Banks

Reach Washington Mutual Executive Customer Service

Rosalva Alvarez
rosalva.alvarez@wamu.net
1-800-225-5497, option 1, option1, extension 467
Fax: (206) 965-3082

Use this after normal customer service fails. Be nice, ready to state your case in 1-2 sentences, and read this post on dealing with executive customer service first.

(Photo: Whatsername)

8:13 AM on Wed Jul 2 2008
By Ben Popken
395 views, Comment

Unauthorized overdraft

Would You Like To "Opt-In" To Your Bank's Overdraft Fees? Tell The Federal Reserve!

The Federal Reserve has proposed some new regulations that would, among other things, require banks to let you opt-out of the "overdraft protection" services that often result in consumers being charged large fees for buying one too many (or 6 too many) packs of gum with their debit cards. The Center for Responsible Lending thinks the programs should be "opt-in". Either way, without the overdraft program, your debit or atm transaction would be denied for non-sufficient funds and you would not be charged a overdraft fee. More »

10:30 AM on Thu Jun 26 2008
By Meg Marco
6,534 views, 92 comments

Latest by VoxPopuli: I'm way late to this thread - but thanks for this post. I'm dealing with a fraudulent charge on my visa check card that overdrew my account. My bank has put the money (including overdraft fees) back into my account. But more »

M&T Bank

M&T Bank Makes An Offer You Can Definitely Refuse

Here's a novel way for a bank to increase revenue: offer your customers a "perk" where they can skip a payment on their loan for a neat $25 fee! Of course, interest still accrues, your total repayment amount increases slightly, and one month is added to your repayment period. No thanks. You can see the actual letter and details below. More »

8:05 PM on Wed Jun 25 2008
By Chris Walters
5,383 views, 41 comments

bank of america

Bank Of America Treats Parking Meter Payments As Cash Advances, Charges $10 Fee

Reader Gary used his Bank of America credit card to pay $2 on a parking meter in Washington, DC. Bank of America treated it as a cash advance and slapped him with a $10 fee, as well as a higher APR. When Gary called to complain, he learned that it wasn't an error: Bank of America has started treating payments to parking meters as cash advances and may even treat all payments to government entities as cash advances. More »

12:00 PM on Wed Jun 25 2008
By Alex Chasick
11,735 views, 71 comments

Latest by n/a: My fiancee and I will be leaving BOA for a local credit union. Until federal governing bodies stand up for consumers we need to walk! more »

worst company in america

Worst Company In America 2008 "Sweet 16": Bank of America VS Blue Cross Blue Shield

Here's your seventh "Sweet 16" match-up: #7 Bank of America VS #23 Blue Cross Blue Shield More »

12:35 PM on Wed Jun 18 2008
By Meg Marco
4,318 views, 49 comments

Latest by n/a: I have a BofA credit card, which I have been paying off through a debt consolidation company for a couple of years now. After my last payment, there was a seventy-five cent balance, which took me four calls, six people more »

fees

Bank of America: "Free" Checking Means You Have To Call And Have The Fee Waived Every Month

Reader Tara has a checking account with Bank of America that's supposed to be "free" if she meets 1 of 3 balance requirements. She meets one of them, but Bank of America keeps charging her $20 — and they don't intend to stop. More »

2:49 PM on Tue Jun 17 2008
By Meg Marco
9,481 views, 62 comments

confessions

WaMu Banker Confessions, Part Two

Another Washington Mutual insider has stepped forward with a slew of tips to help save your ass from overdraft fees, check deposit holds, and talking to Filipino bankers. Details, inside... More »

9:53 AM on Wed Jun 11 2008
By Ben Popken
14,320 views, 40 comments

Latest by n/a: @arl84: Possibly eating a little crow here, I'm now unsure when you said, "I think he was talkin' about that," you were referring to the OP, or to jpx72x. I leaped to the assumption it was jpx. more »

washington mutual

Hate Outsourced Bankers? Just Ask For A US One

Loathe the outsourced customer service reps on the Washington Mutual phone lines? Just ask for a US-banker, says one WaMu insider: More »

