Here's my short-lived experience with WaMu:

After searching the internet for the best bank, I come across WaMu. Not only do they have a great APY for Savings account, but I can have my checking and savings all in one place vs. checking with a brick and mortar and savings with an online account (ING, HSBC, etc).

I go into the bank because I like talking with someone face-to-face. We set up a checking account, but I'm informed that I should sign-up online for my savings account so that I can get the advertised high interest rate I was looking for. No problem, I go home, set up the account and then when I log-in, I notice I have 2 checking accounts and one savings account. Oh well, I contact customer service and tell them to delete one of my checking accounts, I only need one checking and one savings. Done.

Seems everything is going well. I deposit $100 into my savings account at the beginning. And then I notice a "service charge" of $4.00 to my savings account. Ok, but then the next day I notice this "service charge" is refunded. So maybe it was some mistake on their part. After a few months, I look at my savings and notice several service charges have happened. a $4.00 charge each month. Yes, I should have seen this happening sooner by watching my account, however I was not using my savings account initially.

So, I inquire about the $4.00 charges and receive this robotic message:

Thanks for contacting WaMu!
Please be advised, our records indicate that your Online Savings account
ending with #### was not linked account to your checking account ending
with #### and hence, the savings account was getting interest rate of
0.10%.

However, I have submitted the request to link your existing Online
Savings account to your checking account for higher interest rates and
for no minimum balance requirement. As long as the linked checking
account is open, you will have a higher interest rate and no minimum
balance requirement for this account. The maintenance will be performed
within one business day.

Sincerely,

Roopa Upashi
Customer Service Representative
WaMu, now backed by the strength of JPMorgan Chase

At this point, I'm annoyed. I respond with my dissatisfaction in the failed customer service. Is it not obvious that these should have been linked? I would like all of the $4.00 charges to my savings account refunded immediately! (Now that is reasonable because I still am not getting any of the interest back that I would have been making, although it's not that much) How does WaMu respond to this?...

Thanks for contacting WaMu!

We apologize for any inconvenience and we would be happy to assist you.

Your Online Savings account has a monthly service charge of $4 if the
balance falls below $300.

Please be advised, our records indicate that your Online Savings account
ending with #### was not linked account to your checking account ending
with #### and hence, the savings account was getting interest rate of
0.10%. However, I found a request has already been submitted to link
your existing Online Savings account to your checking account for higher
interest rates and for no minimum balance requirement. As long as the
linked checking account is open, you will have a higher interest rate
and no minimum balance requirement for this account. The maintenance
will be performed within one business day.

WaMu takes responsibility for bank errors and will work with customers
to resolve issues arising from those errors. Your concern has been
researched, and as no bank error was found, the fee(s) cannot be
refunded.

Sincerely,

Ramesh Shrinivas Kulkarni
Customer Service Representative
WaMu, now backed by the strength of JPMorgan Chase

WaMu takes responsibility only for bank errors, not for customer service errors. That's one big reason why WaMu sucks.