Pentagon Federal Credit Union Reviews

As a permanent and total disabled veteran having account with PFCU for almost 20 years, I asked them for information related to loan credit waivers and general financial assistance to disabled veterans. I received a cold email response saying "Unfortunately, we do not offer loan exceptions to disabled members". Then I submitted another email explaining my dissatisfaction and complaining how a credit union that foundation is dedicated to assist the men and women and their immediate families in the Department of Defense and Homeland Security including both uniform and non-uniform personnel, etc, etc, etc. (information taken from its website) is reluctant to assist disabled veterans due to service-connected disabilities when is needed. Later, they sent me another response changing their rudeness and tone for their prior response. This is just "UNACCEPTABLE, DEPLORABLE & UNSATISFACTORY". PFCU needs to refocus and reorient its foundation-mission showing why they exist, not just to make money.

I was just on a call with Heidi at extension **. I requested my original call to be escalated as my current issue is a Western Union matter. I originally submitted my Western Union to be processed around 730a central. I called at 1030 to receive my code and was told my request has not been processed yet. I asked for details and was told it was going to take an additional 2 to 4 hours before I would receive the funds. I requested to speak to a Supervisor because the original rep was a bit unclear and I had a hard time understating her explanation of the situation correctly. Immediately when the representative Heidi at extension ** got on the line, she was extremely rude to me, out and over talked me and did not listen to my request at all. When I noticed her tone had become completely inappropriate, I requested to be connected with her Supervisor and I was denied. She told me she refused to do so. Eventually, after about 35min on the call in total, I just eventually hung up and called again. The level of customer service I've received today was absolutely unacceptable.

I am a real estate broker with several clients who over the past few months have chosen to apply for PenFed's 5/5 loan - which on paper is good deal - but invariably there is a huge problem at closing and NONE of these deals have closed on time - leaving the buyers living in hotel rooms, with their stuff in storage, paying outrageous hotel and storage bills, all because Pen Fed screwed up and would not work to get things corrected. There is almost nonexistent customer service there, and they are very rude. If this were an isolated incident I might brush it off, but this has happened with all all three clients who applied for a PenFed loan, all three of whom have completely different profiles and situations.

I haven't asked much of PenFed, but my experiences with their customer service representatives have been largely positive--both in person and over the phone. I'm an active duty Army officer with mediocre credit. Though I primarily bank with NFCU and Chase, I opened a PenFed account in order to qualify for their competitive products at some point in the future. I have no immediate credit needs.

All I wanted was a PIN and ATM card to access the savings account I have with PenFed.

I filed a refi application online to consolidate a 1st and 2nd mortgage. (NOTE: There really is no other way to file because if you call PenFed directly, they know absolutely nothing.) PenFed's mortgage operation (on the West Coast) was in the Portland area. They asked for a lot of documentation, but everything appeared okay. In fact, the loan officer stated that the loan was set for closing and I would be contacted by the closing agent (a notary) very soon.

I suggest you don't use PenFed for a home mortgage. It's been a nightmare for us. The process started out smoothly -- completed online application, etc. We needed the process expedited as we were purchasing a short-sale property and we could only get a short contract extension. The PenFed person we were working with did not do anything with our account unless my husband called to check the status of the application. An appraisal was ordered and supposedly completed, and here it is two weeks later and PenFed does not yet have the report. Our closing is three business days away and our loan has not even been sent to underwriting yet. They advertise great rates, but what good are great rates if they won't do their jobs and work with the customer. Today we are trying to get enough cash together to purchase the home outright. The only thing that has gone good is working with the title company (Closure Title). The girl working on our title insurance, etc. has been wonderful and so helpful.

When a third party company's security was compromised, there was fraudulent activity on my PenFed debit card. This happened while I was overseas and was then not able to access my account as PenFed, without calling, put a hold on my account. When I returned, I spoke with PenFed's security contractor to clear up the charges and then spoke to a PenFed rep to order a new card. She assured me on a Tuesday that I'd have my card FedExed and get it by that Friday. On the following Monday, I still have no card. I called again, and the rep said the card hasn't been ordered and that they couldn't FedEx a new card because it was too expensive.

