My Credit Union screwed me and I'm pissed

[michreject]

My credit union was recently sold to another credit union. It was all a secret up until it went down. I suppose this had something to do with stock prices.

Well anyway I had ordered some replacement checks before they were sold. I paid 30 dollars for the new checks. I sent one of the checks in as payment on a bill. The bank of the business that I sent the check to returned the check as account closed.

I got a not so nice letter from the business that I owed the money to. On top of the returned check fee's, I'm going to get hit with a late payment fee.

I called the credit union to find out what happened as my account is not closed. I was told that even though the check I sent in had the same account number on it, they were only honoring checks with their credit union logo on them and not the old credit union name.

I asked if they were going to replace the checks that I bought before the transfer...........well you can guess how she answered that one.

No financial institution is your friend. They'll all screw you if they can.

[Justice wanted]

1. Oh man, I would find a new credit union. I would also make this known to your local news network

Sometimes you have to publicly shame a business into doing the right thing. THEY should pay your late fees the NSF fee and anything else they caused.

[michreject]

4. The money was in the account

They just never honored the check.

[Justice wanted]

22. I understand that's why I'd make the credit union pay your late fees and your NSF fee. The money

was in your account and the credit union did not honor the check so that's why I said that.

[FinsUpTechGuy]

2. hmm

you were given misinformation. Banks don't actually send checks to other institutions anymore, it's all electronic so a logo doesn't matter. If the routing number is changed that is different.....

[michreject]

6. They all can't be that way

As I just had what I described in the OP happen.

[PADemD]

3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

File a complaint

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/

[sgsmith]

5. Call Clark Howard

And tell him how your credit union behaved. Clark's the unofficial "credit unions are great" mouthpiece and he needs to be made aware of issues like this.

http://www.clarkhoward.com/

http://www.clarkhoward.com/listen/find_a_station_near_you/

[michreject]

7. Thanks

I will look into it.

[customerserviceguy]

20. Good idea

Now the credit unions in my area are just not ready for prime time (decided to go with a local community bank after two CU's) but they never did the dirty trick that the OP endured. There's got to be a good way to warn other people, maybe creating a website on a foreign web host that they'll have difficulty taking down.

[Duer 157099]

8. When WaMu became Chase

I had a bunch of old WaMu checks that I continued to use until they were all gone. So it's not like they *couldn't* have let you continue to use them. Buncha jerks. Go after them.

[michreject]

11. I questioned that

The lady told me that they had a window of 90 days to honor the old checks and that it was up to me to get news checks.

[bhikkhu]

9. I'd close the account, and make it very clear why

...about the only way to enforce good customer service is to "vote with your wallet" - don't bank with people who treat you like crap, don't shop at places that treat you like crap.

[snagglepuss]

10. Over the years the Credit Union I am with was sold twice and I'm

using the original checks I got years back. There is a national Credit Union organization, why not contact them?

[michreject]

12. WOW!!!!

How many checks did you buy initially?

[snagglepuss]

13. Can't recall. It was years ago and I use cheques only for rent so I don't

plow through them. It's shocking that your old Credit Union wouldn't have advised customers their checks would no longer be valid prior to the sale or that the new buyers wouldn't have a grace period. I have to wonder if they haven't broken a law by not informing customers the old checks wouldn't be honored as I believe bounced checks go on credit reports. I wonder if you could sue?

[michreject]

17. They said they sent an email to every customer

I never got one.

I have on-line statements so it's not like I would have deleted it without looking at it.

[snagglepuss]

21. Did they assign you a new account number? Were any online transactions

affected by the change? Is your paycheck deposited directly into your account? I ask because companies need to have a voided check to deposit funds so if deposits weren't interrupted why couldn't they honor the old check?

[michreject]

31. Nothing new

except the name of CU on check.

[progress2k12nbynd]

14. Be interesting to know why the buyout...

...really occurred. Stock prices of something somewhere might have played a role, but couldn't be the companies themselves as credit unions are by definition non-profit and don't have associated stock like a big bank would.

[csziggy]

15. If they are going to insist that their logo be on the checks

Even when the account number is the same, they are using the checks YOU are paying for as advertising. I don't see how this is legal.

Did they send out notices that they would only honor checks with their logos on them?

When my bank changed routing numbers, they sent notices a YEAR in advance, six months in advance, three months in advance, etc. Even once they changed routing numbers, once when I accidentally used one of the old checks, the back honored it but sent a nice letter reminding me that the number had changed and that I needed to discard those old checks. Since I was using up checks that were over five years old, I didn't mind paying for new ones.

[michreject]

18. I wish I were so lucky

I probably would have bought new checks if I knew in advance that they weren't going to honor the old ones.

[lib2DaBone]

16. True.. no financial institution is your friend...

..but I have found that Credit Unions are FAR and ABOVE any bank.

Try and give them a chance... work with them if they are willing to work with you.

[WolverineDG]

19. check with an attorney in your state to see if this phrase works magic

as it does in Texas: slander of credit

You had money in your account, you wrote a check using the proper account number. They should have honored it.

[tammywammy]

24. +1 Good advice. n/t

[New Yawker]

23. Then close the account and take your business to another CU - and explain to them WHY.

CU doesn't like to lose business and since it's member-owned (as most CU's are) - you need to let the members know why.

