Beginnings Credit Union - Meadow Street Branch - Ithaca (NY)

1 /5 John Gorczyk: Had CFCU while I was a grad student in Ithaca and for a few years after. Wasnt great while in school, since leaving has been terrible. Had my account constantly locked while traveling abroad, even though I informed them of where I was going and made almost daily calls to tell them that I was indeed, making purchases in that location. They also frequently, randomly deny charges that I routinely make. For instance, my rent payments through CashApp. I make them every month, but for some reason, they sometimes get rejected, and my account is locked. Worse still is the customer service, which is horrendous. When you call, the people sound miserable and pissed off that you called them. You leave message after message for a loan officer or someone else to call you back, and they never do. Youll wait for an hour or more on hold, only to have the phone ring and then just hang up on you. Their online baking sucks too. They spent years working on a new app, CFCU more, and when it finally rolled out recently, it looks like a 2012-era banking app designed by a 12 year old. Confusing interfaces, and just depressing overall, like the credit union itself. CFCU is the largest game in town and they know it. They act like you have no other choices in central NYS and they can treat you like garbage. Once you leave and get into the "real world", you realize how petty and small they are, and how much better other financial institutions, including other credit unions, can be. I only learned too late about Alternatives Federal Credit Union. If you are a student or new resident of Ithaca, use them instead. Friendly staff, great products, and a lot of free services for Cornell and (maybe) IC students.

2 /5 Samuel Bazarov: Fine for a college student, terrible for an actual “adult” bank. I’ve been trying to access my account all morning but there’s unexpected maintenance preventing me from doing so - pretty pathetic for an “accredited bank.” Also, CFCU continues to surprise me with new BS every other month - from making me switch apps to access my account, unexpected maintenance during working hours, random charges to my savings account, and changing their name for no reason. Save yourself time and effort and avoid this bank at all costs.

5 /5 Kerry Demarest: Anytime I have a client (Im a bookkeeper) who wants to change banks but remain local, I recommend CFCU. This has been the case even before they hired Shine who handles business accounts. But its Shine who is so helpful, efficient, and knowledgeable that makes me appreciate this bank so much Im writing a review. Since I only work with small businesses, its a fairly old-school concept that I get a real, dedicated person to assist with my accounts. It used to be like that with all the banks here, but that kind of relationship with a bank has been disappearing for years. Thank you Shine for all your help with all my clients all the time! I appreciate CFCU, and especially you!

1 /5 Tim A: This financial institution was never good but they have gotten progressively worse. Their online banking portal in particular has really gone downhill. Their latest iteration is the new app that doesnt even show correct balances. In January I had one $16 debit from this account. It added a random amount of money to my running balance despite it causing an overdraft. The overdraft fee of $38 (rediculous amount for a credit union) also added a random amount to the running balance. Of course this positive balance didnt actually exist which was shown the next withdrawal where it actually started showing the correct negative balance. I added money the other day to zero my account for the negative balance. Today they called me to confirm that I deposited money and wanted to know what denominations I deposited. You are the bank, you should be able to tell me this information, not the other way around. Your online banking system cant even add and subtract properly though so I guess it was my fault for thinking a human working there could. I will be reporting them to the NCUA for the balance indiscrepencies. Would highly recommend you not bank here and use Alternatives Federal Credit Union or Key Bank - both of which are within a few blocks. Ally is also great for an online-only bank. If you need more reason to choose another financial institution just look at their financials, particularly assets held, compared to other financial institutions in the area. Comparatively theyre broke...which is why theyre not capped at $5 overdraft fees.

1 /5 Daniel Doney: Absolute worst. Wife has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer thats spread throughout her entire body. We have five kids and have been struggling. Was making payments but got a little behind. Made a payment in January instead of applying it towards my loan. They put it in a savings account and repossessed my car and charged me $2,200 to get it back. The back owed plus next month. Then the towing company charged me an additional $300 to pick up. My car. Would not recommend working with this Bank. No remorse.