Ventura County Credit Union – Thousand Oaks

Teller machines work well. Unfortunately I have difficulty trying to deposit several checks at once into the machine. However if I do one at a time they work great.

I don’t come out to the physical branches much since moving to LA, but these folks still take good care of me! I’ve been with them for about 5 years now, I think. I’m pretty sure I joined around Dump Your Bank Day. I was with Wells Fargo at the time and found out they were going to start charging checking accounts that did not have direct deposit AND did not keep a minimum balance of $ 500. I was a 20-​something working at a small business where my boss just did not want to do direct deposit for whatever reason. I couldn’t afford a monthly fee just to keep a checking account, much less keep a minimum of $ 500 to avoid it. I had student loans, car payments, rent, bills… And ALL of the big banks were doing the same thing.
So I looked into credit unions and found VCCU. I went down to the TO branch on my lunch break one day and opened a FREE checking account. No charge to keep my money AND they had Saturday hours. The only times I was ever charged was the rare overdraft fee. (Hey, it happens.) Some time later, I signed up for a credit card and got a GREAT rate (which is still great to this day). A couple years ago, when the Target credit card breach happened, they mailed me a new debit AND credit card. And just last week, when for the first time ever I became a victim of credit (technically debit) card fraud, they called me to verify what was happening before I was even aware of it and very kindly explained what I needed to do. I drove out to my TO branch (let me repeat how grateful I am for those Saturday hours) and within 10 minutes I had a new debit card ready to use right away.
When I moved to LA, I had almost considered switching to a credit union out here for convenience, but either none of them had those precious Saturday hours (seriously, guys, thank you) or they had a cold, corporate vibe that reminded me of my big bank days. I’m SO glad I stayed with VCCU, and I’m planning on staying with them for a long time!

I must say… Amanda Hamilton, Sean McCulloch and the team a VCCU are outstanding!!! I needed a car loan and a small personal loan… This was the quickest easiest loan application process I have ever experienced! Five stars all the way… I highly recommend VCCU to all…
Great company!

Fraudulent company, will add more money to your loan and conduct tampering of your account without any notice to the customer, here I am almost finished paying my loan and they want to add money because they’re broken down credit union can’t do business the legit way instead they want to steal money from you and make you think you owe them … $ 5000 in repo fees that my car never was in repo status LOL C’mon…small claims case has been filed and NO I would never suggest such a company.

To the VCCU branch in Thousand Oaks.
Amanda and Chris, I want to thank you for all of your help last week with my truck loan. You were absolutely great. I can’t put into word how much you put me at ease with the whole process. I was very stressed out with the car buying process, and you were so great!
The personal service I got was amazing. Not only did you give me the information I needed, you gave me information I didn’t know I needed, and really helped me feel prepared and safe with the truck purchase.
Again, thank you so much! It is people like you and service like what I’ve received that make me happy to be a part of VCCU.

I had a fantastic experience in the loan department at VCCU today with Amanda! Not only did VCCU offer the best rate possible for an Auto Loan, they were extremely efficient during the loan document signing process. Thank you Amanda for your personal, professional and efficient service. You are amazing at what you do. Nice job!

I have been banking with vccu for a couple years now, as well as my family. I have personally dealt with 2 separate car loans with them, both of them went as smooth as can be, with amazing interest rates. The friendliness and helpfulness of their staff is the best I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Specifically Amanda Hamilton has gone WAY above her call of duty and has been such a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend this bank for any of your banking/​loan needs.

I began with the «assistant manager» inquiring about an auto loan. In the spirit of keeping positive I will just say that by the time I saw Amanda Hamilton she could see how frustrated I was with the lack of response, replies and misinformation I was given thus far and she started all over with me. «let’s start at the beginning so I understand». From that moment forward everything for the most part was a breeze. She was thorough in her explanations. She was detailed, kind, and took her time with me and my husband to make sure we understood all of the mumbo jumbo that goes on. AND she replies to her phone messages and emails quickly! Amanda was simply amazing. She has a great personality and is very knowledgeable. She took her time. Not once did we feel like «what the heck are we doing» or «what is she talking about». A great great experience with Amanda. Highly recommend dealing with Amanda.
my only complaint about VCCU is the customer service main number. Rarely does anyone answer and if they do answer they can’t or don’t help. You need a direct line to someone IN the bank.

VCCU is Amazing. Been banking here for the past 7 years. I recommend you talk with Amanda Hamilton, she is helpful and cares about the client unlike other banks.

Sal is my credit guy and he’s the best! Not only was he friendly, he was extremely informative, professional and got me the best deals possible. He really knows how to take care of his costumers and was always there to answer my questions.

