Blaze Credit Union

My mom banked with Blaze for years. Unfortunately, she has now passed after living through her elder years. I had to take care of her and have dealt with Blaze Credit Union numerous times throughout the years. My experience peaked when I sold my mom's condo. I had to open an estate account because the place that issued the payment wrote the check to her estate.

Since my mom had banked with Blaze even before they officially opened, as she was with the bank that they acquired, I went to them with that check to try and open an estate account. After two and a half months of being given the runaround, taking three days off of work, and having to move my mom from the nursing home actually into the bank, we were finally able to get the account started and cash the check. My mom has since passed, and because hers was the only name on that account, I now have to hire a lawyer to retrieve the money from her estate account even though I have the documentation.

I possess my mother's last will and testament, the amendment to her will, a copy of her death certificate, and a copy of the power of attorney papers. All of these documents are stamped and filed with the state. I am unable to access my mother's account and will now have to hire another lawyer in order to retrieve the money from them.

My suggestion is to run away from Blaze, run far away, and don't look back.

Extremely poor customer service - no greeting, no courtesy, just a dismissive attitude that made me feel talked down to, as if I were clueless and they were the only ones who knew what was right.

I had to revise my rating somewhat as I was contacted by a person from Blaze CU (not the VISA representative) who actually listened and acted. The following is my original complaint with the Blaze CU VISA call center people and a big shout-out to the person who actually cares about issues that reflect badly on their credit union.

Extremely frustrating to deal with the Visa credit card call center. It's hard to reach a person who speaks English well enough for you to understand them. And then there are the ridiculous prompts that you need to go through just to be able to reach one of these representatives for help. Today I had to call four times, as the first three tries ended when the representative cut me off and put me in survey mode, where my only two options were to take the survey or hang up... three times!

Last year I had to try straightening out a transaction that ended up being a mess. First, they canceled my card and the transaction and sent me a new card. Then they reinstated the charge and sent me a letter asking for some documentation (which had already been provided in an email), which I promptly sent. Weeks later, I received a letter stating that the time frame for resolving this dispute had been exceeded, and I was forced to pay the charge.

Kris, from Blaze Credit Union, contacted me earlier this past week and says she will be trying to sever ties with their current Visa card company representatives and try to take this part in-house for a much better experience. She also rectified an earlier issue that I had last year with my unpleasant Visa representative experience.
Thank you so much, Kris.
-Pat

After the merger, this bank tanked. If I could give it 0 stars, I would. I was lied to not once, but twice, about pre-approval. I have a 100% payment history on every loan Spire gave me. Customer service will tell you one thing and then do another. Do not use this bank; you will be very disappointed.

Horrible bank now. The merger with Spire was done some time ago, so there are no excuses there. Such bad restrictions, rules, and customer service. It feels more like Wells Fargo. You can't do things online or over the phone anymore—and they lost the Powers of Attorney we put on file for my parents, after insisting everyone come in person to the bank to submit them. We waited with my elderly parents for two hours for a banker to process them—now they've lost them? Tried to talk to a manager, but no one was available, I guess (waited on hold for an hour), so they said one would call me back in a few days. Unacceptable and incompetent. I can't wait to close all our accounts at Blaze, including loans, CDs, and Money Market.

Was great when it was Spire; unfortunately, ever since Blaze took over, it has been nothing but a mess. Poor communication and constantly adding money to the principal with no explanation. Payment doubled with no explanation. Stay far away!

Blaze Credit Union is absolutely the worst I've ever dealt with. Having been a Spire member, I was happy with everything about it. Then they were bought by Blaze and it's been a nightmare ever since. Dismissive of any issues that come up, downright rude fraud department that couldn't care less about you or your issues with the Credit Union, and is horribly inadequate with company customer service which consists of just uninformed phone operators.

Want to order something and it gets flagged (as like almost everything does) as suspected fraud? Too bad. They don't care. Need help understanding a concern with your card? They don't care, read from a script, and are absolutely dismissive. Question them on something that doesn't make sense? They'll lash out in true toddler fashion.

