Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union

Totally unnecessarily rude behavior from teller! I got there around 45 minutes before closing, so it’s not like I was coming in at the last minute or anything like that. Was waiting about 15 minutes, of course zoning out/​using my phone since I was waiting there for so long. So I thought the teller FINALLY had called me up. He asks «what do you want?» or something like that, so I tell him. And he goes «well I can’t do that, I’m closed.» And I was like «oh… ok…» and then he was like «ok fine, I’ll do it!» And so I told him specifically what I wanted and he was like «I have to do this first, so back off!» Then I realized I may have misheard him and he wasn’t calling me up, so I told him «sorry, I thought you called me.» And he was like «no, why would I call you up?» And I was like «that’s what I’m saying, I’m trying to tell you that I misheard you and apologizing.» And instead of accepting MY APOLOGY that I was trying to give him despite his rude and unprofessional behavior, he just kept rejecting it and trying to argue with me/​act defensive… for absolutely no reason! Then eventually he was like «it’s whatever.» Or something. And then he started yelling at the other tellers right in front of me about why they couldn’t help me instead… so awkward and unprofessional! I know this is a co-​op but please, have some standards! It’s not like there’s a drought of qualified job seekers these days!
The professional thing to do would be to say «sorry sir/ma’am, I’m not available at the moment. Please wait for the next available teller.» Really not hard. And if you say you can help, then just do. And don’t try to start fights with customers ever, but especially not when they are even tempered and trying to diffuse the situation (well, a customer shouldn’t have to diffuse a situation created by a teller in the first place!).

I have been with this credit union for 6 years, and it stinks. I signed up with this local credit union back in 2010 when sticking it to the big banks was all the rage, but boy do I regret that now. This bank is utterly incompetent in almost all of their practices. Here are just a few examples:
— Their personal banking website is hilariously awful. It’s not only clunky and hard to use, their security features are about a decade old. This does not inspire confidence.
— Their lines are long, and once you get through the lines, their tellers are unprofessional, poorly informed, and rude.
— They do not have solid systems for making sure that customer requests are turned into actions. I requested to receive paperless statement more than 5 times (both in person and via the website) before it happened, and CCFCU charged me $ 1/​month to receive those paper statements until they could get it together enough to process my request.
— Without notifying me, they shut down my account as «inactive» and wouldn’t let me receive money transfers. This messed up my ability to pay my federal taxes.
— They seem to have trouble delivering what I think of as very basic banking services. Recently, I wanted to buy a used car from Craigslist. I went to CCFCU to get a cashier’s check, and they said they don’t do cashier’s checks (what?!). So then I asked for my money as cash, and they said they couldn’t give me more than $ 3000.
For me, the appeal of not putting my money in a larger bank is completely overwhelmed by this credit union’s incompetence. Wells Fargo here I come.

I’ve been banking with CCFCU since I arrived in Berkeley about five years ago, and it’s usually a disappointing experience. I usually have problems on their website; I enrolled in their green checking account but was still getting charged their monthly fee for receiving paper statements in the mail; and their tellers aren’t fantastic. Today I was in and needed to withdraw a large amount of money, and the teller never even asked me for my ID, just my account number. I have to assume that if someone else comes in with my account number and asks to withdraw money, they’d have to problem doing it.
The hours aren’t very convenient, but they’re banking hours, so not much to be done there.
I’ll be moving my account balances to another bank. It’s just gotten too problematic dealing with CCFCU over the years to be worth it anymore.
The good: close-​ish to my home.
The bad: most everything else.

