I was not helped - WaMu sucks!!!!

Ok...I HAVE to vent about my new bank, WaMu.

I absolutely am starting to HATE them for several reasons:

1) I STILL haven't received my debit card yet. And I opened an account
in October! The first card had taken so long to come that I had to
request another one. And wouldn't you know...the second card finally
appeared last month in the mail, but I couldn't use it because it had
been deactivated (the WaMu rep told me they would deactivate the 1st
card and send me a second one). As of today, I STILL don't have my
debit card (thank God that I have a backup account because I would be
truly FUCKED).

2) Ummm...ok...what's with $4 the service charge on my savings account
when I have the required amount in there? When I first opened the
account, I only had $100 in savings, and I was charged a service fee
after a few weeks/a month, so I'm not tripping off of that; but then
the fee was reversed! I added a little more money to my savings...a
few weeks later, there's this damn $4 fee! The requirement is that the
account must have a daily balance of $300--and mine does, so what is
the DAMN problem? Arrrrggghhhhh!

3) The checking account is all right...well, it WAS all right until
they started charging me a $5 fee for this premium membership package.
Now, the WaMu rep that opened my account told me about the package,
but he didn't tell me it would be $5 a month. And I definitely don't
remember him giving me the choice to get it because he said that it
came with my account...so I'm thinking it's free! Don't get me
wrong...it sounds like a good package (it has a health insurance plan,
credit card protection, discounts for hotel stays and prescriptions,
etc.), and $5 a month is not bad, but if there's a fee, I would like
to know that UP FRONT!

4) I have a WaMu secured credit card (I didn't establish ANY credit,
so I'm using a secured card for that). I haven't had any problems with
fees or anything like that...what I'm pissed about is that I added
more money to my secured card, like what, almost 2 weeks ago...and the
money is not on my card! Actually, the money is showing up in my
savings account so that either means: the WaMu rep didn't do the
transaction correctly or it's gonna take 7 to 10 days for it to clear
(and it did say that on WaMu's website. But the money is directly from
my account, not a check! Geeeez!). And why does it take WaMu 7 to 10
days for every damn thing? Don't most banks take 2, 3 days?
Arrrrrggghhh!!!

5) Last but not least...I'm paying off an old hospital bill, so I sent
them a personal check from WaMu last Tuesday. I've been checking my
account online, and I don't see any info about the check being cashed
or whatever. With my Chase account, it doesn't take this long!

I can't wait to close all these damn accounts! And I wish I never
closed my account with Fifth-Third Bank, either...they were good to me
and I didn't have ANY problems with them at all. However, I was
starting to get frustrated with them because their ATM cards were
constantly acting up; also, they didn't have a ton of ATMs around the
city like Chase does.

Another reason this pisses me off is because I like to have access to
my money, especially if there's an emergency. And if WaMu is going to
take 7 to 10 days for every doggone thing, then I'm screwed.

EDITED December 12, 2007

Ok, I'm like, really shaking my head in disbelief because I've
discovered some more BS from WaMu!! I was checking my credit card
account online and wondering why my deposit wasn't credited to the
card...I also wondered why they kept saying to make a minimum payment
of $15 by a certain date. So I checked out info about secured cards
from other bank websites, and it's the same way with other cards.
Basically, secured cards are like regular credit cards, except you put
a deposit on the card to secure it...but you still must make payments
on whatever you charge, just like an unsecured credit card.


But here's what REALLY gets me...when I was applied for this card, I
asked the WaMu rep if I would have to make payments every month...so
it's not like I didn't ask ANY questions (I usually try to when I'm
making a purchase or signing some type of contract). And you know what
this jerk tells me? "No, you don't make monthly payments. It works
like a debit card." So silly me, I believed his azz. I just paid off
the entire balance a few minutes ago. If I hadn't done this research,
I would've been charged a late fee (and wondering why).

Ugh, I SWEAR I can't wait to close all this shit! I can't stand
dealing with people who obviously don't know what the fuck they're
doing and who give customers incorrect info. Arrrrrrggghhh!!!

EDITED December 13, 2007

The WaMu check that I sent to the hospital finally cleared and was
posted to my account.

