UCCU - Pleasant Grove Branch — Local services in Pleasant Grove

I recently walked into this branch to open a new checking account with direct deposit, and I was flabbergasted by how much friction their onboarding process presented. I have impeccable credit and had planned to transfer a substantial balance, but apparently they didn’t want my business.

The pain started immediately. As I gave them my name and SSN, it triggered some sort of security alert that a manager needed to override. I have a very unique name, and nothing like this has ever happened to me, but ok, you can never be too careful, so I waited while they cleared up the issue, slightly amused, but not happy about the wasted time.

Next, after scanning my DL, they asked for an answer to a “backup security question.” This is really an antiquated practice, and every security professional dismisses it as a completely inappropriate authentication method in the 21st century. Nevertheless, I recognize that a lot of banks have not yet caught up with security best practices, so I offered a contrived answer, which was completely unforgettable to me, but which no adversary would ever be able to guess or impersonate me with. To my surprise, they refused to let me do this.

The last straw was when they insisted I could join their credit union only if I also joined a “financial advice” program that comes with an annual fee. Apparently, there was no way to not be part of this gimmick.

At this point, I realized that if I was going to have such a difficult time just signing up, probably my entire banking experience was going to be bad. I walked out, mid-application. That’s 45 minutes I’ll never get back.

That evening, I compared notes with a friend who tried UCCU last year. She thanked me for the sense of validation my story gave her. She had apparently suffered a bad experience there, too.

The UCCU associate handling my membership application was very pleasant and polite, but she also seemed unempowered to make customers happy (judging from how many times she left her desk). I suspect she is too inexperienced to recognize how ridiculous her institution’s demands are, perhaps having never banked anywhere else. I am not a dumb sheeple who just accepts all the hoops an organization presents without applying a bit of critical thought, and she probably regarded me as a difficult customer. I’m grateful for her patience.

The cardinal rule of business is to never make it hard for a customer to give you money. But UCCU made it clear they just didn’t want my business...

This is a complaint that applies not only to this credit union but to some other credit unions and banks. My experience with this particular credit union is limited, but my impression of it has been positive enough so far. However, it REALLY bothers me that I cannot contact a particular office when I have a question about that particular office such as whether or not they have a notary there at a given time. I just now called the customer service number to ask for phone numbers to two particular offices so that I could contact them about notary availability when I am ready to go in to sign a document that needs notarizing. Instead of giving me the phone numbers, she put me on hold and contacted both of the offices to ask if they had a notary there today. Not only did that make me feel like a child (or a criminal), but it wasn't helpful. I wasn't wondering about today, I was wondering about a day next week. But since I didn't know the girl was going to call in my behalf instead of give me the numbers, I hadn't told her the details of my question. Now I have to call customer service AGAIN next week and have someone call again for me because they don't trust that I am mature or experienced enough to figure out when my inquiry requires that I call a particular office and when it requires that I call customer service. It feels like I'm trying to get in touch with someone at the White House when they make such a big deal out of screening calls to...

I used to get great customer service here but the last year it’s become terrible. In the past 12 months I have experienced an incredible decline in customer service. It used to be the best I had ever in any business and has now become close to the worst. I am put on hold at least 1 to 2 times for extensive periods no matter how simple my inquiry. Staff have been rude and condescending and been laughing with other staff when on the phone with me. I have not left any negative reviews anywhere hoping this was temporary. Also when I paid a bill online the amount would show in my account so I didn’t over spend and now I continue to have problems monthly with my balance not showing correctly and then it allows a bill to come through and my account goes negative and I’m hit with $25 charges and I had no indication that would happen. I’ve been there for 15 plus years and this never happened until the last 18 months or so. I’ve tried to message member services but I’m blocked from them. I just want to be treated fairly that’s all I ask....