aside 26 Nov

VanCity Credit Union Sucks

I don’t usually use such strong words regarding anyone but in this case I’m really riled. Given the amount of travel I’ve been doing, I would like to hope that those professionals with whom I entrust my affairs with, act in such a manner. When I say professionals, I mean bankers, lawyers, doctors and accountants.

VanCity Wastes Copious Amounts of my Time

Before my trip to France, over a month ago, I initiated the opening of a bank account for SSID, my new venture. I dropped in to a local VanCity to open the account. The account manager (better stated mis-manager) started filling out forms and ran a credit check on me which at the time, I was okay with, feeling secure that the account would be open without issue.

After the credit check, the account manager decided to let me know that I didn’t have all the documentation required to open up an account. At this point, I had realized that a credit check was not a good thing – I would have gotten a second opinion from a second bank regarding documentation at this stage or I would have flown to the jurisdiction of the company to open an account but I was feeling a bit locked in so I complied – I called my lawyer to produce the documentation and then flew off to Japan. My lawyer complained that one of the items, a certificate of good standing, that the account manager wanted was ludicrous since the corporation was new. I addressed this with the account manager who agreed to waive the entry. From that discussion, it was clear that there was only one requirement left to open the account – an extra-provincial registration document from the local government.

A couple days after my return from Japan (but not too soon since I’m slated to head to India at the end of this week), documentation was in order. I sent the documentation via e-mail to the account manager. The first issue, response was slow – I received my response two days after the initial e-mail (here, I’m panicking as my time in town is coming to a close, month end is coming and I need to pay employees, etc.) and the account manager tells me I need the certificate of good standing again so I remind the account manager of the previous discussion via e-mail.

The following day, after not receiving a response from the account manager, I leave a telephone message with the account manager’s voice mail. I get a call later in the day and hear the deal breaker. Firstly, the account manager asks for another piece of documentation from me which would take another 10 business days to get (hello! do your job and tell me what I’m missing early in the game, not when I’m a day away from boarding the plane), secondly, the account manager tells me that based on my credit report, they won’t allow me to write cheques on the account. I’m thinking, in the first instance, the credit report was done over a month ago and I was told I have good credit so what the hell is this lady talking about? Secondly, wouldn’t she have the courtesy to tell me this stuff out of the gates instead of the very last minute? I confronted the account manager who said that I was difficult to get a hold of because I’m so busy. I’m thinking, I’ve never been left a message from this person on my voice mail and this person is slow at returning e-mails at best – what the hell is she thinking? I’m e-mailing her from Japan and France without issue and I’m fully connected.

At that point, I felt I had wasted sufficient time so I decided to take a second opinion. Total time wasted: 1.5 months

Royal Bank Saved my Derriere

I made a call to Royal Bank and asked to open an account. The account manager at the branch said that she could see me the same day. Surprise #1 – I can open an account the same day? Wow! When I arrived, I was told that my paperwork was in order. This was the same paperwork that was copied by VanCity. Surprise #2 – I have what it takes to open an account. The appointment lasted less than an hour. I had opened up two accounts, received bank cards, cheques, Internet banking access the works. Total time spent: 1 hour

After the opening of the account, I sent an e-mail in followup to the Royal Bank account manager. I received a timely response by e-mail.

I suspect that I shall decide on whether to send an educational e-mail to Dave Mowat (CEO) of VanCity or not. The last e-mail sent in followup to an event I attended where he also attended and was courteous to pick up the price of a beer, got no response. I’m starting to feel that their social enterprise, we care, community bank for the people is simply a marketing message. Besides, the damage is done. I’ll never bank with VanCity again, I’ll never endorse their brand and there is NOTHING that the bank can do for me, personally. Additional time on this matter would only be wasted in standing still or moving backwards instead of moving forward.

  • curriegrad2004

    I’ve dealt with them for more than a year and never had a single problem with them.

    Citizens Bank and Vancity are just as good. In fact they will be the best credit union you’ll ever find in the Lower Mainland. Give ‘em a break. They’re just run by members like me.

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    I don’t know if you have a personal account or a business account but in the end, I’m quite simply not inclined to give a break to anyone who wastes my time – knowingly or not.

    In this case, I was in the middle of negotiating the series A for a well known communications company and didn’t really have time to tell the person who was entrusted to set up the account how to do their job.

