ComplaintsforEmpower Federal Credit Union

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 12, 2024, I tried sending a $250 ***** payment via the Empower FCU mobile app. The transaction failed without explanation, and subsequent attempts resulted in the same issue. ***** deducted the payment twice for these unsuccessful transactions. I reached out to Empower on April 15, and a representative assured me that the ***** problem had been fixed, with the money refunded to my account. However, I couldn't see this reflected on my end. The representative acknowledged that Empower was aware of the issue and working on a resolution, promising that the balance would be updated within two business days. Despite contacting Empower daily, including today, April 18, I've received no concrete resolution, only assurances that the matter is still under investigation with no ETA provided. Empower failed to inform members about this issue, potentially leaving others in the dark as well. It's unfair for Empower to risk members' accounts going into the negative due to their problem. They owe me $500, yet their response has been indifferent. Despite being a long-time customer, I've never encountered such negligence. Moreover, their customer service representatives lack empathy and provide vague responses. This lack of urgency and accountability is unacceptable. Empower must address this issue promptly and compensate affected members. I shouldn't have to rely on other resources because Empower withdrew $500 from my account and isn't prioritizing a resolution. Once this matter is resolved, I intend to take my business elsewhere, and I encourage others to do the same.

  Business response

  04/29/2024

  This is a duplicate complaint from the member, which was received on April 19, 2024, from the NCUA. The member will receive a direct response upon investigation of that complaint. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Called the "member services" number on 4/2/24 at 9:38AM, to discuss my rewards program through my credit card. The automated system said my credit card number was invalid, thus I had to call back again and use a different department to talk to someone, as they no longer have a "representative" option. The representative I spoke to, verified my card number was correct then informed me that there was nothing that she could do besides transfer me to card member services, turns out that was a cold transfer to the automated system that states my card number is invalid. Got back to another rep, who said the same thing, then when I asked for a supervisor I was placed on hold for twenty minutes. When she got back on the phone she told me there was no one to speak to, so she then warm transferred me to card member services. That person I spoke stated they cannot help with the automated system and had no idea why it would say invalid. I asked for another supervisor, and got Christopher, who just kept repeating over me, that I must have entered the wrong card number, and beyond that there is no issue. I did NOT enter a wrong card number, I can see what numbers I am entering. This entire experience is unacceptable, the credit card is a product, and I am a customer, Empower is not fulfilling their duties as they will not recognize the issue, nor correct it. This needs to be corrected on Empowers end, and not at the expense of my time.

  Business response

  04/09/2024

  The credit union mailed a response letter directly to the member on April 9, 2024.

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The date of me being scammed/ tricked was on 10/22/2023. people pretending to be ****** ****** told me they were going to walk me through the process to receive the money for my tickets i was trying to sell. the bank says because it was initiated with my phone, they are refusing to dispute the transaction of $150 going to ***** cash to buy an ***** store gift card which I didn't want to do or had no reason to do so. I tried going in the mobile banking app to stop, cancel or pause the transaction when I had a funny feeling about it and there was no way for me to stop it and the bank is refusing to help dispute it to get my money back. also, ***** is refusing to help me because the funds on the gift card was already used even though it was not redeemed on my phone and never had access to the funds which they can see where and when it was redeemed and see that it was not me, not my phone, and not in my area so if I can, I would like to complain about ***** as well. i just want my money back that I never had a chance to use. Both companies are refusing to help me and now I have no funds and have to literally starve for the next week due to this issue.

  Business response

  12/06/2023

  The credit union mailed the member a response letter on  December  6, 2023.

• Initial Complaint

  11/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have been a member with Empower for 16 plus years. I have reached out to empower regarding a fraudulent transfer with Cash App in the amount of 1500 dollars, my entire paycheck. I am paid Bi weekly, and had no money to return home with. I had to have friends lend me money. My “Bank” deemed it not fraudulent, even though I have a police report filed. When asking how they made this assumption, they claimed because they were in physical control of my phone at the time. Which I explained they did NOT have my consent to sending them my hard earned money, I was lead to believe they were typing in an address to a venue in Nashville. I also asked them if they looked into the police report, and they stated they did not as they are not a law agency. A police report stating fraud and they wouldn’t look into it. Just wanting for me to go away. Also, I did had a provisional sent to me, to help me get through the week while they “investigated “. They took the provisional out of my account without a simple message on the app or email telling me they were doing this. Leaving me helpless once again. I am so disgusted with this credit union, and judging by a lot of reviews it does not shock me this is how they treat their “members” that they care so much about. I demand a refund of my money that I earned. A member of your credit union who is in need of help, and you look the other way. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

  Business response

  11/13/2023

  The credit union's Internal Audit Department will investigate the complaint and send the member a written response by January 12, 2024.

  Customer response

  11/13/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  A home equity loan was secured by myself ,***** * ******.The funds were deposited. August 21 2023 I went to empower credit union,to close my checking and savings account and reopen in my name. November 9 2023 My ex-husband went to empower and withdrew 6,900.of home equity funds.Empower states that ****** ****** name was account despite my request for a new savings account

  Business response

  11/13/2023

  The credit union's Internal Audit Department will investigate this complaint and the member will receive a written response by January 12, 2024.

  Business response

  11/29/2023

  The credit union mailed a response letter directly to the member today.

