With all the focus on the girl rocketing across the desert in a supersonic purple dildo, Washington Mutual forgot to mention one thing. When you sign up for a new account with them online instead of in person, be prepared to be treated like a criminal at every turn. Here’s Brett’s story of why he and his partner don’t bank with WaMu, and never will again…
Brett writes:
Mark (my boyfriend) and I decided to move our accounts to the same bank to facilitate account transfers easier. Figured why not try a new bank while I was at it. We chose WAMU based on some research that showed them to have the lowest fee’s and the no charge ATM fee’s for foreign banks.
We opened our accounts online, after answering all the security questions we were in business. I switched my direct deposit, and began using the account. When it came time to pay the rent, mark attempted to get me his portion of the rent. He did a $1000 transfer using his debit card from commerce (considering it a cash advance). We waited a few days, and when we tried to buy new iPhones , he swiped his wamu MasterCard (debit) and it came back declined. After calling he found out that his deposit was put on hold and flagged as suspicious.
Unfortunately I had already deposited his check. My deposit was also put on hold. Needless to say neither of us had this money available. They apologized for the inconvenience, but was assured we wouldn’t get caught with any bounce fee’s. Finally a week after he made his deposit we received a letter outlining this hold, I’ve attached an example.
A week later it happened to me, a check I deposited was put on hold resulting in a bounced check to my roommate. I also made a deposit of my payroll check later that week, also put on hold. After several calls to customer service and talking to supervisors, I had most of the holds removed. In order to get the $1000 from the bf to pay my roommate, we went into a branch, we asked for the $1000 as cash, and then we would then deposit the cash into my account. The teller at the station told us she would do a transfer from his WAMU account into my WAMU account, assuring us it would be treated as cash, and would be available as such.
As my boyfriend was closing his account, the branch manager told us in the future if he wanted to reopen an account, to do so in person. She said these problems are common for those who open accounts online. After waiting a few days, and feeling confident there wouldn’t be any other holds set on my account, I gave the go ahead to the roommate to cash the check. He did, a week later I get the attached letter; it happened again!
So I called Loss Detection,and she said that the branch had processed it as a check and not cash. I was admittedly upset by this time, and told her as such. Her response to me was she would hang up on me if I insulted her. I of course was level headed through out the conversation, but was taken aback her immediate response was to threaten me. In the end, she was able to clear the hold, but not before the other check bounced.
Apparently WAMU has a policy putting new customers on “probation” for 90 days, this is a ridiculous amount of time and terrible customer service. I understand most banks have probation periods but not as long, or as strict.
We have both since switched to chase and closed these accounts.
It’s disingenuous to advertise signing up for banking online like it’s super easy and awesome, and then use a different set of rules that punish the customers that just did what you told them to do.
GALLERY
END
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@MissTicklebritches:
Actually, everyone has access to some credit union. They may not be around the corner, but they are there. Banks suck!
Thank GOD we don’t have WaMu around here in PA. Some of the banks are annoying (Parkvale) and some are downright evil (National City), but there are some banks where I haven’t heard ANY horror storries (PNC). Still…..credit unions sound good.
If they ever force me to use online banking, I might just act like Comcast woman.
Putting a hold on a cash deposit is a violation of federal law, as per the expedited funds availability act..
>>I’ve never had a problem with Washington Mutual in 6 years. Then again, I also know how to use apostrophes. Coincidence? I think not!!<<
Har! The improper apostrophes was distracting, wasn’t it? The original poster should go back and review fifth grade grammar.
Anyway, to the matter at hand — the problem is not limited to people who open accounts online, I had a similar problem when I opened a checking account in person. Earlier this year when I moved to Texas I opened a new account with the local WaMu, and ended up getting holds on my deposits as well (all except the first $100). Most annoying was when I deposited about $700 in cash using an ATM, and it was treated as a check (got one of those letters saying my ‘check’ was on hold until it could be cleared). Next time I walked into the branch and handed the teller the cash deposit in person and that seemed to solve the problem.
Anyway, WaMu’s excessively long holds on deposits is/was not a dealbreaker for me. Since I don’t need the money immediately, I just accept it as a limitation of having to deal with WaMu, and move on.