All of this crap has taught me a lesson: do your own research and not
rely on what someone tells you (I've always know that; and I did
research the difference between unsecured and secured credit cards
before I got one). But when you're dealing with a bank (or any other
type of business), you (well at least me) expect the person to KNOW
what they're doing; whenever you have questions, you want to have them
answered and be given the correct info. *sigh*

I'm just waiting for this credit card payment to go through (please
don't take 2 weeks!) so me and WaMu can go our separate ways.

Just type "Wamu sucks" in Google and read the horror stories. If I
wasn't convinced then, I am now. I am changing my banker. No more BANK
FROM HELL for me

Do Not Bank with these crazy people!

I lived in Florida and I have absolutely nothing negative to account
for with the physical bank, a little busy all the time but other than
that, I did not have problems.

THEN I moved, I decided to keep my account open for a little side
account. BAD IDEA. Working with their call center is like visiting
the dentist when you have bad teeth, NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE.

I had 2 charges made to the account that would have left me overdrawn
so I called the call center and explained the situation. The lady I
spoke told me that if I were to have the charges reversed that same
day I would not be charged the fees. So I went ahead and did so.

Needless to say I was charged anyway, called to dispute and only
received bad service. I was told to fight the merchant about the
fees. Ummm the merchant did not charge me the fee!!! She said there
was nothing she could do for.

What? I thought I just talked to some lady the day before that
assured me I wouldn't be charged at all and now nothing. She offered
to give me one of the fees back...no I wanted both. The conversation
did not go well. She refused to give me any credit back when I asked
for a number so I can close my account.

I wrote a letter to the Bank by Mail on the 15 of October 2007 and I
am still waiting for them to close my damn account.

Called today and do you know what I was told? I was told that there
is no record of my request to close the account. Hmmm...I am holding
the response I received in the mail on the 22 of October 2007 that
states that they have received my request. I was given more numbers
to call and guess what!

NO ONE IS ANSWERING THE NUMBERS.

I will have to be out of my mind to ever bank with these liars again

On October 17, 2007 I filed a dispute with a Washington Mutual
customer service representative for a fraudulent charge placed on my
account in the amount of $592.00.

I was informed that I would have to wait until the dispute was
resolved before I could file a claim to recover any over draft charges
incurred due to this fraudulent charge.

On October 23, 2007 the merchant posted a "credit" in the amount of
$592 to my account. I incurred 9 over draft fees totaling $313.00 as a
direct result of this fraudulent charge. The same day, I contacted a
Washington Mutual customer service representative to inquire on the
status of my original dispute and to file an additional claim to
recover the over draft fees I incurred. I was informed there was no
record of a dispute. And to make matters worse, the representative
informed me the merchant "credited" my account for the original amount
charged, so it was no longer considered a dispute the merchant was
simply "correcting" their mistake. Therefore, Washington Mutual was
not responsible for the over draft charges. I was told to recover the
fees from the merchant since it was their error.

On November 2, 2007 Washington Mutual posted a debit card provisional
credit in the amount of $592.00 to my account. I contacted a
Washington Mutual customer representative on November 3, 2007 to
inquire about this credit. I was informed the credit was a result of
the dispute I filed on October 17, 2007. I asked the representative if
there was a documented dispute for this transaction and she said yes.


I informed her that I would like to file a claim to recover the
$313.00 in over draft charges I incurred due to the fraudulent charge
placed on my account on October 17, 2007. She informed me I was unable
to file a claim to recover the over draft charges because the original
dispute had been closed and could not be re-opened. Conveniently, the
call was "disconnected".

The Washington Mutual website features The Washington Mutual
Difference:

"You'll know it right away: We're really not like other banks. In
fact, we believe no one else focuses on consumers, small business and
commercial customers like we do. We listen to our customers and give
them what they value--yet at the same time we make banking simple and
enjoyable."

I have followed every recommended step Washington Mutual has proposed
and as a "reward" for being a customer, I have been met with nothing
but opposition and have been punished.

Where is the consumer protected? Washington Mutual has failed
miserably from start to finish. In fact, Washington Mutual has
perpetuated the situation, causing it to go from bad to down right
ugly.

