Affinity One Federal Credit Union, Jamestown, NY

The most terrible bank I've ever dealt with, do yourself a favor and go somewhere else!

The staff, Michelle especially, at the Lakewood branch of Affinity are the most friendly and helpful people that I have ever worked with in a banking capacity. After getting thrown under the bus one too many times with Key, I decided to apply for a car loan at a local credit union. I had a whole list of stops but luckily I only needed one as Michelle was ready and willing to help me secure a loan at a GREAT rate for my first car. Every time that I've stopped in since then I've been greeted with exceptionally friendly staff who know me by name and are excited to hear about the new car. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to trust a financial institution. I will say, however, that I had my first experience with their Bill Pay staff (separate staff) this past week. I had called on Monday 8/31 and spoken to a very helpful Chris about whether there would be a charge to place a stop-payment on a check that had been sent accidentally. He placed me on hold to check and see if there would be a charge. When he returned he stated that I had two options: If I trusted the other person (landlord) to void the check then that would be the first option, the other was to pay $15 and have the stop-payment placed. Since $15 seemed a little steep, I informed him that I would make sure my landlord voided the check and would not have a stop-payment placed on my account. Imagine my surprise when the $15 charge showed up anyway. I phoned Bill Pay back to have the charge reversed. I spoke to both Marisa and Samantha who were very kind, polite and helpful. Samantha said she remembered Chris calling in to ask about the charge, and would have Carrie call me back once they figured out what had happened. Carrie called back several minutes later, slightly lacking in the customer service that I have quickly become accustomed to with Affinity. She stated that Chris had told her I was going ahead with the stop-payment but they would reverse the charge. She also made sure to inform me that if the check was cashed and I did not have the money in my account, it would be honored and it would overdraft "with a fee". I said that I understood, my landlord had already sent me a picture of the voided check, and that I was certain that Chris and I had been on the same page during the initial phone call. She was less than friendly, sounded annoyed and asked, "Is there anything else?" I said, "No, thank you for your help Carrie..." and she was already gone. There is a recording before you speak to an employee that 'calls may be monitored', if this is true then it would take no time to look up the call and see that the miscommunication was not on the end of Chris and myself. I understand we all have bad days but when an employee makes an unknowing mistake I expect things to be remedied in a polite manner. One irritable employee however does not detract any stars from my rating, I will simply no longer be utilizing their Bill Pay service.

They didn’t inform me that my car refinance would have me paying more than what I originally paid while removing all I basically paid that whole year. Resulting in me losing 4,000 dollars.

I really like this credit union, I've been with them for over a year now not had any problems and feel that my money is safe and secure. Thank you all for everything! :)

Besides the fact they don't pick up the phone sometimes, they are otherwjse very very helpful and kind people

They don’t communicate anything with you including what they’re apparently allowed to do and just do it anyway. They seem like they’re amazing at first until they inevitably screw you over. They stole the little bit of money i had left in my account and then wouldn’t give it back. Then when talking to the literal CEO about my stolen money, she hung up on me. Don’t waste your time AND money in this prissy organization

The staff, Michelle especially, at the Lakewood branch of Affinity are the most friendly and helpful people that I have ever worked with in a banking capacity. After getting thrown under the bus one too many times with Key, I decided to apply for a car loan at a local credit union. I had a whole list of stops but luckily I only needed one as Michelle was ready and willing to help me secure a loan at a GREAT rate for my first car. Every time that I've stopped in since then I've been greeted with exceptionally friendly staff who know me by name and are excited to hear about the new car. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to trust a financial institution. I will say, however, that I had my first experience with their Bill Pay staff (separate staff) this past week. I had called on Monday 8/31 and spoken to a very helpful Chris about whether there would be a charge to place a stop-payment on a check that had been sent accidentally. He placed me on hold to check and see if there would be a charge. When he returned he stated that I had two options: If I trusted the other person (landlord) to void the check then that would be the first option, the other was to pay $15 and have the stop-payment placed. Since $15 seemed a little steep, I informed him that I would make sure my landlord voided the check and would not have a stop-payment placed on my account. Imagine my surprise when the $15 charge showed up anyway. I phoned Bill Pay back to have the charge reversed. I spoke to both Marisa and Samantha who were very kind, polite and helpful. Samantha said she remembered Chris calling in to ask about the charge, and would have Carrie call me back once they figured out what had happened. Carrie called back several minutes later, slightly lacking in the customer service that I have quickly become accustomed to with Affinity. She stated that Chris had told her I was going ahead with the stop-payment but they would reverse the charge. She also made sure to inform me that if the check was cashed and I did not have the money in my account, it would be honored and it would overdraft "with a fee". I said that I understood, my landlord had already sent me a picture of the voided check, and that I was certain that Chris and I had been on the same page during the initial phone call. She was less than friendly, sounded annoyed and asked, "Is there anything else?" I said, "No, thank you for your help Carrie..." and she was already gone. There is a recording before you speak to an employee that 'calls may be monitored', if this is true then it would take no time to look up the call and see that the miscommunication was not on the end of Chris and myself. I understand we all have bad days but when an employee makes an unknowing mistake I expect things to be remedied in a polite manner. One irritable employee however does not detract any stars from my rating, I will simply no longer be utilizing their Bill Pay service.

They didn’t inform me that my car refinance would have me paying more than what I originally paid while removing all I basically paid that whole year. Resulting in me losing 4,000 dollars.