Excruciatingly Slow & Volatile CD Rates

I attempted to take advantage of HAPO competitive CD rates but was foiled by excrutiatingly slow customer service and volatile CD rates.

I called and emailed HAPO to become a member.  I was told by both phone and email that there was no online membership application or any way to email the membership forms.  The CS agent told me that she would mail me the membership packet.  According to the postmark it took two days to get the membership packet in the mail and two more days for the USPS to deliver it.  I filled out the forms, had them notarized and mailed them back to HAPO (scanned forms are unacceptable). 

It took two days to delivery the forms via Priority Mail and two more days for HAPO to deliver it to the forms to a CS agent.

The process to become a member took two more days.

Once I was a member, it took them...you guessed it...two more days to create the IRA CD forms and email them to me.  Unfortunately, they spelled my name wrong.  Two more days later, I received forms with my name spelled correctly.

In the meantime HAPO changed their 5 year, IRA CD rates four times!  Between 2/14/2013 and 3/9/2013 HAPO changed their 5 year IRA CD rates four times. 

HAPO had competitive CD rates, and lower than average early withdrawal penalties (120 days vs 180 days), but they compound quarterly instead of daily or monthly so the penalty is actually pretty average.

I'm told that HAPO will correct many of the problems I experienced, but I based on my experience, I cannot recommend HAPO.