Financial Partners Credit Union (FPCU) Fraud; Bogus Fees Charges Downey California

I've been having trouble with Financial Partners (formerly Rockwell Federal Credit Union) for a few years now. My wife and I have been getting tagged with excessive over-the-limit fees ($20.00 each).

We originally wrote it off as bad management on our part, but then as we started to examine our statements, we realized that this company was stealing money from us.

I have a Credit/Debit card. I've never had a PIN, because it was always easier to just use it as a credit card. Also, when you use the ATM, you generally have to pull money out in $20.00 increments, which I generally don't want to do.

Here is an example of the problem we're experiencing:
Let's say I go to the movies on Friday. I charge $20.00 (for the sake of round numbers). If I don't have $20.00 in my account, it approves the charge, and I get socked with an additional $20.00 fee. If that was the only problem, I wouldn't be filing this report.

Now let's say that I have $20.00 in my account. The charge will not go through, and the funds will not be listed as "held". So if my wife goes online on Sunday, there will be no evidence of the charge to my account. If she decides to pull the money out of my account to make a house payment, it will offer no type of warning, and subsequently allow her to remove those "held" funds. Then, on Monday morning, when the charge goes through, it will sock my account with a $20.00 Over-The-Limit-Fee.

But it gets even better. Suppose there was no money in my account Friday evening after the charge was made, and my wife moved the money over (before the charge posted to my account on Monday). That still wouldn't matter. They'd still charge my account.

I filed a complaint with their company and got the following response (in part). This was an attempt to explain the "Hold" they would put on my account:

Debit Transactions. I may use my Card for purchases at all merchant locations which accept MasterCard for payment. When I do so, I use my Card as a debit card and my Card works much like a check I write on my checking account. My Card is not a credit card, which means I may not defer payment of my MasterMoney transaction. When I use my Card for these transactions, I am taking withdrawals from my designated checking account . . . .

The following came later, in response to my argument that the funds should have been held:

Therefore, the Credit Union was under no obligation to prevent authorized charges. As to your suggestion that we prevent the removal of funds that have been previously used, our Electronic Services Disclosure states that the transaction amount, including any charges imposed by the merchant or financial institution, is deducted from the checking account I designated for use with my Card. While we may place a hold on funds in your checking account, we are under no obligation to do so.

You have to appreciate the part which states "we are under no obligation to do so." Paraphrased, that means we'll steal money from your account in any way, shape, or form that we can.

I am currently gathering information for a Class Action Lawsuit against them. If this becomes too time consuming, then I'll likely file in Small Claims.

John
Winnetka, California
U.S.A.