Technology Credit Union

The ATM gives 100s, only time I want cash is when I’m going to Vegas and I want 100s.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would withdrawal again

Horrible. So I walk in, and am told to sign in and take a seat. Sign in. Like, with a pen? Yes. On a clipboard. On a table. In the middle of the lobby.
That’s it. For the next 10 minutes I sat there, no movement, nobody else in line moved, no one came to give us an update.
That was literally the most pathetic customer service I’ve ever received from a bank… you know, the people that have my money… and I moved to them because they are a community credit union!
I’m done. I’ve had it with these jokers. I’m taking my money or of Tech CU immediately.

If it were possible to give negative stars I would. I deposited a check through their smartphone app and found to my horror that I had been charged 9 x $ 28 for «insufficient funds», even though I had deposited funds over three days earlier! Upon calling the representative told me that it hadn’t BEEN three days as one of those was a Saturday, to which I asked if it wasn’t true that they have operating hours EVERY saturday, with tellers at windows etc… I pointed out that if I could walk into a mortar and brick building and do business with an employee on a Saturday then surely that should count as a business day. Well the young man put me on hold and upon returning from speaking with a Monica Gonzales, I was told that she would only approve the removal of 3 of the nine charges! I asked what that implied? That I was one third correct? I was still on the hook for 6x$ 28!!!
Three or four of the charges were for debit transactions of much LESS than the $ 28!!!
Miss Gonzales is a HORRIBLE customer service representative.
BEWARE!!!

Good credit union, friendly helpful staff but I am extremely unhappy that they closed down the Mountain View branch, even after our requests not to do so, because now the branch in Sunnyvale is extremely inconvenient for us to drive all the way through Mountain view and Sunnyvale to get to. Their staff is excellent, their services competitive, and are otherwise I think that its a rather good credit union in my thirty years of being with them.

Should not even get a star. If you need to come into the branch prepare to waste your entire day. Customer service has gone into the toilet since going to desk side service.

After lots of frustration trying to refinance our house with the same mortgage broker we’d used several times before, we eventually gave up and turned to our credit union. Poonam at this branch helped us without any problems and complications and we were able to close within a few weeks, and that at a better rate than the mortgage broker could offer.

Very bad customer service and I don’t think they care about your account. They changed the website and removed all my auto pays. When I set up a new autopay it started deducting more (twice) than the installment that I did not notice. So the loan got paid earlier but there was 95 cents it did not find on the last installment and even it did not try to get it from the last 25 $ in the saving account or generated any warning. They slapped a late charge. The moment I found out, 7 days after the due date I closed the loan paying off the balance. I explained to them that this is an auto pay set up issue but no one listened. I guess they don’t care about a long clean and valued customer account.

I am a member of this bank solely because its the bank my family uses. We have all come home with horror stories about the incompetence of the staff here.
1) My teenage brother got an ATM card and went traveling with it. He called home from EUROPE and said that this ATM card doesn’t work. Upon wiring him money at great expense and going to Tech CU, they claimed that he shouldn’t have been able to get an ATM card if he is not yet 16… but yet they gave him one, but just didn’t hook it up to his account.
2) Whilst complaining about another problem, my mom noticed another teenager using an ATM card. She asked the staff why this boy had an ATM card, and her son (my brother) couldn’t get one, they said, «he has a student account, its not called an ATM card» She asked why she was not given a student account for my brother in Europe and they looked blankly at her, unable to answer the question.
3) Whilst wiring money to Europe, only part of the money arrived. When asked why this was, they were told that the currency rates had changed from the day she sent it, to the day that it arrived. When asked for the currency exchange rate for the day, they gave a different rate to what was quoted elsewhere, on every single currency exchange website. When this was pointed out, they claimed, «That’s Google’s exchange rate, not ours. We have a different rate today» Conveniently, the rate quoted was NOT in the customer’s favor. Surprise surprise!
4) Came to look for a mortgage quote. The woman made a phone call, got the rate and then whispered, «Is it good?» This signifies she had no idea about A: what is the current interest rate and B: She has no idea about how competitive the bank is to others. (answer, not very)
5) My paycheck got lost in transit from my employer to my bank account. They finally managed to track it down in their system. It had gone to the unclaimed funds department. I asked why this had happened, they said they didn’t know who it belonged to. I asked if my name was visible on the cheque, they said yes, but for security reasons they had to hold on to it, because it got rejected by the «system» The account number and name on the cheque match my own. After spending 45 minutes of explaining that I had not received the funds after giving my employer correct information, I was told that the account number I gave them was incorrect. I told them that this account number had ensured that I get paid every single month for the past 4 years. They said this is impossible and «just this once» waived the fee to get me my money.
Time to change banks I think.

