Virginia Credit Union, Fredericksburg, VA

We just bought my wife’s grandmothers house. Tim Lamont was great to deal with and keep us in the loop of what was going on and we are coming back to get a loan for our oldest son to buy a car. So if you are looking for a great bank and a loan, this is the place I would go.

I have been with VACU since 1992.. best banking experience ever...Mortgage, Car loan and personal. credit card rates are amazingly LOW

If 0 stars were available, that is what I would rate. My family was working with SHARLENE, who did not seem to know how loans worked. We were going to be first time home buyers, until she made things difficult. She pushed countless of documents at us to sign at one time, without further explanation. She refused to help relay information to other loan companies without our signature for all of her forms first. She had charged us a $450 application fee, that we were originally told was just a deposit on the appraiser. She withdrew the money before a home inspection was even done and almost immediately after the initial offer was accepted by the home owner. We ended up voiding our offer due to the home inspection results, but the appraisal happened anyways without giving us a heads up via email or phone call. The document was pushed in with dozens of other documents, almost sneakily hidden in there. Turns out this $450 is nonrefundable even though we did not purchase a home or use the loan. When trying to contact her to remedy and explain this situation she not only was she nearly impossible to get a hold of she was extremely argumentative and blamed it on us. She was extremely unprofessional. Even our realtor tried to speak with her to ask for a credit or a refund and she was rude to her as well. I am choosing to look elsewhere to someone who treats long time customers with respect and take the time to really explain everything. She pushed us to sign everything one day after our offer was accepted. One day. She never even gave us a chance. I can’t speak for the other Loan officers, but please I urge you to not use SHARLENE unless you want to be misled.

I have never had any negative issues with the employee at VACU. Been a member for some years. The staff and management are the best. Sometimes customers have a bad day and misinterpret the policies. VACU. Has always been unsurpassed in banking.

I love this location! The tellers and their managers are awesome! Before COVID and even now I’m alway met with a smile behind a mask of course! Lauren has always been very kind I mean I receive awesome service each visit!

The worst banking experience imaginable. Their customer service has tanked in the recent years. I yanked my credit card and accounts from them today, not even a care in the world. Good Luck VACU, you are going to need it.

tl;dr: Service was slow, was hammered by hidden fees and not informed of certain practices that ended up costing me more than other banks would have. I can't recommend this bank to anyone. I'm new to the area and got a HELOC from them to make some improvements to my house. The application process was incredibly slow and my processor rarely contacted me during the application. I had to constantly call them to check status and provide more and more documentation. They took so long that some of the paperwork I gave them was no longer viable within their timeframes. Normal HELOCs have you pay interest only payments until the draw period is over. VCU makes you start paying on the principal right away, plus interest which made my monthly payment go from an estimated $150-200, to $850 a month. Also getting hit with monthly $50 finance charges. I can't wait to pay off my HELOC so I don't have to deal with them ever again.

We just bought my wife’s grandmothers house. Tim Lamont was great to deal with and keep us in the loop of what was going on and we are coming back to get a loan for our oldest son to buy a car. So if you are looking for a great bank and a loan, this is the place I would go.