Print the value of index0
MidFlorida Credit Union A rotten credit union, with OBSCENE hidden fees, sneaky banking practices, and TERRIBLE interest rates to top it off Lakeland Florida
I hope you are reading this before you put any money at MidFlorida Credit Union, or it may be too late to help you.
MidFlorida credit union used to be great, but not anymore. This Ripoff Report concerns their hidden fee of the Early Withdrawal Penalty for CDs. Most banks that I know of charge a 6-month penalty for early withdrawals, as did MidFlorida for many, many years. I have dealt with them over 15 years, and it has always been the same as far as I know. The MidFlorida penalty is six times the industry average, obscene in my opinion.
In 12/2012 they changed, and put in their obscene 3 year interest penalty on a 5 year CD. Of course, this was not disclosed by the MidFlorida employee when the CD was being opened, what a surprise. I would be stunned if anybody who knows about this ever opened a CD there. Doing the calculations, for their 5 year CD currently paying 1%, at the end of the first year you would pay MidFlorida 2% on your principle, after the second year you would pay MidFlorida 1% on your principle, and only at the end of the third year, after your money has been held prisoner all that time, would you be able to get it back, at 0% interest for the three years. In the fourth year you would be able to clear 1%, which works out to an abysmal 0.25% interest per year. Only at the conclusion of the CD, and not one day sooner, would you be able to collect the interest you are due without their obscene penalty.
Now, in addition to that, the interest rates at MidFlorida are terrible. Currently, as of 9/2/2014, MidFlorida is paying 1% for the 5 year CD. State Farm Bank is paying over twice as much, 2.15% APY, with just the 6-month early withdrawal penalty. For an even higher rate, EverBank in Tampa is paying 2.30% APY, but their early withdrawal penalty is 15 months, still less than half of MidFlorida's penalty.
Customer service is abysmal, as they think they can ignore their unhappy customers. Thanks to Ripoff Report, that's not the case. Good luck to anybody who is a customer there.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,California,
Since it is back to school time..
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, September 03, 2014
Since it is back to school time and you did such a great(or is it wonderful) job at "taking me to school" with your brilliant post. Now, let me give you some ASSISTANCE(since you don't seem to like adviCe) in your math skills.
The MidFlorida penalty is six times the industry average,
- Let's look at the "average" shall we. So far you have listed 3 institutions, one has a Early Withdraw Penalty of 36 months, one has one of 15 months and one has one of 6 months.
Now...36+15+6 = 57. Then to get the average we divide that by how many we have(3) so we then get 57/3 = 19 months. So based on your sample we have an average ED penalty of 19 months, yet you said that their penalty was 6 times the "average"...umm...
Oh..you don't consider them part of the "industry" so they shouldn't be counted. Okay let's just take the other two you listed 21/2 = 10.5..umm still not 6 times the "average".
By the way if 6 months in your claim is the average, that must mean that if we have an ED penalty at 15 months, there must be one that has less than 6 months. Why aren't you with that bank?
MidFlorida Credit Union Victim
Florida,Very Impressive for you Bob, but it seems you're in need of the Dictionary
#5Author of original report
Wed, September 03, 2014
Impressive, you seem to think you know a great deal!! I'm amazed that you were able to get my financial records and see that I've closed many CDs early and paid a penalty. LOL you're so idiotic. IF I regularly closed CDs early I would OF COURSE be very concerned about the early withdrawal penalties. Perhaps you didn't read my report closely enough, or it was above your comprehension level. The Ripoff by MidFlorida is because this penalty was not disclosed, after a decade of staying the same, and I trusted that if there was a change in policy MidFlorida would say so. And if they had disclosed their changed policy this problem would not have happened. They can impose a 4 year and 364 day penalty if they want and if somebody is dumb enough to agree to it, as long as it is disclosed. You seem to be objecting to me providing information to people who might be setting up a CD, which I find interesting.
Oh, and about that Dictionary, you should do a bit of research. It is "Now here is some advice," not your incorrect "Here is some advise." Here is a website so even you might learn: grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/advice_advise.htm Quoting the website: "Try using the word assistance instead of advice. If the sentence still makes sense, then advice is almost certainly correct.
(This trick works because advice is a noun, just like the word assistance.)"
Keep saving your pennies, and one day maybe a bank can rip you off too. Then come back and give some "advise."
Robert
Irvine,California,
You are in need
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, September 03, 2014
You are in need of a Dictionary, so let me help you out...
"CD" = Certificate of Deposit n. a document issued by a bank in return for a deposit of money which pays a fixed interest rate for a specified period (from a month to several years). Interest rates on CD's are usually higher than savings accounts because banking institutions require a commitment to leave money in the CD for a fixed period of time. Often there is a financial penalty (fee) for cashing in a CD before the pledged time runs out
With your vast knowlege of their and other bank's policies, I can figure that this is not the first CD you have closed out short of the term. As you seem to think that CD actually means "Certificate of let me take my money out when ever I gosh darn feel like it". So I underlined a few parts in the definition that may be of some help to you.
Now, here is some advise(that I am sure you will totally ignore). If you think you are going to need that money that is in a CD during the time of the CD, then either put it in a shorter term CD or into a different type of account(such as a Money Market). Yes the interest rate will be lower, but that is the trade off you must do if you want the flexibility in accessing the money.
Oh and if you didn't like their Interest Rate why do you keep putting money into their CD's?
As for your "RipOff" Report...there is no RipOff here. Well other than the one you are doing to yourself.
No I do not work for this or any other Credit Union or bank...I just know what a CD means.
MidFlorida Credit Union Victim
Lakeland,Florida,
A bit more information
#5Author of original report
Tue, September 02, 2014
I neglected to say that the CD I opened was within three months of their sneaky unpublished and hushed policy change, and at no time did the MidFlorida employee I was dealing with mention it, even though they can find time to talk about everything else. I had dealt with MidFlorida for over a decade, with their early withdrawal penalty of 6 months interest never changing, so I therefore trusted them when I opened the CD. That was a big mistake.