Can WaMu get anything right?

Christine writes:

“I have been a customer for more than 2yrs and the only reason why I opened an account with them is because they were right across the street from my job and around the corner from my house. I make a payment to my student loan every 2weeks Friday when I get paid like clockwork. On Tuesday I go on to my wamu account to see if it cleared and I saw that my account was credited $500. I called wamu and asked them why my account was credited and the women by the name of Shanna (which by the way had a very nasty attitude) told me that it was my student loan sallie mae’s fault. That she will send me “the famous letter” (because they don’t have the balls to tell you what really happened over the phone) Shanna told me I had to wait 5 business days for my letter, so in the mean time i called sallie mae to see what happened and they told me that they tried to withdrawal the amount and that wamu told them that I put a stop payment on the account. Sallie mae sent me a letter stating what happened and everything. Five business days came and went so I called back and told Anna my situation and told her I didn’t not receive the letter and I spoke to Shanna. Anna told me that the reason that I did not receive the letter was because Shanna noted on the account that I was very nasty so she did not send it out!! I told Anna that how is it that I was nasty when I got her name and the conformation number for the letter she was supposed to send out when you get a conformation letter at the end of the call????? So I went on and was asking question on what is going on and I was reading the letter salliemae sent me and all they could do was “the famous letter” once again. Finally the letter came and I stated that I stopped the payment from going through and that it will keep reoccurring until December 29th,2008!!!!!!!! . So I called back a third time and spoke with a manager. I told him how is it that you have the nerve to lie and stay that I stopped this payment when I make the same payment every two weeks. His response is that maybe you didn’t have enough in the account so you took it back! I said I took it back??? Ok now if I took it back wouldn’t there be a charge for stopping a payment?? Do you see that on my account??? No right! Do you see that I called to stop a payment? No right! So how is it that I stopped the payment then? I told him this is ridiculous! I am accruing more interest on my loan because of your mistake! So I went to make the payment over the phone since I use a check to pay for my loan on salliemae’s website and they still couldn’t get the money out!! The same thing happened again! They are supposed to be the best bank, the best customer service, well where is it? because I have never seen it. The bank I go to in the financial district no matter what time you go to the bank the line is out the door because 99% of the time there is only 1 teller and that teller is inexperience and don’t know anything. I can’t wait till tomorrow so I can get paid get all of my money and close that account that I should have closed a long time ago! They deserve what ever comes! That serves them right for charging people a ridiculous amount day after day and then turn around and complain why we cant pay for it! They are the reason why we cant save anything because they are always coming up with new charges everyday!. About the overdraft fees, this bank don’t even offer you anything secure. I just signed up with Citibank and that was the first thing they asked me when I opened my Citibank account. The only good thing about wamu is the free money orders that is it!!

Happy to be gone!”

WaMu on consumeraffairs.com

For even more WaMu nightmare stories, see consumeraffairs.com.

Where does WaMu find its employees

Maisie writes:

“So, my experiences haven’t been near as horrific as the accounts i have read on your site, however this one is my favorite so far…

i was at a wamu i had never been to before, depositing a payroll check of mine. once i get to the teller, she looks at me and simply says “i can’t deposit your check, for personal reasons.” to which i responded, “what do you mean? it’s a payroll check, dated for today, and i need my money.” and she simply responded with “it’s a personal thing, i just won’t do it.” smiling all the while of course.
i had never met this woman before, so i have no idea how it was “personal.” i work at a small independent children’s toystore, so it’s not like where the paycheck was coming from could have offended her moral stance etc. in any way.

long story short, i had to go to another wamu to be able to deposit it because she was the only teller at that particular branch that day.

short and sweet…they suck.

and i am glad taht you have put the time and effort into letting people know how awful they are!
thanks,
maisie”

Lies, lies, and more lies

Andie writes:

“Washington Mutual is by far the worst bank I’ve ever dealt with.