    There is no excuse for incompetence or mediocrity, period. It’s people with attitudes like yours that will turn this place into a third world country.

  • http://www.net-detective.co.uk Torry

    You may want to get all your documentation in order before opening any account. And yes, time is money.

    So first you need to investigate.

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    This is not a documentation issue as you suggest. The proper amount of diligence was done by my company’s law firm prior to taking this route.

    This is more of a discrimination and competence issue. Whereas ‘the other bank’ opened my account in about an hour with the same documents, I felt that it was pretty clear that they didn’t want my business at VanCity.

    It’s either as a result of being Indo-Canadian or possibly that I’m a young entrepreneur. Either way, I could read between the lines given the actions of the staff member from the moment I discussed opening an account.

    That, is very sad considering VanCity has lost my business forever.

    In most cases, someone eager or interested to do business pulls out the stops. There’s trust and respect there. On the ground level, VanCity Credit Union doesn’t exemplify any of this.

    The values they speak of? The ethics? All just marketing lingo.

  • Ron

    Editor’s note: comment was left with a fake email address – should be taken with a grain of salt

    I too have a big beef with Vancity. I was a member for 20 years and in that time had paid off 2 mortgages and had invested in mutual funds with Credential Asset Management.
    I went in for a Line Of Credit for bridge financing for a house purchase and thought they would give me a good interest rate. I was then lied to, and was never given an apology when i caught them in that lie.
    Last fall I went in to re-up my mutual funds and, after the ABCP collapse (Asset Backed Commercial Paper) in August 2007, I asked them if there was anything amiss that I should know about. At that time I had not known about the collapse. My mutual funds were going down and their broker from Credential told me that there was nothing amiss and my funds were safe. So I resigned. In January 2008 I then find out that Credential had lost millions in the collapse. I phoned Vancity and, in turn Credential, to find out what was going on. Complete silence on their part. By this time my funds have dropped 20 per cent.
    I then tried to get my money out of the mutual funds since I’m not getting any co-operation. It takes over a month and countless emails and phone calls to everyone up to the CEO of Vancity (I ended up losing 20 persent of my investment from the time I re-upped). They lied to me about who their Director of Finamces was. This person (Mr. Atkinson) even passed himself off to me as a Director.
    I was so livid that I went to their Annual General Meeting and signed up to speak.
    They were going to allow me to speak until they found out that I was going to ask about how they were ripping off clients by not telling them about the ABCP collapse and how it would affect their mutual funds.
    I believe if enough people have gone through the same thing ( I know I’m not the only one who’s been ripped off), we can start a class action lawsuit against both Vancity and Credential Asset Management.
    To add insult, they tried to pocket my membership fees when I left the credit union. How slimey is that????? I had to fight to get my 10 or 15 bucks back.
    I can’t believe how I was treated, even after there was numerous erroneous access into my accounts due to teller mistakes. They were paying other peoples bills on my accounts because the teller forgot to close my account before the next person in line came up to the teller.
    Thanks for letting me rant.

  • Ron

    Editor’s note: comment was left with a fake email address – should be taken with a grain of salt

    Here’s another item…My Mutual funds were called Ethical Funds!!!! What a joke!!!!

  • Ron

    Here’s another item…My Mutual funds were called Ethical Funds!!!! What a joke!!!!
    Another thing, if anyone wants to get together to start a class action against these guys, please let me know in here and I will contact you through here.

  • dannyboy

    I hate vancity insurance as much as I hate their insurance company. When I tried to open an account with them the same thing happened only it dragged on for only 3 weeks after they agreed to do it and the only reason they told me that it wasn’t done was because i forgot to get them some document they SAID they asked for but which they never really did! and their insurance company is no better. They harrassed my aunt for some information they said were absolutely needed to get the insurance renewed and after weeks of playing phone tag they get their information but gaver her such a HUGE premium! then she went to Tony Lau Insurance at Richmond center and they were able to write her with another insurance company at a lower premium and without needing all that crap they asked for! so the thing is that Vancity is crap and i wouldn’t give them my business ever again!

  • Ron

    Editor’s note: all is forgiven…
    Hey Raj,

    I’m the guy who posted on October 9th.
    This email is good. Hope you don’t kick me off your blog.

