“Did you fall down and smack your little head on the pavement?”
Miranda Priestly, “The Devil Wears Prada”
Did the President and His Vice President Blunder Again?
President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. and Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, have often said they hate this blog yet for some inexplicable reason, they remain the two biggest contributors of information we publish. Quite frankly, if it wasn’t for their chronic need to violate policies and state and federal laws, we probably would have little to write about.
We recently discovered that the credit union has been informed they may be sued again by the same member whose confidential account information was published on the Internet by an employee of the credit union in early 2012. Evidently, the ability to learn from one’s mistakes is something every executive and manager of Priority One Credit Union in South Pasadena, California is oblivious to.
Last October 2012, the credit union negotiated a settlement agreement to bring closure to the lawsuit filed by the former member whose confidential information was intentionally published on the Internet by an employee of the credit union using the handle, Priority MC. In November, the credit union and the former member signed the settlement agreement and the President issued what should have been an apology letter, trying in vain to convince anyone who read his statement, that the credit union never authorizes employees to publish confidential information about members, on the internet. Unfortunately, Tricky Wiggington’s letter failed to convince us that the credit doesn’t ever authorize the publication of confidential information since logically only employees of the credit union had access to the confidential information illegally published on the Internet.
Though the settlement agreement was signed on November 27, 2012, which should have brought an official end to the relationship between the credit union and former member, someone at the credit union allegedly chose to violate the terms of the agreement and without authorization, submitted a request to Experian, the credit reporting company, inquiring about the former member’s credit history. The inquiry was submitted in January 2013, approximately two-months following signing of the agreement which should dispel the excuse that the inquiry was submitted in error.
Credit Union procedure requires that the credit union obtain authorization from a member to order a copy of their credit report. Because the member was a former member, there was no reason why she would have granted authorization to the credit union to order a copy of her credit report. The member also hadn’t applied for a loan nor requested reinstatement of her membership, either of which would have justified requesting a copy of her credit report. This latest breach should be a concern to all current members and any person who might be considering opening an account at Priority One Credit Union.
There is an employee or employees who are obviously incapable of adhering to credit union protocols. This past February, more internal thefts were found to have occurred at the Los Angeles branch. Historically, the Los Angeles branch has been the site of thefts committed by employees of the credit union. On March 1, 2013, a long-time officer who served as the AVP overseeing both the Los Angeles and Airport branches, was terminated and soon afterwards, Vice President, Yvonne Boutte ordered the staff of the Los Angeles branch not to communicate with the former AVP, disclosing that she may have embezzled funds from member account. Mrs. Boutte’s disclosures constitutes a violation of the policy governing confidentiality and reminding us that the credit union seems quite incapable of protecting member assets and confidential information concerning members and employees. It is also important to note that these violations of security protocols began in the years after Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was appointed President and CEO of the credit union. So can any member or employee feel confident that their funds and personal account information are safe at Priority One Credit Union?
In what is now known as the infamous 2007 Breach of Security, President Wiggington allowed envelopes, on whose exterior were printed member account and social security numbers. The President would later place the blame on the then IT Supervisor, however, it was the President who approved all the information that was sent to the printer who published the envelopes.
We personally believe the member has cause to file another lawsuit. Clearly, Priority One was unauthorized to request a copy of her credit report. There was also no justification to support the credit union’s actions. The latest incident has probably incurred duress for the former member. There is also a question regarding Privacy which has been violated once again, by the credit union. The latest incident also violates the terms of the settlement agreement. So who at Priority One Credit Union requested a copy of the member’s credit report without her authorization?
CREDIT RESOLUTIONS
Working Hard to Maintain
Second Rate Service
Through a process of elimination, we believe the most likely culprit perpetrating the latest violation of credit union policy and state and federal law is the credit union’s own in-house collection department- Credit Resolutions.
Requests submitted to Experian are often submitted by the credit union’s Loan Department but ONLY in response to an applicant’s request for a loan. The credit report is one of several criteria used to determine a person’s eligibility for a loan.
According to the language contained on the backside of a New Membership Application, the Member Services Department may request a copy of a person’s credit report as part of its screening to determine eligibility, though historically this has never been done because verification from ChexSystems takes precedence as a qualifying factor to membership.
The only other department that communications to credit reporting companies is Credit Resolutions who may advise Experian when a member’s loan or other product, has become subject to collection proceedings or when a delinquent account has been paid-off or written-off.
Since the member has not applied for a loan or requested reinstatement of her former membership, we can immediately cross-out the Loan and Member Services Departments as the perpetrator in this latest abuse. We must add that this disqualifies the Accounting and Teller departments who are not authorized to request credit reports.
So why would Credit Resolutions request a copy of the member’s report without authorization?
In 2012, the member contracted Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, by phone and informed her that confidential information pertaining to her now former automobile loan and defamatory statement about her person, had been published on the Internet. The chronically dull Board Chair contacted the even more obtuse President and ordered him to investigate and resolve the alleged violation of the Privacy Act. The dull President deferred resolution of the complaint which alleged a violation of federal law, to Vice President, Yvonne Boutte. Ms. Boutte who had previously served in the capacity of a collections clerk, collection’s supervisor, collections manager, and eventually a director and Vice President was completely unqualified to manage and resolve the complaint which posed potentially adverse legal reverberations to the credit union.
Mrs. Boutte may have become confused and thought she was a member of a goon squad and tried to verbally subjugate the member, verbalizing warnings forbidding the member from ever calling Mrs. Harris-Brooks again. The member who is intellectually superior to Mrs. Boutte hung-up and instead filed a lawsuit. A few weeks later, the credit union offered a monetary settlement in an effort to avoid an embarrassing court trial.
The only persons who would have intimate knowledge of the legal conflict involving the member’s formerly delinquent account is Credit Resolutions. However, the case was referred to the credit union’s attorneys by either the Supervisor of the Department, Alex Suarez, and/or Vice President, Yvonne Boutte. Not only would subordinate staff not have been privy to much of the information first published in April 2012 by a poster using the handle, Priority MC, but it is only an officer who would have had access to the highly confidential information. Furthermore, the only person who was allegedly personally and emotionally affected by the member’s lawsuit was Mrs. Boutte who was also reprimanded in 2012 for her bungling of the member’s complaint.
In early 2011, we received the following colorful email, commenting about then Director of Project Management (whatever that meant), Yvonne Boutte, who at the time only oversaw Credit Resolutions. We thought it appropriate to finally share, since it is impossible to separate Priority One’s business failures from the characters and abilities of its managers.
“We were called into an impromptu meeting. Bea (Walker) walked in and said, “Oh, this is where all the important people are!” I felt like replying, “Yeah, if by important you mean all the useless, good for nothing people who are destroying this place but think they’re important, then yes, you’re right.”
I found out that the Accounting Department were warned that Charles (Wiggington) or Bea (Walker) are looking at everybody’s emails. In fact, we were told, Charles called Diane McDougal and Jennifer Kelly to his office and warned them he was reading all emails that are being sent to Manny (Gaitmaitan) by the staff. He said that no one is allowed to talk to Manny while at work or from their homes. Manny told us before he left that we could call him if we needed help with the procedures or anything else. I guess Charles is paranoid and afraid people are plotting to get him. Everyone knows he and Bea backstabbed and drove Manny out. Guess they think Manny is going to do something to get even or spill the beans on all the illegal things they make us do with the books. They obviously don’t know Manny. He’s not vindictive and he’s glad not to be here anymore.