  Customer response

  12/04/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I found a charge on my July credit union credit card statement that was not mine. Made many attempts to contact but gave up after 25+ min wait times. Finally spoke with a rep and filed a dispute on 8/2 explaining I did not know how this occurred but was certain the charge was not mine. Answered many questions including that I did not give my card to someone else. I was notified 23 days later that the same questions needed to be answered or the dispute would be denied in 10 days. I called again and provided the information-again after enduring extensive time on hold. Both reps suspected the card may have been cloned since it wasn't lost or knowingly given to someone and their data showed someone used a card and not just keyed in data. At the 10 day mark I was able to access the dispute on line and saw non of my conversations were added to the dispute. I frantically added remarks and tried again to speak with someone to ensure my dispute was not closed. After 35 min wait time I was offered a call back which I accepted. The rep that called back indicated she could not see any information regarding the dispute and a different department must have filed it which prevented her from access so I would need to call back! I requested a call back on line but no one contacted me. Just received a letter that dispute was denied because "Mastercard regulations require that disputes of this nature be resolved directly between the consumer and the merchant.." so I need to try to recoup my money from an unknown location! A rep tried to find a supervisor but after 20 min received a text that I would be called the next day. He said that because the card had a chip and I didn't know how someone could have used it then I was responsible. The fact that my card had a chip was know from the beginning! The whole process was a time consuming farce! There was no answer that was going to absolve me of these erroneous charges! How would anyone know if it was taken without them knowing?

  Business response

  10/04/2023

  The credit union mailed a response directly to the member on October 4, 2023.

  Customer response

  10/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  Regards, ******** *****

• Initial Complaint

  09/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  September 18, 7:59 am (Monday) central time I was driving from NY to Texas when I tried to get gas and my card was declined. I discovered the representative had accidentally disabled my new card with no option to re-enable. I explained this was urgent as this was my only card period. Rep was to reissue a card but explained she would not overnight it. Had to sell my laptop for cash to make it to ******** ***** (on the street). Once there I waiting until Friday to check the tracking on the replacement card and was told “they forgot to send it”; “our fault”. After about 20 calls I was able to convince a representative to overnight another card. I spent 5 calls trying to reach a manager and was told they would call me back. Never happened. I have been living out of my car now for almost 7 days and local “affiliates” were unable to access ******* or help. I am now in a dire situation and after several more calls I still have no confirmation on a shipping number and “off hours” has no answers. Please help! I’m stranded 1800 miles from home

  Business response

  09/28/2023

  The credit union mailed the member a response on September 28, 2023.

• Initial Complaint

  09/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently had a late payment hit my credit report for a $400 credit card I had with Empower. I immediately made a payment on that and called into Empower to see what was going on. I also requested the mark be removed from my account for multiple factors. I had setup auto pay on this account but apparently that never was processed by the system. In addition, I had received numerous SPAM calls from Empower and was warned about these SPAM attempts so I stopped answering calls from Empower. Not to mention I had the money in my savings account that could have been a courtesy transfer to pay the $20 due (which Empower does regularly with my other accounts). I called back in to see the decision on removing that one late payment from my credit report as it is significantly impacting my finances and was indeed an Empower issue on multiple fronts (auto-pay not working and SPAM issues). I was then informed that my card was late AGAIN. I have an auto-pay setup and confirmed and I am still experiencing this issue. I have reached out to multiple individuals with no success - I have been told this is my problem. However, I did not receive one voicemail (I was screening the SPAM calls from Empower numbers due to the high volume of SPAM), Did not receive any mailings (they said one was sent to an old address I do not live at), No emails were sent regarding this issue at all, and I was in the branch multiple times during the "late" period and there was no mention of the payment being late. I had auto-pay setup that does not work correctly and had plenty of funds to pay the amount due. Empower should take responsibility for the issues on their end and lack of proper communication to the customer.

  Business response

  09/14/2023

  The credit union mailed the member a response on September 14, 2023.

  Customer response

  09/20/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. It has been 6 days and I still have not received the letter Empower stated they sent out. This is the exact type of problem that lead is to this issue. Empower stated they reaches out but I never received anything. The last time I was in the Johnson City branch I ensured my address was correct. I cannot be held liable for a missed payment when their auto-pay system did not work and their communication does not work. Regards, ***** *******

  Business response

  09/20/2023

  The initial response was mailed to the member by the credit union on September 14, 2023, to his address on record. The credit union will mail a duplicate response on September 21, 2023.

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was issued a cashier’s check for $13000. It was not real !???! See attached

  Business response

  09/01/2023

  The credit union responded directly to the individual on September 1, 2023.

  Customer response

  09/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I did not get a response Regards, ****** *****

  Business response

  09/01/2023

  The credit union mailed a response letter via US Mail to the individual on September 1, 2023.

• Initial Complaint

  06/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I reached out to dispute a transaction. They provisionally credited the transaction amount and then referred me to the merchant when they ultimately denied my dispute. I contacted the merchant who informed me the bank was the one who denied the request and that they encourage me to proceed with a second dispute on the funds. At the branch I was informed that this is not possible and not to do so. ****** informed me this is the only way to resolve my funds being stolen by a complete stranger. The funds were not returned and the services the funds were sent for, not rendered. The branch manager blatantly lied to me telling me that the first person who was assisting me had to leave, and lied again when she stated I was unable to dispute the findings of my case. This is absolutely asinine for someone who handles ALL of their accounts with an institution. I feel absolutely disrespected and wronged by this company and I’m requesting assistance from a higher level of management who can assist me with the transaction dispute further so that I can be credited the money I am OWED.

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  The credit union responded to the member directly via letter on July 7, 2023.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