I have helped a particular member with several loans over the years at both the Renton and Seattle branches, and we recently had a discussion about her daughter’s mortgage woes. I suggested she have her come in to see what we could do, which she did. Her daughter runs a daycare out of her home and needed to do some repairs and upgrades as well as pay off some bills.

This member came into my office to request a balance transfer and when she handed me the balance transfer form, I noticed her limit wouldn’t cover the amount she needed to transfer. I said, “No biggie, let’s run a quick limit increase request.” So we started the application and while I was entering the details for the limit increase, I reviewed some notes from when she applied for an equity loan back in early 2016, but wasn’t able to get approved. At that time her husband had recently retired, and their income situation had changed. During that same time, I recalled they had a large outstanding loan at a pretty high rate so I asked if that ever got worked out. I could immediately tell I hit on a sensitive subject when she said, “No, we’re still paying them; and I’m retiring soon. I AM STRESSED OUT.”

Jim came into the Tacoma branch and sat at my desk to inquire about a pre-approved Home Equity Line of Credit mailer he recently received from us. I educated him on the various loan options and how they could be applied to his specific situation. Jim mentioned some work needed to be done around the house and had it all planned out, so we went with the Advantage Equity loan.

The transition from Woodstone Credit Union to Qualstar, like any merger, can be fraught with alignment issues.

Systems, processes, cultures, people, etc…I’ve experienced some of these issues from a customer perspective coming from Woodstone as well.

However, I had a very pleasant customer experience on 8/3/2018 with Falana Clark, the Branch Manager in Kent.

She helped with a deposit, then listened to my concerns such as is there a member CU closer to my home they take deposits, does Qualstar have a Certified Financial Planner or equivalent for financial services? Falana handled each of these requests delightfully, with a desire to help.

She even helped me with testing the Kent ATM with my account number to ensure deposit capabilities. In addition, she personally contacted Qualstar’s Investment Advisor at the Federal Way branch to determine his financial accreditation’s and experience while I was at the branch. She is now the primary reason I plan on staying with Qualstar.

Please pass along my compliments to her. She did a wonderful job and is a credit to your organization.

A member came in to our Redmond branch for assistance on filing card dispute paperwork, so I helped him with that and noticed he received an auto pre-approval offer from us. I asked if he saw the offer, and he didn’t think he had. When I told him he was pre-approved, he mentioned he needed an upgrade since his current car’s odometer reading is at 250k miles! I gave him my business card and told him to give me a call when he’s ready to get started…

When this member walked in, my co-workers were helping other members so I told him I could help at the desk if his transaction did not involve cash. He had a check to deposit, so I invited him to sit. As I was processing the transaction, I noticed his Visa Gold was pretty close to its limit and wondered if an equity loan at a lower rate might work better for him. I asked if he had a mortgage, and after he told me his balance and current rate I explained we have two equity loans with no fees and no closing costs.

A member I worked with previously called and wanted to work with me again to eliminate more of her credit card debt. We were able to assist her with a personal loan and an auto loan last year, and she loved how committed we were to helping with her financial situation.

At the Kent branch we recently helped a husband and wife who are hearing impaired, but can communicate easily by writing and of course sign language. They came in expressing their interest in applying for an equity loan, so we sat down and started the application. Due to their specific communication needs, we hadn’t discussed any loan options that might help their financial situation in any of their previous visits to a branch so I figured it was about time!

I was working with a member who was pre-approved for a Visa Credit Card – when I told him about it, he said he already had enough cards so I made sure he knew about our 1% Balance Transfer Rebate. He became very interested and agreed to proceed with the application. During our conversation, I found out he had an auto loan, so I told him we could also look into refinancing it at a lower rate and maybe even a lower payment…

In December this member came in to see about getting a credit card due to some unexpected medical expenses in his family that were starting to add up. We processed an application for a Visa Gold and he was approved for a $500 limit – while this helped, it was not quite what he was looking for…