Very unfriendly website after the merge. Difficult to get hold of the representatives. I was on hold for 45 mins, at the end received auto message saying " due to technical difficulties we cannot take your call..... Pliz try again."
The website they rolled out in December 2020 for online banking is so glitchy it's like playing a slot machine at a casino...... With your own money. But you can't win, you can only play again!!!
I have been a member in one way or another going on 50 years. I have always enjoyed my interactions and service I received. This last transition has soured me.
The app problems were the beginning as they resulted from incomplete instruction. Secondly, my ability to access my account history on-line and what appears to be the loss of a monthly statement severely limits my ability to reconcile my account, which is essential.
In fairness, I recently had a problem which was dealt with after I went to the branch. However changes were made to my account without consult.
Worst transition ever. Insufficient information. Why should I trust first connect credit union? The apps for online banking don't work neither on Apple nor on Android. Paying with the debit machine in the store didn't work a couple of times. There should have been better communication with customers, more information, better preparation for the transition, and a longer transition time and not during a PANDEMIC time when customers need a more intensive care! I ll change to a bank that is more stable, reliable, and Ican ti can trust.
This transition is a disaster so far. Their service centre can't handle the number of calls. After waiting 1/2 hour or more, I have been dropped because of a system problem 2 days running. They have invited us to book an appointment with our branches: mine has none availaible this month; next month... In the meantime, automatic payments to various services such as our health insurance have been dropped and I can't even enter them manually. Their Clickswitch service doesn't even come up in the search engine. Don't ask about receiving our pension cheques!!!! I can't even call my branch.
I have to agree with all the sentiments that I've read so far. Absolutely abysmal transition. When are corporations going to start caring about us, the little people? My experience (and it seems many others) have left a very sour taste on how YOU treated your customers, let alone, not doing your due diligence by pre-testing your hardware/software; and seemingly hiring the cheapest software engineers to formulate that horrifical transition. You dropped the ball even further with your (severe) lack of customer service, along with leaving people high and dry during a pandemic! I can only imagine how some poor customers whom are single parents, struggling individuals, and/or those who had just one account to rely on, must have felt and endured. YOU added some serious stress to people's lives during an already stressful time frame. And that is unacceptable in my opinion.
I have been a member since the late 90's. Always had good experiences with you. However, since you re-designed your online banking, I am most unhappy. There were, and are, many issues that make your online banking more complicated and troublesome. I am at the point of changing institutions so I can feel more secure banking online.
Absolutely horrible banking experience.. beyond stressful and have made everything worse. On top of that connect first doesn t even look out for there clients... make everything harder than it should be. SWITCH DO NOT BANK WITH THEM
I have been a member since the early 2000s, but this recent transition from First Calgary to Connect First have been absolutely terrible. In a time when online banking has become the norm Connect First has made their online banking services impossible to access. I have had to fight to make regular bill payments and fund transfers. At the moment I am trying to accept an etransfer, however I've only just discovered that Connect First banking is down for the long weekend. I wasn't even notified in advance.
I had been considering a new mortgage with Connect First. But this continual series of fund inaccessibility has permanently soured me to this institution. I will be moving my funds and closing my accounts as soon as I can.
Just like many people here the transition left nothing but trouble in my finances, going so far as to put holds on my paycheque that almost caused me to get evicted for being unable to pay my rent. When venting frustrations all you get is a quaint we are sorry for this inconvenience and though the branches say this was necessary; there was nothing wrong with the original app. On top of this there is now a second servicing scheduled to the app which will halt e transfers and mobile banking. This is getting to be ridiculous.
Fantastic people and community atmosphere! Great place to bank.
Terrible experience with refinancing but also everyday banking. They took perfectly fine app and completely ruined it. Online banking was not funcioning for weeks! Pre-set bill payment didn't go through. The app is the worst I've ever experienced. Looking to change the bank asap.
What a bloody nightmare this has been with my banking now. I still can't access my online banking on my computer and I downloaded the app on my ipad and that doesn't work either. I have tried numerous times to call the contact center and either the static is so bad that I can't hear anything, or I finally can get through and I'm put on hold and the phone disconnects. I was much happier before the merge and I'm thinking of changing banks.
Was a lifetime member and am happy to leave this embarrassment of a business. I would leave the explanation but it seems to be well documented in the other reviews.
Ever since this place took over first calgary the service has gone downhill. App will stop working for days at a time without warning. Seems like there is no urgency on the technical side. I will be switching to TD
Very unhappy with the changes they did to mobile and online banking.
The UI for the website and the app isn t very user friendly. I liked First Calgary s UI by far. It was simple and wasn t overly saturated with optional tabs. I was able to easily locate what I needed very quick. I could also see the balance of my account without needing to sign-in, but I can t do that anymore with Connect First s app. It s just an unnecessarily complicated UI just for the sake of looking posh. I hate it.
