Unreliable...
OK, I so much want to be positive here. I truly believe the idea of a local credit union that understands the needs of the community around it should be supported in any way possible.
Moneywise advertised itself as an alternative to loan sharks, claiming to offer loans at far lower interest rates. However, this is dependant on whether you are accepted or not.
In my case, I used to own my own business. My shop would make several hundered pounds a day. That was until I had a stroke ten years ago.
Now things are a lot different. I don't have to disposable income I once had. However, I have made sure I paid any debt in full, on time (usually earlier). Because of this I have a perfect 32 year payment history of credit.
Combined with being a member of Moneywise for around 8 months, saving with them every month, I thought I'd be an ideal customer.
When a family emergency occurred, we thought we'd apply for a loan. During the process, they got my date of birth wrong and then took two weeks to decide I wasn't eligible for the loan.
Well, that's their decision, but what it does show is that no matter how well you've maintained repayments over the years, and no matter what you've been through in the process, you still can't rely on Moneywise to help you out in an emergency.
What doesn't help the situation is when the lady dealing with your complaint states they'd made the wrong decision and should have done things differently, but it's too late to do anything about it now - Well, thank you!
I guess the only people you can rely on are the loansharks.