I am requesting two action items:

1) Remove the debit card provisional credit in the amount of $592.00
from my account.
2) Correctly credit my account in the amount of $313.00 for the over
draft fees I incurred from the fraudulent charge.

I am giving Washington Mutual one last opportunity to rectify this
situation and to prove they stand behind the mantra they so boldly
claim: "We listen to our customers and give them what they value--yet
at the same time we make banking simple and enjoyable."

Kristin Wall

They really really really SUCK!!

We moved to Calif from NYC and opened checking accounts.

FREE checking accounts. Because of experience, we kept our balances
low in case we lost the cards/ they were stolen. Too many friends lost
a bundle with their HSBC Mastercard debit cards back home.

We dilligently checked our balances between transactions and realized
that WAMU deliberately delays updating debits (blaming MAstercard) and
when we ran over they would charge us 27 dollars for each transaction
below zero. When I first explained this realization to a customer
service rep, she said I have to keep track of my transactions. To
which I replied, isn't that YOUR JOB?

In NYC, when our accounts were empty, we couldn't use our cards,
because there was no money. We are fine with that. Zero balance
essentially means zero liability. We transfer money in and life goes
on.

I presented this idea to WAMU. I said that I want a card with no
credit overdraft protection (we later found out that they
automatically gave us 6000 dollars coverage each- can you imagine
trying to report a stolen card with a 6000 dollar negative balance to
them?) and they said "Fine, we can do that." ---after I found out
about the 6000 dollar protection and cancelled it--I said "Great, so
when I have no money the card will be rejected if I try to use it?"
They said yes. I got two more overdraft charges. My wife got three. I
called the bank. I was told it was a bank error and I would be
refunded the money. I waited. Nothing happened. I called the bank. Got
a supervisor. I related my story. He told me whoever said the bank
made an error and that I was liable for the charges. Upon further
discussion I was told that for what I wanted my only option was a
straight ATM card. I agreed and requested one.

A week or so later my wife was at the bank and they made her aware of
charges she owed. She told them we had made arrangements and that
those charges were in dispute. They must have really aggravated her.
She told me they gave her the 'girl treatment'. Don't mess with my
wife. She made her way up the chain of command. The manager's manager
continued along the same vein, that charges were owed etc. She replied
that we had spoken to the bank etc. He said to whom. HOW DO YOU EVER
KNOW WHO YOU ARE SPEAKING TO WHEN YOU CALL?

My wife- she's so cool- got loud (we are from NYC) on a busy Saturday
and shouted: "I do not owe you anything. You charged me in error. I
WILL NEVER EVER PAY THESE CHARGES! WHY DO I HAVE TO WATCH MY BANK
ACCOUNT LIKE A HAWK WITH YOU PEOPLE? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOUR
ORGANIZATION?" They offered her a regular ATM card and agreed to
'charge off" the overdraft charges.

Fine. our balances were brought up to zero. I waited for my ATM card.
It didn't come. I have begun conducting all of my business at the
teller at this point. One day, as I'm swiping/entering my pin, the
teller notifies me that my account has been closed. I tell him that's
interesting because I have not received any email, snail mail or
telephone calls notifying me of this development. I told him I was
waiting for an ATM card that I had ordered to come before using the
account again. He referred me to customer service.

I called customer service. I was told that WAMU reserves the right to
close accounts it considers inactive. Whenever I told the rep aspects
of my story I was read the same policy paragraph.

THE RED FLAG HERE IS THAT THEY CAN SUMMARILY CLOSE ACCOUNTS WITHOUT
NOTIFYING YOU OF ANY CHANGES TO YOUR STATUS.

The last time I was in WAMU was to send a wire using a separate
business account. The rep (I was at a desk) noticed that my account
was closed and offered to open me another one.

I laughed my ass off.

