Among the quarterly statements we recently received was one from Allied Healthcare Credit Union in Long Beach California. Now I have a special place in my heart for Allied since I spent a number of years on their board of directors. One of the things that I didn't like and complained about regularly was the practice of assessing fees for everything. There was a fee for talking to a teller, a fee for getting a cashier's check, a fee for opening an account, a fee for closing an account, etc. I wasn't successful in my complaints then. It really does seem to be standard practice.
Still, I was a little upset to see a $15 charge on my quarter Allied CU statement with no explanation. I suspected it was because my balance was only $1,000.. I called and was told their customer service representatives were all busy. Rather than place me in a holding pattern like most companies, they asked me to leave a message and they'd call back.
Less than two hours later they did call back. A polite gentleman explained that the fee was for "inactivity"! I was incredulous. Really, I asked him, you really charge $15 for doing nothing? He explained that mine was an "inactive account" and thereby incurs a $15 per year charge. I could avoid the charge by having at least one transaction per year. A simple deposit or withdrawal would do.
He then went on to explain that since I had three IRA CD's with the credit union he would write-off the charge this time but he hoped I would make a small deposit this year so that my account would not be inactive this time next year. Very nice of him.
No comments:
Post a Comment