin in January 2013. This fee applies to those members who only maintain savings accounts and have a combined balance of less than $200. Members whom we projected could possibly incur this fee in January , were notified again in December of 2013. The notifications were intended to encourage members to determine how they would like to manage their relationships with Desert Schools going forward. We asked those members to consider growing their relationships with the credit union by opening additional accounts or increasing the savings account balance to greater than $200. The notifications we re also intended as a reminder for members for whom the credit union savings account had potentially become an overlooked element of their financial management plan.

At the time the fee was first applied, in January 2013, you had a balance of $ 182.17 in yo ur Desert Schools savings account and there had been no transact ions recorded since an ATM withdrawal on January 3, 2012. As a result, in addition to the Limited Membership Fee, the twelve months of inactivity also triggered the implementation of an Inactive Account Fee of $5.00 per month. You should note that, while the Limited Membership Fee was new, the Inactive Account Fee has existed in our fee schedule for a number of yea rs and the appropriate prior notifications were provided before your account was classified as inactive.

From our review of your account, and the information provided in your BB B complaint, it appears you have moved out of state. However, since you had elected to receive electronic statements and notifications from Desert Schools, all of the notifications we provided were available to you with your statements. Each month, when the new statement becomes available online, Desert Schools also sends an e-mail to our members who use eStatements, to encourage them to review their accounts and to record any disputes within the 60 days allotted under our Terms and Conditions.

Our records confirm that we provided all necessary notifications and emails to inform you of the status of your account; however, we can also see that you had not logged in to online banking. Through your conversations with our Member Assistance Center representatives, it became apparent that, although you did receive our email notifications, you were not able to access your account and did not take steps to resolve that issue until recently. I can certainly understand you may have had other priorities which prevented you from taking action on our Inactive Account and Limited Membership notifications before the fees began to deplete your balance, and, under the circumstances, I believe Desert Schools should work with you to settle your concerns. Since our implementation of the new Limited Membership Fee, in January, caused your account balance to decline more quickly than would have transpired with just the Inactive Account Fee, I have authorized the refund of all of the Limited Membership Fees that were applied to your account. This totals $90.00. A check for this amount will be mailed under separate cover to the address provided on the Revdex.com complaint.

I hope my response adequately explains our processes and addresses your concerns. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at ###-###-####.