Buffalo Metropolitan FCU

"This was my first ever bank account and I must say this bank has been the worst experience I have had. I don’t know if it was because I was younger but no one ever took time to answer my questions. It took from July up until this week to receive a phone call about my auto loan I requested. I had this bank since I was fifteen and now I’m 22. THE WORST EXPERIENCE that I have encountered at any bank. And to be a member for as long as I have and see no changes whatsoever, I will be closing my account before the end of the year with no regrets. It’s your money! Put it with people who’ll have some respect for you!"

"I only wish I could rate it lower. I don't know how much worse a bank could be. The ATM is either not functioning at all or only partially functioning most times. I had a security be rude to me and when I called him on it he challenged me to a fight while wearing a gun on his hip. Some days the bank is shut down in the middle of a work day. I could go on but why bother. A place this bad will never improve. I doubt they feel they need to improve at all."

"Bought a camper from them at Manheim Lakeland auction two months ago and nobody will answer my phone over there. Mario and Shannon are probably the worst people I’ve ever had to deal with on solving an issue. They repeatedly Dodge my calls and the receptionist has told me they’re at lunch every single time I call them. even early in the morning and later in the day. I will never do business with them again and strongly urge everyone else to not do business with them."

"Been using this credit union for as long as I can remember. The staff is extremely thorough and willing to help. I've only had two poor experiences in the 15+ years I've used their services, which have both been rectified in a timely manner with positive result. Being local, I am glad I can call them during business hours or stop down to have a question answered. Their team walks through processes and projections to ensure my financial wellness is in the green (no pun intended). They have improved their services and technologies over the past five years, which has improved customer service and user-friendliness. When I have the opportunity, I always recommend my peers to this financial institution. They're helpful, provide fantastic rates, and are local!"

"Been with this bank for a long time (financed my 2 cars through them - awesome) and never had any major troubles. The pandemic seemed to be rough on them though - I asked around and the consensus I'm seeing is that they're currently in a transitional period where they're updating a lot of their internal stuff like card providers, systems, and shifting employees around/hiring more people. The good part about this is that the hiccups many account holders (myself included) have been dealing with here will most likely be fixed soon and they'll be able to offer some better service. The bad part is, of course, that right now things are kind of iffy. Service isn't the best (it depends on who you're dealing with), it's hard to get a hold of anyone by phone (seems they're as short-staffed as anywhere else), and some things can stop working sometimes (I have been told a number of visits thru the last year or so that their card issuing systems were under maintenance, which can be a bummer if you need a new debit card quickly. Maybe I just have bad luck?) Reliability can be a huge sticking point, especially at a banking institution, so I can see why some may have been having difficulties. Of course, the silver lining is that I haven't been experiencing any problems on a day-to-day basis: what issues I have had were very occasional. Just doing my basic banking and using their cards, ATMs etc. there are usually no issues. I also go to Canada a lot and I have yet to have any problems up there. Knowing that they're working on finding solutions for the problems that DO exist, however, is good to know. Still the best bank I've been a part of. Super low rates, very understanding and charitable staff for the most part, and compared to other bigger banks, they don't have nearly as many hidden fees or unexpected tricks up their sleeve. I would definitely recommend doing your banking here, at least if you're aiming for something long-term. You may have to look past some of the short-term hiccups in the meantime, though."