Washington State Employees Credit Union Avis 3

I have never been so humiliated by a financial institution as I was at the WSECU Federal Way branch. After depositing a refund check for a returned medical device, WSECU initially made $2,000 available to me. Later that day, when I attempted to withdraw the remaining amount that was already released, a Maria arbitrarily decided (without approval from the manager or anyone else) to place my funds back on hold. Without any explanation, I was treated like a criminal and denied access to my own money--despite being a customer in good standing with a car loan and credit card in perfect payment history. To make matters worse, I was refused access to the manager when I asked for help. This experience was not only deeply insulting but also put me in a difficult position financially as I rely on these funds for medical expenses. I would strongly caution anyone considering banking with WSECU to think twice about trusting them with your money. I've had one speeding ticket my entire life, and to be treated as though i'm somehow doing something wrong and to arbitrarily reverse funds that i'm literally counting on for life saving prescriptions, as i'm standing there and say "ya, ... we're not going to be able to do that today" I am still in shock, how dare someone who knows nothing of me judge me in that way. I chose WSECU because of its reputation for service and integrity, but this experience has severely shaken my trust in the institution. I have lived up to my end of our agreement and made my payments on time, every month for my car 659 dollars a month and my credit card, and IM TREATED THIS WAY? Im disappointed, truly.

I've been meaning to rate WSECU on this site since our awful experience with them in July 2024. I've rated them on other sites, but it is important to also add my rating to this one since Trust Pilot works differently.

We had an opposite experience with Seattle Metroplitan Credit Union (SMCU), which I will describe in detail in my review of our experience with them. SMCU saw no problem with our debt-to-income ratio, and we got the amount we asked for at a great interest rate!

As for WSECU, we applied for a HELOC loan online in July 2024, and nobody contacted us to prepare us for submitting our best application. Instead, they ran our credit before contacting us and made us a counteroffer based solely on the minimal information in our application, which never asked for savings or other assets. No one ever contacted us to ask for income information or assets until after they ran our credit.

My credit is 750+, and my husband’s is 800+, our payment history is spotless, and our savings are greater than our debt. The agent, Rachele E., was terribly dry and impersonal the couple times we spoke with her (twice for less than 5 minutes), and we felt like we were just a number the entire time.

I wish I could say I had a great experience as some have here, but we didn't feel welcomed by a friendly and knowledgeable loan coordinator. Rachele didn't seem to be trying her best; in fact, it felt like she didn't even want to try or that she lacked the knowledge to answer questions about these matters, thereby ignoring them. She replied dryly via email and phone and only at the end of the day, right before closing, so that any reply from us would remain unanswered until the next day right before closing, again. When she replied with the counter offer, it was less than what we wanted, even though the amount we requested was approximately 16.6% of the equity of our home. They even valued our home at a higher price than we expected.

Rachele never acknowledged anything we would communicate to her about our assets or savings to find out if it would help us apply for the amount we wanted. She would just dryly email us requesting more income information, never acknowledging our questions. It seemed like she willfully ignored those questions and would continue to ask us for more income information, never mentioning or at least letting us know if that information would help WSECU get a full picture of our net worth. Her demeanor was completely unwarranted, as we were very polite and not at all rude during our communication. I still hold on to all the emails to remind myself never to deal with WSECU again, and I use them as an example to anyone of my acquaintances who mention thinking about doing business with them, so they can decide for themselves after reading them.

Our entire experience felt impersonal and robotic. It felt like they never listened and gave us a "take it or leave it" offer without discussing how to better our chances of getting the amount we wanted to borrow. I couldn't help but feel they were being biased based on the name on the application or possibly because we are a gay couple. I seriously think the way we were treated by Rachele E. was deliberate, as she would ignore and not even acknowledge the other information we mentioned we were willing to provide to better our chances. If it wasn't needed, she could have just said so and explained why, but her demeanor spoke for itself. She didn't want us as clients, for some personal reason. Maybe our loan request wasn’t high enough for her to give us her time, maybe she didn’t like the name on the application, or maybe it was because we were a gay couple applying together. Whatever the reason, we were treated badly and felt ignored.

If you want to deal with dry, unfriendly people with poor listening skills who will ignore specific questions and make decisions based on little information and without working with you to improve your chances, then WSECU is the place for you. Rachele E. would be very disappointed to hear from you.

As this was last year, I sure hope that WSECU has made changes to the way their loan coordinators communicate with potential clients. I just wanted to make sure my review was seen so that others can be aware of what to expect and don’t make the same mistake as me (naively allowing a credit check beforehand) without getting as much information from the loan coordinator as possible before having their credit dinged.

I wish every institution I deal with was as wonderful as WSECU! I've been a member of WSECU since around 1997, and over time, have brought on at least four members, all of whom are equally satisfied. Every time I've needed support, I've received it from a polite, informed, and helpful human. I've been coached on financial matters that increased my credit score (an odious invention, but that's another topic! Hee!). The Fraud Prevention unit is effective and helpful. I've been happy to secure loans and credit cards through WSECU. (The ONLY negative thing I could say to balance a glowing review is that I wish online banking permitted me to set up and assign my own categories, but that's it!)I'm happy I get the impression the folks at WSECU actually LIKE working there! Stay golden, WSECU!