posted
This morning we got a call from Washington Mutual's collections department, informing us that our credit card bill was overdue and had been sent to collections.
This came as something of a surprise to us, as we hadn't received any bills, let alone a second notice. Or the physical credit card in question, for that matter.
We obtained the card in the first place in the hope of lowering the interest we were paying on a home improvement project. Given the terms of the card, it is likely that we will now pay more interest, unless we can convince the legume counters that this is probably not the best way to treat customers in good standing for more than a decade.
This is not our first debacle with WaMu. A little brief history: WaMu cancelled my previous (unexpired!) check card without notice and sent a new check card to our old address, despite the address on all our accounts having been updated. I discovered this bit of whimsy when I attempted to pay for my daughter's dental care. When the card was declined, I attempted to withdraw from an ATM, and had my card confiscated without explanation.
More recently, I tried to order checks. After waiting well past the anticipated delivery date, I called customer service and was given a lengthy runaround before being told the CS rep could only essentially put a note in my file saying checks had not been delivered. Finally, I returned to the branch I'd ordered the checks from in the first place, only to discover they had no record of the checks being ordered at all. Did the CS person not know this, or just not tell me?...
I theenk eet ees time I took my banking elsewhere.
Sorry. Needed to vent.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
WaMu is great, except when it is awful, IME.
Much sympathy. Have you tried (going in person and) asking to speak to the manager of your local branch? I have found this to be the most effective tack.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
That sucks. I've only been with WaMu for 8 months, but they've been stellar thusfar. Much, much better than say, Wells Fargo. <shudder>
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I've found Wells Fargo to be entirely lackluster, but consistently workable. They keep my satisfaction at about a 6 on a scale of 10, but at least it's reliably mediocre.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: Much, much better than say, Wells Fargo. <shudder>
Talk about damning with faint praise!
quote:Originally posted by MightyCow: I've found Wells Fargo to be entirely lackluster, but consistently workable. They keep my satisfaction at about a 6 on a scale of 10, but at least it's reliably mediocre.
Just you wait.
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: At least you guys aren't stuck with Skank of America.
*laugh* I'm going to have to remember that name for them. They are indeed considerably worse than the other two.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Any specifics you guys can provide me? Hidden fees? Awful phone trees? Lousy customer service? I really am thinking of moving to another bank.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
WaMu screwed us as well, but the local people at our branch were so great about fixing it that we stayed with them.
They bounced our MONEY ORDERS! That's right....not bank checks, not our personal checks....money orders. I didn't even know that was possible!
First months rent at our new apartment HAD to be payed in money orders. Not anything else....no cash, no checks, and no certified bank checks (which I though was weird).
We went and got two money orders, and payed cash for them, and payed our move in costs. Two days alter we had en eviction notice on our door! The money orders were no good.
I went up to the branch and threw a FIT! I wasn't loud, but I was so mad I was purple. It turned out that the teller was new, and accidentally hit the wrong button on her screen. Rather than confirming the money orders, she canceled them.
My landlord told me, while patting me on the back, that they knew it couldn't really be our fault, and they only posted the notice to cover their own butts. But I was still mortified.
WaMu ended up writing a letter of apology, paying all fees to our landlord, and taking good care of us for the rest of the year we lived in Kissimmee.
BTW, the card changeover was well publicized, in every branch for 6 months before they changed. They moved from Visa to MC because of Visa's record in posting transactions late. We had items that didn't post for more than week when we had Visa, and NOT because of the vendor.
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: WaMu screwed us as well, but the local people at our branch were so great about fixing it that we stayed with them.
That has been my general experience as well. The corporate entity is a pain to deal with (although I like their website and free online billpay), but individuals at the branch (especially managers and experienced tellers) are wonderful.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
There's this one branch of Capital One where I used to go for all my banking...but the last two times I've been there:
Time 1: I drive into the first lane because I hate using those stupid vaccuum tube things, something I always do when I use the drive-through at this branch. After waiting in line forever, the woman at the window asks me in a very bitchy tone if I am conducting a commercial transaction, and when I say, "Um, no?" tells me to get the heck out of that lane and drive all the way around and wait in line to use the second one instead.