I will give TechCU a zero star if that option was available. They are the worse banking institution I have ever dealt with in my ENTIRE life. Worse when it comes to personal banking and EVEN MORE WORSE, when is comes to MORTGAGES. DO NOT GO TO TECHCU FOR YOUR MORTGAGE. You’ll live to regret that decision. After refusing to lower my interest rate on my mortgage years ago, they decided it was better for them to not reduce the interest rate on my mortgage, that i have had with them for over five years, but rather take a loss on the mortgage and sale the house to someone else for alot less in a short sale. although I had a job and was able to make my payment.
Although my short sale was from years ago, TECHCU had deliberately and repeatedly posted wrong info on my credit report time and time again. Not only have they wrongfully listed the short sale as a foreclosure, but they have been deliberately updating the late dates leading up to my short sale, on a frequently basis. Meaning, they change the dates on my credit file, as though my late payment dates were three months ago. whereby my short sale was over two years ago. The do this to prevent you from moving on with your life. I have had to file disputes, after disputes with the credit agencies over these misrepresentations.
These are a bunch of insane banking clowns… My next action against them will be a lawsuit. if they keep up with the BS!
So consumer, consider yourself warned… They are EXTRA nice when they want your business, but once the get you in… Make sure you stop by Walmart or CVS and get yourself a jar of Vaseline after you leave that bank, because somewhere down the line, you’re going to need that jar of Vaseline.
This bank and its people are BAD NEWS… Stay Away From TECHCU!!!

Can I give no stars! Ridiculous.
The worse credit union ever in the world. They changed their web site and it hides the monthly amount (I Have a HELOC). I could not find what my monthly payment was.
The charged me $ 25 for being $ 18 short. I paid my monthly amount. I asked them to waive it as it was really a terrible web site (their new website). They basically said it’s not our fault — too bad.
TechCu, absolutely sucks this will be the last time I use them. The minute I get a new credit union I will transfer all my money over. They will nickel and dime you all the way to the bank. Stay Away!!!

This is a review for their Home Equity Line of Credit. Their rate is competitive and they advertise no-​cost to get the loan. The application process went smoothly most of the time except that the loan was not actually no-​cost because they were not willing to pay some fee that they considered «rare» albeit it’s not. When I asked them which fee they covered, they weren’t able to give me any specifics. I think this can be considered as deceptive advertising.

Ok. I’m biased. I’m a customer of Golden 1 Credit union (awesome!). I used this TechCU branch ATM on a Saturday for a cash withdrawal and got 3 $ 100 bills and the rest in $ 20’s for a total of $ 400. Passing $ 100 bills around isn’t too welcome even by Silicon Valley standards. I stepped inside to «break the $ 100’s. The woman REFUSED to change the bills because I NEEDED a customer account. They «don’t keep cash» at the desk. I’m not sure how having an account number would change things. I said goodbye.
I sincerely have trouble believing any institution would put up a roadblock to a potential customer considering THEIR ATM dispensed the awkwardly large bills. 1 Star.
Now, I’m going to The Golden 1 Credit Union on Unilocal and giving them 5 Stars for my 20+ year relationship. Cars, houses, Credit Cards all financed and paid. They WANT my business.

Not enough tellers. MV office was closed and there was a big line

I guess anyone who rates banks on Unilocal has to be partially biased since this is a place of need, and not an establishment one would frequent for joy alone.
That being said, I like the atmosphere, the building, and the people. Would I necessarily go out of my way to come back here? No.
Is it only a stone’s throw away from my office? Yes.
So will I go here? Probably.