[2ndAmForComputers]

25. Of what CUs are we speaking of?

[Yo_Mama]

26. UCC article 4 and Truth-in-Savings

http://definitions.uslegal.com/u/ucc-bank-deposits/

Article 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), adopting in some form by nearly all states, deals with bank deposit and collections transactions. It is the duty of a bank to honor a check drawn on it by a customer. The customer will have a cause of action against the bank for any actual damages sustained by the customer if the bank improperly refuses to honor the customer's check, including damages for an arrest or prosecution of the customer or other consequential damages.

If another institution bought the credit union and if the routing number was not changed, the checks should be good. If the routing number is not good, then of course the check would be bounced (there'd be no way for the check to ever get to your bank account).

So first figure out if the routing number was changed.

Second, tell them you never got the email and ask them to prove that they sent it.

Checks are processed through the Federal Reserve clearing house based on the bank number (the routing number) and the account number (your account number). The routing number is like the zip code for the bank. So what's relevant is not whether your account number changed but whether the routing number changed. If the routing number changed, then the bank never received the check to bounce it, so they did not improperly dishonor it.

However if they cannot prove that they sent you notice that you had to order checks, then you can probably get them to rebate the fee anyway.

TIS (Truth in Savings) disclosure forms your contract with the institution. They are not by law permitted to charge you fees that are not disclosed in the TIS. Therefore since you had just ordered checks, I think that they have to cover the cost of new checks unless they sent notice. Email does constitute notice under Esign, so again, look to see if you received an email.

Credit unions are regulated by the NCUA, and here is the link to their TIS regs:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title12/12cfr707_main_02.tpl
The content of required disclosures is covered here:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=3016c68bdfe0ce848cf3245bcc544410&rgn=div8&view=text&node=12 .0.2.3.8.0.1.4&idno=12

(4) Fees. The amount of any fee that may be imposed in connection with the account (or an explanation of how the fee will be determined) and the conditions under which the fee may be imposed.

The requirement to provide 30 days notice of changes that would adversely affect account holders is here:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=3016c68bdfe0ce848cf3245bcc544410&rgn=div8&view=text&node=12 .0.2.3.8.0.1.5&idno=12

(a) Change in terms —(1) Advance notice required. A credit union shall give advance notice to affected members of any change in a term required to be disclosed under §707.4(b), if the change may reduce the annual percentage yield or adversely affect the member. The notice shall include the effective date of the change. The notice shall be mailed or delivered at least 30 calendar days before the effective date of the change.

They may come back at you with this, but it is not applicable:

(2) No notice required. No notice under this section is required for:

(i) Variable-rate changes. Changes in the dividend rate and corresponding changes in the annual percentage yield in variable-rate accounts.

(ii) Share draft and check printing fees. Changes in fees for check printing.

Because they did not change the fees - they simply changed the account, and if they did not provide notice you've got them.

You should request as a remedy that they provide you with free checks, that they cover the bounced check fee, and that they send a letter to the business informing them that you did not write a bad check but that the check was bounced due to administrative changes at the CU, in order to remedy your reputation.

[snagglepuss]

29. Kudos for taking the time to give such detailed and helpful advice.

[michreject]

32. Thank you

I will call Monday morning with this info.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

35. Great post!

[Honeycombe8]

27. That's horrible! I know you don't want to get into a fight...

and you shouldn't have to. I'm normally not the type that gets into a fight over these, because usually I lose, and all I get out of it is loss of time and a lot of anger and frustration.

But in this case, it just sounds so wrong that it sounds like they are either mistaken, or they should have to honor that check and pay the bounce fees. Sometimes businesses just give it a go to see if the customer will accept things the first time around, and then will turn around if the customer argues.

My brother bought Six Flags tickets for Thanksgiving trip to Dallas, TX a couple of years ago. He found when he got here that Six Flags was closed, and always is during the week that he came (I live here in Dallas). He later had to fight to get his money back from Six Flags for those tickets. They kept telling him he could use them in another year or at another Six Flags or whatever. I guess they thought it was his fault, but he insisted it was theirs. He called and told them when and where he wanted the tickets for, and they should know if that Six Flags would at least even be OPEN there at that time. He finally got a refund.

Maybe you can make a few calls like the other posters suggested, and you can get your refund without a lot of trouble.

[Ohio Joe]

28. How could that happen without you knowing?

When my old credit union was sold, there were tons of letters about it and I got to vote either for or against the sale... Don't they have to do that since you are/were a part owner?

[eridani]

30. I didn't even know it was possible for credit unions to be sold

This has never happened in Wa State AFAIK. Maybe rules are different in different places.

[Dead_Parrot]

33. Also, If you haven't done so...

Call the guys you wrote the check to, ask for a supervisor and plead your case to them - they might waive their extra fees. Depends on who you get through to and what mood they're in, but probably worth a phone call. More likely to work with a smaller company.

Good luck...

[Nye Bevan]

34. Years ago when Chase merged with Chemical Bank I had just bought a box of checks

that I would no longer be able to use, as my account number was changing. I kicked up an absolute stink and they agreed to give me a new box of checks with the new account number, for free. This was a long time ago though.