SDCCU Solana Beach Branch in Solana Beach, CA

very nice. a newer place. pretty easy if your going to the fair.

My husband and I went into this branch to open accounts. We had tried to open accounts online as that option is given on their website, but ended up having to go do it "in-person". Before going in, I had called customer service to verify what I would need so that we could be totally prepared, and not have to go in more than once. The CSR I spoke with was completely uniformed and we did not have the required items. Luckily, we were able to pull the necessary documents up on our smartphones, but still, their own CSR's should know better. Then, we proceeded to exist in banking purgatory for 2.5 hours!!!! I have absolutely no idea why it took this long to open basic checking accounts. No idea. By the end I was hungry, thirsty, cranky, and my brain hurt from having to enter my information over and over and over. At the end, the woman who "assisted" us informed us she had done a hard credit pull, and proceeded to try and sell us credit - after already putting in plugs for home and auto loans. She NEVER told us before she did a hard credit pull that she would do so, which is COMPLETELY unacceptable. The explanation is either that she was (a) unethical, and lied by omission to try and up-sell us SDCCU credit products, or that she was (b) incompetent and didn't think to tell us she was going to do a hard (not soft), credit pull. Neither of these explanations flatters SDCCU. We've opened several accounts over the years, and other banks either do not do hard credit pulls, or they have been explicitly clear about what they were doing. SDCCU was not. I am very, very, very displeased about this. Did I mention I am not happy? A "hard" credit pull will ding your credit score, so if I am going to do something like that, I want to be fully informed. The woman "assisting" us again demonstrated her lack of knowledge when she was talking to me about what she saw on the credit reports she pulled for my husband and myself, and telling me about how we have joint credit because we are married. While we are married, my husband and I actually have NO joint credit, and I had also just recently checked our free annual credit report. One of the most common myths about credit is that your credit report changes when you get married. Unless you have joint credit, getting married does not magically change your credit report. This clearly demonstrated this SDCCU employee's lack of knowledge. And she was a loan officer! I will most certainly NOT be going to SDCCU for future banking needs or credit products, nor will my family use our accounts, and I am writing this review so that others will be aware of their underhanded, unethical business practices. Also, having had accounts at other banks and credit unions, I must say that SDCCU's online banking interface is what I would describe as ugly. It is not "pretty", and lacks anything but basic functionality. After hearing so much about how amazing SDCCU was, I expected much better. I am running away as fast as I can.

I don't come in here often but when I have to ...the staff are pretty friendly.Today it was Tara's turn to be nice.