Complaint Review: BECU Boeing Employee's Credit Union - Seattle Washington

Because many individuals find it helpful to review a financial institution service worthiness based on data gathered and reported by the consumer, Im providing this information to help others seeking this information. In addition Im also requesting BECU provide restitution based on the 2 complaints filed with the Office of Attorney General, Washington State Office.

First attempts to resolve issue through the Office of Attorney General, Washington State Office:

I work from home and at home most of the week. I however have to leave for a few hours during the week to take care of personal business and other errands. I find it convenient to shop online due to my working conditions and schedules. In addition because I work from home I dont have a cell phone and rely on my home phone for that service.  On 4/15/10 I made an online purchase for clothing from an Australian mens clothing company in the amount of 169.00 that posted to my account on 4/17/10.  This was in no way out of the ordinary for my shopping habits or patterns. On 4/19/10 I received a plane white envelope with a generic ink pad rubber stamped return address on the front from Card Services, P. O. Box 97050, Seattle, WA. 98124-9750. I opened the letter to find a plain white letter inside with no official Bank Letterhead or other official marking on it. The letter stated they monitor debit card transactions and based on recent purchases wanted to make sure my card had not been compromised. The letter further went on to state that if I did not return their call at 909-941-1034 or 888-241-2440 my debit/pos card would be deactivated.

I found the letter immediately suspicious and believed because neither the envelope nor letter had any official or formal pre-printed markings someone was attempting to gather my personal information. I monitor my credit by use of online Equifax credit monitoring and check my online account transactions several times daily for such activity. I do not feel Boeing Employee Credit Union, (BECU) knows me well enough or intimately enough to filter my account for such threats of deactivating my debit/pos card based on a single online pos transaction if I dont call them based on sending unmarked generic letters on plain white paper without official letterhead or pre-printer envelopes.

I was away from home to run errands when I received the unmarked letter. Because of the wording of the letter and concerns my debit/pos card was now deactivated I used the built in phone in my vehicle to call the credit unions customer service to identify this suspicious letter. I spoke with Ginger and explained I only had a few minutes of time left on my vehicle phone and believed this letter was a fraudulent attempted to gather my personal information. She said it was from them and attempted to contact security to clarify their reason for sending the letter. During the hold time my minutes ended and the call dropped. My current vehicle is leased and that lease ends on May 2^nd. I was not planning on purchasing additional minutes because Id be turning in the vehicle at the dealer in less then 2 weeks and spending additional funds on minutes Id not use would be a waste of funds.

I had a number of important errands to take care of on the 19^th and because of the threat my debit/pos card would be deactivated I felt it was important to take care of this matter immediately to avoid deactivation and having to deal with my errands next week because of my work schedule. I called On-Star and purchased their lease expensive minutes plan that cost $50.00 including the taxes and other service charges. I called the credit union Customer Service back spending additional time and resources to resolve this matter caused by Card Service.

Here are the problems I consider that were handled extremely poorly and not initiated by me:

1: Boeing Employee Credit Union, (BECU) does not know me or my debit card usages intimately enough to make threats to deactivate my debit/pos card based on a single purchase or their filtering on account usage.

2: I monitor my credit and online bank accounts several times daily for suspicious activity. I also monitor my credit ratings by Equifax online service several times monthly. I dont believe the Credit Union is capable of making any decision as to my debit/pos card usage.

3: I work from home and am home most days and also have an answering machine to take messages. I can be reached by phone any morning before 10:00 AM, (Always). Not making adequate attempts to reach my at my home phone they have on file at various times is extremely poor on multiple levels. In addition making threats to customers to deactivate their debit/pos until they contact them is equally poor. They burden to justify my spending habits at my own cost is of no business of the credit union.

4:  Letters from any financial institution should be clearly identified by Pre-Printed Envelope and Letterhead, not generic ink pad rubber stamped return address on the envelope and plain white paper letter without official letter head. In addition the letter should clearly stated why they are contacting me and provide a date to respond by so I people dont feel threatened by an immediate interruption of debit/pos transactions at inappropriate times.

5: Return call phone numbers should be within the area of the financial institution. In this case, area code 206 for Seattle Area, not 909 for Southern California or a toll free number that anyone can get.

