University of Virginia Community Credit Union

All the headache of a national bank without any of the convenience.
Have been trying for a month just to close my account, but unclear language, disgruntled employees who are just itching to pass the buck, and a system as old as dirt (or at least one so unreliable it seems outdated) have kept me in a vortex of frustration, trapped as a member. Do not trust them with your money. They will treat it as if it belongs to them and hold it for ransom when you most need it.

We have been members for over 25 years and have had nothing but very good service from UVACCU. Car loans have been easy to get and the interest rate is usually better than any other bank in the area! I would highly refer anyone to use the services at UVACCU.

The UVA CCU is an okay local bank. Few branches, limited hours and ATMs, reasonable fees. My review today however is mostly in regard to a car loan that my wife and I recently got through them. Their car loan policy is exceptionally flawed, and I would not recommend getting a car loan through them, and thus would not recommend bothering to open a bank account with them, until they fix this problem.
We were pre-​approved for a loan, but the person who called us didn’t tell us what to do next. I called back over the next week to ask, but it took about five tries to get a person on the phone. The multiple messages I left with them went unanswered.
When I finally did talk to someone over a week later she told me it was simple: just go to a dealer, pick out your car, get the Bill of Sale from them, and give us a call, we’ll take care of the rest. Easy enough right?
What we eventually realized is that the UVA CCU has no idea how used car purchases actually work. We drove 75 miles from Charlottesville to get the car we wanted (there are very few used cars closer by). After spending hours going through the dealer’s whole system and repeatedly refusing their offers of financing, we finally got everything signed for our car.
So I called the UVA CCU, and of course it took a few tries to get anything more than an answering machine. They told me: okay, now you just have to drive back to Charlottesville and sign all the paperwork for the loan, and we’ll get you your check tomorrow.
TOMORROW?! This is not how buying a used car works. When you get this far while turning down the dealer’s financing the whole time, they expect that you will be ready to hand them a check in exchange for the keys. But no, UVA CCU wanted us to tell them, «the check’s in the mail, but can we have the car?»
This whole situation of course made our dealer quite angry, and gave them yet another opportunity to push their rip-​off financing on us. Luckily, it was the last day of the month, and they really wanted the sale, so they agreed to give us the car in exchange for a personal check for the entire amount to be cashed in two days. Why even bother getting the loan right?
We were then left to race back to Charlottesville so that we could fill out the paperwork before 5pm so that they could overnight the check. The finance person at the dealership told us that, «in all her years she had never seen something like this.»
Suffice it to say, if you are looking for a used car or even a new one outside of Charlottesville, AVOID the UVA CCU. They are not currently equipped to do business in car loans.

When we moved to Charlottesville 4 months ago, we left our respective large corporate banks (Citi and Chase) and opened a joint account with University of Virginia Community Credit Union. Big mistake. They are bizarrely unprepared to correctly deal with your money.
My complaints:
1. They got my name wrong on the checks.
2. They somehow (even after printing the checks) claimed that I was not an owner of the account. My husband had to accompany me twice to the branch to fix this. I couldn’t access my own money that was being direct-​deposited into the account.
3. In fact, they do not actually offer joint checking accounts! They claim that is what we have, but their «system» is «not able» to put more than one owner on the account. I didn’t realize this (because they lied that it was fixed, see #2) and when I went to print out statements for work reimbursements, only my husband’s name is listed on the statement. Apparently, he is the «primary owner,» and I am the «secondary owner» and not listed anywhere. They are NOT ABLE to put my name on the statements. According to their rules, two people cannot be equal co-​owners of an account!
I am boggled that a bank operating in this century cannot accommodate a joint account (by which I mean a truly joint account, like, you know, with my name attached to it).
They are also rude, but I can handle rudeness from people I suspect are actually competent at their jobs. In this case, it just reinforces my decision to write this review and go change banks.
Of course, I have to take my husband with me to close the account. So, if you loved the 1950’s and have a hankering to control your lady’s finances, you’ll love this bank. Jesus.