My second issue is the delays in money transferring. I had to go a First Calgary branch to find out what was wrong, since the wait time for the customer service call was taking too long. I was told it was happening beginning of technical issues . I was told it would be better to withdraw cash since they didn t know how long the delay might take.
I ve been very happy with First Calgary, but since being acquired by Connect First, I can t say I feel that way anymore. If issues like these continue for next few months, then I really don t see the point in using their services.
we have been treated with total disrespect by chinook financial-a division of connect first credit union. we set up a joint account with our dad so that there would be no problems with inheritances. Either party could sign on the account. When our 90 year old dad died chinook financial locked the account so that our dad can not even pay for his own services. Chinook even bounced back our parents final utility payments even though there is many thousands in the account. It seems they just want to keep the money and they are rude and aggressive about it. Section116 1-2-3 of the alberta credit union act says they cannot lock up money that is not theirs. We have on the other hand been treated with total respect by the bank of montreal. We got an email from Patsy Stokalko that says that if the right of survivor is an individual other than a spouse they want a copy of the death certificate, copy of the will and any other documentation they need. Also if there is over 20,000 in the account they automatically lock it up. In other words do not have a large amount on deposit in Connect or Chinook. Do not have a joint account with a child , uncle, brother or even a business with a large deposit. The response from the owner is like a politician talking in circles.they are very malicious in their treatment of our family
Absolutely done with the credit union after the merge. It has been almost 4 months, multiple contact with customer service, multiple app servicing and my app is still unusable. Not to mention the fact that you can no longer access transactions from before the merge or connect with mint(budgeting app).
Banking with such institutions should be simple, stress free and convenient. For the past few months it has been nothing of the sort and it has caused further stress to not have any control over my personal banking. When I've attempted to get "help" it got me nowhere, as the manager I was contacting was either on vacation, not responding or simply gave me no real answers or support. All my family members have also had issues with the app being completely unusable for months now, their bank cards not working and also not receiving any true help from the staff they have contacted. No thanks, I will take my business elsewhere.
My credit union recently joined with 3 other credit unions under Connect First. Since then I have been unable to access my bank account, view any of my account balances, and can't sign into their new app with my old credit union information. So far I have called them 5 times and spent over 4 hours on hold without successfully speaking to an agent. 4 hours of my life has been wasted listening to automated recordings starting with "your call will be answered by a representative within: 6 minutes" or the CEO apologizing and saying "We don't take lightly the prospect of inconveniencing their members and thank you for choosing Connect First as I am valued" and then the ever repetitive "Thank you for holding, we will connect you to a representative soon". Great start so far after 22 years of banking with my former credit union and having barely an issue.
Just downright unacceptable.
A horrendous transition, virtually zero information provided. The mobile app crashes so often its virtually unusable, and the website is barley any better. Takes me half an hour to do the simplest of transactions. Its worse in every way conceivable.
As with most people on here, I have banked with First Calgary for 12 years. But the transition was unacceptable. I have moved my banking to TD and am not looking back. Much better online and mobile platform. It's 2021, get with the times.
Made banking very inconvenient. Will be switching banks to avoid their rubbish
First Calgary was an iffy credit union at best to begin with and only became worse when it became part of Connect First.
E-transfers have always taken far longer than other banks to go through when I send them... at least 20 minutes. This was quite an inconvenience when sending etransfers for kijiji purchases, and is still an issue.
As others have mentioned, the new Connect First app and website crash and glitch so often that it s virtually unusable (the First Calgary ones were already pretty bad). I can t even list all the different issues I have had with the glitches since they are soooo many and I have received so many error messages or had the apps suddenly close so many times.
The Connect First customer service phone lines are also unusable (probably because of full lines from confused and unhappy clients). I have called in (or tried) at least 6 times during the transition and each time I have a problem - either the recorded message is glitching and not able to understand to redirect, or the phone line rings and suddenly stops (no voicemail or recorded message... just nothing), or the number fails to connect at all.
In addition, last spring I tried to go to the SAIT First Calgary branch, which showed as open on google maps, but it was closed with a little note on the door saying to go to their north hill location (which I never was able to find).
Perhaps the worst part of all is I have no access to ANY of my transaction records from my First Calgary accounts. I often check through my bank transaction when I need to remember how much something cost, or when certain bills were paid, but now I have no access to it at all.
I also experienced an error message on my Mint account (budgeting site / app), saying that it could no longer sign into my First Calgary accounts to retrieve my data. When I tried to add Connect First, it didn t even recognize it as a financial institution, as it is still clearly not fully transitioned. Long story short, I lost all my transaction records associated with First Calgary from the past 5 years or so and have no way of retrieving any of that information. So frustrating.
I am already switching all of my funds over to another financial institution, and will no longer be using connect first. What a horrible experience.