I opened an account online with TechCU at the advice of a friend and it has been a terrible experience. It took nearly a week between applying for an account and being approved. The day after the application, they requested a scanned copy of my driver’s license and a utility bill, which I promptly sent them. Two days later, I hear back that my new interim driver’s license would not work for them; they needed a state issued /​photo/​ID, which was not stated in the original request. I sent them a scan of my ID from my former state of residence, which was not longer valid as a result of having replaced it with a California ID. It took them until the following day to determine that this would work for them, but now they told me that the utility bill scan was insufficient. It was larger than my scanner bed and the boiler plate at the bottom had been truncated. Apparently they needed this for some reason. I scanned this in an sent it in. Finally, the following day my account was approved — six days following the application.
This delay could have been avoided if the application had clearly stated what would be required or if the initial E-​mail had been clear.
Now time to deposit my second pay-​check. This included reimbursement for moving expenses and amounted to just over $ 10k. The check is a payroll check issued by ADP, which provides payroll for thousands of companies and is drawn on ADP’s account. I was told that a hold would be placed on this for 7 working days as a security measure to protect the bank.
This is what it states in the member guide, so I did not make much of it until I realized that I only had $ 200 remaining in my out-​of-​state bank account and this was going to have to last nine real days.
I figured that I would just apply for a $ 1,500 credit line and this would be sufficient for the following week and a half. Wrong again. The next day they let me know that I had been turned down. Why? Because I had payed off all of my debts and closed all of my credit account six years prior — no recent credit history. I retrieved a copy of my credit report and it shows cars loans, home mortgage loans, credit card loans, and home equity loans — not a single missed payment with any of them. Not a single black mark. This apparently equates to a poor credit score with whatever method they use to determine these things these days. My biggest sin has been electing to pay everything off and not borrow money from anyone for six years.
You would think that a live human being would be able to look at my record and make a reasonable judgement call, even if the scoring system is broken. Not at TechCU! Can’t risk giving this person $ 1,500 in unsecured credit! Never mind that I make $ 135,000 a year. I had an unsecured $ 7,000 credit line when I was nineteen for crying-​out-​load; I’m 38 now.
I contacted TechCU to see if there was anything which could be done to expedite the hold on the check, after being denied the line of credit. I was told that there was nothing that could be done, she did not have the authority, and referred me back to the member agreement. She did indicate that the first $ 200 of the deposit would be made available the next day, which was untrue. My initial deposit to open the account is not even available yet! My available balance is still zero. I demanded to speak with someone with authority and I was passed to the manager.
She indicated that there was no way they could know if the check had cleared and that she believed the issuing bank would not be able to tell her and seven working days would have to pass to ensure the check would not bounce. This is 2013, not 1972. They have these things called computers and networks these days.
Is modern banking really this backwards? I doubt it. This looks more like an example of being rigidly inflexible and demanding that they be given this amount of time just because there is a loophole in the federal regulations, which allows screwing customers for the first thirty days. They do this not because of any real concerns over loosing money, but because they are allowed to.
I pleaded that a small amount of the deposit be freed from the hold. $ 500? $ 200 $ 100 Nope! Nothing for you. That would incur too much risk! What if my payroll check from ADP, only one of the nation’s largest payroll providers, bounced? The bank might be out $ 200, which I could not possibly repay with my $ 135k salary!
As a side note, Walmart was able to verify and cash my previous check from ADP within five minutes. How is it that Walmart can feel secure cashing one of these checks, but TechCU needs nine day hold?
I’ll probably just pull all my money out as soon as this check clears, close my account, and move to a bank which actually knows a thing or two about customer service.

This review is for my Mortgage experience only. It was a painful 13 business days with me having to be pro-​active every day. If I wasn’t I am sure it would have taken at least 5 business days more. In any case, I fould myself being lied to, being given terse one liners without any explanation. My first day of loan application was awesome. Things changed after the appraiser didn’t even contact the realtors on the next day. They had to change appraisers (i was actually told by the loan officer that it was a bad company, if so then why did they even go to them!). In any case, I can rant into a couple of pages, but suffice to say, I would not recommend anyone to go through them. My real estate agent who’s a veteran in the field with 2.5 decades of experience, said he had the lowest opinion of them because of what i’ve been through. Just FYI, they aren’t super accomodating in interacting with your agent.
Another thing, the «we close in 10 days or you get a $ 500 gift card» promise wasn’t honored. The reason i was given was that delay by appraisals are not counted. I agree that it’s a very regulated process with the appraisals, but in my view, those 3 days of delay were not all by appraisals. I could at max discount 2 days for that.
After all this, I expected that TechCU would try their best to keep me a satisfied customer, but even after i requested for the gift card, they refused… twice.
I do need to mention that the AVP of mortgage originations, Steve, personally oversaw the funding stage to make sure there were no hiccups and I really appreciated that.
If I were to give a separate review for my day-​to-​day experience with the bank, I would give a 5 star to TechCU, because i’ve had very good experiences and there are very nice people there in general. But the mortgage experience had left me quite unhappy.