We also had a book meeting this morning. Yvonne was so loud. She told us how they (I guess she’s referring to Charles and herself) plan on getting rid of more people who they say are not “team players” and who don’t contribute to changing the credit union to a better place. Yvonne even said, “If they don’t wanna be on our bus, then we can give them (severance) packages and send them on the little yellow school bus. They want to use any excuse to fire more people and they’re going to place [the] people they don’t like in positions where they will fail and at branches that are far from their homes. Bea says, “If you want to get rid of someone, put them in a branch far from their home. They’ll quit and you won’t have to pay them unemployment.” Why not just put Charles and Bea in the garbage since neither of them contributes anything good to the credit union. Oh and before I forget, Joseph (Garcia) is still annoying. He’s now talking about Bea. I thought they were friends? He says he hates the things she’s done to a lot of employees and said she abused Susanna. And no one trusts Esmeralda. Adolfo said she goes to Smock every day and gives him the names of people she says are the enemy. She tells him who she overhears complaining and who talks about the blog. Everyone around hear except for Cecibil, doesn’t trust her. Got to get to bed so I can go back to work in that awful place. Write to you soon.”
Yvonne Boutte’s alleged statements are consistent with her attitude and behaviors. Since her arrival in 2008, Mrs. Boutte has proven a divisive influence whose disdain for subordinate staff is unveiled. She understands that most employees may fear reporting her abuses because of her vindictive attitude and because of the credit union’s Human Resources Department whose decisions are tainted and biased and always in favor of management. Her derogatory statement about employees who disagree with the way the credit union is run, denotes much about her character and as many know, “little yellow school” buses are used to transport special needs children and young adults. Despite her reprehensible behaviors and inappropriate and uneducated verbalizations, Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, and President Wiggington have chosen to protect and promote Mrs. Boutte. The preferential treatment shown her by the Mrs. Harris-Brooks is reminiscent of the preferential treatment shown President Wiggington who despite his crass behaviors, unprofessional decorum, illegal acts, and detrimental business decisions, has continually found protection under the Board. So can we also attribute Mrs. Boutte’s upward mobility and continued employment to skin color?
Mrs. Boutte’s bungling in 2012 of the complaint filed by the member could have been resolved diplomatically, tactfully, and with care, but Mrs. Boutte, an undisciplined authoritarian and control freak, chose instead to exact her authority and tried to subjugate the member which in turn, provoked filing of a lawsuit which the credit union subsequently settled.
Patti Loiacano, another long-time employee, is the credit union’s in-house Vice President of Compliance and Lending but one has to wonder if she realizes that she is ensure preemptive measures are continually being implemented to ensure member information and assets are protected. Based on the numerous breaches, we have to question her effectiveness in compliance. We are aware that in 2008, Mrs. Loiacano was informed by a now former Loan Processor that the DMV Specialist had obtained permission from then AVP, Aaron Cavazos, to recruit the assistance of a temporary employee who was ordered to forge the signatures on a large stack of unsigned Power of Attorney forms which had not been signed by members who obtained vehicle loans. At the time, Mrs. Loiacano stated she could do nothing to stop the illegal signing of the forms because the order to sign these came from her supervisor, Mr. Cavazos. We certainly understand the delicate nature of politics and how at times, stopping illegal acts can produce negative repercussions to the person exposing wrong doing. Certainly, the history at Priority One under President Wiggington is permeated by persecution of whistle blowers, but Mrs. Loiacano who at the time was the Assistant to the Lending Director, had a legal and ethical duty to step forward and inform Mr. Cavazos that the act he authorized was illegal. She chose not to do so.
So what motivated the unauthorized request by the credit union, seeking a copy of the former member’s credit report? Was it defiance of policy and law, ignorance, or just plain old-fashioned revenge? And if it was revenge, then who at the credit union would be the person most likely to try and retaliate against a member who exposed the nefarious actions committed by the credit union?
This Post
We continue our expose’ on more of decisions made by Priority One Credit Union’s not-so-illustrious executive sector who have helped transform the once respected and well-liked credit union into something far less effective, less competitive, and much much smaller in size. Long-time current and former employees and members can attest to the ongoing decline of Priority One Credit Union, which transformed the organization from promising to struggling and whose downward spiral began with the appointment of Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. as President.
Nowadays, representatives of the credit union no longer attend benefits fairs conducted by contracted hospitals nor are the credit union’s booths seen at community street fairs. Representatives of the credit union are no longer invited to speak at new hire orientations conducted by Providence St. Joseph Hospital or by the U.S. Postal Service at the Los Angeles Distribution Center. The credit union also no longer attends the Valley Industry Association’s (“VIA”) monthly luncheons in Santa Clarita or the Burbank Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheons. Its also been a long time since any employee of the credit union has attended the monthly Los Angeles Chapter meetings in Monterey Park, California. Though visibility is key to promoting any credit union, under President Wiggington, the credit union has chosen to depart the public light, in part because it can no longer afford to attend meetings, presentations or events. This after all, is the house that Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. built.
This all brings us to the subject of credit unions giving back to the communities they serve or in the case of Priority One, the communities they allegedly service. Priority One, like all other credit unions, enjoys exemption from paying corporate income taxes but this is a privilege non-profits and not-for-profit organizations enjoy because they are required to fulfill certain requirements appointed them under federal law. One such requirement is investing income in a way which benefits members and the organization. Other requirements include:
- Helping people of modest means.
- Loans offered for provident purposes.
- Teaching thrift.
- Free financial education.
- Offering loans to those who might not otherwise have access to credit through more traditional banks.
Under Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. and his contingent of lackeys, member complaints citing the refusal by Priority One to approve loans, have actually increased over the past 6 years. The credit union offers personal loans but many applicants cannot meet the credit union’s stringent eligibility requirements. The credit union last offered free financial education under William E. Harris, President Wiggington’s predecessor. Priority One like all other credit unions is required to contribute to the betterment of the communities it allegedly serves. In 1934, Congress passed the Federal Credit Union Act, establishing that the purpose of credit unions was to make credit available to people of small means through a national system of cooperative credit, and to encourage thrift through cooperative saving. Evidently, Priority One has chosen not to satisfy its legal requirements though it continues to enjoy the benefits granted non-exempt organizations while riding on the back of more committed, better managed credit unions.
From a branding perspective, Priority One is not supposed to be in business for money but rather to offer offer affordable rates, less fees, and nothing less than great service to its members. As we will show, quality member service has been trumped by sales. This philosophical change is not only inconsistent with government mandates but serves to undermine the ability of the entire industry to insulate itself from undesirable government legislation. In 1997, the chairman of CUNA reiterated the industry’s legal and social directive by describing credit unions as “the only financial institutions chartered with the social mission of making loans available to people of small means and teaching the benefits of thrift.”
In 1971, President Nixon signed Executive Oder #11580 which gave the NCUA its official seal. He declared that the mission of all credit unions’ is the “cultivation of thrift, encouragement to save regularly, granting of loans for provident purposes at a reasonable interest rate, and budget and consumer counseling.”
The basis of taxing credit unions is that they have a responsibility to provide members and potential members with access to credit markets that traditional banks choose not to lend to.
So is Priority One under President Wiggington, giving back to the community it allegedly serves? A reason why the President may be refusing to satisfy what is required of the credit union is that nowadays, Priority One must limit its spending because it is failing to generate sufficient new business to offset its overhead. In the meantime, the credit union remains the recipient of benefits reaped from the hard work and contributions of all other credit unions that actually strive to live the credit union industry’s motto of people helping people.