  • Willus

    I have to agree with Raj. Vancity is a cute bank for personal affairs, but not a proper bank for doing business with. I’ve learnt this the hard way, initially wanting to support a BC company, since this is where I started mine. Now I’m with TD, they’re big, they’re international and they’re for grown ups that do real business (I would expect the same goes for Royal and CIBC).

    The other comment that I have about Vancity, they embody everything negative about Vancouver. They have the all-to-common vancouverite overly inflated feeling of self-importance. I also run a business down in the U.S. with a larger bank. My bank manager down there comes by our manufacturing facility with coffee once a month just to say high – but that’s the U.S.

  • J Boy

    I agree with most of the sentiments here on Vancity. I find them quite frankly unprofessional. I once had to take out 15000 in cash. I went up to the teller and gave my account info etc and stated I wanted to take out a large sum from my account and gave her the piece of paper with the number on it. (the tellers don’t have dividers, so privacy is very limited). SHe looked at the dollar value on the piece of paper I handed over, and proceeded to repeat the value out loud..very loud in my opinion. I looked at her with a WTF look and she seemed oblivious to what just happened…the story actually goes on but too lazy to continue. Bottom line, Vancity good for kids starting out.

  • Doug

    I’m very mad at Vancity and I’m closing my account ASAP.

    My story is this… I’ve had a personal checking/savings with them for two years. During that time I have made many large deposits, both personal checks and bank drafts, a few as much as $30,000. I’ve never had to wait for holds because I just go the teller and they call the issuing bank to confirm funds before releasing. The worst that’s happened is I deposited a check on a Friday after the other bank has closed and had to wait for them to phone the following Monday. I understand why they have to do that.

    Well recently I’ve had a bit of financial hardship, so I got a $5,000 loan through Citifinancial two days ago. They provided me a bank draft and I deposited it at a Vancity teller (albeit it wasn’t my home branch as I couldn’t get there before they closed.) Much to my surprise, the teller informed me there would be a nine day hold as they would not phone Citi to verify. She gave me a photocopy of the check so I could go to my home branch and they could call them.

    I called my branch directly the next day and they refused to call it, which was a first for me. After getting nowhere I asked to speak to the manager and even she refused no matter how much I tried to convince her. They said there will be a nine day hold on the check no matter how much hardship it puts upon me, and they will not call the lender to confirm funds. I told her I’m closing my account and she said OK.

    I then went to TD Canada Trust today and asked the manager and a personal banker what they would have done if presented with such a check. I had with me that photocopy so they could see it. They said for a bank draft such as that the policy would have been to call Citi and release the funds immediately after confirmation.

    I called the Vancity manager back and she still refused to phone or release the check. I asked for the check back so I can cash it at TD and she said she can’t give it back, I just have to wait, which is another week from now. I can’t even close my account in the meantime. Unbelievable.

  • Doug

    Oh, I almost forgot, they bounced my mortgage last week even though I had $9.06 to spare!

  • Dustin

    Sorry to disagree Raj, but I had the opposite experience. I went to RBC to open a personal account and was deluged with ridiculous documentation requests (an apartment rental agreement?) and a waiting period. I walked across the street to a Vancity, got a credit check produced the necessary identification and have been a happy customer for 6 years. Based on this experience and my previous experience with credit unions, I will not ever use a bank for personal banking.

    I cannot comment on business accounts, but I would remind you that not all people are equal, and your experience with one bank manager may not represent Vancity as a whole.

    Cheers

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    Ahh, perhaps your credit was bad – I can see Vancity being soft on these requirements for a personal account, after all, they are the last vestige of the banking landscape in Canada

  • vancity staff

    Everyone, I’ve worked for VC for 13 years and I tell you this company sucks!
    Ever since CEO Tamara Vrooman took over, she has been running this company like a government and firing staff (read about citizens bank if you are curious about the latest restructuring/terminations).
    I’m not surprised when people complain about the service they receive from us, and frankly, I’m just shocked that more people don’t notice. Face it, once a company goes through major restructuring/firings, everything starts to unravel. Morale in this company is at an amazing low and nobody at the top seems to care.

  • annie

    Hi,not all of them,but that coquitlam one,just beside coquitlam center,SUCKs!!

