Chequing account now has a $4 monthly fee or $1000 minimum balance | DUCA Credit Union | Discussion forum

Thanks for the heads up mebe. Will give tham a call tomorrow to cancel that account. Under their fee structure, looks like it was introduced back in Apr, my account has not been the charge for May, but I suspect it will show up in June...

We've had 5 year GIC's with them for 4 years. I spoke to the branch manager about the $4 charge and she said the only way to resolve it is to keep $1000 in the checking account. The higher ups made this decision. And she would not refund the $4. Not impressed!

lisa said
We've had 5 year GIC's with them for 4 years. I spoke to the branch manager about the $4 charge and she said the only way to resolve it is to keep $1000 in the checking account. The higher ups made this decision. And she would not refund the $4. Not impressed!  

When you say you spoke to the Branch manager, did you do it by phone, or in person?

It would not surprise me as much if you spoke to the branch manager on the phone and were then turned down. But if you were physically at the branch, it's more likely that you get better treatment. There's also no guarantee of that better treatment leading to positive results. The red flag for me was when your branch manager blamed it on the higher ups. That manager sounds like somebody who doesn't want to go out of their way to risk any possible reprimand for removing the charges for too many customers.

Had you called the branch and spoken to a "regular" employee while the manager was not available, you most likely would have been told that as a one-time courtesy you can get that charge removed (especially if your record shows that you haven't asked for a break in the past, or at least recently). If that regular employee is less sure of the situation, they may later consult the manager before putting it through the system. However, once you were informed of the one-time courtesy possibility, and yet a manager or other more experienced employee intervened and didn't allow it, that should make it more likely that Duca's Ombudsman would rule in your favour.

Had you contacted Customer Connect, depending on the agent you speak to, you may be told to contact your branch to try to see if you can get that $4 charge removed.

If the Customer Connect agent adds comments to the system, the branch employees can see them, yet if you called the branch, the employees might not add any comments or make note of your call.

If you physically are able to go to a branch and are lucky enough to speak to an employee who has already dealt with many other customers with the same problem, AND has given them ALL the $4 refund, it makes things much easier. And if for some reason they have a problem getting the refund to work, they can simply ask for help from a more experienced employee.

It's true that even the employees willing and able to fix this problem, will still say that it's the higher-ups that are responsible for this mess.

We are all aware that employees would love to do the "right" thing and help everybody equally, but human nature dictates that the more you go up against the ones running the show, the more likely it will be that you risk losing your job, or be punished for being too nice.

If you experience bad service from one branch, you might get better results walking into a different one, even if they notice that you joined Duca at another branch.

Since Duca employees know that this "sneaky" move should be overturned, it's much easier and safer to simply pass the buck.

Losing $4 is not so terrible, but the service you received most likely was.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Although at some point, this Heads-Up might turn into a major headache, or migraine. And then you might need to spend more money on Tylenol.

Hope is a good thing, but false hope is not.

If I offer to hold the door open for you, but then you start to run towards me (because you don't want to keep me waiting), and then slip on a rug and break your hip (ouch!) ... well then, I just broke your hip, even though I meant well.

I'm hoping that your bad experience doesn't become a typical one for the majority of Duca customers.

Thanks for the heads up savemoresaveoften. I too, was unaware of the new fee. I called the call centre today and had my $4 service fee reversed and the chequing account closed. Although it involved a follow-up call asking many more questions "to update my file", she claimed.

I assume that it should get easier as more people become aware of the account change, but Duca loves that $4, and the higher-ups obviously like slipping important account changes into the e-statements, that often go unread.

Rogers often slips in the important stuff 3 months in advance (on the bill), so even though it's sneaky, at least it's a known tactic.

However, with Duca, it's obviously a game that they are now also interested in playing.

Luckily, some customers live close enough to a branch, if the calling fails to do the trick.

Hopefully, Duca will stop playing hardball with some of its customers, and make sure all of its employees are told not to hit any of them with the pitch.

Batter up! Ball $4 ... Take your base and your money.

Doug said

In many cases it doesn't need a branch manager to reverse a $4.00 fee. I'm not sure why @savemoresaveoften suggested referring to the branch manager at the first point of contact; perhaps they've had inconsistent experiences. In other words, a CSR could probably still reverse a fee at DUCA, but I could be wrong.

Usually CSRs will have limits on the fees they're allowed to reversed.

In many cases, the contact centre can reverse a fee, too.

Cheers,
Doug  

I was replying to Lisa’s post#4 when she mentioned even branch manager would not waive the fee for her.

And for the record, it was Mebe who alert us of the $4 charge. I will call in tomorrow to cancel that account as it was not used even once from day 1.

If you're at least 60-years old, Duca won't charge the $4 for the account (if they did, that should be really easy to fix).

I also think Duca mentioned that they have a special no-fee, free chequing account without a limited monthly balance requirement (but with only 3 free e-transfers, rather than 5), but it's only an option for younger people in their 20's, and perhaps a bit younger, or older.

Duca ... Don't get stuck in the middle with us ... or we'll gladly gouge you!

Just logged onto my duca checking account and saw an OD charge of 3 cents for the $4 monthly fee that they reversed. Called and had it reversed and closed my account. Not thrilled with Duca!

I had a 4 cent overdraft charge and another expected $4 account charge for June, so I just walked over to the branch and told the teller that I just needed the charges to be removed one last time, as was promised by them last month when I visited the branch.

Two extra people were needed to approve it all, but I never had to speak to them.

It was too easy, so I assume that the thousand bucks in the account had something to do with it. No mistake was made by Duca, but it was nice to just stand back and watch them type away on my behalf.

I don't generally pay for accounts for more than one month, but I'm curious to see how long it will take me to dump this no-interest chequing account.

DUCA ... Dump Ure Chequing Account