Credit Unions v. Banks: My Positive Credit Union Experience

We are moving soon, as I mentioned before, and this means switching financial institutions.  That means figuring out where to go next because our current credit union, despite being one of the largest in the region and second largest in the state, has no branches within 200 miles of where we are moving to. I know some might say we don't even need to switch in an age where you can do pretty much any financial transaction over the Internet and I might agree, but I am extremely cheap and the thought of having to pay ATM fees in the very rare circumstances  when I need cash is anathema to me.  

Anyway, I digress. I am a big fan of credit unions.  I was a Bank of America customer for years when, in 2010,  they assessed me one of those ridiculous $5 monthly charges they were implementing if you didn't meet a certain arbitrary threshold as far as account minimum balances, having direct deposited paychecks or some other thing I can't remember that ultimately seemed silly to me.  (This was about five years ago).

As I am wont to do, I called to complain about the fee and ask for a refund (I do this all the time and it works with everything, whether the cable company, a crappy experience with a hotel or a number of other things and think it is always worth trying-the worst they can say is no).  Even though I got my money back, the whole experience disgusted me so much I decided to make the switch to a credit union.

We chose the biggest credit union in our area, which extends halfway across the state, except where we are moving, of course.  It has been a really good experience.  Everyone at the credit union has been extreme helpful and pleasant whether we needed to speak with them in person or over the phone.  We applied for a mortgage with them but I was shocked when we got a lower rate with someone else.  (We got the best deal the credit union was offering but it still did not beat the rate we were getting through a regional lender.)  Strangely enough, that regional lender turned around and sold the loan to Wells Fargo, who we have not had any problems with.  My parents have had all sorts of problems with Wells, however, ncluding when a guy with the same name as my dad was given information regarding my dad’s accounts when he walked in to ask about a new loan.  

The biggest problem I see with credit unions can be their relative lack of sophistication.  The websites can also be a bit janky depending on how big the credit union is, which has been the case with ours, but besides that I have been a very big fan.

I asked about people's general thoughts on credit unions v. Banks on Google + and the response, literally every single person, was credit unions.  Wanted to see what other thoughts were out there on the issue as well-what do you see as far as the costs and benefits associated with big banks v. credit unions?