  • raunnie

    I got onto this blog because Van City sucks big time! After having the limit limit frozen, usually on a long weekend or rent check, my spouse and are switching over to TD, the bank we have to use to get our rent paid anyways. Used to go to Van Tel then it switched to Van city and started to go downhill.

  • allyssa

    Vancity is the worst credit union ever, they make so many mistakes all the time. Their atm cards get skimmed weekly- itjust doesnt make it to media every time….by speeaking to a few of their staff you can clearly see they are not happy- i was told the ceo Tamara Vrooman has single handedly taken that company to a record high for profits and all time low for staff moral.. they are making huge amounts of money off their memeber and staff’s back. They charge rediculios fees for every little transaction. I ask you what is the point of a savings account that charges a $5 per transaction fee to take money out ? this credit union is no longer for the little guys its all about who you know. I walk into my branch where i have been a memeber for years – i barley get noticed while other people get treated like royalty, taken to the front of the line etc…. its a joke and i would rather bury my money than give it to VANCITY

  • vancity staff

    I-ve worked at Vancity for 17 years and concur with majority of the comments that this company is terrible. Since Tamra, Rick and Rolf started running the show it has been downhill. We have no support in the branch as they are sending management on useless training every week….i’m serious when i say every week. BDBR, end to end, SWM, learning to lend all mickey mouse training so the executive leadeship team feels as they are doing something. there is so much in fighting and the only growth comes from stealing from other branches within. I am actively now looking for employment outside and can’t stress enought that if you are thinking of coming to Vancity…>Don’t as it will be the worst banking move you can make.
    signing off
    17 years wasted

  • Sidhu

    Got a business account with Vancity and am quite fed uip with their service. The worst is they do not know what to do. It reminds of “Meet the Fockers” air hostess incident where Ben Stiller ends in custody becuase of irritatingly “courteous” stewardess. You go to the branch or call them – they are very courteous but they do not know what they are doing. Personal banking is easy and maybe they can do do a good job. But Boy!! business banking is beyond them. I will change my bank as soon my cheques are over and go to TD.

  • sobeit

    I went to open a chequing account, they said if I have a judgement, or collections on my credit they wont open one, so I said I am late on some payments, but if you check my credit and refuse me an account, then please give me a letter of this. The assist manager was rude, and said why? and I said so I can complain, why else, I just couldnt believe a credit union can refuse a chequing account if I had these things on my credit, when the rep checked, it was what I said no collections, just late, but then the wicked assist manager said only give her a restricted savings account and tell her she cant write cheques for min 6 months, then do a review, so I was so humiliated, and shocked, that first they say only if I dont have collections, or a judgement, and now that evil woman will only offer a savings account, so I asked for that letter and she emailed me this that they will only give me a restricted savings account etc etc… but it was probably because they looked up the laws where it says they cant refuse an account to anyone because of credit, only offer different account types, so I wasted my time thinking they would still give me a chequing account if they actually checked my credit and seen I am not in collections, or have a judgement, which is not hurting them, but I guess they dont want people going through hard times with their fancy little union, I was so upset so I went to another bank and set up a chequing account with open arms, and was just happy that I can start fresh with a nice bank, and get my debts resolved. I was told by my debt counselor to open a new account somewhere to protect my payroll, and how do you do that when some financial places will refuse their services to you and treat you like a criminal, I am not a criminal, and yet I was treated like one.

  • sobeit

    Another thing, this is why VANCITY SUCKS, they like to humiliate and discriminate on good hard working people who have some hard times, and I will make it my new hobby to tell the world to stay far far away from such a horrible credit union, as I sent her email to all the board of directors, and ficom, but they probably wont care, but if anyone has another complaint please send to them too, there emails are:
    board_directors@vancity.com
    ficom@ficombc.ca

    all we can do is complain together and get heard, and make them listen to bad service, or discrimination, thank you.

  • Val

    I don’t have an account with them but my son does. Even though my son will make a cash deposit the same day a bill is coming out, they charge $5 calling it overdraft. How the hell can it be overdraft as he has until midnight to cover the item. They do it constantly and I think it’s downright illegal. They collect thousands upon thousands every day with this practice and I’m pissed off. How can a kid get ahead with all these charges. Switch to Envision, my credit union is awesome.
    Let’s do a class action suit for illegal business practices!