My banking experience has been nothing but horrible since the merger. The website is not user friendly. The new system in the branch is limited as many services and functions have made me feel less valued and it has made me look into switching banks.
Atrocious experience following the merge. I understand having technical difficulties but there is no excuse for the abysmal customer care that followed. Initially I needed cash and went to three different locations finding that my debit card did not work at any of them. Instead of discussing it with me in person, staff directed me to phone the call center for help. I did - was advised that the wait time was 40 minutes and that I could fill out the "convenient form" online. I chose to wait the 40 minutes to speak with a human but was disconnected after 10. I then went online to fill in the form and NOBODY GOT BACK TO ME.
The human factor / customer care is the main reason I opted for a credit union over a big bank but the annoyance is now no longer worth it. Enjoy making interest off my savings until I eventually navigate your telephone tree successfully enough to close my accounts.
It s to bad that Connect First can t have a lot of these reviews removed. I have been a First Calgary member for 23 years and they ve been great over that period. I have never paid bank fees (Youth Account -> NoFees) and have had exceptional service in branch and through call centre.
RECENTLY
Yes, First Calgary did merge with Connect First and it was not as seamless as they would have hoped, but as far as I can tell have resolved all the issues. They HAVE sent out proper communication advising of the online banking going offline over the long weekend over email AND a pop-up in the app login screen (despite what every bad review on here is about, it s 2021 people read your emails for important info it was loud and clear as day as well as many options to help avoid any disruptions). The only thing that annoyed me was eTransfers used to take a couple hours to send before First Calgary recently updated the system. After the merge it went back to a couple hours, but guess what, after the posted disruption to service it s back to instant.
Anyways, my rant is more about how people are ridiculous and can bash a company just because they are ignorant and don t read their emails.
Also, First Calgary has no fees, with the same or better features than most big banks. They re kind of a no brainer for daily banking.
bad service, and platform, only troubles since the change
Haven't been able to get into my account for a week. I've entered the correct username and password on the website and it won't let me into my account. I call the 1800 number and I sit on hold then you hang up.
I'm in Fort McMurray and unable to come to your branch due to health issues.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND I NEED HELP NOW.
Worst place to work at ever, I worked with FCF not even a year at one of the N.E branches ( Northgate) and it was disaster. it appears good from outside but from inside is very gossipy and favoritism is highly practiced at that branch. In order for you to move up you have to work very hard to build a personal relationship with the managers not on your actual work!! I have seen seniors staff who have been given and devoted their time to this place got terminated just because they weren't favorites to the managers. When you check the reviews on glassdoor about this company you'll noticed that almost all the reviewers comments the same thing A. Unprofessional and unacknowledged managers B. Promotions is based on favorites not knowledge or seniority. I have worked with FCF for less than a year and that teller was loved by almost all the members at that branch and she went above and beyond with the entire team. At the end the company appreciated her hard work by terminating her for no valid reason.Just because the BM and the ABM at that branch didn't like her and felt unsecured by keeping that long time teller at the branch. I thought I should leave this place and not waste my time here. Everybody has passion and goal and the most important is a job security. If I see people who served this company for years years and they have been thrown under the bus for NO REASON don't expect that much from it!! My advise to the upper level leaders to pay close attention to the managers who run the branches, because they are NOT implementing the company's mission.
Not happy with this merger as most. There charging me more in monthly fees now.Yikes!!!
The online banking barely functions. When I called, I explained the problem, waited on hold for 15 minutes, then they told me, they can not fix it now, and some one will call me back . . .
Our company has had nothing but positive experiences with this credit union on both a business and personal banking level. There is really something to be said for dealing with an institution that is as invested with local business as the owners themselves. It's also really refreshing to see a 'bank' trying their best to keep my money in my pocket...not theirs.
The Credit Union has officially lost my business after over 25 years. This merger has been an incredible failure. The App isn t working, I can t pay bills online reliably, can t e-Transfer. This is still after having to re-enter, re-access, re-try, reload, re-boot, then try again, not to mention the numerous calls and inquiries throughout the process. I have spent more time on the phone with staff in the past 30+ days than the previous 2-3 years prior.
I have stayed with the Credit Union for my daily banking long after they had lost my mortgages due to non competitive rates solely because of the great service that we have always gotten. They know what I need, and don t waste my time. I do feel for the staff who are saddled with dealing with the turmoil they did not create.
A management team that decides to go live with a banking system that isn t proven and tested for reliability and usability should be held accountable. What an incredible waste of time and effort by both staff and frustrated customers alike, unacceptable.
Ironically I just called in to close my numerous personal and business accounts, and nobody even answered the phone -Tried to send the message last nigh to close through the app but the message would just disappear..
Good bye Credit Union (as soon as I can make actual contact), and good luck in your efforts to to impersonate a real bank.
Warren G.
security old man was very rode and never help I have no idea why he still there maybe not coming back because of him
connectfirstcu.com
