15 Years
Erik Melendres Customer Service Representative
If a bad actor has marked you for a scam, you’d be lucky to have someone like Erik Melendres looking out for you. Erik began his career at Maspeth Federal Savings as a Teller in 2010 in Forest Hills. Several years in, Cathy Oelkers invited him to take a Customer Service Representative position in the Main Office. In his day-to-day work, Erik is often forced to adapt to customer needs and issues quickly. “Like in any industry, you must always expect change and adapt to it, or you are left behind,” he says. Recently, he and three colleagues were recognized for protecting a customer from falling into a scam, saving her tens of thousands of dollars. When the customer came into the Main Office one day requesting a bank check for over $30,000, Erik sensed something was off. “She said it was for purchasing a car and house renovations,” he recalls. “I reviewed her account and noticed she had never withdrawn from her account in these large amounts in the past.” When she became hesitant to offer further explanation, Erik alerted Branch Manager Andrew Szymczak. The two gently continued asking questions. Eventually, she admitted that someone over the phone told her to go to withdraw money from the bank—and on top of that, someone was waiting for her outside in the car. Erik and Andrew immediately contacted Director of Retail Banking Christian Hernandez and Kelly Campanile of Deposit Operations to address the situation. For their quick instincts and action, Erik and his colleagues were bestowed a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Grace Meng as well as a Certificate of Recognition from Council Member Robert Holden of the 30th District in Queens. “You learn something new every day!” says Erik. “We may make mistakes, but we learn from them. We never stop learning. And when we all learn from each other and help each other, that makes us stronger as a team.” A lifelong resident of Jackson Heights, Erik is a community-oriented person. “I enjoy working here because of my colleagues, we are always there for one another.” When he’s not fighting crime at Maspeth Federal, Erik enjoys staying active by running, hiking and spending time with family and friends.
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online