Perhaps I’m black-​and-​white when it comes to what’s good about banks.
What I want in a bank:
1) Good customer service
2) Flexible hours for folks after work
3) Many ATMs in the area
4) Good variety of financial products: savings accounts, free and fee checking accounts, CDs, loans, etc.
5) Drive-​thru ATM
And how does this Tech CU meet these?
1) Decent
2) Could be better (open till 6 or 7 would make me happy)
3) Could be better (need more in Palo Alto and Mountain View area)
4) Good; the free checking account is simple and great
5) Yes!
I might consider moving to a new credit union or bank if there aren’t more ATMs in the nearby future, but for now, I’m sticking with Tech CU.

Been a customer for about 2 years now and I think this branch is okay.
Good points:
— No lines/​convenient
— Prompt service at teller windows
— Makes credit cards/​ATM cards in-​house so you leave with your card right away & don’t have to wait for it in the mail.
Meh points:
— One ATM, one drive-​up ATM
— Charges for card replacements ($ 5)
— Slow to send check re-​orders (took over 3 weeks to get my set)
Bad points:
— Customer reps have horrible attitudes
— Policies are rigid and not geared towards customer satisfaction
I have to say that this place is really a 3.5 star place but I rounded it down to 3-​stars because today I went inside to see if I can get my ATM/​debt card replaced because: it’s about to expire, it sometimes doesn’t read when being used, the CVV number in the back is not readable and it’s cracked on the side. They wanted me to pay $ 5 for a card replacement or wait a few more months for my new free card. The teller put a piece of flimsy 3M tape on the back of my card and wrote my CVV in for me.
Um, okay. I left feeling dissatisfied but I’ve been treated a lot worse by BofA for less.

Drive-​thru ATM? Amazing!
This branch is a walk away from my place. It’s very convenient and it’s barely crowded any day, any time.
For several years, I have been banking with TechCu and so far service has been efficient and fast.
Last weekend, I lost my Debit Card (blame it on The Goose). I got my card blocked and later in the week, I called TechCu (this branch to inform them that I will be dropping by to pick up a new card. I also informed them that I use this account to pay for my mortgage and that my payment might get delayed if I don’t inform them of my new card, since I have already mailed my payment.
April, one of the representatives was the one to help me. She was very prompt and helpful, she gave me necessary information about how to deal with my mortgage concern. The problem was addressed the same day and I got me a new card.
The tellers are also friendly and quick. This branch is in a little strip along Oakmead and Lakeside. Pretty quiet and homey-​looking. There’s plenty of seats in the waiting area as well. Not bad at all.

This CU has to be THE WORST financial institution I’ve ever dealt with. Here are the highlights:
1. You schedule a meeting and the employee shows up late and then makes you wait while they «get settled» and have some coffee. Never mind that you took off work and have to be back in time to keep the boss happy and continue to be employed.
2. Some (not all) of the tellers are flat-​out rude and incompetent. How long does it take to deposit a check and get a receipt? Does 13 minutes sound like a long time to you? That’s standing at the window, not waiting in line…
3. How about some bait and switch on advertised rates? Sure, there are great advertised rates, but you have to deposit tens of thousands to get the rate. No thanks, with that kind of a deposit I expect a lot more. Not to mention good service. I’ll keep my money in an institution that values my business.
4. Home loan/​Refinance? Are you kidding me? Do you really want to wait 5 — 6 months for your transaction to go through? Do you want a loan officer who can’t remember your name, account details, or what the next step is? Kiss your sanity good-​bye if you ever decide to use Tech CU for a major financial transaction that impacts your financial future.
Overall, working with Tech CU has been a nightmare. If I could figure out what I did in the past that earned the bad karma and sent me to Tech CU in the first place I would correct it 10 times over! If only…