First Flight Federal Credit Union

Inept Customer Service Unwilling to HelpAccount Number- [redacted]September 1st and on.I was talking to customer service through several people to cancel an Automated ACH transaction. I talked to them on the 1st, they told me to complete a cancel ACH transaction form. I completed it and sent it back. They then told me that I had to go to the other financial institution [redacted], to have it canceled, which I told her was wrong. The customer service rep told me again, that I had to go through the other instituion. I called the other institution to start a cancel ACH transaction with them. I completed the paperwork, submitted it, and they told me that they couldn't do it. I had to go back to FFCU. I went back to FFCU to tell them the same thing. They sent me the wrong form, again. I filled it out and sent it back. They told me it was the wrong form. [redacted] sent me the right form, I filled it out and sent it back. On the 8th. She told me that I had to provide a voided check for the new account and I had to send her a date to start the transaction. I told her I didn't have voided checks. She told me that she needed a voided checked again. She told me that she cannot start a new ACH without a voided check for the new financial institution. As a result of them giving me the run around, giving me misinformation, and not keeping me informed, I was charged overdraft fees, in the amount of of $107.00. I explained the situation to the head of the Holly Springs branch and she told me it is my fault. They didn't do anything wrong. Since I was given the right form and ample amount of time to cancel, there is nothing she is going to do with me. Despite me explaining to her the run around that I got.Desired SettlementI would like to be reimbursed for my overdraft fees, for $107. Business Response It is First Flight's top priority to provide excellent member service while remaining in compliance with industry best practices. In order to establish recurring loan payment drafts via ACH from an account not held at First Flight, it is our policy to verify account ownership before initiating any transactions. Thus, a voided check is required. On September 5th the credit union received the member's written request to change the account and routing number for his recurring loan payment. In addition to requesting a change in funding account, the member also notated on the form to adjust the date of the draft from the "15th of September to ____" leaving blank what date the payment was authorized to be drafted on. As mentioned in the member's complaint, First Flight staff advised the member that we needed a voided check as well as a complete draft date authorization in order to complete the request. The credit union cannot make changes to payment processing agreements without proper and complete authorization from a member. Unfortunately, on September 15, 2014, the date of the member's scheduled monthly payment, we had yet to receive the required items from the member to complete the changes to his ACH payment agreement.The credit union received a call from the member on September 17th to inquire about the transaction. At that time, we received the member's written request to cancel his monthly loan payment via ACH. We have confirmed that, as indicated on the form, the recurring monthly payment has been permanently cancelled.While First Flight was acting in accordance with its policies and procedures throughout this process, we understand that the member was acting in good faith to stop the transaction before it occurred. As such, $107 was credited to his membership share account as reimbursement for the overdraft fees incurred at his other financial institution.As a valued member, we appreciate our member's business and the opportunity to remedy this situation.Consumer Response The business failed to respond to my second complaint and ignored it completely. I would like someone to answer for the illegal release of another customers compete pii to me. Their business practices are terrible. There is no accountability for the actions of their branch managers [redacted] customer service reps.Final Business Response In response to the member's follow-up comments on 10/9, First Flight management has taken time to conduct a review of the recorded phone calls in question but was unable to corroborate the member's accusations of First Flight staff speaking disrespectfully to his wife. We pride ourselves in treating everyone in a respectful and dignified manner. In each scenario, First Flight staff remained as such while the member's wife expressed her concerns.First Flight has taken appropriate measures in order to protect our members' non-public personal information and at no time was this member's information exposed. However, as a courtesy, attempts to reach the member to extend identity theft protection were made but have been unacknowledged at this time.