i’ve been a member for about three years. the service has never been great, but it’s gotten worse over that time. here are some of my gripes:
— one reason to use a credit union instead of a bank is that, since it’s member-​owned, you can count on it to not profit-​take at every possible opportunity. this means lower rates on loans, higher rates on savings, etc. one thing that is totally inconsistent with that, i think, is a credit union constantly up-​selling its members. they always have a National car rental advertising car in the (tiny) lot, or a National desk inside, or are asking if i want a new car at the counter. credit unions shouldn’t be selling cars so that they can sell loans — that’s not service, that’s commerce. i can get that at a bank. or a used car lot.
— AND if i used a bank, the hours would be better! CCFCU opens at 9:30am every weekday, and is no longer open at all on Saturdays. terrible. call me old-​fashioned, but i want to go INTO THE BANK occasionally, and this place makes it incredibly hard to do that.
— their customer service over the phone is abysmal. about a week ago i called and left a message after an outgoing message told me i’d receive a call back by the end of the business day, since i called before 1:00pm local time. that’s totally fine. when did they call back? THREE DAYS LATER. i couldn’t talk then, so i called back today. got the same message. the problem? unbelievably, their VOICEMAIL IS FULL. how does that even happen? that’s what an irresponsible teenager does, not a bank. holy shit!
— some of the tellers are good, but not all of them. one guy has made nosy comments about checks i’m cashing on more than one occasion, and also loudly noted my birthday once. he exhibited an insane lack of professionalism. and when i returned after a couple months away? he had been promoted to the member services desk. christ!
anyway, i think this place is in significant flux right now (see the review here that discusses their board coup, that aligns with what little i know about it) and it’s not handling it well. as soon as i can get into the branch a couple of times and move all my autopays, i’m going to close my account. i already opened a new one with Bank of America… i’ve always used credit unions, from my very first bank account as a teenager — but BoA is *way* better than CCFCU. sad but true.

I thank You Debbie for your response, MJ. Made everything right and gave apology for everything. She continue to contact me until everything was settled.

After 12 years of driving my car (over 344,000 miles) it was time to purchase a newer vehicle. As someone with ‘iffy’ credit (due to a divorce and some really stupid decisions in my youth) — Cooperative Center FCU was my saving grace! Having been a member of another credit union for many years — I knew that it was the best place for me to apply for financing BEFORE I went shopping (being pre-​approved makes shopping for a car so much easier). I initially applied with my existing credit union, but their lending representative didn’t even take a look at my account — and before we hung up she asked, «Do you have your checking account with us?» Umm… What? Shouldn’t you be looking at my account first??? Smh
The entire Lending Department at Cooperative FCU was extremely helpful. Not only did they catch a few things on my credit report that I clearly hadn’t noticed, but they came back with TWO offers for me to choose from! PLUS — they had a deal with Enterprise Car Sales for $ 1,000 on top of the Blue Book Value of your trade-​in. My trade-​in was actually in the negatives (due to the age and mileage) but the folks at Enterprise still gave me $$ for my trade-​in PLUS the $ 1,000.00 on top of that! I can’t tell you how happy I am to drive away in a much newer car AND — as soon as my loan was funded I received a $ 50.00 gas card! That’s 2 tanks of gas just for funding my loan! Not only was their customer service TOPS but I hear through the grapevine that they hold the auto loan special with Enterprise a few times every year. What a deal! I highly recommend Cooperative Center FCU — they are amazeballs!

Most credit unions have partnered with others, so while my CU is in downtown Oakland, I stop by here for simple depots and withdrawals. The parking lot is always full, but there are not too many people inside. Turns out that the employees get to park there. There is a security guard there and once inside, you have to remove your hat and sunglasses. I have transitional lenses, which take a bit to turn clear. I’ve been hassled a few times about taking them off immediately, but I can’t see without them. The service is slow, slower than most banks. I heard the Patelco CU had a fire and now the members come here.

They are slow, horrible time management they take lunch breaks together and leave only 2 ppl at the teller station. Manager doesn’t help customers just looks at you. I WASTE 30 MINS IN LINE AND NEVER MOVED

I have been a member for over 30 years. Yes, I was a Berkeley Co-​op member. I love the fact it hired a racially diverse group of tellers, unlike any other bank!
I’m running into some problems with them though. Their web interface for my account is too hard to read. The text is too light colored for the background. If you have any site problems you can’t read it. The size of the text is very small. This is not a friendly interface. I have several other bank accounts that don’t have this problem.
I’m finding that they charging fees or other banks don’t. Recently I was charged for an interaction that no other bank has charged me for. I’m working on removing my accounts.

Closed my account! I had 12% percent visa with them but did not like that you couldn’t access you account on line. I’m on line most of the time. End of a bad relationship.