MORE SIGNS OF A NOT-SO-BRIGHT FUTURE
So is the newest $5.00 charge the only solution left to the declining credit union. The charge suggests Priority One is desperate for money. The charge will also not serve to solve the credit union’s financial shortcomings. A better solution would have been for President Wiggington to develop strategies that reach out to members who only have a saving account. Of course, any such plan of action would have required that the President actually expend real time needed to formulate a strategy.
We recently contacted one of the credit union’s branches to ask questions about the new charge. We were told that if the monthly $5 charge zeroes out a member’s remaining account balance, the account remains open. Unless the member specifically requests closure of the account, a $5.00 charge will continue to be charged month after month. This of course will force force a negative balance which will subject the account to collection proceedings and possibly referral to ChexSystems. That was disconcerting and hardly evidence that Priority One either values or wishes to create a lasting relationship with what should be its valued Membership.
The notice asks members to increase their “average daily balance to $500, or better yet, take advantage of one of our qualifying products or services. Please see the bottom of your statement for a list of our products and services.” Actually, the list appears on the backside not the bottom of the statement. The invitation to acquire products or enroll in services is a means by which members may avoid incurring the $5.00 fee.
According to President Wiggington’s and Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock’s, online biographies, the two possess extensive experience in the banking industry yet evidently, neither ever acquired an understanding that to successfully sell the credit union’s products and interest members in enrolling in its services requires educating members on how these may potentially benefit them. The no-frills and lackluster list does nothing to inform members about the purpose of some of the products or how the services may add convenience to their personal banking experience. The inability by the credit union’s highest officers to present the credit union’s wares in an appealing light may be the reason why the credit union’s business developments have failed year after year, since Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was appointed President. We’re even more surprised, since in May 2012, the Executive Vice President unveiled a previously unknown fact that back in the 1960’s, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Cincinnati. Because we don’t see evident of real marketing at the credit union, we invite Mr. Smock to send us a copy of his diploma or college transcripts validating his alleged studies.
THE QUARTERLY SUMMER NEWSLETTER
The President’s address expounds on the increased possibility that fraud can occur to accounts that are dormant. This by the way, doesn’t represent the norm. In fact, it is less likely that a dormant account will be targeted for fraud than is an active account whose number is being widely used by a member in completing transactions such as purchases and payments. We think the President is building a case which tries to raise an issue where none exists. If Priority One’s leadership was truly concerned with protecting member assets then why has the Los Angeles branch been the site of several internal thefts? Over the years, the losses have been substantial and all first discovered by members not the credit union. There is a clear disconnect between the President’s alleged assurance that the credit union is concerned with protecting member assets and the failure by the credit union to effectively monitor member accounts. Does the fault lie in the President, the staff or the credit union’s security protocols?
Yet another indicator that Priority One is not presently traversing upon a road leading to a Brighter Future Ahead, is President Wiggington’s recent decision to reduce the hours of operation for the Airport Branch. Beginning Saturday, July 22, 2013, that office only opens on Thursdays and Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This past June, the President revealed that the Airport Branch is not drawing sufficient traffic to warrant opening 8 hours a day, five days per week. Unlike the Santa Clarita branch, the problem affecting the Airport branch is not its location but rather, the failure of President Wiggington to promote the location. The failure is 100% attributable to President Wiggington’s apathetic and slovenly approach to business.
Like the Airport Branch, business at the Santa Clarita branch has fared poorly since its opening in February 2012. Prior to its opening we warned the location would fail because of its inconvenient location outside of downtown Valencia in what is the edge of an agricultural region and standing outside the gates of the Santa Clarita Bulk Mailing Processing Plant.
Despite our warnings, the President declared the Santa Clarita branch would attract immense amounts of new members who live and work in the Santa Clarita Valley and adding that the $1.00 per year spent to lease the location, would prove his abilities as a clever tactician. Of course, his opinions were based only one what he believed to be true and nothing more substantial like an actual study to determine the feasibility of the location. His YES men like Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, and Employee Services Director, Robert West, pandered to the President, affirming that the new branch held the promise of new business and added membership. As is always the case at Priority One Credit Union, the declarations proved to be speculative and unfounded and the Santa Clarita branch has proven to be yet another waste of time and money.
The theme of the 2012 Annual Report of a Brighter Future Ahead will never be realized because neither the President or Board of Directors are capable of making sound business decisions as attested to by the closure of four key branches during the years of 2010 through 2012; the hiring and termination of an overpaid COO and CLO along with the bludgeoning of key budgets needed to promote the credit union’s name, products and services.
COMPLAINTS
COMPLAINTS
COMPLAINTS
It’s one thing for us to write about the issues plaguing Priority One Credit Union’s level of Member Service and quite another to actually read complaints filed by members.
Beginning in May 2012 and again in January 2013, the President increased efforts to create a more positive public image of the credit union and to convey the idea it is capable of providing sound financial management of member assets. As part of their revamping efforts, in January, the President ordered publication of Bauer Financial’s assessment that Priority One is a four-star credit union. The image of Bauer’s logo disappeared from the credit union’s webpage in February immediately after it was disclosed internal robberies were found to have occurred at the Los Angeles branch. In recent weeks. the logo has reappeared on the credit union’s webpage though there is little in terms of service and products that validates things are well at the troubled credit union. However, if you visit the credit union’s SEG page, you’ll find that the credit union continues to declare itself as a FIVE-STAR credit union which is wholly untrue and inconsistent to Bauer’s actual rating.
We traverse the Internet frequently and we’ve notice, that member complaints are increasing as more and more members publish their concerns and frustrations on the Internet. There is tremendous dissatisfaction with the credit union’s Member Service which we believe is related to Priority One’s inability to obtain new business at a level that offsets its overhead.
All Member Service dispensed by Priority One falls under authority of Vice President, Yvonne Boutte though in South Pasadena, supervision of the Call Center has been delegated to former Branch Manager and former AVP, Gema Pleitez, who assists Mrs. Boutte. Mrs. Pleitez allots approximately 3 minutes to be spent on an individual call irrelevant of the requests or concerns of the member. If an employee exceeds the 3-minute limit, she types out a message which appears on the representative’s PC monitor, advising them to wrap up the call. She also demands that a certain number of calls be answered by each per day and reminds them frequently the sales takes precedence above all else. This of course has a direct impact on the quality of service provided by representatives and relegates Member Service to a secondary and less important role than sales. What is acutely clear is that neither Mrs. Boutte, Mrs. Pleitez or for that fact, the President, understand the relationship between creating a positive member experience and repeat business and written and word-of-mouth recommendations of the credit union. What’s more, the Call Center seats 5 to 6 representatives, the President has chosen to only employ 3 full-time employees, citing the need to reduce expenses. Evidently, Mrs. Boutte, the Human Resources Department, and Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, cannot fathom the importance of keeping a well-manned Call Center.
Here are some of the complaints we located on the Internet, all citing Member Service related issues. We believe most businesses which find themselves the subject of online complaints would try to enact measures that proactively resolve the causes which undermine their ability to provide satisfactory service. Not so at Priority One where complaints are ignored and their importance trivialized. Then again, how can the people responsible for creating these problems possess the ability to resolve them?