They do not handle their ATM service appropriately nor their customer requests whether by phone or chat correctly. Their customer service is poorfirst flight has the absolute worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. I work 8 to 5 so if I have a paper check to deposit which is rare I use their ATM services after hours which as most adults work this cannot be that uncommon. It has been 3 business days since I made a deposit and it is not available to me. This has happened numerouse times with them. I sent an email and they sent a general response that said night deposits are generally available by noon the following business day and closed the issue. well I pulled up my account online and the issue was still unresolved so opened a chat; the chat box said redirecting to a secure window and the rep told me she could not pull up my account as the chat was unsecured and to call the branch so she gave me a number to a voicemail of course. I kept the chat window open in meantime and advised her of this, and her response was" [redacted] : I've asked you already to call the branch or the Member Support Center." So an issue that should have taken a minute or two I have spent an hour. Why would a business have chat available if they cant help their customers with it. first flight has the absolute worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. I have got to just close my accounts because every single time I communicate with them I never get good assistance and always end up angry. I have accounts at [redacted] and[redacted] my problem is my husband has his pay direct deposited from out of state and it is a hassle to change otherwise I would never deal with them again. It is the only company I have ever reported to the Revdex.com of NC in my 42 years of life and this will be the second time I have had too. this is no way to do business; especially when I think they are a non-profit member owned company or they were when I joined. My sister has already left them after 20 years because of their service and ridiculous policiesDesired Settlementwork you night deposits properlyBusiness Response First Flight has reviewed the deposit in question and found that it was made on a Saturday. Per the credit union's funds availability disclosures, "Deposits of funds subject to delayed availability into ATM machines owned and operated by us will not be available until the second business day after the day of your deposit or otherwise delayed as indicated in this disclosure, for up to five business days. If you make an ATM deposit into an ATM machine owned and operated by us before 1:59 p.m. on a business day that we are open, we will consider that to be the day of your deposit . However, if you make an ATM deposit into an ATM machine owned and operated by us on or after 2:00 p.m. on a day that we are open, or on a day that we are not open, we will consider that the deposit was made on the next business day we are open." First Flight does not have business hours on Saturdays or Sundays and as such, the subsequent Monday was considered the day of deposit.Although ATM deposits are subject to delayed availablity, further review of the account identified that funds related to the deposit in question were made available on Monday, the same recognized day of deposit. Per account history, Ms. [redacted]'s ending account balance on the day of deposit was equal to the available balance indicating all holds had been released.In regards to the service Ms. [redacted] received in attempts to research her recent deposit, we sincerely apologize that she experienced anything short of superior member service. Providing excellent service and safegaurding member information is of utmost importance to First Flight. Although chat is beneficial in assisting with many account services, there are certain limitations inherent in the service when a member's identity has not been verified. These safeguards are in place in order to protect our members' privacy.

Over a 1 1/2 years of having my car loan with First Flight Federal Credit Union they have stated 4 different times that they have not received paymentThey send me notices in the mail stating they haven't received payment for my vehicle loan. I use [redacted] bill pay and have had it for many years and have never had a problem with a company receiving payment. This most recently has happened for Feb 2014 payment they have not received. My bank delivered the payment on the due date of February 13th and they still have not received as of today. When I contacted them on Friday March 13th they gave me every excuse in the book of why they didn't have the payment. the thing that upsets me the most is there harassing me with letter stating that they could possibly repossess my car if I do not take action. My bank even contacted them on Friday March 13th to explain when they sent the payment and they still have no explanation. I paid my March payment on March 13th and they haven't received it either and today is March 17th. This disturbs and upsets me because I pay my bills on time and this will reflect on my credit which is not right. My bank has cancelled February's check and once the money is returned to my account, I will then have to be inconvenienced by paying over the phone and return check and late fees. I contacted the branch manager today [redacted] and have heard nothing. I have made the decision to refinance my car because this is absurd and horrible customer service.Desired SettlementI do not want to be charged any late fees, cancelled check fees or reports on my credit. Business Response When loan payments are initiated through "Bill Pay" systems a paper check may be issued by the payer's financial institution that is mailed to the payee (in this circumstance First Flight FCU). As noted in the member's explanation, her bank "delivered the payment on February 13th". This most commonly is when the payment was issued and mailed by the payer's financial institution. Because these payments are sent via regular mail, it is not possible for the bill pay provider to identify the date of delivery at the payee.In this member's case the loan payment due date is on the 13th of each month. The member also stated that the March payment was paid on March 13th (which was the due date) and as of March 17th it had not yet been received by First Flight FCU. If