Police And Fire Credit Union

They lost their touch. They started out great decades ago...and then they made BEAUCOUP BUCKS from hardworking Philadelphians through fees, interest rates, etc.

etc. NOW, they are FAR WORSE than any bank when it comes to taking care of their customers. No grace. No humanity.

No service. They do not listen.

They've also made egregious mistakes over the years when it comes to credit reporting (once reporting a late mortgage payment the month AFTER I had sold my home and the mortgage was paid in full on the settlement day). They refused to admit fault and after months of trying to have them fix it, I gave up...

but it cost me even more money in interest because of my damaged score.

BEWARE...STEER CLEAR of doing any business with them. I will be closing all of my accounts immediately.

I was receiving a barrage of letters from Police & Fire, however my loan has always been on autopay and there was never a situation with late or missed payments, so these letters ended up in the garbage bin alongside the other piles of letters I got.

Roughly four(4) weeks ago, a rep at Police & Fire named Brian Baker called my work number and immediately threatened me with repossession of my vehicle due to insurance surcharges they placed on my account. Upon asking for more clarification, I was notified that it was around a $100 fee. Bewildered, I insisted he must be out of his mind to threaten repossession over a mere $100 that I wasnt valid to begin with. I ended the conversation with asking him for the contact information to send over proof of insurance, and insisted that Brian does not call my place of business ever again.

I compiled my insurance information and faxed it as well as mailed it to the address provided by Brian.

Brian ignores my demands and proceeds to call me at work multiple times per day.

I ultimately asked one of my employees (Mitch McDavid) to tell Brian to stop calling, at which point Brian asserted that he had a right to do so because Im the business owner.

On February 17th, I received a collection letter in the mail. I assumed Police & Fire didnt process my insurance information yet, and when they do everything will be fine.

On February 22nd, I received another letter, attached, where it issued me credit for the time I provided insurance proof for. Upon noticing a gap remaining, I compiled additional information on my insurance and mailed it to Police & Fire.

Also the letter said that my monthly payment will go up by $200 because of the insurance gap. I figured I can just resolve it with insurance and sense they are acknowledging receiving my insurance paperwork. I am in the clear with any kind of collection, especially because I have never been late on payment.

On March 8th around 11:00pm, my car was repossessed out of my driveway.

I called Brian and left him an emotionally-charged message around 9:00 am, admittedly with some foul language and threats to sue. He did not call back.

I waited about two(2) hours and then called him again around 11 and was told he is in a meeting until noon.

I waited for a few more hours, and then called again at 2:30pm. At this point, I was told he is not taking calls, and the associate on the phone said he remembers me from calling earlier, and that he will go into his office to see if Brian can take the call. I was told that Brian is finishing up lunch and will be free in forty(40) minutes. Associates name (Art Grial)

It became obvious that I was being purposefully ignored, so I immediately went to my attorneys office to get him involved.

While meeting with my attorney, Brian called me back and I put him on speaker. He claimed my payment bounced and was currently in default. I informed him that there were two payments for that month from two different accounts, one did bounce but the other was successful. He also told me that in order for me to get my car back, Id have to send him multiple pay stubs to provide my employment. I asked why, considering Im the business owner (which he himself confirmed). His response was a deflection and he again asserted that I cannot get my car back unless I prove my employment.

I left the attorney office trying to figure out how I can provide my companys bank statements showing I am getting paid.

Only about 5-10 minutes later a woman called claiming to be a manager. Her name was Sharol Brady. She informed me that this matter was escalated to her, and that at this time she will be calling the police and filing charges against me for threatening to come to their office and shoot everyone there. I was immediately in shock and told her I would never say anything like that. I said I was going to sue the *** out of you, which is a common phrase with the word sue, and not shoot the *** out of you, which Ive never heard once in my life before. It became clear that this woman was trying to threaten me into submission.

She quickly shifted to the topic of me being in default and having missed payments. After some arguing back-and-forth, I asked her to just tell me how I can get my car back. Her answer was that the only way I can get my vehicle back is by paying the loan balance in full, within five(5) days time; otherwise the vehicle is lost.

I told her fine, Id buy it out right now. She seemed taken back; unprepared to receive that answer. I firmly believe they were convinced I would not be able to pay and they could just steal my vehicle from me. With the car prices sky-rocketing I can easily make over $20k right now by selling it.

I asked her how much I owe, and after quite a bit of fumbling she finally said $31,496 with all the fees. I asked her how I can pay now and she said I cant and I will have to go to the branch to do it.

I asked her for my loan number so I can create an online account and see my records and she said she cannot provide it to me. I told her I will be arranging a buy out tomorrow.

I called the collection number and a woman asked if Id like to pay, I said sure but first I have my loan number. Although I have my SS she said she needs to talk to someone before she can do anything.

Then she came back to me saying she cannot give it to me, although she was able to apply for it before. This is a tiny office with the same people picking up the phone.

I dug through my emails and found my loan number. Was able to create an online account and login to my account.

When I created my account and logged in I was shocked! First, I owed $30k not $31,500

Second, Marchs payment was applied, making my amount owed at $29,000. Then, on todays date(at the time March 8th), someone actually went in and moved that payment from paid to a different bank account. PF requires you to create a bank account in order to have a loan with them.

So someone actually on the same day, March 8th, moved my payment to that account making my March payment invalid. I took screenshots of all the records. I never missed a payment and the records and audit trail proves this, in addition the payment was never applied and was then taken out with money being moved to this placeholder account. This looks to be done maliciously in order to ensure I defaulted and the company could seize my vehicle. Money was moved literally on the same day they repossessed my car!

March 9th 9:20 AM I called the collection again and was told they cannot talk to me and I have to talk to Brian Baker if I wanted to buy out my car. I took down his email. While recording my conversation I asked the same lady to look at my account and explain why my payment was taken out and moved to a different account. She said she cannot explain it and when I pressed for answers she said I can only talk to Brian Baker. I emailed Brian Baker as soon as I was off the phone. I attached screenshots to the email asking him why the money was moved.

11:40 AM and still no answer. A little bit of digging and apparently Police & Fire credit is an affiliate of TrueCar.com so it kind of makes sense. They are a small company. They repo your car to make it impossible for you to buy it out and then sell it making a ton of money!

Now I have to pay my attorney to try to get my vehicle back plus to actually sue them!

As a huge proponent of credit unions, this is one to stay away from. Yeah, it's great that they make Police and Fire Fighters (vol.

FF for me) the main focus of their business, it is almost impossible to do business with them without going to a branch. You can deposit checks via the mobile app, well the first 3 anyway of the month, or up to a total of $3000. Sell your car for $5100? Yep your going to the bank.

The second paycheck of the month, yep going to the bank. And make sure "mobile deposit pffcu" is perfectly written on the bank or it won't go in either. I even bought a stamp with that wording and have a 50% chance it will be accepted. Once it is successfully deposited, a small amount, $250 or so is available immediately, the rest, be prepared to wait 3-4 business days.

If you like security, this bank is for you, if you want to do anything in the branch, be ready for 4 different passwords/pin numbers every time you go in. Maybe i'm spoiled by my other credit unions, each has one branch over an hour away from me. I've never been to one and it's over 20 years since i've been to the other. i've had to take more trips to this one in the year i've had the account than i would like to count.

If you are coming from a traditional bank, this is probably a step up.

If you have almost any other credit union experience, this is a major step down. Or maybe i'm just really spoiled with my credit unions.