Restitution: I was out of the house the afternoon I received the letter threatening deactivation of my debit/pos card and to contact Card Services to resolve the issue. I contacted Card Services at once to resolve these issues and had to spend considerable time, funds and other resources to facilitate THEIR concerns. I have less then 2 weeks to use the additional minutes from the least expensive minutes plan I purchased to address the threats by Card Services. I would like Boeing Employee Credit Union, (BECU) to reimburse my the $50.00 free I spent on minutes to address their threat to deactivate my debit/pos card without attempting a reasonable number of times to contact me at my home phone number at various times and by sending unmarked generic plain letter in the mail. I dont believe or feel genuine attempts were made on the part of the credit union to resolve the threat generated by the credit union and ended up costing me $50.00 in the end to address therefore I feel they should reimburse me for those cost.

Second complaint filed with the Office of Attorney General, Washington State Office:

I received a response to my original complaint 363858. It was explained to me that because I made an online purchase for clothing from a company in Australia with my debit card BECU felt the need to send an unmarked letter that would cause ME to CALL them. Sending plain unmarked letters was their INTENTIONAL attempt to generate MY Return Call TO THEM AT MY EXPENSE, TIME AND RESOURCES. Im extremely upset and disappointed that BECU would intentionally cause an issue for a customer that cost them money to resolve without offering to help with the expenses incurred to that customer. I will reiterate this issue once more to have resolved to my satisfaction due to the negligent, intentionally deceptive letter sent to initiate a response from me at my expense.  

1: BECU admits they caused the entire issue by sending me a letter without any type of official letterhead in an envelope stamped with a plain rubber stamp available from any office supply store. They stated this is to cause the customer to call them to resolve the issue they created. I find this extremely deceptive, underhanded and without ethical behavior on their part on every level imaginable.

2: BECU states they are acting on my behalf by watching for fraudulent activity on my account. This is a service I did not ask to have performed by them without my consent or knowledge. I already monitor my accounts frequently throughout the day, every day in addition to monitoring my credit report several times monthly through a credit reporting service. I dont believe this was on honest attempt to protect me or any other customer; rather its to protect the bottom line of BECU from having to protect the customer if this were an actual fraud situation. BECU is not benefiting me in any capacity by threatening to deactivate my debit/pos card unless I use my funds, time and other resources to contact them. More or less protecting them, not me.

3: Due to the way the letter was written and unmarked with official letterhead, threatening to deactivate my debit/pos card unless I called them back it cost me $50.00 for phone minutes on my car phone to resolve an issue DEPCEIVLY AND INTENTIONALLY CREATED BY BECU TO INITIATE MY IMMEDIATE RESPONSE AT MY COST. That vehicle is on a lease and as of 5/2/2010 I will no longer have that vehicle so the cost of purchasing the minimum amount of minutes will go to waste.

4: The excuses used in the letter attempting to address this entire costly problem caused by BECU was poor and without substance. Intentionally causing a problem for a customer that cost them a hefty sum to resolve is not providing customer service on any level. Not offering to help the customer with any of the cost incurred is also a nothing more then a slap in the face letting me know in no uncertain terms they really could care less about me or my account but only about their bottom financial line. What an incredible insult to the customer youre supposed to be working for.

5: I want BECU to take the high road here and step up to the plate, reviewing the way they handle issues like this and show genuine interest in correcting an issue THEY CAUSED THE CUSTOMER. The letter sent should have had an official letterhead and provided a date for contact. Saying it was intention to initiate a response is bullying the customer to react at their own expense and without concern for the customer overall. I also want BECU to admit their wrong the way they handled my issue and apologized in addition to reimbursing me the $50.00 it COST ME to resolve the problem BECU INTENTIONALLY GENERATED IN A DECEPTIVE MANNER. Although there was an 800 number provided to call that anyone now days can get they listed a 909 area code number for Southern California. I deal with BECU, Boeing Employees Credit Union located in Washington State, not Southern California.

6: BECU ended their response letter telling me in the future to use a credit card if I wanted to make purchases. THAT WAS AN INSULT FOR THEM TO TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD USE TO MAKE PURCHASES! Its not up to BECU to force or tell me what to use to make purchases and I view that as nothing more then attempting to get customer to use credit generating interest for BECU. Anyway I look at this BECU did nothing but cost me money to resolve the issue they PURPOSELY AND DECEPTIVLY CREATED and STARTED that may have saved them a few dollars for their bottom line in the long run had this really been a fraudulent charge.

7: BECU reimburse ME, YOUR CUSTOMER WHO IS PAYING YOUR SLARY for my time and resources you caused me to spend due to the extremely poor way you handled and caused this issue and act like you really care and are their for all your customers!