Bottom line, this company markets itself as a straightforward lender with user-friendly online application service. My experience ultimately ended with lack of communication, or explanation from loan officer, exhaustively underwriting process, and a resultant denial of two mortgage refinances. I was charged for two appraisals that I never received copies. Their business model is bait customers with teaser rates and give them a false sense of security with a government-sounding name. Then delay the customers' underwriting process hoping to take advantage of market rate volatility by denying a certain % of all loans in process hoping to expire a lower interest rate lock. The customer feels cheated, taken advantage of and out of time and $$ (appraisals, fees, etc.) beware of this predatory lender business. Did I mention that I have prime credit, ultimate job security, top 1% income bracket, plenty of cash reserves? Bottom line, for your family's best interest, please don't give PenFed a first look. I will definitely not give them a second look.

I have had very good service on my CDs and Checking. Reading the comments makes me wonder about the thought process of these potential borrowers. They want the loan because it is a great, great deal for them. As good as a deal it is for them, it is a bad deal for the credit union. It is obviously not in the CU's interest to do too many of these loans with interest rates at historic lows. They are going to lose money on everyone they write. That is the members' money - my money. So why the slow service? Why the inattentive staff? Thank you, Credit Union.

This is perhaps the rudest, most incompetent experience I've had with a service provider in over 30 years. I applied for a mortgage and that went smoothly online. A representative called and was unintelligible. He simply couldn't speak English. I asked that he email the request, which was also in broken English. The second person that called was a mortgage specialist. She was extraordinarily rude from the moment she began talking. I was actually surprised at this behavior. After reading the reviews here, I understand that I should have done my homework and avoided PenFed. Do yourself a favor and just avoid these folks. Although their mortgage rates are competitive, based on my experience, they appear not to care about their customers.

We applied for mortgage online, a nice upfront on pre-populated credit form. All was good, excellent credit. Then the nightmare began. "Send me all your documents." We sent them right away and waited 2 weeks. "Oh, we never received them (mind you this is weeks later)." Okay, I'll send them again - he went on vacation (no notice-closing to take place in a week, yea right). Then, "We need more information," we sent that fax/email. "Okay, we will get back to you." 2 weeks later and there was nothing.

Immediately after applying with them, I am being bombarded with phone calls and emails from every Honda dealership in a 50-mile radius. I have never felt so betrayed by a company with my information. My email is one thing, but to give out my phone number to all these relentless jerks... wow, I really messed up by trusting in these people.

The completely inept loan specialist, who calls herself a senior mortgage specialist, has left me in the dark since the start of the loan process. She does not return emails or phone calls and barely speaks fluent English. I applied for a home loan on a second home with the intent to sell my current second home concurrently to my brother. He applied after me for his loan with Penfed upon my initial advice to keep continuity between the two loans. The moron mortgage specialist proceeded fully with his loan and placed mine on the back burner for 8 days and failed to update me of this.

This is the most unprofessional financial institution I have dealt with in 40 years. They have no communication, no clue what they are doing, no response to update requests, no knowledge of previous communication and no desire to have your business. If you want to spend weeks spinning your wheels, apply to PenFed for a loan or mortgage. I've fallen for it 3 times, always thinking they will get better. They never do and remain a mess.

I received many offers from PenFed and applied. My credit is good, but they obviously require incredible credit. The reasons reported back on my application were impossibly inaccurate, not sure what bureau they were using if they were even using one.

I applied for a home equity loan. After three months of waiting, I was approved but for a counteroffer, which was less than I was applying for. No biggie to me. I had wanted to pay off a temporary no interest loan. Pen Fed wouldn't do it because they would not be the third lien holder. I've got to tell you, this wasn't my first rodeo. They knew from the start that I had two lien holders (mortgage holder and a small equity loan) but never told me that it might be a problem for them. They wouldn't even pay off the second lien holder and then part of the temporary loan. I couldn't believe it! I have excellent credit, good assets. This company doesn't know how to operate efficiently. If you apply, just be careful or you might get caught in the same problem I did.

Pretty much what you have read about the mortgage division is true! Stay far away from them. Great rates but you will pay 400% more in closing costs for the rate than other banks. I just locked in 15 year 2.7% for a $390k refinance loan with cash out for about $2,600 in closing costs versus PFCU 2.85 with $9,800 in closing costs! Outrageous. Direct questions were either ignored or lied about. I was told three different things until I was ready to sign then I was told, "Oh cash out? That's going to add .25% onto your rate" or roughly $80k to the loan over the full life. Oh yeah, that $65 charge just to accept preliminary paperwork. It's gone, not to be seen again by me anyway. They get 1000-3000 new loan apps at $65 regardless of acceptance. That's a nice chunk of free money. This used to be a great credit union, but I'm looking around now after 25 years.

