Alrighty, this is sort of a "tell me about x" thread, but it's mostly just me needing to rant about something. I'll start with the part that I'd like some answers to; if anybody here has a credit union, what's it like as opposed to working with a bank? I'm an Econ major, so I know the different ways that they operate, I'd just like to hear about the experience of being in a credit union. Bout all I've heard from people I know is that it's easier to get approved for loans. Reason I ask is that I'm considering joining one.
Cue the rant; I've been banking with Wells Fargo for the better part of five years now. I actually haven't had much trouble with them, staff has always been really helpful and courteous at every branch I've ever been to, they're really good about correspondence (or so I thought) and getting your shit mailed to you, it's overall been a pleasant experience. The problem I've had with them here lately, however, is big enough to make me wanna pull all of my shit and leave.
About four years ago, I got my first credit card through Wells Fargo. Really cut and dry card with an insanely high APR and a little rinky-dink 700 dollar limit. Over the years I worked on it and built the limit up. For most of the time that I've had the card, I've had a balance on it; I typically only used it in emergency situations like car repairs (etc.) so the balance tended to be a bit high, but I always made sure to pay at least three times the minimum on time every month.
Back around the middle of may, I figured I'd go ahead and pay the balance off the card completely, since I'm back in school and don't particularly want more debt than I'm already wracking up in Stafford loans, etc. Now, by this point I actually hadn't used the card in a long time (it got destroyed by an ex-girlfriend's dog) so after paying it off, I decided to order a new card just in case I needed it. The new card comes in a day later; it's expired.
They shipped me an expired card.
So I take it up to my local branch and a banker puts me on the phone with one of their credit center reps. She pulls up the info on my account and drops a bombshell; my account's been closed out.
This is obviously news to me. When I paid the balance on this card off, I didn't intend for the account to be closed out, nor did I want it to be, since I've heard that shit'll actually damage your credit rating. I'm told that the bank closed the account out shortly after I paid off the balance for "security" reasons; they claim that the address listed for the account hadn't been updated in over a year. Why this is sufficient reason for terminating a line of credit, I have no fucking idea. Why they'd say my address hadn't been updated when I've lived at the same place for a year and have received plenty of things from them (including credit card statements) I have no fucking idea. I'm mostly pissed off about the fact that they did this and never even bothered telling me. So maybe it's just my paranoia, but I'm finding myself more inclined to believe that my account got closed because they think I'm some kind of liability even though this makes no sense either, since they've never had any issues with me and my credit rating is fairly good.
In any event, the rep tells me that this is no big deal, though I can't open my old account back up, I can always just apply for a new card, and everything ought to be right back to normal. Though I'm pretty fucking aggravated, I agree and go through the forty-someodd minute application process. I'm approved on the spot and told that my new card should come in a few days, so I go home figuring all is well.
Earlier this week, the new card came in. It's only got a 700 fucking dollar limit. I'm upset, obviously. The limit on my old account was 4 grand. No, I don't need the extra credit, but I spent the past four years making sure I stayed ontop of this shit, I earned that limit and now it's like the bank is telling me I have to start over from scratch because of THEIR fuck-up. Suffice it to say, I'm pissed off more out of principle than anything else. So yesterday evening, I paid the branch yet another visit to request an extension on the card's credit limit. Unfortunately, I won't hear anything back from them till about Monday, but even if the extension does go through, I'm strongly considering pulling most--if not all--of my funds and getting on with my school's credit union, which I've heard nothing but good things about.
Cue the rant; I've been banking with Wells Fargo for the better part of five years now. I actually haven't had much trouble with them, staff has always been really helpful and courteous at every branch I've ever been to, they're really good about correspondence (or so I thought) and getting your shit mailed to you, it's overall been a pleasant experience. The problem I've had with them here lately, however, is big enough to make me wanna pull all of my shit and leave.
About four years ago, I got my first credit card through Wells Fargo. Really cut and dry card with an insanely high APR and a little rinky-dink 700 dollar limit. Over the years I worked on it and built the limit up. For most of the time that I've had the card, I've had a balance on it; I typically only used it in emergency situations like car repairs (etc.) so the balance tended to be a bit high, but I always made sure to pay at least three times the minimum on time every month.
Back around the middle of may, I figured I'd go ahead and pay the balance off the card completely, since I'm back in school and don't particularly want more debt than I'm already wracking up in Stafford loans, etc. Now, by this point I actually hadn't used the card in a long time (it got destroyed by an ex-girlfriend's dog) so after paying it off, I decided to order a new card just in case I needed it. The new card comes in a day later; it's expired.
They shipped me an expired card.
So I take it up to my local branch and a banker puts me on the phone with one of their credit center reps. She pulls up the info on my account and drops a bombshell; my account's been closed out.
This is obviously news to me. When I paid the balance on this card off, I didn't intend for the account to be closed out, nor did I want it to be, since I've heard that shit'll actually damage your credit rating. I'm told that the bank closed the account out shortly after I paid off the balance for "security" reasons; they claim that the address listed for the account hadn't been updated in over a year. Why this is sufficient reason for terminating a line of credit, I have no fucking idea. Why they'd say my address hadn't been updated when I've lived at the same place for a year and have received plenty of things from them (including credit card statements) I have no fucking idea. I'm mostly pissed off about the fact that they did this and never even bothered telling me. So maybe it's just my paranoia, but I'm finding myself more inclined to believe that my account got closed because they think I'm some kind of liability even though this makes no sense either, since they've never had any issues with me and my credit rating is fairly good.
In any event, the rep tells me that this is no big deal, though I can't open my old account back up, I can always just apply for a new card, and everything ought to be right back to normal. Though I'm pretty fucking aggravated, I agree and go through the forty-someodd minute application process. I'm approved on the spot and told that my new card should come in a few days, so I go home figuring all is well.
Earlier this week, the new card came in. It's only got a 700 fucking dollar limit. I'm upset, obviously. The limit on my old account was 4 grand. No, I don't need the extra credit, but I spent the past four years making sure I stayed ontop of this shit, I earned that limit and now it's like the bank is telling me I have to start over from scratch because of THEIR fuck-up. Suffice it to say, I'm pissed off more out of principle than anything else. So yesterday evening, I paid the branch yet another visit to request an extension on the card's credit limit. Unfortunately, I won't hear anything back from them till about Monday, but even if the extension does go through, I'm strongly considering pulling most--if not all--of my funds and getting on with my school's credit union, which I've heard nothing but good things about.