Never have that problem with my Bank of America account. (Then again, it’s in California and I opened it over ten years ago, so apples to oranges).
@MrDo: Totally agree with you about NFCU. I absolutely love them.
@MissTicklebritches wrote:
BTW, not everyone has access to credit unions.
@MissTicklebritches wrote:
BTW, not everyone has access to credit unions.
Sorry. Hit “send” too soon.
This is possible true, as I don’t know banking regulations everywhere, but I found this site: [www.findacreditunion.com] linked from here: [www.creditunion.coop] that will try to help you find one that you can use.
Worth giving it a try.
the probationary period is standard for most financial institutions – even credit unions. some are more restrictive than others, but overall you can expect limited leeway in the first few months of opening an account – virtually all “over the counter” fraud occurs within this time period.
& you can expect it to get worse. some new regulations to combat ID theft (dubbed “red flag regulations”) are going to take effect pretty soon. you will find that banks/cus are going to start implementing more stringent authentication methods soon.
Call me an elitist, but Wamu’s marketing is just too lowbrow for me. It makes me think they’re trying to appeal to the … um … less savvy, less well-heeled crowd. I don’t consider myself a member of that crowd, so I figure Wamu doesn’t have anything to offer me. And I’m not too surprised to hear about the new-account probation thing. It would be a logical way for Wamu to protect itself from the very clientele it’s woo[hoo]ing with its lowbrow marketing.
Wamu is one of the shakiest banks in the whole sub-prime thing and are often mentioned as one of the banks likely to go under. Granted, it’s FDIC insured, but who needs the hassle? A little research can go a long ways towards avoiding headaches.
I have to second PeteyNice.
Schwab banking is great. I have had no problems with any holds on my account, despite shuffling money between all my other checking/savings accounts for a week or so after opening it. They actually called me after opening my account to ask if I had any questions for them (and never tried to even sell me a single thing).
Hey Consumerist. Why do you refer to Brett’s boyfriend as his “partner?” He’s his boyfriend. Don’t be scared to death of offending someone and use the words the reader gave you
It’s tantamount to calling a man’s girlfriend his wife.
@floraposte: Exactly. Credit unions aren’t some magical fairy land of happy banking like so many commenters like to imply. Not only have I been a member of a credit union (one that sucked horribly and has screwed over myself, my grandmother, and my mom on various occasions), but I worked at a credit union call center taking calls for hundreds of credit unions across the US.
All credit unions are just as good or bad as all banks. It depends on the individual people staffing them to determine whether or not you will receive good service. We had all sorts of calls of holds being placed when they shouldn’t or not being released or fees that shouldn’t have been charged or the CU never returning calls, etc. Almost all of the credit unions were horrible when it came to servicing their customers, and generally speaking, our hands were tied to do anything for the member either, with us usually being able to do nothing more than email the CU requesting a callback for the member (which just angers the member more when they’re already complaining that the CU isn’t returning calls).
On the other hand, I’ve been with National City ever since getting fed up with my credit union and they’ve been great. They approved me for a credit card with no hassle after getting the runaround from stupid CU employees causing me to be denied three times in six months, no minimum savings balance to keep an account, and they’ve just been pleasant to deal with in general otherwise. One way to look at it would be that while you have a share in the ownership of a CU and they’re non-profit, that results in no incentive for good service, whereas a bank has to work for you to earn your money. That would be a narrow, stupid view to take, but in my experience is far more true than the “Switch to a credit union. They are infallible.” line of thinking, which is an equally narrow, stupid viewpoint.
Credit union or bank, the important thing obviously is to do some research and find a place with a good reputation and employees that actually seem to give a crap about their job and good customer service.
