Patelco Credit Union

Patelco needs to update the site and let people know a fire happened two months and this branch is closed. Also unfortunate is that the two credit unions that are supposed to accept our deposits via their ATM’s do not always work. The Credit Union on Shattuck down the street can’t take deposits inside. If the ATM rejects the deposit, it doesn’t happen. There is another affiliated credit union on Ashby near Shattuck, however that ATM machine doesn’t always work either to take deposits. Worse yet that credit union has two lines now; one for their members and one for ‘guests’…of course the guests line is out the door.

This review is specifically for the Downtown Berkeley branch rather than the institution as a whole, as that is from where all of our dissatisfaction with Patelco stems. My family’s experience with this branch in the last couple of months have been horrible and we are finally fed up and will be looking for a new bank.
Just before a recent trip to Mexico, we visited the Downtown Berkeley branch to speak with a customer service rep so that she could put a note on our account and make it so that we could use our debit cards to make purchases on our trip. Before we left the branch, we confirmed several times the dates of our trip and the location. The service rep assured us that she had made a note on our account and that we’d be able to use the cards while we were in Mexico. Needless to say, we were very angry when we tried to use our card in Mexico and it was declined. Luckily we had enough cash with us and we were only there for 4 days. If it had been a longer trip or a more distant location, we would’ve been royally screwed. I called the 800 number when I got back and the person on the phone apologized and said someone from their corporate office would call me within 1 business day to get more information. Nobody called me.
Most recently, my wife made an appointment to talk to a service rep (Downtown Berkeley branch, same rep as we dealt with before we went to Mexico) about a car loan. My wife arrived about 10 minutes before the appointment, but the service rep was «out». The rep didn’t show up until 10 minutes after the appointment time and offered no apology or explanation for her delay. After a lengthy discussion, they told her she was pre-​approved for a car loan and that they would email the letter to my wife. My wife got the email, but was a little concerned when it wasn’t signed by the loan officer. On a Sunday afternoon, after negotiating the deal for our car, we went into the dealership to make the purchase only to find out the bank never submitted the loan application to the processing system. Of course, it being Sunday, there was nobody we could call regarding our loan. Luckily, the bank offered us a better interest rate and things worked out for us in the end.
On top of all of this, if you go to the branch on a Saturday, the line of people waiting for a teller will nearly extend out of the door and the customer service people at the desks (if they are even at their desks) will be «too busy» on their computers to come out and offer help.
I can’t comprehend how a bank can operate with such an utter lack of professionalism and concern for their customers. The high level of incompetence displayed by this customer service woman was mind boggling (and I’m not referring to the window tellers). This issue with the car loan was the last straw and we are making plans to move our banking business elsewhere.

Don’t bother working with them on any kind of loan, particularly home refinance. Really poor quality assistance and a waste of time. Sad but true.

Great service without the big corporate banks. They offer great rates for loans and were able to save us a bunch of money.

This review is not so much about Berkeley branch as it is the entire company in general. They are a wolf in sheep’s clothing — a bank pretending to be a CU. Their policies are punitive to their «members». Their fees are high and some are unnecessary, and they hold checks and large transfers for more time than any other bank or CU does (I have checks held for 10 business days sometimes). For the record, I’ve been with another CU in Oregon for 15 years. I’ve also had accounts with several regional and multi-​national banks. None have been as disorganized or kept asnegative policies as Patelco. I also had several fraud instances that they never contacted me about… except the two times they canceled my debit card (in one year).There are too many good CU’s and small banks out there — don’t use Patelco.

Worst banking I’ve ever experienced. Have had multiple instances of obvious fraud that they did not contact me about, and I had to jump through hoops to contact them about it. Ridiculous. During one of the fraud situations, they shut off my debit card and NEVER NOTIFIED ME. No call, no e-​mail, nothing. Just recently, 1,000 was withdrawn from my checking account at an ATM. Apparently this is run of the mill for Patelco customers, so they opted to not mention or alert me to this occurrence. Now I’m on hold to dispute YET ANOTHER UNNOTICED FRAUD CHARGE and to also change banks. Get it together, Patelco. There are far too many options in banking for you to continue this subpar service and stay afloat.

I went in to see about opening a credit card account to pay off another high interest credit card at B of A. Paula helped me very well in assessing my needs and entering all my information on her computer.
My new credit card was approved and issued within about 15 minutes. They even made the card there in the branch. As I was using this new card to pay off B of A, They were helpful in calling to get the payoff amount and issued a Cashiers Check on the spot. I walked over to B of A and got that high interest monkey off my back!
The only small negative was that the online access info she gave me didn’t work and I had to call the Customer Service line. They were able to get me online access in just a couple of minutes.

Love the Credit Union, not a big fan of this branch. Why is it that every time I need to «pop in for a minute» and use it, it happens to be closed for the whole day, or the ATM is out of order. It is a great credit union with great offers, but navigating through this branch takes a little bit of patience.

Very fast moving line and helpful staff.

Been with Patelco for over 30 years… They handle all of my banking needs: checking, savings, IRA, auto loans, etc. The Best Credit Union!

The have good loan interest rates, but they really need to work on how they communicate with potential customers.
I tried to get an auto loan here and use their car buying service. The car buying service people misspelled my email address and eventually got a hold of me well after I had already found a car to buy. The auto loan people never gave me a confirmation that they received the required documents until two weeks after I submitted them, and by that time I had already purchased a car using dealership financing.

I find that almost all Credit Unions are friendlier than most banks, and such was the case here. I needed a simple transfer of funds from one CU to another (neither was Patelco). The only available teller was a new girl named Yelitza, and the sign at her station said she could only do simple withdrawal and deposit. With the help of Paula, they quickly and happily handled my transaction, I was in and out in 10 minutes. Very helpful, friendly and professional.

My husband and I are very pleased with the customer service at the downtown Berkeley location. Consistent great customer service and especially important knowledgable. Bigger institutions always have to call their main headquarters for any little question as usually they just graduated from college. Most questions can be answered at Patelco by a live person sitting in front of you without having to call headquarters! When it comes to finances that extra service and knowledge is very important and goes a long way! Candace, Nina and Johnny were all very friendly and knowledgable and answered the many questions we’ve had and helped us reach our goals.
The only downside is their website does not have all the capabilities as the bigger banking institutions, however, the customer service makes up for that.

I just want to thank Candice at the Berkeley Branch. My wife and I came into the branch on a Friday at 5PM, with no appointment. We were buying a car. That process takes at least an hour and a half. They close at 6. She stayed and took really good care of us, and got the transaction done. Saving me another trip to the branch. Thank you so much, Candice for your help. John & Elizabeth.

My new (used) car of 7 months was totaled by some jerk for whom traffic lights didn’t apply. I had to get another car and quickly as my insurance would only cover the rental for so long.
We saw Nina and she was wonderful. Our interest rate couldn’t have been more reasonable and my husband and I got the auto loan we wanted/​needed in just over an hour. She was cordial, informed and efficient — plus she gave us helpful information to aid us in our search for a new car.
Thank you Nina… Thank you Patelco

Always a line, never enough tellers & seems like managers just sit at their desk or hover in the back room.

Angelica was very knowledgable as far as all of the welcoming account information. Her attitude could’ve been a little more pleasant. I really want to stay away from big banks and I heard a lot of good things about this one. Let’s hope it satisfies my needs.

I went to the Oakland branch and I was helped by Rasheeda Marsh who was amazing. She was empathetic, professional and addressed all my concerns and needs. I have decided to keep banking at the Oakland downtown location since I had such a great experience. I am only giving 3 stars because i’m still wary. But if I was to based the review solely on Rasheeda’s customer service it would be a 5 star experience.

Just spent 30 minutes on the phone with a Patelco rep.– Today I noticed my statement does not say I’m set up for automatic bill payment. Since I forgot that was set up already I thought my visa charges were over due.
The older statements on line did remind customers. The supervisor was no help and agreed I had to write to the main office. Just try to find the main office complete address especially from your account website. Obviously the company does not want people writing to them or customers being reminded that credit charges may soon incur a penalty.

I’m not a member of Patelco, but I did spend twenty minutes of a recent lunch break waiting in line to see a teller here. Someone had dropped a check on the floor in the building I work in, and because there was no phone number of the person who wrote the check, I decided the safest thing to do would be to return it to the bank.
I did, and the teller was nice enough, but they need to have more people working at lunchtime. That’s when people do their banking. And their misplaced-​check returning.

I come here every once in a while to deposit checks. I do not have an account at Patelco, but rather at another CU. The staff have always been professional and capable to perform this simple task with no problems.
My experience with other CU has been very good. Customer service is generally so much better than with larger banks, so hopefully that is also the case for Patelco.