Terry's Story

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.