Update:
These guys are ALWAYS pushing their members hard to take out a loan from them to buy a car. Feels like every month I get some crap in the mail from them trying to get me to take out a car loan. Credit unions exist to help their members make good financial decisions and to grow wealth. Going into debt to buy a car (a depreciating asset) is a horrible financial decision and will erode your wealth for years to come! I feel like CCFCU is doing its members a disservice by offering and constantly promoting this option.
Also, I have no idea where all our money (checking, savings accounts) is being invested by them. It’s not on the website and not in any of the newsletters. Instead of statements showing how our money is being invested, we get a barrage of cutesy advertisements for car loans and «sweepstakes» where we can win a toy car or boat or whatever-​the-​crap. It’s kind of insulting. Very little transparency.
There was recently an attempted «coup» on the CCFCU board of directors, with a group of young progressives attempting join the board and steer the institution toward more transparency and openness. This tension of values/​perspectives reflects the changing demographics of the surrounding area. This effort was only partially successful, and I haven’t noticed any substantive changes in the credit union’s messaging since the most recent board member election.
I’ve been a member of CCFCU for almost 5 years now, but at this point I am coming to the conclusion that the chasm of values and priorities between me and the credit union has become too great for me to remain a member. I’m likely headed to Beneficial State Bank in Oakland.

Worst customer service ever + anti customer policies; high fees, etc, and they take forever in releasing funds after you deposit your paycheck. Twice now too they made errors where transfered money went to wrong account. I can’t wait to close business with them, and totally regretting opening an account here

I have been a member for over 15 years. I have been able to use their network of credit unions around the U.S. when traveling.
This is a true community resource. I have had excellent service.
When my credit card info was stolen and a purchase was made in another state CCFCU flagged it right away and within a few hours my acct. was protected and CCFCU assistance helped me to do what I needed to do to facilitate having my loss taken care of after I made required police reports etc.
This is an institution that has the best records for keeping $‘s in the community!
I had my taxes prepared there also.
.
They do get busy at times — would not call that rude and I would take negative reviews with a grain of salt!

I’ve been a CCFCU member for about 30 years (yeah, old), since the days
when it was connected to the late Berkeley Co-​Op.
Reasons I’ve remained a member: a) according to some sources, CCFCU has
one of the best records for making loans to minorities, small businesses, etc, and I’d like to support that; b) the convenient (for me at least) location at Ashby and Adeline; c) my nostalgia for the old Berkeley Co-​Op.
Reasons I opened an account with another Credit Union a few years ago, moved more than half my money there, and soon may move the rest: an apparent «corporate culture» of disorganization, lack of responsiveness, unwillingness to admit mistakes and subsequent unwillingness to take responsibility for the mistakes having been made. They seem to manage to combine the bureaucratic confusion of a much larger organization with the ineffective poorly-​designed web site and phone system of a much smaller organization.
I’ve dealt with a few «member services representatives» (once I’ve managed to reach one by phone, sometimes after several attempts) who have seemed very competent and helpful, and also with a few who have, with apparent confidence, given me information that turned out to be false. But once a representative needs to consult with someone higher up the ladder, the answer they bring back is VERY likely to be incorrect or a stall or an evasion.
I’ve (partially) stuck with them out of loyalty and belief in their «mission» (I’m guessing more belief in it then at least some of their current management has) but I’ve hit the tipping point:
The situation I’ve been dealing with for the past week is far from being the biggest problem I’ve had with them in the past fifteen years, but after getting conflicting information (some or all of it inaccurate) about if and when my 1099-​INT form was mailed, and after having a management member refuse to issue me a copy, saying I just had to be patient and it would arrive in my mail, I received today (2 weeks or so after the first claimed mailing) not the 1099-​INT but a copy of the current newsletter (basically a six page advertisement) which contains an invitation for members to «Like» CCFCU on Facebook and receive a $ 5 coffee card.
That convinced me it was time to «Dislike» CCFCU on Unilocal (only the second negative Unilocal review I’ve given in 6+ years), even without a coffee card for a bribe.

