Consumer complaint received 2022-01-14
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: BOEING EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION (WA)

Well the issue starts with me opening a new account. The intention with the account was for me and my partner to come together on a joint banking account. However my partner newly relocated to XXXX had lost his wallet. During the week of the move he received roughly 129 State benefit checks from the state treasurer of Oregon. A friend of ours had mentioned which later we found out was incorrect ish that BECU allowed third party check. We understood that given the volume and the nature of our new account there would probably be likely a two week old. And so begins our experience with becu 's dishonesty campaign. The first day of deposits I put in a handful of checks and {$1400.00} cash. I stopped at whole foods across the street from the bank but two slices of pizza went outside to get a lift and my card had been locked. I'm then told that the account is going to be put on hold for 2 weeks while the checks clear and I explained that we just put every penny we had from my old bank account which I had started the process to close into this and we are left all weekend and the end of that week as this happened on a Wednesday with zero dollars zero access to our cash come Monday I'm very upset and I call and I demand that we figure out how this gets fixed at least for the cash I can be reasonable but that cash I need to live we could not buy food for the entire weekend furthermore on Friday we have been advised by someone at the call center that if we had gone in person we can talk to a banker and they could negotiate for us to get our cash out during that experience I came into contact with someone who is contagious for XXXX. Given my medical history that was a very very unfortunate dangerous and frankly uncertain situation for me to have to encounter and for nothing because the information given to us we were requested to go down on Friday was incorrect we were left empty-handed. Not only that I had to sit there while this employee of BECU spoke down to me like I was some criminal. Like I had ever in my life been accused of anything remotely similar to fraud because I have not. At one point I had to tell him to stop talking down to me and stop talking like I have done something so egregious. Like cash a signed over government check for my partner who lives with me. But even after that distasteful and frankly inappropriate treatment I waited the 2 weeks during which time I was hospitalized. Miss my opportunity to go on the next boat as I am now a commercial fisherman. Maybe I get out of the hospital maybe I don't I'm not sure I know I'm here for a reason. One of the people we spoke to went up and out of her way to help us find resolution and she asked me to print out a specific form from the website which I did from the hospital to sign it fill it out have my partner do the same and have somebody wasn't covid positive drop it off and we did and then that Branch was closed the next day so when I called on the day that I've been told repeatedly my money would be made available I was told by the representative on the phone we're almost done with the investigation just one or two more days. You did everything right you got that signature on that form now all we have to do is wait one or two more days it all looks good. So I called the next day and now I'm told when I'm not covid positive I can go down to the branch. Repeatedly I've said listen if these checks are not going to be accepted as they are at this point I am fine with closing the account send the money back to the state of Oregon you can send me the substitute checks or not I don't care because once you send that money back to the state they will take care of us because you are incapable as you have shown of being honest of giving a clear narrative of what needs to happen as multiple people have told me multiple different routes an outcomes in timelines. I have lost any remote idea of trust when it comes to this financial institution. They have demonstrated that they can talk down to their members that they can present a sense of godlike power over the course of their lives by withholding money that was not your marks for them to gain interest on but to sustain the life of my partner because of his situation and the things that he had to endure during this pandemic they believe they have the power to further the damage he's received and they are successfully doing so. In conjunction with filing this report I am also going to file reports with any federal agency that might oversee the operation of this business public complaints with the XXXX XXXX XXXX and right after that I start reaching out to local media. Which let me tell you they do love helping not just current or former military but people of XXXX and XXXX people this is the trifecta of you really should just do what's right because let me tell you when you're operating within the confines of honorable intentions your shield is much much stronger than when you're trying to commit fraud. We have been understanding because our situation is not your typical one and we've done everything that we can but at this point it's been made painfully clear that either I checked myself out of the hospital against medical advice and I go down there and I infect every person I have to talk to you and risk further damage to my body if I want to be able to pay our bills if I want my partner to be able to purchase the car that he desperately needs. Being XXXX  there is no guarantee that I even get to experience life again leaving this hospital each day I'm more sick than I was the day before and something that could just give a little bit of peace to the uncertainty in my life is being withheld and it's not that they just said it in the beginning it's that I keep being given hope. So that I jump through a couple other rings of fire to be XXXX on by the horse so that the flames will be stifled out. I can't believe I'm having to file this complaint attempting membership with this institution was the single most regrettable action that I've done and I can't believe I took my friends advice when he said what a great place this was cuz let me tell you my experience is that they're dishonest and that they don't treat some members the same as others and I hope for their sake that they are operating within the confines of the law because I'll find out if they're not