Sandia Area Federal Credit Union — Local services in Albuquerque

Update April 2019:

I provide a 5-star review because banking is about trust, and this credit union has helped me in a number of urgent situations with regular accounts and loan accounts in a way that shows they wanted to help their member. More importantly, when some things went wrong in the past and recently with their service, they listened and quickly corrected their errors. We're all human and it's hard to ask for more than admitting an issue and fixing it in quality customer service approach.

That is actually rare and my thanks goes to Etta Kwon, VP Branch Operations at Sandia. She helped me after seeing a negative review here, and after that, I gave her a call to correct a problem. These interactions are a good sign Sandia Area cares about feedback. The Branch Manager of this location also acted with urgency multiple times to help get things done!

Update Aug 2017: I've had occasion to go into this branch several times and have noticed a significant customer service improvement in their approach and interaction with customers. Thanks Sandia Area! The remainder of this review is historical.

Original 2015-2-16: I had an original 1-star review before these two updates because of multiple bad experiences. In one, a staff member there called me out in public, in the lobby, in front of other customers, with negative personal account information. My calls about that experience to a couple of levels of management above showed the problem then was clearly trickling down from management of this credit union to the staff that service customers. Ms. Kwon assures me changes have been made, so I have to be fair...

Just came in to open an account today and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I was a Mountain America member for a very long time but when they pulled out of New Mexico my account didn’t get automatically moved to Sunward. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Sunward does not have great reviews and I had an opportunity to look at other credit unions.

I remembered installing all the cabinets and paneling at the Sandia Area in Santa Fe back in late ‘21/early ‘22 and how nice everyone was and took a closer look at them. People seem happy with them so I decided that’s where I would go instead of Sunward. I was helped by Rebekah, who was very friendly and knowledgeable. I got set up with new checking and savings accounts and they have great perks compared to what I would have gotten from Sunward. I’m also looking at getting a new vehicle in the coming year and l’m extremely confident Sandia Area will be a great partner for all my future...

I've been a member for over 15 years. This place has gone from the best to the absolute worst. I cannot understand how they have any current positive reviews. I needed, after 15 years of membership, to open a business account. IT WAS THE WORST BANKING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE! After spending over two hours to open an account, it should have taken 30 minutes (according to Sandia), they held my check without telling me. When I went to inquire, I was finally escalated to a VP, Nancy, who was the worst manager I have ever come across. She couldn't provide a single resolution and when I finally suggested something she was rude, obnoxious, and completely unprofessional. I closed my account. As soon as possible, I will close all of my accounts. They are awful and you should be forewarned that they do NOT and cannot be helpful, customer centered, or...