Can you imagine having a mortgage with these assholes?

fuck WAMU. I went to purchase gas today and my card was declined. I
thought it was because its the holiday and Shell or Master Card's
approval networks were getting slammed. So I tried to pay my car
insurance with my card and then my wife's card, they both got
declined. I called WAMU and they stated that my account is closed due
to suspicious activity. The service rep stated that I should have
gotten an email and a notification in my account message center, but
neither place had a notice. The only thing in the message center was a
message on the 28th was that I had ten days to cover my overdraft or
negative balance or risk my account being closed. On the 29th I had a
payroll direct deposit so that couldn't be the issue. I was told that
I need to call back after 5am PST on the 3rd to see whats going on
cause the rep stated he couldn't tell me whats going on. Man, what
pieces of trash.

FYI,

Man whose Wamu cards were stolen in Greece on vacation can't have his
card cancelled.

http://www.sbceo.org/%7Epeabody1/wamu.mp3

I just got off the phone with WaMu and all I have to say is, oh my god
let me out.

I have been their customer for nearly a decade with my checking
account, HOWEVER I've had this account for 12 years. I opened it in
the 90's under a small friendly California bank called Coast Federal
Savings. This was then acquired by Home Savings of America, which was
shortly thereafter taken over by Wamu.

Over the years, I have dealt with Wamu's declining customer service
and put up with it, since there didn't seem to be too many other
choices and the features of their free checking actually aren't too
bad and I rarely have to use their CS, especially by phone.

Today I had a rare problem with my account. I ordered a new Dell
Computer over the phone using my Mastercard linked to my Wamu Checking
Account (as a credit card transaction). The reason I ordered it over
the phone is slightly trivial, but it's because I couldn't get the
configuration and price right while shopping to buy it online. The
sales rep gave me his phone number and told me to call him back if
there was anything else. After getting off the phone I realized I
forgot to inform him of one $20 option I had wanted on my new PC. He
said no problem, he would add it for me and gave me the new total and
emailed the invoice to me. The final cost of the PC was approximately
$200 less than the amount in my checking account, which I balance
frequently and since I get paid in 2 days, this was not much of a
squeeze on me. A couple of hours after my purchase I went online and
saw to my shock that my available balance appeared to be about $650
overdrawn.

After desperately trying to figure out what could have gone wrong and
realizing Dell charged my card twice for the same computer without
voiding the original transaction, I called Wamu right away.
Navigating through their "new and improved" "2007 edition" automated
voice system was ridiculously painful. When I finally got to a CS
rep, I realized I'd just reached someone in the Phillippines!!! For
my checking account! Basically ALL THE MONEY I HAVE! For a company
whose state HQ's are based in my area, and for an account where I
maintain my deposits about 5 minutes from my house. WTH?

Worst part was the CS Rep was really clueless/rude and wouldn't listen
to me at all. He tried to tell me I was overdrawn because of a $25
charge from . I'm like, No.. No... NO! Will you listen?! Instead he
put me on hold repeatedly to try to understand how to read the
computer screen, apparently. After begging him twice to listen, he
finally caught on and looked into the charge which took about another
10-15 minutes with much explanation from me. He told me I could
"dispute" it and then put me on hold some more.

After this, he had the nerve to ask if there was anything "else".
Yeah, how about you actually help me! And maybe just maybe try to
give me my money back while you're at it.

I cannot believe I am with this bank, and can't believe I didn't know
they didn't have any reps in America all this time (since late 2006,
apparently). Reason being, every other time I called them in the past
I always got someone much more helpful and definitely local. No more,
it's off to Union Bank, California or Wachovia - new to the
neighborhood - for me.

I felt a little guilty wanting to leave Wamu in the past (with one
exception of a rude branch assistant manager) since they'd stuck by me
all this time and vice versa but not now. This is just insulting not
to mention incredibly stressful and difficult to deal with and I
simply think I can't take it anymore. Good bye

I am a teacher and consider myself a well-informed and well-educated
person. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to understand credit
card and banking processes so as to not be taken advantage of
financially. It is in my experience, however, that Washington Mutual
Bank (WAMU) does everything in its power to make banking with them a
chore, though their commercials promise otherwise.