YELP.COM
Complaint #1
Response to Complaint #1
COMPLAINT #2
COMPLAINT #3
COMPLAINTS #4 & 5
SECOND SET OF COMPLAINTS
MISSING THE MARK
ADVERTISING GONE AWRY
On January 1, 2007, President Wiggington, Sr. dismantled the credit union’s prize-winning Marketing Department, replacing its experienced Director with inexperienced then AVP of Operations, Aaron Cavazos, who neither had experience or talent in anything related to marketing. With permission of President Wiggington and the blessing of Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, the AVP installed a Marketing Committee completely populated by employees of the Loan, Member Services, and Card Services Departments. Like the AVP, none had any experience in either marketing. The committee quickly metamorphasized into what can only be described as an Advertising Committee, limiting their efforts to writing copy and selecting graphics for scheduled promotional campaigns. Their first big project was creation of the 2006 Annual Report. At the time the annual statement was completed, Mr. Cavazos, President Wiggington, and Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, boasted that the report had been produced at thousands of dollars less than any report created by the former Director of Marketing. At the time, the President declared that under his leadership, Priority One would save money and make great advances that would dwarf anything accomplished by his predecessor. President Wiggington was wrong.
The 2006 Annual Report proved what would become a long list of many debacles. The shoddy booklet, was composed of subpar paper stock, bleeding font, runny graphics, and many of its pages appeared faded. The document didn’t convey success nor did it suggest it was the product of cost-effective and prudent planning. The report screamed cheap and was born out of an effort to cut expenses in the wrong areas. The report was certainly a fall from grace and possibly even a harbinger of things to come, proving Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. lacked the understanding, finesse and business acumen of his far more dignified and respected predecessor. The report can also be cited as a marker of when the credit union’s prior prize-winning campaigns came to an abrupt end.
In February 2012, Priority One hired a new Marketing Specialist, at an annual salary of $70,000 per year. The Specialist was the second hired in a less than 3-year period. The first succumbed to a plot hatched by former COO, Beatrice Walker, and President Wiggington, fueled on their personal unevidenced belief the specialist was a conspirator divulging confidential information he had no access to, to the Internet, including this blog.
Nowadays, marketing at Priority One remains substandard and unimaginative. The credit union’s diminishing size attests that marketing which gathers information about the credit union’s marketplace and the needs and wants of its members, is non-existent under the auspices of Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. The current Marketing Specialist, Daniel Ballesteros, arrived at the credit union via former CLO, Cindy Garvin. Prior to her termination, Ms. Garvin disclosed that Mr. Ballesteros was an experienced Marketing Specialist. We don’t understand why the credit union’s current marketing efforts are failing to communicate its mission, values or manifesting strategies that speak to a target audience. Sound marketing produces a stronger and consistent image of the organization and helps foster member loyalty while helping establish and maintain relations with the communities served by the credit union. What’s more, through marketing members learn how the credit union’s brand serves as a valuable and desired commodity. So what is Priority One’s brand? Do members know what Priority One’s brand is? Do members feel satisfied, proud and loyal to Priority One?
We thought it only appropriate to repost some of the credit union’s recent promotional pieces though we can’t discern what sector of the membership these speak to. What is acutely evident is that proofreading is not something the credit union deems necessary when publishing its campaigns.
Source: Priority One Homepage
Though for years, Rodger Smock, the credit union’s Executive Vice President, utilized his alleged writing skills to produce the credit union’s former monthly newsletter and current quarterly newsletter and though the credit union has employed a full-time Marketing Specialist since February 2012, grammatical and syntax errors prevail suggesting that maintaining some semblance of professionalism in what they publish is inconsequential to President Wiggington. In 2009, Mr. Smock stated that there was no reason to sound too educated in the credit union’s newsletters since members might not understand what was written. So are the persistent errors an attempt by the credit union to dumb down advertising? Don’t they believe members have the capacity to understand well-written promotions devoid of errors?
Source: Priority One Winter Newsletter
Maybe the Marketing Specialist meant to write “Keep Yo car keys.” At $70,000 per year, we expect more from the Marketing Specialist, though apparently President Wiggington dos not.
DECIPHERING THEIR MESSAGE
You’re driving down a wide open highway, suddenly your automobile rocks violently, back and forth and in seconds lifts off the highway, the air permeated by the a deafening buzzing sound. That is the impression made by Priority One’s automobile promotion which offers to deliver “Sweet Rides.” We don’t get it.
DECIPHERING A PROMOTION
Delivering Sweet Rides?
1. Bees produce honey.
2. Honey is sweet.
3. Automobiles and SUV’s provide transportation or rides.
4. Using modern day vernacular, a comfortable ride can be described as a “sweet ride”.
5. Conclusion: Honey is sweet and vehicles financed by Priority One Credit Union allegedly provide “sweet rides.” Really?
Inarguably, it’s a poorly conceived promotion. The promotion and graphic are confusing, childish and illogical. The catch phrase is a stretch that is neither clever or imaginative. Despite its overwhelming flaws, the advertisement was approved by the President and Executive President, serving again as evidence to their respective limitations and attesting that neither comprehends marketing or advertising. From the graphic to the rhetoric, the advertisement fails to make the point which should have alluded to affordable loans with great terms. Instead, the credit union chose an unimaginative promotion lacking drawing power. By the way, all promotional pieces are approved by President Wiggington and executive Vice President, Rodger Smock and often, reviewed by Diedra Harris-Brooks. We are particularly surprised that this piece was approved for publication when one of Mr. Smock’s online biographies, states that while in college, “Rodger D. Smock [studies] focused on marketing and psychology courses at the University of Cincinnati.”* As we’ve reported in past posts, no one at the credit union knew Mr. Smock allegedly studied or received a degree in marketing (according to some of his other biographies, he received a BA in Marketing) until May 2012, when he literally came out of the closet and revealed he studied marketing in the 1960’s. Evidence of his alleged education and expertise in marketing is yet to be seen and like the story of Atlantis, can relegated to mythology.
WHERE WAS THE MOTIVATION?
At times, the enthusiasm and passion of any organization can be attested to by their participation in non-business events that contribute to the betterment of a community or improve our general way of life.
A few years ago, Priority One became an allegedly avid supporter of the annual Revlon Walker, an annual fundraising event which collects money used for cancer research, treatment, counseling and outreach programs. This year, Priority One decided to post the names of its employees and the individual donations each would try to collect for the Walk. On their Facebook page, the credit union touchingly writes, “remembering those we’ve lost [to cancer], sharing stories, and making a difference in the fight against cancers”, affirming their heart-felt concern over the subject of breast cancer.
This year’s participation failed to affirm the credit union’s alleged passion for the subject of breast cancer. Inexplicably, the credit union voluntarily chose to publish the names of this year’s participants, their individual goals and the amounts they collected (and did not collect). We can’t help but draw a relationship between what the credit union failed to collect for the Revlon Walk and their failure as a business and employer. Here is the information published by Priority One documenting what they didn’t achieve on behalf of the Revlon Walk.
The total goal that volunteers agreed to collect was $6250.00. The amount collected as shown on their website is $95.00 though the credit union insists it collected $145.00. Oh that Priority One and their reporting practices.
Evidently, there was little motivation to gather donations. What the volunteers stated they would collect and what they achieved speaks volumes about their sincerity regarding their heart-felt concerns for breast cancer. Their own online disclosures amount to more hyperbole and a superficial effort by an inept organization to create the appearance they care about breast cancer.