Do not recommend. I'm currently searching for a new Credit Union, as Blaze is horrible.
I miss Spire.

I was a member of the Highway Credit Union for over 50 years, and the service was great. Since the merger and name change to Blaze, the service has become terrible; they can't even answer the phone.

Poor customer service. When it was Spire, things weren't poor, but now that it's Blaze, it's worse. Most tellers and those you speak with on the phone appear dismissive. My account was hacked a while back, and the rule is they don't stop fraudulent charges from coming through when you tell them to close your account immediately; they require you to come to one of their branches and sign forms stating you didn't make the fraudulent charges—and this was required for each and every charge. They finally closed my account, but pending charges continued to come through day after day even after the date they supposedly closed the account, and I had to drive to the office multiple times and show my ID, etc. No bank would do this. Ridiculous! Now, I just spoke with a customer service representative who didn't sound too enthused upon answering the phone. I had questions about my personal loan and how something suspicious was going on, and he couldn't answer my question and became irritable. I advise anyone wanting to join Blaze to think again. Go elsewhere.

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. My son and I have separate checking accounts, but I have listed him as joint on my account so that if I am unable, he can manage my banking for me. Yesterday, I noticed my checking account balance was $0, so I called the bank immediately to find out where my money went. All they would tell me is that there was an enforcement of setoff/lien rights from my son's checking account. I said my son has been incarcerated since October 17th. They would not tell me anything about why, who, where, or what amounts were being withdrawn from my account. They told me they are not obligated to provide me with that information, even though it was my account that had money taken from it. My son tried calling from jail to find out information about it, but they said they had to ask him security questions first. Keep in mind, he has been in jail since October and knows nothing about my checking account. These questions pertain to my account. The first security question was, "When was your last ATM withdrawal?" My son said he had no idea since it is his mother's account and he is in jail. The second security question was, "What was the amount of the last deposit?" Again, my son had no idea. So, they told him that they couldn't look into things because he was unable to answer the security questions. No phone calls or mail correspondence were ever received from Blaze Credit Union regarding this matter. This is an extremely poor business practice. Shame on them!

As a longtime HCU member, I cannot think of one good thing to say about their merger/sale to Blaze. Everything is worse. And, it's really hard to speak with anyone who knows anything there. Terrible.

This credit union has completely gone downhill now that it has changed. Terrible customer service! Can't get answers! No callbacks! We have been customers for over 20 years! Waiting on the phone for over 45 minutes on multiple days trying to get the same problem fixed! I wouldn't suggest this credit union; if I could give it a 0 star, I would.

I would give this company a 0-star review if possible. Take your business elsewhere. I was with Spire Credit Union prior to the merger and they were fantastic. Since merging and becoming Blaze, they are absolutely horrible. I am unable to do anything with their online banking system. It is completely and utterly broken and unusable. I have tried over 50 times to make payments, transfers, etc., and every single one has failed. I have spent hours waiting on the phone to talk with someone, and once I am connected, they are no help whatsoever. This merger should be taught as a case study on what not to do when merging with other companies. They have dropped the ball in every way imaginable. I repeat, do not use this credit union.

I have banked with Hiway for years and loved it. Then they merged with other credit unions and became Blaze. They started charging ridiculous fees because I am not using one of their ATM machines. I am getting charged a fee from the providers of the ATM machines, and now I am also getting charged a $2.50 fee from Blaze for not using one of theirs, which is ridiculous. Members are getting double charged just to put money into the pockets of Blaze for using ATM machines that are not affiliated with Blaze. Why? Now, if I want to take out a large sum of cash, I need to call Blaze and give them a week's advance notice; otherwise, they will not be able to accommodate my request. Well, sometimes people do not always know they will need to spend a large amount on that day. Very inconvenient. I have also asked to have my ATM limit increased from their standard $500 maximum to $1,000, to which my request was denied. They stated they could not increase my limit as the maximum is only $500. I feel that everything about Blaze is about pocketing money from their members and making things as inconvenient as possible, forcing members to go out of their way to use Blaze products. I am very disappointed.