1:15 PM on Fri Jun 6 2008
By Ben Popken
5,229 views, 35 comments

complaints

WaMu Doesn't Care You Could Be Stranded In Himalayas With No Money

Lila got her Washington Mutual debit card pickpocketed while traveling in India. Naturally, her account was drained. She filed a fraud report with Washington Mutual and a got a temporary credit issued on the account while the case was investigated. Less than 3 days later, the credit was reversed without warning. It's not WaMu's policy to reverse provisional credits in these matters before 30 days have passed to investigate, and not without warning. None of the various reps and fraud personal could explain why this happened, nor could they give her her money back, nor could they connect her with anyone who would or could do anything. Supervisors are mysteriously never around. It's a good thing she already had some Rupees in hand when the theft occured, or Lila could have been stranded in the Himalayas while WaMu reps were busy playing Snood. Her complaint letter, and our advice on how to be more effective, inside... More »

1:39 PM on Tue Jun 3 2008
By Ben Popken
6,111 views, 47 comments

Latest by n/a: This is an all too common story and yet another reason to reconsider the power that we have as consumers. Any good book on the fundamentals of personal finance should be able to explain the origins of financial intermediaries more »

money

Some Online Savings Yields Jump Upwards, Others Decline

After several depressing months of steadily declining rates, the yields on a few online savings accounts rates rose a tad. With .45 percentage points, HSBC Direct had the biggest jump and at 3.5% reclaims the title as the highest yielding online savings account from a big-name bank with no minimum balance. However, this is only a promotional rate through August 15. Tricky like a rock rhythm. (I found the big red "DEPOSIT MORE NOW" button in the announcement email HSBC sent out especially amusing). You might instead want to look at the online savings account offered by Provident Bank at 3.5%. That's down from 3.75 but the cut was tracked to the decrease in the federal interest rates. So with the Feds saying we're done with cuts for the near future, it's probably decent bet the Provident Bank rate will hold. Here's a good number of the rates that have gone up, and those that have stayed the same or decreased since the last time we posted this info. More »

8:58 AM on Tue Jun 3 2008
By Ben Popken
2,853 views, 23 comments

Latest by RChris173: I second bladefist, I too have an AMTrust Direct account and when I opened it in November it was one of the highest paying, in the +5.1% range! Now, because of the Federal Reserve, it was lowered, but will likely more »

atm

Use Your ATM Card Once A Year To Keep It Valid

If you're the type of person who never uses your ATM card—and we really mean never in this case, you might want to call your bank to find out if there's a minimum activity threshold to hit to keep it from being deactivated. A reader tried to use her Bank of America ATM card recently and kept getting an "invalid transaction" error at every ATM. She called the number on the back of the card to ask what was going on: "I was told that since I hadn't used my card in a couple of years it was closed, even though the expiration date is several years in the future, and I hadn't received any note that suggested I should cut the card up into tiny pieces." More »

3:21 PM on Wed May 28 2008
By Chris Walters
2,346 views, 19 comments

Latest by cmonty06: Really, I dont think it is unreasonable to expect the card to be used at least once a year. Maybe that is just me. more »

fees

Chase: Thanks For Depositing $3,193, Here's $200 In Non-Sufficient Funds Fees

Johanna deposited a financial aid check from her university into her Chase checking account. She'd done this before without incident, but this time something went wrong. More »

1:59 PM on Tue May 27 2008
By Meg Marco
16,255 views, 135 comments

happy endings

UPDATE: E*Trade Returns Customer's $3195, And All It Took Was Eight EECBs

A month ago, we wrote about Brice's struggles with E*Trade to recover the balance on an account they closed. After eight months of letters and phone calls, Brice got E*Trade to close the account, but it continued to accrue interest and Brice never received the balance. Finally, after launching eight Executive Email Carpet Bombs, Brice has his money. More »

2:52 PM on Sun May 25 2008
By Alex Chasick
6,701 views, 12 comments

windows

Microsoft And The $1,632 Copy Of Vista

Microsoft charged Bill $1,632 for a single Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade license. Each time Bill, an IT Manager, tried to his enter his payment details through Windows Live Marketplace he was told that Microsoft could not be contacted, and to "please try again later." What Microsoft really meant was, "Ha! Got your money! How 'bout some more?!" More »

1:16 PM on Sat May 24 2008
By Carey
112,906 views, 77 comments