the payment was initiated through her online bill pay system on Thursday, March 13th it is likely that the payment was not able to be mailed by her bill pay provider and received by First Flight FCU within two business days. Members are advised that payments should be mailed several days prior to the due date in order to allow adequate time for delivery by the postal service.First Flight offers several alternative means for submitting loan payments that are not subject to delays in processing that may be associated with mail delivery. Members may have their monthly payments automatically drafted from their bank account, payments can be made by phone, and payments can also be made online.Recent communications with the member's financial institution confirmed that payment was mailed through their bill pay system in February; however that payment has not cleared their system as it was never received by First Flight FCU. As a result of this communication, late fees will be waived for the February payment upon receipt of payment. Fees are not able to be waived prior to payment receipt as previously communicated to the member.Consumer Response I verified with my financial institution that the "deliver by" date is when it is delivered to the company. They mail the check days prior to the due date so that it arrives on time. As I explained previously I have not had a problem with any of company not receiving my payments on time. Paying my bills on time and credit reports are very important to me. I did get the information from First Flight to pay on line and that was not successful because the verification code wouldn't come to my phone. The branch manager [redacted] since hasn't called me back about my concerns that I left in a voicemail on March 17th. I work in the customer service field and I do not feel this is great customer service at all. Very disappointed!!I called my financial institution on March 19th to see if the March 13th check had been cleared and it had not, so that check has been cancelled. I also contacted First Flight yesterday to explain that the account would be paid in full by another lender in a few days which includes Feb and March's payment so I can move forward from all of this. I would hope with all of that First Flight would not report this to the credit bureau. Thank You!

Bad customer service, made a complaint and was told by the manager she can understand why her employee did it and never apologized.Ive had multiple issues over the life of my auto loan trying to utilize their "customer service" with issues i've had with the loan and payments. First off don't use first flight if you plan on doing electronic payments since they do not accept them, a paper check must be mailed either from you or your institution and if the mail runs late they automatically call and send you a paper letter telling you your payment is late and they now have the right to come reposes your vehicle. I have now been in the process of refinancing the car into another family members name for 2 weeks but they never seem to be happy with the paperwork that they receive. They will request the last pay stub, receive it, then state that they need more and then all the paperwork would be done. Then they want a new copy of your drivers license and then complain since its faxed in black and white. They googled my [redacted] work phone number to call her there for more information knowing she was busy at work even though the account was notated to only call the house phone. Instead of dealing with the hassle of them anymore I decided to just pay off the loan all together. That's when I thought it was over, but now that the credit bureau is contacting first flight to ensure that the loan is paid off first flight tells the credit bureaus that they can not give them any information as to whether the car has been paid in full or not. My wife and I called to file a complaint on the woman at first flight who contacted my [redacted] at work and was harassing her and the manager said that she could understand why she called her because she needed the information from her. Why would you have to google a work phone number if its not given to you as a means of contact???Almost forgot to mention, if you get a loan with this bank they require you to also have a saving account. Initially its a $50 deposit but they tell you the minimum to stay good with first flight is $25. I did this, but every month they would deduct $1 from my account since it was under their minimum balance. After calling and confronting them I was told the balance was $25 again and went ahead and made another $10 deposit to stop it. But the same deduction was continuing. After another call I was told that the minimum was then $50, I told them to just take my money and let the account stand with a $0 balance. Apparently you don't have to have money in the account but they tell you to have it so they can slowly milk it from you.Desired SettlementOfficial letter of apology written to my wife and I as well as my [redacted] for the amount of trouble and headache we've had to deal with in order to just get away from this bank.Business Response First Flight has reviewed the account in question and found that the member was granted the ability to use the Skip-a-Pay program in December to skip making the December payment. All fees were also waived to complete the payoff on the loan. All information is reported to the credit bureau in compliance with industry regulations and privacy policies.First Flight offers many ways for members to make their loan payments- including several electronic options. Members are able to make payments by phone using either a credit or debit card or a bank account. Members are also able to sign an EZ Pay agreement to have their payment automatically drafted from an account of their choice at First Flight or at another financial institution. Members can also make payments online using our online banking system- the eBranch.In regards to the questions about the minimum balance required for a share savings account- in order to be a member of a credit union, the member is required to have a membership share that is held on deposit with the credit union. First Flight's membership share and minimum balance requirements are detailed in the membership agreement that is provided to all members at the time of account opening.