I think you are wrong. All of my family members are longtime members and my father signed me up as a teenager. I have tried to do business with other financial institutions just to expand on what I already have with Navy Federal, but I have NEVER found another bank/credit union that can compete with Navy Fed. I have always found the phone agents to be friendly and willing to help, but I rarely need to call because I make use of their online banking. The only people I know that have had issues with Navy Federal are people who don't want to pay their bills, are not savvy enough to understand the technology utilized by the credit union, or just don't take responsibility for their own accounts.
I'll bet the rate Navy Federal gave you still beat any rate you could have gotten anywhere else. And I'm sure that you're so fantastic that you should have gotten an immediate approval, right? And you're so special that Navy Federal should have waived all of its verification measures used because they are responsible lender...right?
That wasn't Navy Federal then. No employee of Navy Federal would refer to account holders as "customers". Navy Federal is member-owned. Navy Federal also does not blow up phones in reference to credit applications. Sounds like someone may have been past due on an obligation.
When you ask for a reduction in rate, any responsible lender will pull your current credit report in order to determine if you qualify for a reduction. I have a Navy Federal nRewards Visa card and also asked for a reduction in rate, but I assumed they would pull my credit again LIKE ANY OTHER LENDER. By asking questions of the phone representative I spoke with, I found that Navy Federal bases their rates STRICTLY on credit scores and cannot make exceptions to those rates for the whiny members because it would be unfair to the other members who don't complain. (hello, the rates are great anyway!) I also found that Navy Federal reviews credit card accounts annually and if an account is handled in a responsible manner, the limit is automatically increased as a courtesy. From doing further research about credit reporting agencies, it appears that this is a POSITIVE factor on a credit report because the ratio of debt to credit limit is a huge factor in credit scoring. It shows that the consumer can have a lot of available credit and not MAX it out. So the higher the limit and the lower the balance = better for the consumer.
Maybe you should not ask, "what's the latest date I can make my payment without being penalized?" Hello? Pay it BY THE DUE DATE. You brought that upon yourself. This is not Navy Federal specific - any other financial institution would have charged you exorbitant fees AND reported you as being late the DAY AFTER the due date!
