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.”

More interest rate shenanigans

Rich writes:

“Have a wamu card for over 2 years. Never late or over my limit. Paid before the due date and more than the minimum. Out of nowhere, wamu ups my card to 29.99%. My original monthly payments were $189.00. Now they wanted $279.00.
I called wamu credit card “customer service.” After waiting on hold for someone to pick up after 30 minutes, a rep gives me a total run around. I demand to speak to a supervisor. He than gives me a run around and can’t answer my questions. He tells me to hold on. Click, he hangs up on me. This call took 45 minutes of my time.

I go ahead and make the large payment. The next month they raise the minimum again. I than stopped paying the card. I did report them to the proper authorities, including my state rep. office.

The credit card companies that are pulling this are the ones that have lost hard on the mortgages. This is not my only credit card and to be fair, other cards, such as BOA are pulling this as well. That was their fault and they are sticking it to the credit card holders to make up for their losses.

This whole mess has also caused a hugh problem for me and my family on top of the costs of living.”

WaMu jacks good customers interest rates

Kelly writes:

“After being a Washington Mutual credit card customer for 10 years with 2 accounts( one Visa, one MC) and never once ever having a late payment, I realized that they had raised my rate by 12.99% !! I was at 31.99 % on both cards. I called and explained that I wasn’t sure how that had happenned but that I would like it corrected. They said that they would look into it and contact me. Boy did they ever look into it! They sent me a letter stating that I did not qualify to have my rate lowered( I guess 120 payments on time very month isn’t a good enough customer for them) and after reviewing my accounts actually lowered my limit to the exact balance I had on my cards. I had in the meantime paid my “minimum monthly” payment. THEY THEN CHARGED ME $35.00 OVER THE LIMIT FEE!!!!!
Now due some severe personal financial circumstances, I got behind on the payments and guess what??? To “help me out”…they can magically reduce my rate to 10.99%. Gee, if they had done that when I asked them and was in great standing with them, wouldn’t that have made more sense?
But I guess they prefer to spend the time and money jacking people around when they have a good customer.
I guess a late payment fee of $35 is the only way to save 21.99%. In my opinion it’s well worth it!!”

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.”

WaMu rumour

Word from a friend at one of the big investment banks is that WaMu is the next big bank in danger of being taken over by the FDIC. That was before today’s infusion of investment in WaMu.

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.”

WaMu doubles interest rate for no reason

Patty writes:

“I just want to give my two cents. I have a WAMU Credit card, and have for many years. We have decided to get rid of some cards, so we destroyed them and have been working diligently to pay them off. A credit advisor, said that we should contact the cards, and try to get a lower interest rate, which would make paying them off quicker. Three of the cards I contacted thought it was great, and lowered our rates it assist. WAMU was a different story, the determined I needed a rate TWICE what I was paying! I contacted them many, many times for an explanation as to WHY they doubled my interest rate(instead of $150 going to interest now it is 250), and their standard reply is they feel I am a credit risk…even though, I pay well over the minimum on all my cards and I am NEVER late on ANY of my bills. They replied the standard reply, with no explanation, that is their policy, they don’t have to explain.

I will NEVER deal with WAMU again! They are the worst company EVER!!! No customer service and no care for good business dealings. Who cares who is hurt! I figured out what WAMU stands for:

W e
A im to
M ess
U p

Can’t wait to be rid of them FOREVER!!!!”