Community First Credit Union Not a good institution Appleton Wisconsin
I have fallen upon some hard times due to a divorce from an abusive partner. I am now trying to start my life new and create a safe environment for my family. With divorces come financial struggles that I am trying to work through. I ended up having some automatic withdrawals which I was not aware of and it with that I received overdraft fees. I called hoping I could get some of them waived so that I did not end up more in the hole then I already was. I was told by management that doing that was not an option and I would be charged for all of these to my account. With Christmas coming up I am struggling to pay my loan that I got to the bank and asked if I could just make an interest payment for a little bit I was denied that option and a hold was put on my With Christmas coming up I am struggling to pay my loan that I got to the bank and asked if I could just make an interest payment for a little bit I was denied that option and a hold was put on my account. I understand that all these fees are due to me but the fact that I could not get a little Break to help me from digging myself deeper and that no one would be willing to budge on anything is quite horrible! The slogan of this institution is "we will find a way" and as of lately it seems to be that they will "find a way" to help me spiral out of control!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
FloridaNative
Palm Beach Gardens,Florida,
USA
When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, October 22, 2015
First, I don't work for this bank or any financial institution. I am a consumer, just like you.
Second, congratulations on getting away from an abusive partner. That is not an easy thing to do and you are to be commended for your courage.
Here are a couple of tips that worked for me to not incur overdraft fees at all:
When you are a one income household, automatic drafts out of your checking account are a poor way to handle payments that are due until you get on your feet and have stable income and stable expenses. Automatic drafts come within a window of time and unless you keep a large enough balance in the account (sum total of all automatic drafts + a bit more) for a buffer, you will find yourself buried in OD's.
The second part of managing your account is keeping an accurate ledger/register. It only takes a minute or two a day and then you have a running accurate balance.
The bank or credit union is only following your instructions when you give permission for automatic withdrawals. It is just as easy to manually pay your bills online and you have more control over the withdrawal date.
To this day I would rather make a manual payment so I can check the outstanding bill balance as well as have control over the payment date. It is much easier to control your finances this way. Of course, you have to keep good records to do this but it doesn't take long. You can use either an electronic service or start off with a register from the bank, they are free.
Take control of your finances now. You still have time to fix your account based on your post. Keeping the register will take a big burden off your shoulders. If you keep a buffer in your account as well as stop all the auto drafts you won't have to worry about overdrafts and the fees.