Patelco Credit Union

Hey there folks,
I had a nice experience at this location. I came in to get a computer loan for school, as it was pretty darn necessary. Because of my marginal credit, I was first rejected. When I came back in, they told me that I was initially rejected, but they would fight for me to get my loan. After waiting a few hours, I was told that I had been approved! You guys rock! Super friendly staff, hard working, and a pleasant experience. Now I can do my homework and give people sweet Unilocal reviews from my new computer. Thanks guys.

First and last time ill be at this branch. I tried to take out some money but was told by the teller that she couldn’t give me my money at that branch using my debit card and to use the atm. The atm only allows you to withdraw $ 500 and I needed more than that. I then went way out of my way to a different branch and had no problems whatsoever using my debit card at the counter. I love Patelco but the employee that «helped» me at this branch is a joke.

I love Patelco, and I am super loyal to the idea of credit unions. That said, I make the same sort of deposits every month. Some are into another members acct. This is the only branch where this is a problem, and only sometimes. When this happens I just go outside and do the deposit at the ATM and then transfer the money via the website. Not great for my accounting but it works and the ATM is pleasant and professional. It is too bad that they have made it unpleasant for me to enter the branch. Not the end of the world – just nice to have a place to complain.

This branch is located on campus of SFSU, it’s a really small branch (only 3 people work there) and the service was ok. I initially went into the branch just to see if they were a service center seeing as I just moved here and my bank is only in Southern California. When I walked up to the teller to ask, she seemed super confused by my question.
After explaining what a service center was, I realized it said they were a service center on the door. I gave her the name of my credit union which was «Orange County’s Credit Union» and she said she only saw «Orange County’s FEDERAL Credit Union.» Mind you, they are the same exact thing.
Ok. So… after getting into my account I said I wanted to open up accounts with Patelco because they are conveniently located on campus and I know the limitations of share branching and I really didn’t want to deal with that. Again, she seemed confused by my request. I thought financial institutions, especially at a time of economic distress, wanted new business?
So after 20 minutes she was finally able to open my accounts. I explained to her the products I wanted and checked off little boxes on the application and she asked again if I wanted these products. She had to get the manager involved because I wanted my short name on the checks (Chris instead of Christopher) and he said they couldn’t because «they’re getting strict about things»… which doesn’t make sense because every bank I’ve gone to I’ve been able to and I even worked at a bank and knew we were able to but I went along with it.
I guess they just need to train their MSR’s better and not be so confused about things. It was an okay experience and she should’ve known what she was doing. The branch is slow enough to train their employees better instead of just sit there.
I will say though, I love that I can text message Patelco, if I’m not near a computer or ATM, to get my balance, I think that’s so cool!