Benchmark

Buyauskasz

3 months ago

I have been a member of Benchmark FCU for about 10 years now. Never have I heard of anybody struggling so much to get anything done through a bank before. I have been loyal to Benchmark out of the pride for it being a “local” bank and my family having had BFCU for years also. However, my experience has been awful. Few years ago, I had a fraud issue and where I lost about $600 to fraud and it was all thanks to Benchmark’s unwillingness to help. My card was charged to buy a HULU subscription and who knows what other crazy stuff was purchased. I’ve never in my life had a Hulu account. When I contacted benchmark, they told me that they couldn’t stop the charge. Despite the charge being fraudulent, they said since it was pending, I had to let it go through and then dispute the charge with Hulu. I contacted Hulu and they gave me hell. They said that they can only refund me if I’m a customer trying to close my account. But because it was fraud, they can’t give me the money. Fraud cases are referred to the bank to deal with. I ended up stuck. Hulu would not refund me or give me my money back because it was a case of fraud and not a legit purchase, and Benchmark would not give me my money because they said Hulu took it, and it was up to me to get it back from them. I lost $600 that I never got back. Now they’re doing this whole thing where they are merging with Franklin Mint FCU. I opened up another bank account elsewhere because I don’t live in West Chester anymore and I am trying to transfer my money to my new account. They have made it near impossible to transfer anything out. Their app sucks, says that I don’t have permissions or I’m not enrolled to do transfers, and I can only transfer money within Benchmark to other accounts such as checking and savings. They’ve provided very little information about this merge. My understanding is that I have a debit card that is now useless because the accounts are being deactivated and I can’t transfer my money out to another bank because they won’t let me. Terrible experience. They won’t be around much longer but overall I recommend avoiding them. It used to be good, whenever John was at this place. I don’t see him anymore. Now it’s just a small bank with the same people working. Half of who always got an attitude or just don’t simply wanna do the work. There’s a couple young girls at the front that have always been helpful but that only goes so far when they have the mean lady in the back calling all the shots. You’ll be better off going to a big bank like Chase or Wells Fargo than this local dead bank.

Argentina Petoro

9 months ago

I have been a member of Benchmark for years, but recently their call-in customer service has been very disappointing. This is now the second time I’ve had fraud involving Booking.com, and I am still disputing the first charge from July. It is nearly impossible to get in touch with Booking directly—their site is a mess—so I rely on my bank to help. Unfortunately, the support I’ve received over the phone has made this process even harder, which is why I am now going to a branch in person with all of my emails and text messages to hopefully get this resolved. My biggest concern is that phone representatives are not trained to handle fraud properly. When I reported the most recent fraudulent charge on August 17, I was transferred multiple times. Eventually, a supervisor told me that Benchmark cannot cancel fraudulent pending charges. Instead, I had to wait until the charge posted and then dispute it. Their advice was to withdraw as much cash as I could (maximum $400) and then call back to shut down my card so I would at least have some money while traveling out of state. Shutting down my card right away wasn’t a realistic option, so I followed their instructions. When I later called back to close my account for fraud—after doing exactly what I was advised—I was told it wouldn’t be flagged because I hadn’t closed it during my first call. Then the reasoning shifted again, and I was told it wasn’t fraud because I had used Booking.com months ago. That explanation makes no sense. By that logic, if my card gets hacked and a purchase is made at Target in another state, it wouldn’t count as fraud simply because I’ve shopped at Target before. That is unacceptable. To add to the confusion, Benchmark had previously called me seven times, and when I checked with them, I was told those calls were scams and to ignore them. I specifically asked if my card was safe to use and was told yes. Now it feels like I’m being blamed for trusting their own guidance. Since then, my card has continued being charged, with notifications from different states. I called again (my 4th time), and only then did the fraud department finally close my card and say it would be flagged as fraud—but also told me it’s up to my branch to issue a temporary refund. I am extremely frustrated and feel unheard. Credit unions are supposed to protect their members, yet I’ve had better fraud handling with larger corporate banks. I truly hope that speaking to someone in person at the branch will finally bring clarity and resolution. I will update this review once I do. But right now, I trusted my money with this bank, and instead of protecting me, it’s being stolen—through no fault of my own.

Kamran Ghazvini

9 months ago

Avoid Benchmark Credit Union – Unprofessional and Unhelpful I had a very disappointing experience with Benchmark Credit Union. I applied for a credit card with a strong financial profile: a 757 credit score from Equifax, 760 from Experian, and a debt-to-income ratio of 30%. Despite this, my application was denied without a clear or reasonable explanation. When I asked for clarification, the response I received was not only vague but dismissive. Instead of addressing my actual application, they wrote: "Underwriting is suggesting a home equity loan. If interested, please let me know and I will have you speak with Sandie or Loretta for specifics of Benchmark’s home equity loan program." This response had nothing to do with my original request and made it clear that they were more interested in pushing products than providing helpful service. I strongly recommend others avoid using Benchmark Credit Union. There are far better financial institutions that offer transparency, respect, and professional customer support.

Evan M

9 months ago

Recently refinanced my auto loan through benchmark federal credit and cannot even make a payment on my iphone, never had so much trouble making the simple monthly requested payment, it is a joke. Actually considering refinancing again just to prevent dealing with this nonsense!

craig titsch

3 months ago

Too many times their security team has locked my card for assumed fraudulent charges.