The President who earns more than $150,000 per year only collected $20 which was donated by the chronically obsequious Business Development Representative, Joseph Garcia. Here is a list of the names of those other staff members who actually collected donations for the campaign though all failed to meet their stated goals.
We note that Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, despite his more than $100,000 annual salary, apparently chose not to donate money to this campaign. We must also point out that in his online biography, Mr. Smock is described as a person who “….active role in the community, contributing regularly to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles as well as various AIDS organizations and homeless shelters. In his free time, he pursues an avid interest in gardening.” To be clear, Mr. Smock has never contributed regularly to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. In years past, an Associate Business Development Representative who had once suffered cancer, informed the credit union that Children’s Hospital would be a wonderful organization to contribute to. Mr. Smock along with other employees of the credit union, visited the hospital to present a check from the credit union to the hospital. As we’ve revealed in the past, the President and some of his executives will manipulate facts in an effort to exalt themselves.
Other officers who also did not contribute donations to this campaign include Saeid Raad, the CFO, despite his more than $125,000 annual salary. Neither did the allegedly religious Director of Employee Services, Robert West. Of course, giving to any cause is purely voluntary though quite clearly despite their online declaration that breast cancer research is a cause they believe in, none of the volunteer came even remotely close to collecting the amounts they each pledged to collect. This speaks volumes about their motivation and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to cite the relationship between their failure to collect donations for the Revlon Walk and the credit union’s chronic inability to implement strategies that generate new business, increase membership, and produce profit. One can only imagine how much less money would have collected had the President and volunteer employees not been passionate about the issue of breast cancer?
CONCLUSION
GOING DOWN, ANYONE?
In January 2007, during the first week of his presidency, Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. conducted several impromptu meetings with staff, assuring them he intended to introduce changes that would produce growth and place Priority One Credit Union in a state of prosperity. He described numerous changes he would introduce including assigning two employees to speak to members requesting to close their accounts. He said this would ensure membership retention and provide an opportunity to show members that they are appreciated. His plan was never realized.
He also told employees he would install place a suggestion box in the employee lounge room where employees could anonymously submit suggestions on how to improve business and the working environment. This also never occurred.
At the time, there were also rumors originating at the main branch in South Pasadena, that the President intended on terminating many long-time employees, particularly those who had been loyal to his predecessor. The President felt impelled to address the rumors, assuring everyone that they should have no fear of losing their jobs and that he would never terminate senior employees. He lied.During the first six months of 2007, he often ridiculed his predecessor, criticizing what he described as his “old school” tactics and boasted he would push the credit union to new unprecedented heights. As of 2013, the the credit union had closed four key branches, has been sued by 4 former employees, has hired and fired a COO and CLO, and has failed to implement strategies that generate profit and growth.
The President and Board Chair’s address provides just more of the same old lip service, assuring readers that “We will continue to deliver the best products and services to our members….” Their statement clearly implies they are already delivering the best products which is untrue as attested to by their monthly Net Income Reports and quarterly Financial Performance Reports and member complaints.
Priority One is not only failing to provide the best of anything but they are doing absolutely nothing to reverse their failures to develop effective strategies and resolve amassing member complaints citing poor member service. The cause of their member service issues can be attributed in great part to a change in focus which places almost all emphasis on sales and almost none on member service. However, it is not the employee who do the work who have created this destructive dynamic but rather the President and Vice President, Yvonne Boutte. Nowadays, it is Mrs. Boutte who oversees operations for all branches despite her horrendous history of abusive treatment of staff and what some members have reported a her condescending attitude. It is also Mrs. Boutte who bungled the member’s 2012 complaint alleging violation of the Privacy Act and it is Mrs. Boutte who provoked filing of a lawsuit by the same member. What Mrs. Boutte and her assistant, Gema Pleitez, are grossly ignorant of is that providing excellent member service produces loyalty and results in both repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations of the credit union. Inarguably, the caliber of member service doled out by the credit union these days is immensely subpar.
Another issue which we’ve reported on often since 2010, is that Priority One is now heavily dependent upon expense reduction as a means by which to retain their continued operation. Marketing efforts are ineffective and as we showed, their advertising absurd and embarrassing. In 2009, President Wiggington revealed that due to amassing member complaints, the credit union’s tagline, “You Are Our First Priority” had become obsolete. The always confused President placed blame on the tagline and not on his failure to provide quality service. He asked then Training and Education Manager, Robert West, to come up with a new Mission Statement and tagline and the dull Mr. West concocted new statements describing Priority One as a financial fitness center possessing the ability to help members and employees how to win with money. Evidently, Priority One has again failed to live up to its assurances and as their performance have proven, they can’t even help themselves win with money.
On the legal front, Priority One’s highest officers continue to defy credit union policies and state and federal laws. The latest incidence which is teetering on the filing of yet another lawsuit, reveals that Priority One will at its whim, abuse authority and without justification or authorization, order credit reports for any past or present member. Priority One’s continued abuses of its policies and its inability to protect confidentiality are exacerbated by the internal thefts occurring at the credit union’s Los Angeles branch and bringing into question its ability to protect confidential information and member assets. It is also important to note that these issues are purely internal and cannot be blamed on any external catalyst.
In January 2009, we published our first post, warning that Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was bad for the credit union. We cited his undisciplined behaviors, his misappropriation of authority, his chronic violation of the policy governing confidentiality, his loud verbal boastings, and his lack of business acumen as issues that might come to harm Priority One Credit Union. As time proved, we were correct though even we could not have predicted the extent of harm he would cause the once promising credit union. However, overshadowing his heinous acts, is the fact that the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee not only refused to intervene and bring an end to his abuses but have exerted tremendous time, energy, and credit union money protecting him even in the light of evidence proving he has violated policies and laws. The two highest governing bodies gambled on their belief they could squash evidence never knowing that four former employees would filed lawsuits against the credit union’s practices and abuses.
Since being named a Defendant in the lawsuit filed by the former Valencia Branch Manager, Mr. Wiggington has reduced his 40-hour work week to a mere 1 to 3 days per week, prompting us to ask, “Who is running the credit union?” One has to wonder why the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee continue to employ a part-time President and why he continues to be paid an annual salary in excess of $150,000. We also have to ask, what does a President who only works 8 to 24 hours each week actually accomplish? The total amount of hours worked per week are further reduced by his 2 1/2 daily lunch periods taken on the day he chooses to report to work.
Clearly, President Wiggington is the key reason why Priority One declined and remains in decline; though it would be remiss of us not to attribute an equally large portion of the credit union’s laboring demise on the horrendous and incompetent Board of Directors, the uninvolved and equally incompetent Supervisory Committee and the body of unimpressive and ineffective executives, all of who failed to do anything to reverse the destructive dynamic set into motion by the incompetent President.
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72 comments:
What is wrong with them? This board is the stupidest in cu land. They should have canned Wigg and they need to send Yvonne packing back to the forests of Northern California where she can live out her days eating berries and scaring hikers.
Wiggy must have a death wish (no pun intended) for the credit union. Don't know why they like to provoke people but I guess they want to be sued again and pay out more money which reminds me Wiggy is an idiot. He's hardly at work and the people running the place are Saeid, Rodger and Yvonne though the big decisions are made by Saeid because Rodger doesn't have the brains to handle those.
Where do you get all these records? LOL. If it wasn't so pathetic Wigg and his gang of dumb dumbs might be funny.
I don't know why Wiggington would have them publish what they were going to collect for the revlon walk but didn't. This man is so stupid that he doesn't even see how this makes him look like a moron. He doesn't know anything about public relations. He thinks fronting is PR. He and Smock are two of the biggest stupidest asses I've ever known. Amazing. Yet for you people who have had the nightmare of working with these losers, they really think they're smart. Can't wait til he makes public the credit union's books. You know the real one and the phoney one he shows auditors. They have attitude and they boast about their non-accomplishments. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I was so happy when I finally paid off my auto loan and could close my savings and checking accounts. This is a horrible credit union. No one at the post office says anything nice about the place.
So Charles and Bea were checking everyone's emails? Wow. No wonder they didn't have time to do what most COOs and Presidents do- work!
What a couple of losers. See how much money the credit union lost, how many people got fired because these 2 didn't take their lithium and how many members now have to put up with shit service?
Miss Rodger used to brag that Bea Walker had an MBA but he must of meant she was a Master Bullshit Artist because she proved she was the worst at everything she did. I hope the next place she applies at runs a background check on that bitch. She shouldn't be allowed to work with human beings or animals.
Bea was just like Wiggington and Smock, they come to work to do drama. That stupid stunt of Wiggington’s where he and Smock got Bea to get up in front of everybody and pretend she was hurt because some employees supposedly started a rumor that she stole money while working at another credit union was pure BS. No one ever said that. It was all made up by these 3 stooges since no one ever heard the rumor. She also told employees she never met Wiggington before she got hired which turned out to be another big lie made up by them. She got hired by Diedra NOT THE BOARD, to be a hatchet woman and get rid of employees. It might of worked if she hadn’t gotten greedy and tried to take Wigg’s job. She failed because she isn’t Black. She, Wiggington and Smock instead of plotting against people could have shown everyone they were great managers who ared about the credit union but they chose instead to turn P1 into a soap opera. They are the one’s that **cked up the credit union along with that buck tooth witch, Diedra, who should have been kicked out by the DFI. All the documentation proving they are all law and policy breakers is out and everyone has seen them do their dirty little deeds.
Used to be such a nice credit union.
Mr Harris used to investigate complaints and personally call members back but Wigg has never worked. He's a parasite who just takes until nothing left.
They do take complaints filed lightly. The only reason they investigated the complaints that went to the business bureau is because they went outside the credit union. They ignore complaints received in the branches particularly at the main office. Even Wigg has told us we are not to transfer calls to him not because he's busy because he's not but because he doesn't want to hear them
Yvonne is so funny…. is what we would all say if she had a sense of humor. The woman is a troglodyte. Half of what she says is blather and the other half is not worth listening to. The reason she acts like she’s smarter than everyone else is because she knows she is a dumbass and the only reason she’s survived so long is because she was Bea’s girl and after backstabbing Bea she got in good with Diedra and as we all know, Diedra’s favorite color is black.
Yvonne Boutte is a black Bea Walker. There were people who used to say she was smarter than Bea and Charles but they were wrong. She steals good ideas from other people but she doesn't have any good original ideas which makes her a black Bea Walker and a male version of Wig. She is a trouble uneducated lowlife who will hopefully will have a hard time finding a job after she, Wigg and the others finish killing off P1.
Nice article. Keep up the good work.
What happened to Smock? I saw him the other day and he looks terrible.
I don't think anyone who leaves priority or closes their account ever misses the place thanks to its president.
Charles used to say he was going to get rid of everyone who used to support Mr. Harris. He succeeded. Nowadays there's hardly any more old timers because he's run them off. He's also run off the membership. The post office workers hate what he did to Priority 1. He doesn't even visit the union hall anymore on Saturdays because he know that except for that jackass Bobby Thomas, postal workers don't like him. He wanted SEGs and he got them but they don't bring business. Now you would think that his closest advisers would have told him that he needs to change how Priority 1 does business but none of them do because #1, they don't know squat about getting new business or how to keep members and #2 because they're all yes men. Yvonne is 100% useless and should have been kept in collections. Rodger is like a hooker, he'll do whatever you want as long as he gets paid. West is stupid. Doesn't know anything. Esmeralda is an uneducated baboon who knows nada about getting business or about HR. She is a clerk all the way with a glorified title. Plus she's pedestrian all the way.
Smock does look horrible. Actually he hasn't looked good since 1910. He limps around the office like a lumbering hippo and he knows all the crap he and Wigg did. Smock thought they could hide what they did and they both thought paying big money to dishonest lawyers would let them get away but their big plan failed. Where's Wigg anyway? Oh yes, hiding like the coward that he is.
If everyonee who ever got backstabbed by Wigg, Smock or Diedra got together and wrote what was done to them you fill books.
Nice marketing pieces. LOL.
Have you seen their "scam alert" on their FB page? Its a SCAM ALERT warning and they say, "DON'T give out any information!" Someone should tell Wiggington because he's spent years blabbing confidential information to file clerks, member service reps and loan processors, and his managers.
It has a link where the FBI says "The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court...To clear it up, the caller says he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number."
The point is be careful because the caller is lying. A couple of years ago, Yvonne was bragging that she had the CALLER ID changed so that when they called delinquent members it would say "CALIFORNIA LOTTERY." Guess Wiggington and Big Foot do fraud when its convenient.
Every company has bad employees and has means ones and troublemakers but you got a wonder how so many bad people work at one credit union and in management.
That's easy to answer its because of Charlie and Rodger.
Yvonne succeeded in taking over not because she's good at what she does and not because she's got a wonderful personality or people skills but because she kissed Wigg and Diedra's butts. She wanted to take Bea's place but Wigg didn't have enough confidence in her plus he knew she had criticized him when she and Bea were a "thing." Yvonne is a know-it-all who knows little if anything. She's got a bad temper, she lies, she looks down on people, she talks like she was born smack in the middle of the ghetto and she's got a big mouth too, just like Wigg. After Lynnette got the boot, Yvonne went to work for months at the LA branch. While she was there, she started targeting employees she wanted fired. If you go to that office, they don't have enough people to help the members and a lot of times they got long lines. If she had half a brain she would of known to staff that office to serve the large group of members who visit there. Of course, she is ignorant and knows nothing about member service so don't expect great changes though she'll be riding everyone to make sure they get the business but she'll do that without giving them tools or being reasonable. Of course, she being lazy and a half-ass is riding employees to get her results. She's on Sonia's ass, Georgina's, Gema's, Genevieve, Lorena on the staffs of all offices and credit resolutions. After someone comes and takes over P1, I hope she can't get another officer job because what she needs is someone to whip her into shape and have her jump loops like she makes everyone jump loops.
If you're going to look at Yvonne and wonder why she's a VP when she's only qualified to be a collections clerk, you can't ignore skin color. You can say it till your blue in the face, but the board of directors are bigots- all of them. It sounds like I'm playing the race card so I guess I am- playing the white, brown, and yellow race cards!
Wiggington is black. Wiggington is the reason why the credit union has lost members, branches and is not making enough business. He hires Bea who is white and she fails, so they fire her but they keep Wiggington who caused the credit union to crumble.
They next hire Cindy who is also white. She supposedly fails to fix the mess Wiggington created so they fire her but keep Wiggington who created ALL the problems.
They used to have Aaron, a Mexican American running loans but Wiggington got mad because loan development started to decline (though it was never as bad as it is now). Aaron the Mexican American gets fired, but they keep Wiggington who caused the problems with loan development.
Manny was Asian but he didn't want to break any laws when reporting profit and losses so Black Wiggington pushed Asian Manny out.
Now through all of this Black Diedra and the Black board see what Wiggington is doing but they don't ever stop him or say to themselves, "This looks racist, don't it?" They see the world through black-colored glasses.
Now you might wonder why Smock, a white man is still there. First he's the biggest kiss ass in California. Next, he obeys Wiggington. Maybe Smock reminds Wiggington of his white wife Pam.
Is Pam overweight, lazy, stupid, and does she like Latin boys?
No Pam is Married to Charles so she is Blind, Deaf, and dumb!
We have hundreds of single service accounts that Wiggington has never developed so to make money from these members instead of members earning dividends from their credit union accounts, the lazy president finds it easier to start charging them for having less than $500 in their account. Wiggington knows retirees and elderly members are on fixed incomes and have to watch their spending. They can't afford having their money sitting idle not gaining interest and on top of it being charged to keep the little they have at a credit union that doesn't care for members or employees. It isn't fair, so members and their relatives are closing their accounts while Wiggington, Yvonne, Smock and Saeid don't do a thing. People aren't opening savings accounts, CDs, or getting loans. Bye, bye credit union.
LOL.
Problem is we have less workers and newly hired people who haven't been trained properly. Plus Wig got rid of everyone else who knew the business and who liked helping people. Yvonne is not people person and can't give people the tools they need because she is unqualified and ignorant.
Maybe Smock reminds Wiggington of his white wife Pam.
Funny but Wigg talks shit about white people yet he had 2 white wife's and date white women only.
They really don’t have 5 offices anymore. Santa Clarita is a complete failure. Business is so slow, the 2 people at that office are able to close the office and go to lunch. Airport hours have been reduced to part-time. So P1 really only has 3 offices that run full-time and that bring in business but its not South Pasadena that does the business its L.A. and Van Nuys. I was at the L.A. office twice over the last month and they only had 2 tellers during each visit. If Yvonne is operations, she knows nothing about manning offices. She also doesn’t seem to know that when people call any branch, the phones should be answered quickly rather than making them wait 10 or more minutes while the same old recording replays over and over again. Yvonne is the one that suggested charging $5 to members who only have a savings account with less than $500. She’s also the one that suggested reducing hours at Airport. Her answer to anything is to charge more and provide less service which tells you how good she really is at what she’s getting paid to do. To be fair, she couldn’t do any of this without the board approving it. Actually they don’t have a board, they got Diedra. The board do everything Diedra tells them to do. Its like they all share 1 brain.
Plus they don't open the office in City of Commerce anymore and no BD team except for Joseph and he doesn't know what he's doing.
Doesn't anyone think it suspicious that Wigg hardly comes to work and when he does, he doesn't do much. In the meantime, Yvonne is over all operations, not Saeid or Smock but Yvonne. Saeid and Smock are supposed to be taking over the big decisions but Saeid doesn't know much about anything outside of account and Smock knows nothing. This reminds me of when Bea was there. The Board gave her a lot of power so that Wiggington was ordered to take his hands of operations even though he had once been the VP of Operations. At P1 history always repeats itself and it LOOKS like Ms. Boutte has become the new COO which must burn Bea Walker up. In the meantime, rumor has it the board wants Wiggington to leave the credit union to Yvonne, Saeid and useless Smock.
Yvonne seems to be taking over all operations which makes you wonder why does Smock do? Also why need waste if she seems to be taking over all employees matters?
Huh?
LOL. Yvonne got Bea’s job, sort of. Except when Bea started they had 9 branches and now they have 5 with 2 of them being part-time. It’s also Yvonne and Smock who dropped the ball in 2010 and lost the chance to open a branch at St. Joseph because they took for granted St. Joseph’s offer to open a branch inside the hospital. The people at St. Joseph call and complain that Joseph doesn’t show up on the days he says he’s going to be there and no one is providing them service like they used to under Mr Harris. Yvonne also caused that member to sue and she’s probably behind the latest incident with the same member. Yvonne will help bring an end to the credit union because she’s like the touch of death to anything you give her.
I don't think its suspicious that Yvonne has control over operations. Unlike the "males" at Priority One, that woman has balls and gall. What is clear is that Wiggington is losing his power again just like he did when Bea whipped his ass into the corner and he couldn't do anything until she started putting her foot in her mouth and started saying things about Mexicans and her new streams of income all fell through. He's not in control but Diedra and the board keen his unproductive ass employed for who knows what reason. And he's not as sick as he is saying he is. He comes to work 1 to 3 days a week. If he was terminal again, he'd be staying home. No one with cancer goes to work as it is bad for their health. Next, the decisions are being made by Saeid and Yvonne and I doubt Smock is making decisions because he's useless. Plus Wiggington became "sick" right after he was renamed in the lawsuit and after he went to the deposition a few weeks ago. I'm sure he feels like a trapped animal knowing he's told too many lies and they're all catching up to him.
DON'T LET THAT BULLSHIT WIGG, SMOCK AND YVONNE ARE SAYTING THAT BUSINESS IF GETTING BETTER. JUST LAST WEEK MOST EMPLOYEES GOT WRITTEN UP FOR NOT MAKING THEIR GOALS! IF BUSINESS WAS GOOD, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WRITTEN US UP EVEN IF WE WEREN'T MAKING OUR GOALS. JOSEPH WHO NEVER MAKES HIS GOALS HASN'T BEEN WRITTEN UP THOUGH GOD KNOWS ONLY WHY HE'S EXEMPT TO POLICY!
Yvonne's a joke. When she was at the L.A. office she targeted some of the girls for termination because she gets off tormenting people with her sucky personality. Of course, she's finally a VP which is a worthless title at P1. Its like being a file clerk at CITI Bank.
And Joseph is a joke. There's so many complaints from members who give him their membership cards and Id's and then never hear from him again. It turns out Ricky Ricardo doesn't contact members who don't pass ChexSystems even though he's supposed to mail them a letter PROMPTLY telling them if they didn't get approved for membership. He also makes appointments with postal workers and employees of providence hospitals and then doesn't show up. He must be related to Wigg. Plus he NEVER makes his numbers.
And I didn't know Wigg attended a deposition. Well, I'm sure we all know he lied his ass off. That's all that liar can do. We know Smock also attended a deposition and I was recently learned so did Esmeralda. That leaves West. Has he been ordered to answer questions?
So what happened to Lynnette? Did the credit union prove that she stole money? And if she is innocent, why hasn't she sued?
You've got a have a reason to sue and if they have something on her like she was involved in stealing (which is hard to believe but possible) then she could never sue. Plus if they really found proof she stole then the credit union should file charges but the only reason they wouldn't is if they are afraid its going to end up published on the internet.
I don’t believe Lynnette would ever steal but anything is possible. But why would the credit union go after her if she did steal when Deedra herself has covered up stealing by managers?
Wigg stole a car, the board has the evidence but nothing was done.
Wigg used to get kick backs from Henry Justice and from the old collections department but he didn’t lose his job.
Bea Walker charged a $5000 laptop and got the money reimbursed without presenting a complete receipt.
The board went to Europe and Vegas and some of them like Deedra, spent their money in the hotel bars and taking tours in Europe. That’s stealing because they money they were given was not for getting drunk and doing the tourist thing. They were supposed to be studying to be better directors (LOL).
