PenFed approval/closure horror story

[Anonymous]

Wow OP this is such a bummer to hear. I can't even imagine the frustrations you are/were feeling with this situation. While I have never had an issue with PenFed, what a crappy way they handled this situation. 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

---

We really should avoid speculation on that - it's up to the OP to tell us what sort of business they're in. Please note that the OP reported that Penfed was investigating a LOT of things, such as their dependents and their business clientele, not just their website. If there was a SAR involved, as SpartanSoul theorizes, it may have been triggered by something entirely different, and in fact it could be something the OP might not even be aware of or, if aware, have given a second thought to as being anything out of the ordinary at the time.

---

My comment wasn’t meant to start open speculation or to disparage the OP. I was just trying to offer some insight on a possible reason for the lack of communication.It’s a simple fact that all financial institutions whether a traditional bank or a credit union must act with their self-preservation in mind. This could be traditional credit risk or with thought of all the new laws dealing with every aspect of their operation including money laundering prevention.

If for whatever reason the OP tripped a SAR then there will be no explanation since it would be against the law. It would be in the OP’s best interest to look at his profile/financial matters objectively to see if there is anything that could appear suspicious to any financial institution or that could make him/her appear to be a bad credit risk.

There are several replies in this thread saying how sorry they are and how wrong PenFed is but we don’t have 10% of the story. PenFed has a reputation for excellent customer service and I have experienced it firsthand.  With this being escalated to such high levels and the curt reply I would say there is a reason things turned out how they did. As for why the lack of explanation it could be PenFed has no desire to explain because they do not want to tip off whatever flagged the OP for review or as stated they may not be allowed to by law.

For anyone reading and fearing PenFed because of this, I would suggest not reading about any financial institution. They all have horror stories out there. NFCU is renowned foe excellent customer service and I have also experienced it with them, but there are many horror stories of accounts being locked for months with no notice and the members not being able to access their funds. A search on any institution will turn up similar stories.

Once again, I don’t mean to disparage the OP but there is a reason, look for it. Don't think of your intent or how you see your finances/business, look at things from PenFed's point of view. If you can truly go through everything and not find a possible reason the chalk it up to experience and move on. Cases like this are why I have accounts with multiple institutions, redundancy is good.

[mitchblue]

That's crazy.. It doesn't even matter why they turned him down and why, but the fact they couldn't give him a straight answer. Call this day, no this day, no this day, no this day, no this day etc.. He could have had the worse file ever and should never get this type of CS.. Why is ayone asking about his scores etc.. In this situation, they don't matter at all.  Show the customer some respect, **bleep**.

[DaveInAZ]

---

@mitchblue wrote:

That's crazy.. It doesn't even matter why they turned him down and why, but the fact they couldn't give him a straight answer. Call this day, no this day, no this day, no this day, no this day etc.. He could have had the worse file ever and should never get this type of CS.. Why is ayone asking about his scores etc.. In this situation, they don't matter at all.  Show the customer some respect, **bleep**.

---

We're only getting one side of the story here. Penfed had nearly 1.5 million members as of 2016, and you don't grow to 1.5 million members without showing the customer some respect. That the OP took the time and had the means to find the email for the President/CEO tipped me off that they are not a typical "customer". And the comment about Penfed taking the time to look at their website is another tipoff, Penfed's primary focus is members of the military & their families, not budding entrepreneurs determined to get what they want..

I'm one of the 1.5 million satisfied members, and have never had anything a very pleasant and helpful experience in contacting Penfed. I'm with the Penfed President/CEO, I wish the OP successful financial relationships elsewhere.

[kaw943]

I know that when PENFED approves you or at least with me they sent out some documents that had to be signed and mailed back.  They advised that if the credit card authorization form was not signed and returned that the account could be closed in the near future.  I wonder if this is what happend to the the OP, I was told by the PENFED rep that this is standard with them that every credit card, loan or anything requires the signed authorization to be sent back regardless if you have the card in hand or not.  

[mitchblue]

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@mitchblue wrote:

That's crazy.. It doesn't even matter why they turned him down and why, but the fact they couldn't give him a straight answer. Call this day, no this day, no this day, no this day, no this day etc.. He could have had the worse file ever and should never get this type of CS.. Why is ayone asking about his scores etc.. In this situation, they don't matter at all.  Show the customer some respect, **bleep**.

---

We're only getting one side of the story here. Penfed had nearly 1.5 million members as of 2016, and you don't grow to 1.5 million members without showing the customer some respect. That the OP took the time and had the means to find the email for the President/CEO tipped me off that they are not a typical "customer". And the comment about Penfed taking the time to look at their website is another tipoff, Penfed's primary focus is members of the military & their families, not budding entrepreneurs determined to get what they want..

I'm one of the 1.5 million satisfied members, and have never had anything a very pleasant and helpful experience in contacting Penfed. I'm with the Penfed President/CEO, I wish the OP successful financial relationships elsewhere.

