October 24, 2011
To: NCUA
C/O Todd M. Harper
1775 Duke St
Alexandria VA 22314
703-518-6330
CC To: Senator Bill Nelson, Attn: Dolly
Landmark Two
225 E. Robinson St Ste. 410
Orlando FL 32801
407-872-7161
From: Robert Johnson
***
Saint Petersburg FL 33704
Dear Todd Harper,
I am in receipt of a copy of your letter that was forwarded to me by senator Bill Nelson dated October 7th 2011 in regards to your decision to close the case on my complaint with Grow Financial Federal Credit Union over the $885.00 withdraw fee they charged me. I am responding to this most recent letter.
In this letter to Senator Nelson you mention that it is the credit union itself that elects a committee to serve as independent auditors of the credit union. So it is the credit union that essentially “investigates” itself? I thought that was what the NCUA was supposed to do, not the Federal Credit Union (FCU)? It seems there would be a conflict of interest if this were the case? Regardless, I am appalled that you have chosen to close the case after all the facts that I have supplied to the NCUA in how this matter was handled by Grow FCU. I have disputed their version(s) of how they are basing their analysis of this $885.00 fee and would like to expand on this with some additional facts that you may not be aware of.
1) At no time was I ever told there was fees for this withdraw. I was offered a certified check the same day but I declined, as I wanted my cash instead- that is my right. The branch manager informed me, “they would have to order the cash and it would be ready for me in two days”. I came back in two days and after being given the cash, I was still not informed of any fee(s) nor was it mentioned (printed) on the receipt I was given for the cash withdraw. Additionally, I was never asked for personal identification, nor was I ever asked to sign any paperwork for the withdraw.
Grow is stating the fees are in their fee schedule and that I was supposed to somehow know this. Am I supposed to log into their website and click through several links and then download an Adobe file (this is how it is set up!) before being informed about their fees that are charged before doing a withdraw transaction or any other transaction? Is this realistic? Why wasn’t the fee ever mentioned to me either prior to the withdraw, or at some point during the withdraw itself? The answer is obvious.
2) Grow is claiming that I was not receptive to their return telephone calls to me, that is nonsense. In the first call I placed to member services after I initially discovered the fee while viewing my account online, I was placed on hold from member services for the Saint Petersburg branch manager. She never picked up. After realizing she had no intentions of picking up my call after 20 minutes or more of waiting, I eventually disconnected the call. She called back the following Monday and we were finally able to speak. She told me that “if I was expecting her to waive the fee, I was wasting my time.” She also said, “I knew you would be angry when you found out.” Then she chuckled! It was at this point that I hung up. I also spoke to her supervisor at a later date and that was unsuccessful as well.
Why Grow would say I was uncooperative in their attempts to contact me is ridiculous. I was the one who initiated the contact in the first place to attempt to resolve the matter. I thought it had to be a mistake or something. Grow states that, “they made three attempts to discuss the matter with me and in all cases I rebuffed those attempts at resolving the matter.” This is another nonsensical response, since there was never any intention of “resolving” the matter, they had already charged me the fee without my knowledge or consent. If I was going to be charged a fee, I should have been told ahead of or at the time of the transaction at the very least. Grow purposely withheld this information from me. They went into a different account (my checking account) and took the money from me at a later time, without my knowledge or permission. I should not have been expected by Grow (FCU) to search out a fee schedule on a website by clicking through various links and then downloading a file with fees, that is completely irrational and ludicrous. I have banked with Grow since 1986 and was never informed of any fees in this manner, nor was I ever expected to know of any hidden fees that might be charged.
3) I have mentioned to both the NCUA and Grow Financial Federal Credit Union multiple times that I had documents that I can provide that prove that I was never informed of any potential fees. Not once have either of you (NCUA or Grow) asked me what this proof is. I asked Grow if I provided them with this proof, would they be willing to do the right thing and waive the fee. They did not respond and completely ignored my correspondence. I would like to offer that proof to you now.
a) I have a document from a Grow employee who assisted me in the transaction stating that they were completely unaware of any fees I was charged. This was after I was charged $885.00 for the withdraw. If she didn’t know about the fee, how could I have been expected to know about it? She said she would ask her branch manager about it and get back to me but she never did.
b) I have an additional document from another Grow employee that stipulates that, “there are no fees for cash withdraws of any amount.” This document is dated September 30 2011. Well after I was charged $885.00 for my cash withdraw.
It seems I have exhausted my attempts at concluding this in an intelligent and professional manner. It is obvious that various credit unions and the agency that regulates them are no better then the banking institutions that are taking such a hit for the recently added fees that they are instituting charging their customers. It is my intent to bring this to light for the public by forwarding this correspondence to the media, and to bring this matter to a court of law unless I am made whole. I will give Grow (FCU) 14 business days before I begin legal proceedings. I will be seeking the amount due, legal fees and any monetary amounts made available to me by the court.
Sincerely,
Robert Johnson