Bowater Credit Union Congress Pkwy, Athens

Bowater Credit Union Reviews

• A

  Aaron8679
  1

  The customer service here is not what it once was. For the longest time they new you by name because it was the same people. Now it’s different people all the time. They’ve had three different loan officers in the last couple of years. You used to be able to call and speak with loans right away, now its phone tag back and forth and leaving messages. The simplest tasks you ask them to do they’ll tell you they can’t do that over the phone or they can’t do that at the window or they can’t do that at all. They hide all of that behind saying “we are trying to protect you”. Which really means we are going to inconvenience you because we are super scared of making a mistake. You used to join a credit union because you were valued as a member. Sadly most credit unions are just banks.

  Response from the owner

  Hi Aaron, I'm so sorry we have let you down. We understand why you feel this way; we have grown and hired more people to our team, and we do take our job of protecting members' finances very seriously, but we wouldn't want either of those things to lead to negative experiences. Thank you for providing this feedback so we can work to do better for you and all our members.

• M

  Michele Rodriguez
  1

  They lost what was going to be a new customer in me. I actually recommended them to my daughter, based on so many good reviews from people around town, and she opened up an account with them...big mistake! My daughter works a lot of hours, so I went to make her CASH DEPOSIT for her as a favor, not having a deposit slip I used her ID and debit card to make the deposit like every other bank we’ve used with no issues for 20 years. Not only did they confiscate the card, she goes to pick it up the following day and they canceled it, reissued it, she goes out of town and the new card declines. So much headache, and issues for nothing!! Honestly if I was going to steal money, I would have taken the cash and bypassed the drive through....but don’t let common sense get in the way. Keep this in mind if you have an elderly family member or someone else who is unable to do their own banking, or can’t leave the house for health reasons etc... they’d be screwed.

  Response from the owner

  Michele, we are so very sorry for your negative experience and we definitely understand your perspective. I'm sorry that we didn't communicate the reasoning better to you at the time this happened. Unfortunately there are many criminals in the world who have forced our policies in a situation such as this one, and those policies and safety are required by our insurers, regulators, and our agreements with VISA, which allows us to offer debit cards and credit cards. Per those agreements with VISA, when we are made aware that a card has left the possession of the owner we are required to block the card for the member's protection. You or any member can make a deposit for someone and we verify the account you wish to deposit into by means of other verification such as name, address, etc. We do apologize for the inconvenience. We hope that you will understand that the steps we took to safeguard your daughters account is nothing personal, but rather a preventive way to help us prevent fraud on her account. If she was charged a replacement fee we are more than willing to reimburse her that for her troubles. Regarding the new card not working, that is not the normal course of business and if she would like to call us or visit a branch we can determine what caused the decline. Again, we are sorry for the inconveniences and hope that we can continue to help your daughter with her financial needs and do better, and hopefully get the opportunity to serve you as a member-owner.

• A

  Amanda Davis
  5

  Best bank around! Excellent customer service! They will help you with whatever it is you are looking for and it's super easy no matter what you do.

  Response from the owner

  Thank you so much Amanda! We promise to keep doing our best. AND thank you for being such an awesome member-owner!

• E

  Etowah Tn
  5

  I have nothing but great things to say about this Credit Union. I have been with ORNL,BB@T, Regions and others. It is a very close race as far as worst between BB@T and Regions. Both should be put out of business but for whatever reason they aren't? I haven't had any issues whatever with Bowaters . Great people !!!

  Response from the owner

  Thank you so much for your kind review and we are so happy to have you as a member-owner!

• G

  Galaxy Kat
  1

  Honestly I'll be switching banks. My card hasn't been working for the last 2 to 3 days. I've called the fraud center to see what was wrong and all the purchases were mine they've stated that it could be a bank problem and im just so sick of it. I have money that im not even able to use id rather just switch banks then deal with this hassle any longer.

  Response from the owner

  Hello Galaxy Kat, We are so sorry for the frustrations and your inability to use your card. That is definitely not the service we intend for our member-owners. I understand why you are ready to throw in the towel, but if you have time to give me a call directly I can do some research and hopefully learn what went wrong to help avoid this issue in the future for you and other members. My name is Kim, and my direct line is 423-303-5610.

• C

  Catrina Palko
  1

  I am VERY unhappy and currently contacting the main HR manager...My husband and I went through a very bad situation and had no other option but to file bankruptcy. We are out of that and in a better situation now. We went in to ask for a very small loan for a used car & Jamie Rudder didn’t say “sorry we can’t do it.” She treated my husband and I like we were complete trash! How dare we ask for a loan from them when we refuse to pay all our other bills by filing. She didn’t know our situation and doesn’t need to. It took everything I had not to burst into tears right there. She was nothing but rude and insulting to us and she has no idea what we went through to come to the point of filing. I hope she gets fired so she can’t treat anyone else the way she did us. Until then believe me I will make it known how she treated my husband and I for no reason. I will never return to a Bowater Credit Union and I am telling everyone I know not to go there either!!! Sorry woman.

  Response from the owner

  Hello Catrina, As per our phone conversation, thank you so much for the feedback, and I and the credit union as a whole never want to make anyone feel the way you were left feeling. I am very, very sorry and I thank you for speaking to me so that I could hear about your experience. As I had said on the phone, the Loan Officer you spoke to has been with us many years and is a genuinely kind and caring person, and I am certain she regrets the miscommunication that occurred within your experience. I hope we have an opportunity in the future to prove that we exist to serve, and that your experience was not a normal one for the credit union.

• B

  Brooke Simpson
  5

  We love banking with BCU! They are always friendly, helpful, & informative! Highly recommend BCU Athens! 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  Response from the owner

  Well we love that you bank with us Brooke! We are so happy to have you as a member-owner and hope to always live up to this awesome review!

• W

  Will Johnson
  1

  This is the most rude, judgemental, and wonts to put their noise in other people's business where it don't belong.. If your looking for great customer service this is the most definitely not the place to open a account.

  Response from the owner

  Hello Will, We’re so sorry we left you feeling this way. All financial services, including banks, credit unions, and other businesses that help people with finances, are trained to ask questions and understand accountholder activity, and we take that responsibility seriously. We do this to protect our accountholders, not to be nosey. This training at financial institutions, including Bowater Credit Union, successfully protects accountholders from falling victim to scams and other fraud. Please know that we have our accountholders best interest at heart, and that any information we receive is used to help accountholders and is completely confidential. I can certainly understand how our intentions could be misinterpreted, so thank you for letting us know so we can improve our communications.

• W

  William Hammonds
  5

  Been with this bank about 7 years now and the staff there is excellent. Love the service. Also they have great programs for kids and teens too teach them about having and maintaining savings and checking accounts.

• C

  Cyn Hudik
  5

  I filed chapter 7 last year ..2019 .. I had reaffirmed on my house and car ..2020 I wanted to trade in my car for something smaller .. I was ashamed and scared .. and read the reviews of where I bank ..here at bowater credit .. But I broke down got the courage to ask for help ..and Jamie Rudder explained to me that my employment has been stable that I have built my credit back up since bankruptcy and been responsible she will help me and she did ..dont let orjers opinions or fear keep you from asking for help .. Thank jamie so much