Consumer complaint received 2021-07-02
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Unable to open an account

Complaint:
I am submitting a complaint against Navy Federal Credit Union to warn others that if your account is ever compromised as an immediate result of being a victim of fraud they will not resolve your case to have your account unrestricted. A teller there informed me of my account being restricted when I went to make a deposit for {$30.00} one day. The deposit went towards the outstanding balance of about {$210.00} due to an unknown check that was cashed into my account by a perpetrator and not even endorsed with my signature, or any signature, on the back of it. I had no knowledge of this activity until the teller informed me. I then was told the account will be reinstated once the outstanding balance is paid in full and an appeal was submitted. Well, I went through a lot of trouble filing a case and contacting the police department about my situation that involved this dispute before paying any full amount of anything I had no partake in. Once my case on file with the police department was getting somewhere, I decided to go back to Navy Federal to pay the full balance and submit my appeal. I was granted victim restitution reimbursement for my financial loss and had my paperwork to back up my claims ready for investigation and review. Even though my legal documents and explanation of the situation that transpired were submitted to Navy Federal Credit Unions security specialist team, they denied my appeal. Shocked by the outcome, I then went further to contact the president of the company by email and was reached by a senior executive who confirmed that the decision to deny my appeal was final. This shows that they do not care about their members once a problem as such occurs. It is not uncommon for people to be victims of identity theft. Anyone who is and finds their accounts compromised with Navy Federal Credit Union will NEVER be granted access to be a member again and you will not get your money back. This is unfortunate because the credit union is highly recommended and favorable for the perks they offer to their members and I was stripped of the opportunity to be able to continue utilizing their services due to the nature of this incident. Im not for certain if this reasoning is mentioned in the fine print of their new member agreement contracts, but it was not a specified reasoning that was mentioned to be used in part of them making their decision to deny my appeal. As a prior member, I am very disappointed and displeased with my experience with Navy Federal Credit Union. Their security specialists team pretty much overthrew police records and documentation that may or might not have even been thoroughly investigated to begin with. Dont try your luck getting a similar situation resolved, if you are being affected. Reporting to the police doesnt work in this case. If anything like this has ever happened to you, your best bet is to bank somewhere else. Dont even consider Navy Federal.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation