The Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union on Tuesday at 26 Leavitt St. in Skowhegan. The credit union’s phones and ATMs were down for a time Tuesday and some customers reported they were unable to use their debit cards. The credit union said a rainstorm the previous night temporarily disrupted some operations. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
SKOWHEGAN — An overnight rainstorm disrupted phone lines and caused other problems for a regional credit union that included at least some customers who were unable to access their money for a time Tuesday.
Phones were inoperable and ATMs for Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union did not work Tuesday morning, credit union President and CEO Beverly Knapp said in an email. The problem was related to the storm the night before, she said, but did not elaborate.
The credit union has five branches and the lobbies to each were closed as employees worked to verify the security and other systems were functioning.
The credit union has more than 10,000 members, according to its website, and has locations in Farmington, Kingfield, Madison, Skowhegan and Stratton. It also has an operations center in Madison.
Knapp said customers should be able to use debit cards and ATMs later in the day.
“The situation is being worked on, I can assure you,” Knapp said. “It apparently stems from a storm last night — all parties involved have been contacted and most are onsite.”
The disruption dismayed some customers. One of them, Lisa Toles of Skowhegan, found herself frustrated by a lack of information on the credit union website or seemingly anywhere else addressing the problem. A member of the credit union for 20 years, Toles said she went to get gas and groceries Tuesday morning but was unable to do either when her card did not work at the gas pump and she could not use an ATM.
Toles said she only had enough cash on hand to buy a gallon of milk at the store.
She has never had a problem like this before with the credit union, she said.
Knapp thanked the credit union IT team and other personnel for addressing the problem. She also thanked “our members for their patience during this challenge.”
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