Time 2 (this evening): I drive into the SECOND LANE because I'm in a hurry and don't want to deal with the runaround. The lane is open. I get up to the vaccuum tube and start copying down my account number because I don't have any more deposit slips. The SAME WOMAN is behind the window. She closes the second lane WHILE I AM SITTING THERE GETTNIG READY TO SEND IN MY THINGS and tells me that I have to drive around and wait in a long, long line to use the FIRST lane.
Never. Ever. Going to that branch again. But WaMu sounds scarier.
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: At least you guys aren't stuck with Skank of America.
I also use them. I hate them. So much. Especially when they post all my transactions ridiculously late and I end up with a huge lag in between times and then they take a hundred dollars out of my account in bank fees because THEY are SLOW.
Edit: rivka: Yeah, all of the Hibernias, which were the coolest bank ever, in the area turned into Capital Ones after the storm. Which sucks. Hibernias were awesome and very good with customer service, and THEY would call YOU if they thought there was a problem.
posted
Well...you didn't overspend because they didn't post things on time, pH...you overspent before it happened. It is our job to know what we have spent, so fees make sense. Even if they suck.
Now, when THEY take money out of a free account for maintainiance fees that don't apply to you(even though you have told them about it 3 othertimes in 6 months), and it starts a chain reaction that costs $650 in fees, none of which would have happened had the fee not been removed....THAT is their fault. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I really want to call Capital One toDAY (whee, staying up all night) and tell them that the quality of service at that particular branch has declined severely. I doubt they'd pay attention, though. But gah, I really wanted to make that deposit yesterday. And also kick that woman in the shins. Meanie-head.
posted
Actually, I bet they would pay quite a bit of attention. I'm sure the people in charge would be horrified to find out the teller shut down the lane while you were sitting there. When I was a teller, whoever was in line when you closed, still got served.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Have you tried Wachovia? We've been very happy with them, for the most part, though I believe most of their credit lines are done another company that is not as nice.
I like my credit union, except they wouldn't let me deposit a huge check with cash back, or cash it and deposit it as cash. (The huge check was from a real estate deal, and I got the distinct impression that they didn't trust me because of the way I was dressed and the fact that I was frazzled and carrying a small infant while chasing down my toddler and trying not to lose my place in line.) Horrible experience all the way around. Also, the final pay off on our vehicle was $0.12 and we had to ask them several times before they would just take it out of one of our accounts. They even sent us a collection notice over it, after we asked them to just take the TWELVE CENTS out of our account, please.
It just didn't seem worth the trip down there or the postage on a check. I mean, twelve cents!
We're actually much happier with Wachovia. Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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WaMu is usually pretty good about stuff, but we have a big issue with them-- money order fees. They charge a $4 fee for a money order. (They never did when we lived in TX, only since moving here) They told us if we switched to the "new" free checking, we wouldn't have money order fees-- and then when we switched, told us that there is still a fee for money orders. Grrr...
I mean, why a $4 charge? Vons sells money orders for $0.79. Why on earth would we want to pay $3.21 more for it when Vons is less than half a block away?
There was one branch here that used to waive the fee for account holders as a courtesy (what all the ones in Dallas were apparently doing), but last time we went in for one there, they said that Corporate told them they're not allowed to do that any more. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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What I love is when they say they have free checking, but then whe you ask about it they're like, "Well, it's free, but if you get your identity stolen, you're SCREWED!!!! But for the LOW LOW PRICE of $5 a month, YOU TOO CAN HAVE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION!"
I went to make my deposit today at a different branch. They gave me the deposit slip, and I started to leave, la-dee-dah. Then, I looked at the deposit slip and realized that it had the wrong account number and the wrong deposit amount.
I went back to the bank. Apparently, they just gave me the wrong deposit slip. I asked if I needed to be worried that someone else might have gotten ahold of my account number, and they said they probably hadn't even printed the receipt for the deposit, much less given it to the wrong person.
The deposit slip has my full account number on it. Do I need to be worried that someone else might've gotten ahold of it?
posted
Just watch your account to make sure that there is no unusual activity. With any luck, they will be like you and just worried that YOU are going to scam THEM, and will dispose of it.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I hate them. So much. Especially when they post all my transactions ridiculously late and I end up with a huge lag in between times and then they take a hundred dollars out of my account in bank fees because THEY are SLOW.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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