---

I'm a happy cutomer too.. I hope this wasn't an elaborate scheme by the OP. Shame if it was but I took him at his word because why not..You make a valid point.

[Anonymous]

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@mitchblue wrote:

That's crazy.. It doesn't even matter why they turned him down and why, but the fact they couldn't give him a straight answer. Call this day, no this day, no this day, no this day, no this day etc.. He could have had the worse file ever and should never get this type of CS.. Why is ayone asking about his scores etc.. In this situation, they don't matter at all.  Show the customer some respect, **bleep**.

---

We're only getting one side of the story here. Penfed had nearly 1.5 million members as of 2016, and you don't grow to 1.5 million members without showing the customer some respect. That the OP took the time and had the means to find the email for the President/CEO tipped me off that they are not a typical "customer". And the comment about Penfed taking the time to look at their website is another tipoff, Penfed's primary focus is members of the military & their families, not budding entrepreneurs determined to get what they want..

I'm one of the 1.5 million satisfied members, and have never had anything a very pleasant and helpful experience in contacting Penfed. I'm with the Penfed President/CEO, I wish the OP successful financial relationships elsewhere.

---

I am not a Pen Fed Memeber, but I had a similar experience with NFCU last year, where they closed my accounts, never told me why and never communicated with me/led me on to keep calling back.  I did nothing wrong, and I did get my accounts back once I got CFPB involved.  I would not be too quick to judge just because someone didn't have the same experience as you.  You see many great stories about Penfed and NFCU, but If you do some searching (I did find quite a few horror stories here and elsewhere) you will see there are some huge issues that need to be worked out.  Anyways, not to hijack this thread, but here is my Horror story.  I feel your pain OP, and know you are not alone. 

[Anonymous]

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@mitchblue wrote:

That's crazy.. It doesn't even matter why they turned him down and why, but the fact they couldn't give him a straight answer. Call this day, no this day, no this day, no this day, no this day etc.. He could have had the worse file ever and should never get this type of CS.. Why is ayone asking about his scores etc.. In this situation, they don't matter at all.  Show the customer some respect, **bleep**.

---

We're only getting one side of the story here. Penfed had nearly 1.5 million members as of 2016, and you don't grow to 1.5 million members without showing the customer some respect. That the OP took the time and had the means to find the email for the President/CEO tipped me off that they are not a typical "customer". And the comment about Penfed taking the time to look at their website is another tipoff, Penfed's primary focus is members of the military & their families, not budding entrepreneurs determined to get what they want..

I'm one of the 1.5 million satisfied members, and have never had anything a very pleasant and helpful experience in contacting Penfed. I'm with the Penfed President/CEO, I wish the OP successful financial relationships elsewhere.

---

@Both you and @Anonymous make entirely valid points. The OP hasn't responded recently so we still don't have the answers to the more recent questions, and the point brought up earlier about the possibility of a SAR having been generated is particularly on-point. This is the first time I've heard of Penfed going so far as to inspect a member's website to try to gather more information about their business, so yes, something out of the ordinary had to have happened. I've never had a bad experience with Penfed in nearly 40 years of my relationship with them, and @Anonymous's additional point about no financial institution ever being able to generate 100% satisfaction from its customers is especially appropriate. To cite the example of the CU I just recently joined, the overwhelming majority of the remarks about Apple FCU are positive, yet there's at least one thread with someone recounting the tale of a pretty sucky experience they had with that institution. No matter how good a financial institution is with its customers, there's just always going to be someone who just doesn't get what they want, expect or need from them.

[Anonymous]

---

@kaw943 wrote:

I know that when PENFED approves you or at least with me they sent out some documents that had to be signed and mailed back.  They advised that if the credit card authorization form was not signed and returned that the account could be closed in the near future.  I wonder if this is what happend to the the OP, I was told by the PENFED rep that this is standard with them that every credit card, loan or anything requires the signed authorization to be sent back regardless if you have the card in hand or not.  

---

Apple FCU does the same thing. I applied for a Visa on 6/17 and was notified of my approval that Monday morning 6/19. I was offered the option of completing the credit card agreements in PDF format or coming in to the branch to sign them, and chose the latter since I was off work that day anyway. Penfed itself expressed me an updated copy of my car loan paperwork in late February when I had to get a different vehicle than the one I'd originally selected (same price though) for me to sign and send back to them. I wonder if this is a general practice among credit unions as opposed to major banks; none of my other card issuers - Capital One, Discover, Synchrony or Comenity - has ever gone to the length of having me sign actual paper paperwork when being approved for a card.

[Anonymous]

I think we've run the gauntlet of people's guesses as to why the OP's situation occurred.  At this point every one is just a wild guess and some border on accusing the OP of fabricating her story.  Therefore at this point the thread is going to be closed unless the OP wants to respond.  @Anonymous, if you would like post a reply please PM myself or another Moderator and we will reopen the thread.