West has gone already, so you have 4 liars attended a deposition
Nothing but a bunch of hypocritical lowlife thieves and liars. Besides kick-backs, Wigg committed sexual harassment which is illegal. It was covered up by Diedra which makes her an accomplice and lawbreaker along with O.Glenn, Gathers, and Cornelia Simmons. If you think about it, stealing is the least of the horrible things they've done. As for West, hypocrite and definitely not a Christian except only in name.
I used to trust Robert but not no more. He’s selfish and an opportunist who will condones evil but pretends he’s soft-spoken. There is something disturbing about his fake front.
Alex Suarez of Credit Res. needs to go back to school and brush up on some ESL courses. This may help out her ghetto/chola enunciation of basic English words.
Then maybe her and Yvonne Boutte could star in a Tranny Burlesque Show.
Alex Suarez is another great example of what P1 has in management. She's a gossip, troublemaker and so, so ignorant (and if you didn't know better, you'd think English was not her first language).
Yvonne is in need of a vocabulary make-over. She speaks like she works at Church's chicken. Then again, so does Wiggington.
I don't think Alex or Yvonne would make very good trannies. They're too manly looking.
I forgot about Alex Suarez. That woman is a piece of........ work. I had the misfortune of knowing her when I worked at the credit union. First of all, she is horrible with members. She used to tell members who were in collections that she didn't care what their problems were, they needed to pay the credit union. Its a strong armed and unacceptable way of doing business introduced by Yvonne Boutte. Alex is also addicted to malicious gossiping. She is infamous for going around the credit union and spreading the most vicious rumors. She also used to say, "I'm a good person." People that are really good never say it. I never understand why people that have no ability to work with people end up in positions that require working with people.
Just when you didn't think Wigg could get any lower. At least he's good at jacking up credit unions. He should put that in his resume right next to "I'm nuts", "I'm a loser" and "I'm a liar."
I so agree. Alex should go back to school but I don't know what elementary school would take her in. She also needs to enroll in etiquette classes because she is one of the most uncouth people I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. Someone needs to tell her ghetto works well in parts of Boyle Heights but not in a place of business. As for she and Yvonne joining Tranny Burlesque, those fellows probably couldn't get on Ru Paul's Drag Race.
notice how West and Patty try to stay under the raidar
so they do ont show up on this blog
They fired Jenise today! Geez. She was with the company for a few years. Yvonne had it out for her since February when she went to the LA office to pretend she was managing the place. I don't know why she didn't like her. Maybe she was jealous because Jenise is human.
Yvonne is paranoid. She believed Jenise was talking about her behind her back. For the past year she's been trying to figure out who's been calling her tranny, Big Foot, Scary Spiceless, freak, Godzilla, King Kong, Komodo Dragon, Mr. Bea Walker, Fugly, Goliath, Flavor Flav, Wig in Drag, Ship Wreck, Son of Smock, Roberta West and so on.
Business is down even though Wigg bought lunch for all the employees because he said there was a jump in new business. If that's true, why did he have them write up so many people for NOT making their numbers? In case no one noticed, Wigg is nuts Seriously. 2012 he stood in front of everyone and said business was up but 5 months later they close Burbank and then fire so many employees over the next 6 months. He knows the credit union is sinking because of him but he has to still lie and try to convince everyone that things are going great. If that was true, how come most people haven't got raises in years?
A few more flushes and P1 will be gone just like all the good employees that aren’t there anymore. Too bad we can’t flush Wiggington, Diedra, Rodger, West, Esmeralda and Big Foot.
Its very sad that this is the same credit union members used to call home. There was a time before Charles, that members loved coming to the South Pasadena office. You could visit any branch and members were so happy the credit union. Not anymore. The worst place is the main office which has this depressing feeling when you walk in.
Unfortunately the employees at the credit union are the ones who know least about how badly the credit union is doing. Wiggington has never showed them how to read the income statement and they believe everything he says on face value even though he's got a looooonnnngg history of outright lying. He succeeded in getting rid of the smart people who knew the business, new procedures and knew what he really is. So now he's got mostly new people who need a job and don't know him. He doesn't go and sit in loans anymore because he was told to knock it off by Diedra. He still talks loud when he's in his office but then again he's hardly ever at work. The credit union is failing and he knows it and Rodger knows it and Saeid knows it. Even some members have come to realize that P1 is on the outs, that's why he's quietly trying to merge with anyone who will take the old beat up credit union.
Wiggy got turned out by the blog. All his lies, help by the board, expensive lawyers, a stupid COO, an even stupider CLO and a bunch of hyenas couldn't help cover his stupid ass.
Wigg screwed over postal workers. He first said he wanted to change the membership and wanted less attention to postal workers and more to SEGs. 7 years later, SEGs aren't doing shit for the credit union and a lot of postal workers now have accounts at other credit unions. Postal workers have anything good to say about Priority plus Wigg cut off sending people to the post offices. Wigg is a man who shot himself in the foot and the credit union in the face. And Rodger, Saeid, Diedra, and Yvonne handed him the ammo that let him bring down the place.
Its hard to believe how he and Smock let the postal workers go because they thought they had a better way to do business. Goes to show how little these 2 morons know. These 2 damaged business, morale, caused lots of people financial hardship, broke the law but the board thinks these 2 losers are worth keeping. Shows what happen when you have ignorant people serving as directors.
The security certificate presented by this website has expired or is not yet valid.
This is the message you get while trying to get to P1 web site.
Hay Wigg pay your dam bills you moron
What's going on with the website? A message says the certificate is expired and its not safe to use the webpage.
DON'T USE THEIR WEBPAGE. YOU COULD GET A VIRUS ON YOUR COMPUTER. THANKS PRIORITY FOR MORE GREAT SERVICE!!!
What the hell is going on? Quick someone show Wigg the damn door.
They must have paid their bill because its now working. Last year Wigg told accounting that they're supposed to hold on to all bills for 2 to 4 weeks before paying them. This is what happens when you follow his financial advice.
show the whole lot of them the damn door! HELLO IS ANY ONE HOME AT P1? did everyone park thier brains out to lunch? jackass the whole lot of them.
If they don't pay their bills and if they have internal thefts then how can they say they can help members win with money?
Normally a credit union where the president isn't crazy would try to assure members that. The problem with internal thefts at priority one is everyone knows they happen but instead of telling members how they intend to protect assets,the not so bright officers like to publish statements that they're doing everything to keep member assets safe. Obviously they aren't protecting members and they don't. Address the problem hoping no one will notice.
Huh?
I saw Kim, Wigg’s old assistant. Wow! She looks so beautiful and young. She was always beautiful but now she’s even more beautiful. I guess in some case when yougo Black you don’t ever go back. Funny how everybody that leaves Wigg gets their lives back and in some cases, look younger. Amazing how rude, nasty, and cruel he and Rodger were with Kim but unlike those two train wrecks she looks terrific!!!!! I’m sure most employees who left that horrible credit union have gotten better because they don’t have to deal with a whole company of liars. Plus its no coincidence that Wigg got a stroke and cancer, his son went to jail, his wife hits the bottle, his step daughters don’t like him and Smock looks like a pile of cat crap.
passed by P! and they have sign thats lets people know that if you live in South Pas. you can join the cu. What a joke
Wow that should really bring the crowds in. LOL. Stupid Wigg.
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