Been here for years and watched a steady decline in quality. They recently cancelled my ATM card because of a security breach — not even an email! When I called the branch (it took three calls and over ½ hour to get through) they said that I’d be notified by mail. Maybe I could overlook this if it was an isolated incident, but it’s the pattern. Lousy online banking, lousy policies, difficulty in solving problems. When you finally get though to someone on the phone, you understand the employee’s misery and how they are also held hostage by policies and procedures and make the whole banking experience time consuming and difficult. If I wanted to be treated this way I would have stayed at Bank of America. Now I’m going through the hassle of closing my account.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. I was on hold for 45 minutes then when a rep finally answered she transferred me and the call was disconnected! I had to call back and wait on hold all over again! Their voicemail also says you’re calling «after hours» when it’s still during business hours and they will return your call the next business day. Wtf?! This isn’t the first time I’ve had challenges getting through on the phone. Clearly their phone system sucks!!! If I didn’t have my car loan through them, I wouldn’t be banking here…

I have an auto loan with them. If I knew the constant trouble I would have, I would have gone elsewhere… and fast. Every month that I pay, I have to go online and complete two transactions. One from my bank account to the bank account they required I set up and one from the bank account with VCCU into the auto loan. Ok, not that big of a deal. HOWEVER, their website rarely works the way its meant to. Its outdated. From the 90’s. Then they tried to fix it, and I had to sign up again with all new information. But it didn’t work for over a week and there was nothing they could/​would do. Even after the new website was implemented, it did not work. Tons of bugs. So I had to call in to make the payment on time. Oh and calling in is a special treat. The only thing worse than their on-​line website is the call center which you WILL be on hold for 20 minutes or more and then get disconnected. Or better yet, the menu options (organized by third graders I’m sure) send you on a wild goose chase whereby you get to select the same options multiple times only to end up with a final automated message that has told you that you must call the 800 number — THAT YOU JUST FREAKIN CALLED! Getting a new loan as I write this review. Run, hide, and never let your loan be serviced by VCCU. I can’t believe anyone deals with this nonsense.

Slowly going down hill. It started about a year or two ago. VCCU started messing with their online banking. Which is now just about worthless. I have experience great customer service but things have been on the decline…
I would put the website back the way it was two years ago and focus on the reason people go there. Great customer service.
The website is so out of touch.

I’ve been banking here for a year. There’s nothing wrong with the physical location but the online banking systems are out of date. And the call center staff can’t assist with anything. The system has messed up my account many times and made my account to look like I was hundreds over drawn because of fees that were added on. This has happened 4 times so far. Every time it happens the people over the phone can’t help and I have to personally go in and spend 30 minutes while they go in the back and get their managers approval… to fix their own mistake. This place has given me quite the headache. I need an up to date place to bank. I wish they were.

Horrible experiences!!! Online bill pay unavailable for over a week at a time, phone systems crashed in April we are in August and still not fixed. This bank and all its systems are ridiculously antiquated. I left Big banking to try and get away from «the Man» but ended up with a lemon. Do not choose this bank for Business purposes. If you need to be able to get to your money and constantly balance your checking this is not the bank for you.

They have great customer service. If you need a car loan, get it here. They also offer extended warranty for your purchase at half price the car dealership.

Friendly banking staff with cute tellers. There is this one guy that is a teller that could smile once in a while but. maybe that’s just the guys natural Demeanor but some smiles in your work environment never hurt anyone. The manager is really best part about this place. you could tell she really cares about her account holders. She gave me a one time Vito for over draft fees. very very professional and curious.

I can’t imagine banking anywhere else. I’ve banked at several really bad, bad banks in my life, but this sure isn’t one of them. If you don’t bank at a credit union, and you qualify for one, I just don’t get it. The high level of customer service, the lack of hidden fees and charges, the customer restroom at the local branch (see my BofA review). .. I’m sure I’m leaving some good stuff out. I shouldn’t write reviews on a Friday evening after Chinese food and wine.
This week I had a weird experience with my debit card at a Chevron in Northridge. .. well outside my bubble. My bank called me the next morning to ask about it. They’ve got my back. LOVE!

If I could give NO stars I would. The girls at the Thousand Oaks branch need not only a major attitude adjustment, but a lesson in how to be professional on the phone. There are 5 branches — the TO branch is the
«call center» so if you want to speak directly to a specific branch, like Ventura, you have to call the «call center» and have them transfer you to that branch.
If you have an ATM card and you do not use it within a specific time frame or you loose your pin number, the ONLY way they can accommodate you is if a) you walk in or b) they mail it to you. They have no way (like most banks and credit unions) of doing anything for you online or over the phone.
If you want to add someone to the account, same thing, they want you IN THE BRANCH and will not work with you to do it through fax or email.
Long story short, I’m in San Diego, the branch is in TO. I couldn’t get there, was in a desperate situation and after a couple of phone calls and manager later, I was able to work it out. But the bottom line is that this is not an accommodating branch to work with.
I highly recommend you live in the area to do business with these guys. Oh and forget the weekends. They are only open Monday — Friday which sucks for most of us that need to do some banking transactions on Saturday bcause we work during the week.
I’ve closed my account.