Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Stay far far away. I have been a member for 20 years. I was 17. I have never once bounced a check. Never had a overdraft. Never missed a payment on car loans. Never missed a payment on credit card. I have a 740 credit score. So was I blown away they denied me a refi on my truck. They said they could not give more credit. It isn’t more. It is replacing. Then a few months later on a Saturday morning they call and ask if I have ever considered refing my truck with them!
This week I had surgery. I needed some documents notorized. My mom did it at the Avoldale branch. The Tempe branch let me wait 15 minutes. Then said they won’t notorize them since they didn’t draw them up.
The guy had the nerve to say «can I help you with anything else?» uhhhhh no you didn’t help me with anything.
Then add to the fact I have had I many times where the ATM is broken. So to get cash you go inside to wait for the one worker who looks like they rather be getting an enema then working. This bank has gone so far down hill over the years. You can not reach any management. No one cares. No one calls. Just stay away. At least at the big banks you get more locations and ATM and they work!

CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE WAS THE WORST PEOPLE IVE EVER TALKED TO IN MY LIFE… Worst bank I’ve ever had to deal with… I called to get business account number, simple task, after numerous attempts of having to hang up and call back, they finally gave me a number, the WRONG number on purpose after we exchanged words… That’s got to be illegal and she needs to be fired. Then she even has the nerve to freeze my account while I’m out of town and can’t go into a branch when they’re clearly in the wrong. Grow up and get better employees. I’m making sure everyone knows how I feel about this credit union. I definitely would not ever bank here for anyone in the future.

Been a customer for 28 years. Soon to be no more. Has nothing to do with this branch, but with management. One bad customer service experience can undo years of loyalty. They used to deal with people as a credit union should, but they have become too big and full of themselves now. Might as well deal with a bank.

always taken care of with a smile, just wish there were some more extended hours

Watch out for their fees. If you do not have funds in your account to cover something they still payout and keep charging you. I am trying to leave them because of this bad practice. How hard is it to say no the customer does not have the funds try again later.

I have been a member of Desert Schools for over 10 years and have never been disappointed.
They Just helped me secure a Vehicle Loan for a client and it went as smooth as can be. Thanks Paula Clark for that excellent level of service.
Peter Mattys
Performance Mobility of Phoenix

Desert Schools is the best financial institution in the Phoenix Valley. Their customer service is top notch and their friendly staff always makes me feel welcome. Because they are a credit union I know they won’t fee me to death will all kinda of crazy hidden scenarios like a big bank. If you have lived in the valley for awhile you know that they are also a huge presence as far as community service and volunteering.

Fast through the drive thru, every time. Friendly staff. Great experience.
I love banking with DSFCU.

From past experience I find that credit unions generally are generally abysmally managed but be prepared for whatever word comes next after abysmal if you choose to do business with Desert Schools. From the moment of my first contact I could not be less pleased. Without going into details of my own account these are a few of the low lights of being their customer:
— No one from the president on down seems to have any training. No matter what question you ask them you are greeted with a deer-​in-​the-​headlights blank look. Whoever you ask always seems to have to call someone else, who seems to wing whatever answer pops into their head.
— If the deer can’t reach someone else (which is most of the time) they say someone will get back to you. They never do. Never. If you call to follow-​up you have to start from scratch because no one even knows who you are.
— They have zero proactivity. I am used to having large balances in my bank accounts and one of my banks only has locations in another state, but if they sense unusual activity on my account they call me on the telephone to verify it. And they are a very large bank. I have a LOT of money at DSFCU and no one has ever proactively called me for any reason.
— Standing in line to complete a transaction is like watching paint dry (see «lack of training» above). The few active (active = euphemism) tellers have to get instructions for virtually every transaction while the rest of the staff who seem to spend their time moving the same paper from Point A to Point B and back again have perfected the art of never making eye contact with the line that winds through the lobby.
— To reinforce the item about never returning phone calls, they simply do not reply to anything … phone calls, emails, communications posted at their website, postal mail, carrier pigeons dressed as Santa being tossed down their chimney, notes tied to the tails of cute puppy dogs … and that includes Susan Frank who I guess feels she is too important to take care of her customers.
It’s a royal pain to have to close my account and go through the hassle of moving it to another bank or credit union but honestly DSFCU has done nothing to earn my business.
BTW, odd that one of the few «positive» reviews of DSFCU anywhere seems to be written by Ms. Frank and her little doggie. Smells fake to me (the review, not the dog).

The above review is simply untrue. I recently made a purchase for a large dollar amount using Pay Pal. I apparently double clicked when approving the transaction and the payment came out twice instead of just once. It takes 4 days afer resolving the issue for the money to be deposited back into your account. Desert Schools charged me $ 180 worth of $ 30 Non Sufficient fund fees, 4 of which in in just one day. They offered to overturn $ 30 worth of fees. I am outraged. They charged me $ 180 to loan me about $ 300 for 3 days. This is a predatory practice. I have been a customer of Desert Schools since the early 1990’s and things sure have changed since then. I am happy to pay 1 flat fee per day, but $ 120 in one day is absurd. I am truly offended by there lack of understanding and lack of compassion in this situation. I felt like I was back at Chase or Bank of America. I am searching for another bank that shuns this practice, please let me know if you know of any! I will be writing my congressmen in hopes of preventing this from happening to you. A $ 180 mouse click, who knew?

I love Desert Schools, but especially this location! This place is the BEST bank I have ever been to in my entire life.
The people that work here are so friendly and helpful– I almost forgot I was at a bank. They even let me bring my doggie in with me. Also, unlike other banks, they actually don’t let you keep using your if you don’t have money in it, that way you don’t keep getting ridiculous overdraft fees.
I have talked everybody I know into switching to this bank and they love it too!