I had been banking with PFCU for the last 3 years and had my cellphone bill being paid automatically each month, mistake #1. I went to my cellphone company (a foreign company since I was living in Japan) and asked to have paper bills mailed to me each month since I kept having to call customer service about the high bill and having the bill lowered. The cellphone company told me I had to contact my bank to have auto pay cancelled, which made no sense, but I contacted PFCU anyway. They just turned me right around and told me the cellphone company had to cancel the auto pay. Long story short, I lost my wallet and had to renew all my cards, and I changed my accounts as a precaution.

I requested all my accounts closed during my divorce. The bank missed one and when my ex-wife over spent the account, the bank went after me instead of my ex-wife. The employees were rude and didn't care that it was their mistake. They seemed happy with dinging my credit until I would pay. Even then when I finally broke down and agreed to pay, they said they would remove the late on my credit score and then they reneged.

I can't even think of where to begin with this company. The headaches began with signing up with them for a new car loan. Being 23 at that time, my credit was hardly established. To PenFed, apparently this makes you a risk. They forced my father to co-sign this agreement, so that I could not default on the loan.

Pentagon Federal charged me $30 as a fee for an ACH start up. No, it is not a late fee. I paid the first month of my loan by personal check. They asked me to do this even though I requested auto withdrawal from my checking account. They said I should pay by check the first month or two to avoid a late fee if the ACH did not go through correctly.

I once had a regular share account with Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which I passed over to my son, Peter. He now tells me that Penfed says the account is no longer valid and there is no money to be had. Please help me get the facts. Thank you.

I am a PFCU member since 1980. All services have been excellent until two years ago. Since then, PFCU reps (customer service) have failed to act upon services I requested: loan apps, transfer of funds from PFCU accounts to other financial institutions, failure to stop payments on ACHs, and checks, even after the PFCU rep stated that the request have been inputted into the system and would be effective the next business day.

My husband and I applied for a refinance with Pentagon Federal Credit Union. They selected an appraisal company in Doylestown, PA. The location of our property is in a different county altogether. The appraisal came back, and the comps used were from older than 6 months ago, because they couldn't find any and over a mile from our house. The appraiser came in for 10 minutes with our babysitter, who was here during the day. We noticed many discrepancies on the appraisal, not taking into account appliances that were asked on the appraisal, our deck, and our upgraded doors/windows with energy efficiency. The percent of our basement finished is more than what they stated.

Applied for the "no fee" home equity loan. When I received the truth in lending statement, there were actually $139.00 in hidden fees. Pentagon brushed this off as a legal technicality - we have to add the fees, but won't really charge you and then told me I would have to pay $300 for an appraisal which brought the "no fee" loan to $439. This is excessive, being that I was only looking to pay off the balance of an existing mortgage between $39,000 and $40,000. I explained that an appraisal was done less than 3 months prior which valued the home at $205,000, but they would not accept this outside appraisal. I believe that their advertising is deceptive and they deliberately strung me along until we were so far into the refinance that I would go along with the fees.

I applied for a refinance of my 5/1 ARM. I submitted the application online and then was contacted by an agent (Diana M.). Pen Fed holds my current mortgage and a home equity line with zero balance. So they were well aware of this. The things get somehow complicated and they said that they would require a second appraisal. I did not want to pay the cost of the second appraisal as they chose the appraiser and the cost was supposed to be covered by me - a violation of the good faith estimate.

I applied for a fixed equity loan at Pentagon Federal Credit Union. In their home equity disclosure, it states for applications with an LTV, 60% or less, a tax assessment (in approved counties) or AVM can be used for value, if available (tax assessments in approved counties) and AVM's can only be used on loan amounts $250,000 or less. I am borrowing far less than 50% loan to value. They tell me I have to pay $300 for the appraisal.

I have dealt with Pen Fed for many years and they were always very helpful and courteous. Lately, I have no idea what has happened. My husband and I applied for an equity line of credit for a small amount of money; in order to adopt a foreign child. Maybe my mistake was telling the equity loan agent my reasons, because what I thought should have been a very easy loan application turned out to be a 90-day nightmare.