On Friday I deposited my check. They put a hold on it AGAIN. I got a letter stating that I could write checks or withdraw against the balance. So, I checked my account yesterday evening, and noticed I had 6 non-sufficient funds charges assessed! that’s $198!!! Unbelievable!! I called the to talk to someone, asked to speak to a supervisor, was transferred after 10 minutes of waiting. The Rep. I spoke to assured me that he would reverse ALL of the charges and that it was probably just the computer system updating too fast or some such nonsense answer. So, thinking that everything was alright, I took his word for truth and waited to check my account in the morning.

When I checked my account again, all 6 charges were still there. I called the customer service line again and was told that no notation was made stating the charges were going to be removed, and that they couldn’t do that. I was transferred to a supervisor again, and was told at most they could remove one or two charges, and then only if a manager approved it. I was blatantly lied to by the first supervisor, no doubt to pawn off the problem so he didn’t have to deal with me. I was polite the first time around, but I have become increasingly annoyed. Not only will I be charged 200 dollars for the NSF charges, but whatever checks that bounce because of this are going to incur fees as well. To top it off, I had just submitted the direct deposit form to my job, and that will be taking effect this pay period. So I can’t close my account, unless I pay the “outstanding fees” and unless I’m willing to wait another two weeks for my paycheck to be rerouted into a voucher.

I have only been with Washington Mutual for a year now, and this entire year has been full of unpleasant experiences, but this one by far takes the cake.”

The WaMu runaround

Martha writes:

“Every problem I’ve ever had with WAMU all I get is the run around and no help. No one ever agrees or tells me the same thing. I am extremely frustrated with the company, I have been trying to solve a simple problem for the past week without any help. The last person that I spoke to was unprofessional and rude and hung up the phone on me, after she refused to transfer me to her supervisor. Ever since I opened my account I have not have any good experiences with WAMU, I hope that not all banks are the same.”

Does anyone at WaMu have a clue?

Terry writes:

“So first, for some reason, my bill pay sent two payments for $1200 to someone I owe money to, instead of just the one I put into the system. The company receiving double payment calls me, tells me, and sends me one of the checks back. Unfortunately that person writes VOID across the check before sending it back. Well, that is enough to stun WAMU personnel into complete confusion. I walk the check that should never have been issued by WAMU into a WAMU office, and sit there for 1/2 hour while a banker first apologizes for it taking so much time(#1), and deals with the fact that I have a check payable to a third party, that should never have gone out in the first place (for which he apologizes) (#2) and the funds need to go back into my account. We supposedly get it straightened out, and the funds should appear in my account in 3 days. I keep watching, and 10 days pass, and nothing, so I am ready to call the bank today to say whats up.

Then, it gets better. Early this am, I get a call from WAMU’s computer saying that someone at the other end of the country is withdrawing money from my account, and my account has been flagged as possibly being hit by fraudulent charges. I follow the prompts to confirm this is a fraud, and give up after waiting 26 minutes for someone to confirm that this is a fraud. I call back. I finally reach a person. This person apologizes for the prior long delay (#3), and says well it’s a credit card problem, and my problem is debit card, so I will transfer you. I am on hold for 20 minutes waiting for someone in the debit card fraud department, and give up. I call yet again, finally reach someone, who says, I apologize for the long delays (#4), and also, I’m in the debit card department, and the computer says this is credit card problem, and I’ll transfer you and I say NO THE CREDIT CARD DEPARTMENT JUST TOLD ME I HAVE TO SPEAK TO THE DEBIT CARD DEPARTMENT. Mind you, my card has both a Master Card logo and a debit card logo on it. And she says, don’t worry, I apologize (#5) and I’ll stay on the line until we get this figured out, and she transfers me, to someone who cannot hear anything I am saying, and very politely says “I cannot hear anyone on the line, and if there is someone on the line, I apologize (#7) and please call back.” Dial tone. So far, this has consumed 1 1/2 hours, but, mind you, I have received 7 apologies so far.

I get online and log in to my account and try to send an email to the bank saying turn off my card, and when I hit send, I get an error message back to fix the date, but there is no way to fix the date, because there is no date field. So I rewrite the message, carefully inserting today’s date (logical, right?) and then it says “Error. Insert an amount.” There is no amount field. I scream.