I have, for the last year or so, been dealing with various
representatives from WAMU about things ranging from an Overdraft Line
of Credit account to an inherited IRA. It took 6 months to move an
IRA BDA from WAMU to another financial institution because the
representatives from WAMU kept passing the responsibility on to
another rep. During one conversation a "customer service" rep
Rhiannon told me that "I am just a middle person, I can't do anything
for you, you can't expect me to be able to help you and there isn't
anyone who can. You need to take care of this on your own." I even
had a rep from another financial institution on the phone with me at
the time and she too was appalled at the lack of professionalism of
WAMU. I attempted to make a customer service manager, Bill Condo,
aware of my dilemma but Bill transferred me to a local branch rather
than fix the problem himself. The branch informed me they had no
power to help me and I should call customer service.

I am now being forced to pay an annual fee for an account that I've
been trying to have transferred. I will do so only because I want
this ordeal to end. I know I am not the only dissatisfied Washington
Mutual customer. Anecdotally, I have many friends and family who have
left Washington Mutual because of their dissatisfaction. I understand
the best way to "punish" a commercial institution is to take one's
business elsewhere and to discourage others from using them, which I
have done. I am concerned, however, that this will not change WAMU's
ways. They are a huge conglomeration of banks; I never even intended
to be a customer with WAMU except that they bought out my previous
banking institution. I believe because WAMU is so huge, it will
continue to take advantage of its own customers especially those not
as informed as I am about banking practices. I now bank at a credit
union, where the customer service and personal attention has been
really great.

Here is the story I posted to my blog. - David

================================================================

OK As some of you know, I recently switched from Bank of America
because of the underhanded way they do business. I had gotten caught
up in the hype and joined Washington Mutual (or WaMu as they like to
call it).

I have almost $2,000 in the bank yet I received 3 NSF fees ($100) (and
returning two of my checks triggering $40 fees from those retailers).
I called WaMu to ask them to reverse the fees and they put me on hold
for about 30 minutes. During which they came back online 4 times and
told me I should eat the fees and not worry about it. When I insisted
on waiting for a manager, they hung up on me.

They had placed a hold for over two weeks (*OVER* *2* *weeks*) on all
funds deposited and half of that was CASH. There should never be a
hold on cash.

During this time, I was completely civil, no yelling, no names, no
rudeness, etc. but the rep I had was a complete @ss (and for that
matter couldn't speak English very well).

I finally got in touch with a manager who was even more rude than the
original rep. She told me that cash shouldn't have a hold put on it.
I asked why it was then and she became very rude and defensive reading
some policy on checks. I asked a few questions and was told she
couldn't help me, I would have to go to the branch office.

F*ck these guys. In less than 1 month they've cost me more in fees the
Bank of America has in a year.

DON'T USE WASHINGTON MUTUAL

It's funny, because when I was making a withdrawal from Bank of
America, they asked me why and I said because I am switching banks.
They asked which bank and I told them Washington Mutual. The teller
laughed at me and said, "ha, ha, you'll be back". I told them "that
is doubtful".

They were right. I'm closing my WaMu account today and moving it all
to Bank of America.

A $200.00 lesson learned.

*feel free to repost*

yep same here. They have transferred their call center to the
Philippines - thus the lack of knowledge about much.

They overcharged me 2 times for an ATM transaction- then after calling
2 times, emailing 2 times and triple checking that I was disputing 2
items- they only credited one. I had to go to the bank and do it
again. Then they cancelled my debit card without telling me. I was
having lunch with co-workers when I found this out.

I called and they told me I'd have to wait 2 weeks for a new card and
they are "sorry for the inconvenience" I've heard that phrase over and
over again and it's a meaningless way to get you off the phone and
accept it up the butt.

I asked if there was anything they could do to get me a card faster so
I can access my account - long story short after being on hold 20 min
....NO.

Needless to say I will be closing my account effective immediately and
going with a local credit unioin where I don't have to call overseas
to get a my account information.

They really, really really suck.

You may have a valid complaint buried somewhere in this letter but
your general statements vs. detail make it difficult to understand
exactly what the problem is other than the fact you were left on hold
longer than you feel is acceptable.

Also - - using the work "sucks" in the title of your letter is not
professional, to say the least, but you will probably be receiving a
response from WaMu as they have promptly responded to every letter
I've ever posted.