Reader G writes:
On Saturday 3/8/08 at approximately 4pm I went to a drive-up ATM at the Wachovia Bank branch located at 951 South George Mason Drive, Arlington, VA 22204. I put my card in and asked to withdraw $80. The machine was acting normally until it was supposed to dispense the money.
A woman sued Wachovia last year because it allowed a telemarketing scam company to process stolen payments through its banks, despite complaints from customers and warnings from other banks and federal authorities. Wachovia said it had no idea what was going on, but now documents have been revealed that prove people high up in the company not only knew, but that “the bank, in fact, solicited business from companies it knew had been accused of telemarketing crimes.” Why? How about millions of dollars of extra revenue from steep fees whenever a fraud-related chargeback went through? The lawyers for the woman are now seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.
Moriconi writes in to tell us how he was able to save $950 this week by uprooting the hidden fees and renegotiating the things in his life he was paying too much for. Awesome! Here’s his true story:
JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America now charge $3 for non-customers to use their ATMs. Wachovia increased fees at a potion of its ATMs, and the average fee that your bank charges you to use another bank’s ATM has risen as well.
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Wachovia’s 4Q earnings get hammered by the subprime meltdown. [Bloomberg]
Lt. William Farr, the head of the D.C. police bank robbery unit, told the Washington Post that investigators are playing catchup.
Terry writes:
I’m writing to tell you about the miserable service I’ve received from Wachovia Bank. On several occasions I’ve logged into my checking account to sent payments for various things. It seems that more often that not I end up hearing from these businesses wanted to know where the payments are. I know full well that I’ve sent them, and even having the confirmation codes to prove it. I log in to my account and can find no record whatsoever of these payments.
Joe Martins of Georgia got a surprise letter from Wachovia telling him he owed $211,010,028,257,303.00 on his account with them. That’s two-hundred and eleven trillion, ten billion, twenty-eight million, two-hundred and fifty-seven thousand, three-hundred and three dollars, and zero cents. The letter also said Wachovia was reporting him as a risky bank customer. When contacted by a local news station, the bank apologized and blamed it on a “word processing error.”
You probably already knew that, but like Shemika, you probably didn’t think it would happen to you.
Wachovia calls them the “Corporate Service Solutions Team,” but it’s the same as any other members of executive customer service team; high-ranking customer service employees equipped with superhuman powers to address problems and complaints no matter what their origination or how deeply rooted their cause.
Willie wasn’t sure why U-Haul told him to park his rental truck in a poorly lit, fenced-off gas station lot that was clearly under construction, but he figured he had the right place when he saw several other U-Haul trucks in a closed pen nearby; Willie parked next to the pen, locked his rental, and got the hell out of there; when Willie told U-Haul he returned their truck as per their instructions, “they try to tell us it is our fault and we would be charged for this….for what? For doing exactly what they said. Exactly.” Now U-Haul wants $1,700:
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators is too paranoid about the recent student loan scandal to allow Wachovia to splash its logo all over the nylon bags it ordered for its annual conference, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The group, which represents about 12,000 college-aid officials across the country, didn’t want to appear to be acting improperly by accepting money from Wachovia in exchange for the marketing opportunity. The association also ditched lanyards and pens from other businesses — and even cut off the bottom of notepads that featured the name of a financial-services company — forfeiting about $200,000 in sponsorship fees paid by various vendors.
../../../..//2007/06/28/big-banks-are-bringing-banking/
Big banks are bringing banking to your cellphone so you can easily see how broke you are from anywhere in the world.
Seven big payday loan chains are extensively bankrolled by brand name banks. Bank Of America, Chase, WellsFargo, U.S. Bancorp, and Wachovia all extend tens to hundreds of million dollars in lines of credit to these predatory lenders who charge several hundred percent interest on cash advances, often made to the poor and uneducated.
We have more than a passing interest in customer service over here, so it always amuses us when a company loses a customer simply because they’re too stubborn to apologize for messing up.
Postmaster General John Potter is mad as hell at Wachovia! He’s accusing them of ‘really doing a disservice to the American public’ with an ad that suggests mailing your bills puts you at greater risk of ID theft than paying them on-line. Potter says this simply isn’t true:
“I have no problem with competition — it’s a good thing, it can keep everyone at the top of their game,” he said. “All I ask for is a little honesty when you’re doing it.” Asked specifically about the bank, he accused Wachovia of “really doing a disservice to the American public.”
Instead of atoning for their sins and begging for forgiveness, infoUSA, the firm that knowingly marketed lists of “gullible” seniors to known scammers, opted for a path of childish and defensive rebuttals:
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