1st Advantage Federal Credit Union

I applied for an auto refinance the first week of December, and a loan officer was forced to verify information with me to create an account in a long and arduous process.

This process did not conclude until the first week of January when I was told my application to refinance was submitted. I have a 770 credit score, an above average income and a relatively small auto loan.

I was told I was declined the third week of January, due to not having one job for 2 years without break, after over a month of following up, putting effort forward and attempting to move the process forward. The loan officer and I spent hours attempting to get this thing pushed through, however the process for out of state applicants is absolutely horrible and wasted both of our time.

Had I been told I couldn't have gotten a new job a year ago, I would never have applied.

This account has been closed out why is it still showing late. I would like for this account to not reflect on my report. This account was included in a bankruptcy in 2014

They financed my loan for my new car. In order to have a better payment I would have to put more of a down payment on it but with trading my truck I got the money from that. My payments are a little over 500 a month in which I’m not happy about. But, I guess that’s pretty good considering it’s a 54k car.

I just sat on hold for over half an hour to setup an appointment in order to open an account with them only to get hung up on by either the automated system or a staff member. This establishment WILL NOT be getting my business at all and I do not recommend anyone bank with them if your time is precious like mine.

They have awful customer service. I was asking some basic questions and got snarky and unhelpful replies. Very glad I dont do business with them anymore.

The worst customer service I have ever had . I spoke to Kim today and she was uncaring and really acted like she didn’t care ! Bad

Terrible customer service with this bank! Tried making a auto loan payment online this past Saturday( I have been making payments online for the last 4 or 5 months now so I understand how it works). When signing in to make my payment I kept getting a message telling me there was an internal issue and if problems persist please log out and log back in. I tried the suggestion several times but still same message kept popping up. I decided to call the customer service to make my payment over the phone instead because Saturday was the last day for my 10 days grace period before the payment is considered late. The lady on the phone seemed confused but took my credit card information down like she was processing the payment but when I asked for a confirmation number she told me they do not give confirmation number. She also explained that there is a $15 over the phone payment fee, so I asked her if that can be waived because I had no choice due to their internal issue with their online payment. She told me she will ask for me on Monday. Well on Monday I received a message from Bonita to call them back about my loan. When I called back the woman that answered from the start sounded like she was tired, bored or just annoyed. I tried explaining to her about my issue but she kept telling me the problem was I was trying to make my payment with an American Express so that is why I kept getting an error online. When I explained to her several times (due to her not wanting to listen to what I was trying to explain to her) I couldn't even get that far through their website and App to add the type of credit card to use so that was not the problem. She then tells me its because their actual website does not take online payments, I have to make my payment through their secondary payment website. I told her i have been making the payments through their App and website for several months now so I understand how it works but the fact was there was an internal issue that was not navigating me to the secondary website so preventing me to be able to make my payments online! Anyways having to listen and dealing with her bored, annoyed voice and attitude over the phone was frustrating enough but now my auto loan is considered late because I thought the payment had went through on Saturday with the woman over the phone but to find out it never went through because they do not take American Express! I would not recommend this bank to anyone due to their poorly trained employees that I had to deal with over the phone! The bank in the Virginia Beach location was wonderful and I never had an issue with them in person but whoever I spoke to over the phone this Monday morning( I dont remember her name unfortunately, the only name I got was a Bonita whome I received a missed call on Monday morning) had a really piss poor attitude and sounded like she did not want to be there and hates her job! It is so frustrating to have to deal with people like when you expect them to be professional and positive while they are dealing with customers and their money! Anyways after I'm done with my auto loan with this bank I will never use them again! I am most likely going to have to refinance my loan with another bank so I do not have to deal with this problem again! I rarely give bad reviews but unfortunately I was called to do so this time.

I enjoy the customer service at this location. The tellers are super friendly and really know their stuff. Leaps and bounds better than the big bank competitors and definitely one of the best credit unions in Hampton Roads area.

Stay away, 3 times they credited my payments to another account skunking my credit score. And you cannot build it back up immediately. It takes time for the score to climb after discrepancies have been corrected. Because of their incompetence my score went from 730 to 520 in 6 months. Also when I have tried to call and talk to them I have been held on hold for more than an hour before giving up and hanging up.

I have been with this bank for over 20 years. Recently a mistake was made and an electronic payment was made with the wrong card resulting in overdraft fees when the payment kept reprocessing. Even though I have been in good standing with this bank, have paid off two car notes, and have paid religiously on a credit card; they refused to waive the fees. You join banks like these in hopes that you will be treated better than you are at larger banks. This is not the case. They are just as greedy, and they do not care.

I think First Advantage is antiquated when it comes to technology, usefulness, and their website design. This was the reason I pulled my money out of this account years ago. Other banks were leaps and bounds ahead of them with good bill pay, security, and deposit systems, and also after hour banking capabilities.Tonight I tried to pay my Visa. After spending too much time searching for the pay Visa tab, I finally found it. By the way it was not in the location that you would expect (under your credit card user account info). Also, paying your card within First Advantage checking or saving is easy but if you are paying through another bank account, the process is ridiculous.Tonight I got locked out of my account. I tried to call Visa directly to pay my bill and they would not let me. They said that First Advantage has it set up so that you can only pay them during business hours. I asked Visa to document that I had been trying for some time this evening to pay by bill and they said they could not. None of the other companies do this! I am not sure why they try to make it so difficult to pay your Visa bill.

I had a friend who wanted to sell her car. I wanted to buy it. I was not sure that I could get the money together. She suggested her credit union 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union. I didn't think that I could join but I could because I lived in the area.

1St Advantage Federal Credit Union allowed me to be a member for $5 and I was able to get my auto loan through them. They are excellent. You can do online billing, check your account and many great services without any of the disadvantages of banking. To put it simply they answer to the stock holder who is you!

I have been a member of 1st Advantage for about 5 years. I have even moved out of the area but decided to keep the account open because I like this CU so much. They are always helpful and friendly. They see you enough at a local branch and they begin to know who you actually are. There are no crazy fees or complicated terms. I really do not want to ever give this CU up.

My wife and I have been with 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union since 2004. We started off with a checking and savings account. Since then we have had 4 car loans, 6 personal loans and a charge card. We have been very happy with this credit union because they have a branch in Williamsburg, VA which is convenient for us. They have gave us excellent service and know us both by name when we come to the bank. I like the online banking service as this is how my wife keeps track of our finances. We started our own business and they handle our business account also. This is a great bank with great rates and I will continue to be with them for many more years to come.