I can't believe so many other people have endured the same harassment from Navy Federal as I have. I used to love NFCU, and have had accounts in good standing with them for years. There have been several family emergencies this past year including my Dad being hospitalized, and losing his job. This left them with only my Mom's monthly disability payments to live on. Most of my savings went towards helping them. I ended up falling behind on my credit card payments as a result, and began dealing with several collections agencies as a result. I was barely covering my living expenses, and had absolutely no disposable income. I always explained my situation, and that I was looking for work to everyone that called. Almost all of the agencies were very polite, and began to only call weekly to touch base. Unfortunately Navy Federal was not even remotely that professional.
I began receiving a minimum of four calls a day from them (the average was approximately seven.) They were almost universally insulting and accusatory. One employee in particular would repeatedly accused me of trying to abandon my debt once I reached my credit limits (despite having maintained several Navy Federal accounts in good standing for years.) I also had to endure repeated 'suggestions' about whether I had friends or family who could loan me money. I would clearly explain that I didn't, and why. They would claim to update my record about it, but somehow it was conveniently absent when they would call again about it.
Once they would get me on the line they would refuse to end the conversation unless I immediately pay the accounts with money they knew I didn't have. Some lasted upwards of thirty minutes, and if I ended the conversation sooner than they preferred then I would get multiple calls for up to fifteen minutes after the conversation ended. After a few weeks of getting the exact same calls several times a day I began to answer once every few days. This was somehow proof that I had 'abandoned my debt, and was hiding from them to subvert the collections process, ' despite having answered them numerous times. I'm not sure how they thought a half dozen calls a day would magically make the money for my payments appear since it's not even remotely conducive for a job search. Many of the calls would threaten me with an 'immediate recommendation for a civil suit' if I didn't settle the issue that day. One employee in particular would repeatedly lie to me about the laws regarding debt, collections, and bankruptcy.
My experience with the collections department has been downright hellish. They've been rude, harassing, condescending, and dishonest throughout all of this. As soon as this ordeal is over I will be closing all of my Navy Federal accounts.