I get in car and just drive to my local WAMU office. I ask to speak to the manager, because I am having trouble with my account, and the receptionist says “Sorry about that. (#8). Assistant manager comes up and apologizes that I am having problems (#9) and sit there for 1/2 hour while assistant manager finally reaches the fraud department, goes through the same run around whether this is credit card or debit card (the stupid card is both! What a concept!) and then someone will send me a form to fill out and return. Ok whatever.

I ask about the reversal of the $1200 that seems long overdue. Well, seems that after the bank manager in LA filled out the form, someone screwed up the paperwork at the next level, and left it half done, because the paperwork no longer worked with the facts on the form I held complete. SO THEY JUST LEFT THE PAPERWORK HALF DONE AND APPARENTLY WENT OUT FOR MARGARITAS OR SOMETHING . WHY NOT CALL ME, YOU IDIOTS!!!!!! The local office assistant manager apologizes again for this. (#10)

The bank is run by a bunch of jerks who should be forced to use the same call-in system customers use. And it is staffed by a bunch of idiots who are trained to say “I am so sorry about that” and then take information, and then, as far as I can tell, tear the paper bearing the information in half, and send one half to the credit card department and the other half to the debit card department, where they can tie up, oh, perhaps, ten people to stare at half pieces of paper, and then just put in what is probably a huge pile in a box labeled. YET ANOTHER SCREW UP WE DID FOR A CUSTOMER – AND WE DON’T CARE BECAUSE ONCE THE CUSTOMER REALIZES WE HAVE SCREWED UP WE’LL APOLOGIZE, AND THAT MEANS WE HAVE MADE IT ALL BETTER.

I’m moving my accounts.”

Unnecessary holds

Reader Jeannie writes:

“Ok, here is one for you. I just recently started my account with WAMU about a month ago and I already am having a freakin nightmare.

I deposited my employment check thru the ATM, which, now I know, IS A VERY BAD IDEA! I was given access to $100 of the deposited amount. In addition to my check, I also deposited $200 cash which was my husbands business money. I was not provided with any of the policy information, which is something that this company is suppose to disclose to you when you open your account. I contacted Customer Care and was told by a Rep. that my money was not going to be available until Risk Operations confirms that my check is real and that the funds are really there. Ok, the bank that my check is drawn thru is a local bank. I grew upset and told them that I wanted to talk to Risk Operations. I was then transferred. Mind you, I opened my account online. The lady at Risk Operations said that they had to place a hold on my check until it cleared and that they were even holding the cash part of the deposit as well. Well, I was on my lunch break at the time of this call, which is only 30 minutes long. I told her that I wanted to talk to her Supervisor. She said ok, and placed me on hold…………………….SHE NEVER CAME BACK. I was on hold for 20 minutes before I hung up. I was late for work at that point.

I contacted my husband and found out that they have a lot of problems with ripping their customers off.

I proceeded to call the bank when I got home from work that same day and was told by the Rep. that they can hold my check up to 6 business days. I asked for her Supervisor and was told by him that they will be holding my check for up to 11 days. I hung up.

I called the next day and was told by another Supervisor that there is a 30 day policy on holding checks that were deposited thru the ATM.

I received an email the next morning stating that I had to call Risk Operations to discuss my check. I called them and the lady told me that she will not talk to me because I opened my account online. That there was no way to identify me over the phone. Mind you, a day or two prior, I talked to someone in Risk Operations.

I went to the branch where I deposited the money at and talked to the Branch Manager and she told me that she could only authorize $200 of it and that the rest of my money will be available this upcoming Tuesday. Which is the day that my husband is going into surgery and we need the money for his medications. Also, on top of that, the money that they are holding, is my rent money and my electric and my kids’ birthday money.

I gave up for the day. The next day comes around and I get a notice in the mail. It stated that they will not release any funds until next Thursday.

America centric

Want to get a cashiers check drawn on another currency at WaMu?  Nope, they don’t offer that service.