Please see attached an update to my earlier published article about the $885.00 fee that Grow Financial Federal Credit Union charged my account for a withdraw. This is an open letter for you to print that I sent to the National Credit Union’s Association in regards to recent documents that have come to light in regards to Grow (FCU). (Please do not print my address if you run this article.) These documents prove the deception that the credit union is involved in with defrauding its customers in regards to hidden fees. I think there will be great interest in this update, especially when the credit unions are attempting to grab new customers who are bitter over the extra fees that banks are now charging for debit cards, etc. It would be doing a great service to your readers to let them know that there are indeed deceitful credit unions out there as well (as banks) who will unscrupulously take advantage of customers if given the chance. Let your readers be warned to check carefully with whom they do business with and to carefully confirm any potential fees involved in any transactions that they may be involved in. As you can see from my experience, conflicting information can be given even within the same company. Get it in writing if anything at all seems sketchy and don’t sign anything that isn’t carefully read over beforehand. The Better Business Bureau may also be a good place to start to see if anyone has complained about a credit union or bank you may be thinking about doing business with.
I would say that the majority of bank and credit union customers are under the assumption that the government or the NCUA protects them when it comes to their deposits being held in these institutions but that may not be the case. As we all should know by now, the government cannot be trusted.
Robert Johnson
Above Sent to TBT newspaper
Below Sent to St. Petersburg Times newspaper
Subject: Banking Fees
After being charged an $885.00 hidden fee for a cash withdraw from Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, I contacted the agency that is supposed to regulate them, the NCUA. They responded with, “it is the credit union itself that elects a committee to serve as independent auditors of the credit union.” Case Closed. So it is the credit union that essentially “investigates” itself? It seems there would be a conflict of interest if this were the case? So in other words, the banks and credit unions can literally steal from us and we have no recourse! 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.
AFTER I was charged this hidden fee, my sister went into Grow Financial Federal Credit Union and walked out with an employee signed document that stated this, “there are no fees for cash withdraws of any amount.” Wake up people- the clock is ticking!
Robert Johnson
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Saint Petersburg FL 33704