I am sad that this has to be such a low rating. The only reason they got the one star, was because I don’t have an option for a negative star or a «0» star rating.
Though some people my think I am «wrong» for the low star since I am not a «customer» at this establishment. I was a potential customer, but after the treatment I received there, I will NEVER bother putting my money into their care/​trust.
I came to the credit union with a friend of mine, who is a member there. I was really excited to find out about this place since it was close to my husbands’ workplace. It seemed convenient. I am currently a member of a credit union in the central coast areas of CA because I have had it since I was in the Air Force. (No longer in, but I love my credit union). I thought it would be nice to open an account locally since I have to use other ATM’s or credit unions to do my banking. I liked the small cozy feel of the establishment when I went inside, but that quickly changed when I talked to a member services clerk to find out how to open an account there.
I wish I’d gotten the name of the woman who helped me, but the interaction went like this:
Me: «Hello, how are you today?»
Her: (Not looking up from what she was doing… continued to work on her computer screen and ignore me)…Finally after a long pause and an annoyed look I hear «Yes how can I help you?» (With an attitude).
Me: «Hi yes, I’d like to find out how to open an account here!» (Smiling)
Her: «How did you find out about us?» (Indignantly)
Me: «Oh I am here with my friend who has an account here and she was saying how much she likes your services.»
Her: «Oh, well do you work at XYZ companys?»
Me: «No, but my husband does. So I guess I will speak to him about opening an account then.»
Then she changed her tune and her attitude went from horrible to tolerable, but at that point I was so over it. I hope that they will make better efforts to make all people feel welcome and encouraged to open an account. I am sure the CEO would be quite upset because of this interaction. In a time where banking is more competitive, it’s imperative that outstanding customer service is provided to current and potential customers. They won’t have to worry about my husband or myself opening an account there. Now, they lost two customers in one interaction.

This location is staffed with very pleasant people, I’ve never had a problem in person. But good luck with the phone /​internet service for this credit union. Sometimes customer service just doesn’t pick up the phone and I’ve had them hang up on me before. Online banking would have been a joke in 2005, much less now. There is a monthly number of transfers, which are consumed when money is automatically transferred to correct an overdraft. Security is clunky and awkward, and even basic things like changing billing address just aren’t available online. Unless you live a block away from this place, I cannot recommend it.

Thieves, liar, con artist, finding new and more inventive ways to steal money out of my account. At least if I go back to just regular banking I know what I’m getting into without the allusion.

Having to deal with big banks is wallet based nightmare. Having to work with credit unions, clearly isn’t the worst thing in the world by far. I suppose coming here, you can’t really expect them to be up to date with the rest of the bay in some aspects. Coming from a peninsula based credit union, heres how Berkley FCU stood against them when it counts.
Service Capabilities:
Envelopes are still required for all deposits through the ATM, so if that box is empty at any point of the day. You are more than S.O.L…even BoFa has moved on from the envelope era… (–1)
Parking lot: Very tight, like St Mary’s Square parking lot in china ton tight. Ashby side entrance causes a traffic nightmare for those of us trying to get to Whole Foods. (–1)
Front door: is secured from the inside via remote lock switch. Having a CU member card for FCU may be a good addition too though. And so you’ll know who comes in via security card swipe. Should anything happen. For pedestrian control, its still pretty serviceable. (+1)
Interior Design:
Very tight packed office.
If you ain’t an FCU member, stay in unmarked lane one, as every other line is for FCU people only. I guess it makes it easier for workers. SMCU and Patelco as far as i know funnels everyone into one line so the workers have to be on their game with each customer… (–1)
Even so, the Chinese woman who helped me with the non-​member transaction got it done before any of the. Other tellers got done punching in the members account number… perfect…Least for me being from a shared branch but non member it was.
(+1)
Biggest problem with this establishment isn’t their practices or their people. but their financial services system and method of operation is seemingly outdated. Like Raider coliseum outdated in the banking industry…
At least for now this place will stay local (+1)

Vita Tax Preparation: Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union
2001 Ashby Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94 703
(510) 295‑1657
I’m getting my taxes done here; I’ll have my tax preparation done here next year.

Like a lot of other reviewers have said, I switched to this credit union on the national «move your money» a year ago or so, because I wanted to get away from the big banks.
Positives: low fees ($ 1/​month for a checking account)
Negatives: Really bad customer service. Like, really bad. It takes an hour to set up an account in person, no one ever returns your phone call, if you ask the same question to several people, you’ll get several different answers. They made mistakes on the checks I ordered.
I have kept my accounts here because it’s near my house and relatively simple, but I’m actively looking for another bank.