1/5 Nick M. 4 years ago on Google
Predatory
and
deceptive.
Lake
Trust
quietly
reverses
policy
to
extract
money
from
poorer
members.
Foreign
ATM
Transaction
Fee
Refunds
were
silently
reversed,
turning
refunds
into
added
fees
of
their
own,
double-dipping
into
an
ATM
policy
they
had
lulled
members
into
using
for
free.
My
experience:
When
I
signed
up
for
a
checking/savings
account
with
Lake
Trust
around
five
or
six
years
ago,
I
was
motivated
in
large
part
by
Foreign
ATM
Transaction
Fee
Refunds.
Lake
Trust
offered
four
per
month,
which
enabled
me
to
have
access
to
ATMs
and
cash
without
proximity
to
physical
banking
locations.
I
used
ATMs
freely
with
the
comfort
that
these
fees
would
be
refunded
to
me
at
the
end
of
the
month,
and
they
consistently
were,
for
years.
As
someone
with
very
low
yearly
income,
I
valued
this
feature
dearly,
and
found
it
instrumental
to
my
ability
to
use
banking
services
effectively,
as
well
as
a
primary
motivator
of
my
decision
to
bank
with
Lake
Trust
Credit
Union.
I
regularly
told
others
how
happy
I
was
banking
with
Lake
Trust,
how
I
finally
felt
empowered
by
a
financial
institution,
how
I
could
(at
last)
have
access
to
my
own
money
without
endless
fees.
I
was
a
deeply
satisfied,
loyal
and
evangelistic
customer.
So
when
I
discovered
"Foreign
ATM
Transaction
Fees"
in
my
transaction
history,
I
was
confused...
what
happened
to
the
refunds?
I
had
never
used
four
or
more
foreign
ATMs
in
a
single
month,
and
saw
nothing
from
Lake
Trust
about
a
change
in
this
policy.
When
I
saw
that
not
only
had
Lake
Trust
stopped
providing
refunds
for
Foreign
ATM
Transaction
Fees,
but
had
introduced
fees
for
these
transactions
of
their
own,
I
was
livid
at
this
quiet
bait-and-switch,
a
deceptive
betrayal
of
trust.
I
have
no
idea
how
long
this
reversal
of
policy
had
been
going
on,
as
Lake
Trust
doesn't
allow
me
to
view
my
own
transaction
history
beyond
a
year
and
a
half
(or
so,
when
I
last
checked).
The
banking
institution
I
had
trusted
and
supported
with
my
money
had,
without
notifying
me,
chosen
to
upend
its
policy
to
profit
by
double-dipping
on
fees
that
they,
previously,
had
promised
to
refund.
The
financial
loss
that
this
represents
to
me
personally
comprises
a
significant
portion
of
my
monthly
income—and
has
me
financially
pinched,
misled
and
taken
advantage
of
by
an
institution
I
used
to
trust.
If
you
work
for
a
living,
avoid
Lake
Trust
at
all
costs.
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