@johnfrombrooklyn: TCF has never put a hold on any deposit I’ve made. I have access to the money immediately after I deposit it.
this EXACT same thing happened to me. every detail. except add to this EXACT scenerio the fact that they told me this “holding deposits for 7 business days” thing would only last for the first 30 days. wrong. after the 30 day period, i deposited a paycheck and it was held for 14 business days! i too had arranged for automatic bill payments to start and had turned in my rent check, both of which resulted in NSF fees and me feeling like a loser who cant pay my bills. ironically, i closed my accounts with them today and they did not seem shocked when i called them only 2 months after opening these accounts to close them. treating customers who trust you with their money like criminals obviously produces this outcome quite often. i haaaate washington mutual.
@Intangible_360: At least according to his story, he never insulted her, just told her that he was upset; whether the preemptive warning was necessary was another matter. On one hand, she could have been more empathetic initially, but on the other, the warning could have prevented the caller from taking it to the next level and insulting her, thus being hung up upon and wasting everyone’s time. I guess it depends on the way she said it…
A word of advise to help in these situations:
Get a “personal banker” at whatever bank you use. After working at Wells Fargo for a few years (but no longer do), and seeing the difference in customer service, I would never go back. Personal bankers can help manage all your accounts, waive certain fees, and ensure smooth transactions so the above story never happens. You may get a call from them every so often as they try to sign you up for some new account type, but I consider it a small price to pay for ease of use and problem solving.
My local WaMu has some good staff and one outstanding customer service rep. However the phone support and back office is atrocious. I called for some information about a new credit card and they told me that I had to sign up for the card before they could tell me the terms of the card. The branch printed out an application with a set of terms, but the terms didn’t match the brochure on the counter. I called the executive office and they said someone from the credit card office would call with the answer – the credit card office called and said I had to apply to get the info. I called the executive office and after a pause to look up the case file, they repeated what the credit card office had said.
When I closed my accounts, the local branch said they could get me the answers, but they couldn’t get the info.
I have been a happy Washington Mutual customer for the past 10 years. So far so good.
Financial institution holds are determined by Reg CC, the Fed guideline for funds availability. There is a lot of detail, including different holds for local and non-local items, but it also specifies a 30 day new customer period when holds can be longer. I’m not sure how WaMu gets away with a 90 day new customer period…
[www.federalreserve.gov]
I closed my WaMu accounts when they sent an online bill pay to the wrong address, causing me to get late fees. When I called them, they confirmed the correct address and had “no idea why it was sent to the wrong address.”
My husband and I now use ING direct and love it. Everything is easy to use, we get interest on our checking, and it posts charges very quickly. My husband has had WaMu for years and we tried to add me on after we got married so I had a place to deposit the rare paper check (the drawback of ING). They said they couldn’t, since he opened his account in a different state. I couldn’t believe that they couldn’t access his account information, even though he’d been using it for over a decade. He closed the accounts on the spot.
credit union for me, still using the same one even after I moved several states away. I’ve opened ING savings and now a checking account and am considering ditching the credit union, but not yet. credit union!!!!!! Oh my god those big banks SUCK.
I was lucky enough to work on capitol Hill for a short time. We joined the House of Representatives Congressional Credit Union. That was years ago, and now we live across the country, but still use that account through credit union shared branches. I figure Congress will keep their own CU going, no matter how bad it gets out there.
Most banks have a 30 day probation period where deposits are held, this is to prevent people from check kiting (Watch “Catch me if you can”). Whenever I have a need for a bank account I always open the account then wait 30-60 days before I start using it as my primary account. I will usually make a few small cash deposits and use the debit card a few times to put a few transactions on the books. After the 60 days you will not be subject to the holds or the problems the OP mentioned. Also it is not a bad idea to make an appearance and meet the branch manager, you never know when they might be able to help you out.
I did an online signup with Citibank a couple years ago. Took them about a month to issue a simple checking account. Including TWO visits from me to a local branch to show them documents.
Never again – Citibank OR opening an account online.
@crashman2600: I’ve usually found Branch Managers at Washington Mutual and other banks helpful.
Major problems begin if you initiate an account via online. It’s a completely different system, and seems outside the control of any brick and mortar’s manager to correct even any obvious problems.
While I agree that local credit unions have the best customer service, I split my time between WA & FL so I had to choose a bank that was national. WaMu was my only option since I refuse to bank with Bank of America. It’s been great so far, but then again, I set up my acct in-store…