I'm out of bed again, to write once again!

I joined Washington Mutual in November of '99. I had so much trouble with Wells Fargo (see review) and Washington Mutual, still being fairly new in my neck of the woods was still being heavily advertised.

Seeing as how I am online most of my day, I was appealed by how I was given the option to open my free checking account online--for only $25. And free! It's free checking account! No strings attached! Washington Mutual also has a very decent online banking system. I've never had a problem with it aside from it being about two days behind as opposed to if I had called and checked my account activity through the 800 customer service number.

So I opened my account, ordered my checks and my Visa Checkcard--all online of course and waited patiently for Washington Mutual to do the rest. I got my Visa Checkcard, got my pin number, but didn't get my checks. They never received my order. Ok, no problem. I called the 800 customer service number and was assisted my very friendly and helpful people. I ordered the cheapest, most basic checks available; $11.50 was the total. I found that to be satisfactory. I was paying much more for checks at Wells Fargo.

Bank fees are about what one might expect with a free checking account, I suppose. Overdraft and returned checks are charged $18.00 per item. Printing out one of those mini-statements are $1.00, and putting a stop payment on a check is $12.00.

My statements have always come on time, my questions answered should I need assistance, but most importantly, I never discovered odd amounts missing from account, no hidden charges and my check book balanced out every single time. **Heavy sigh** I fell in love. I let my guard down. Washington Mutual could never wrong me. Not until this last Friday, 9/8.

Being the good little wife that I am, I decided to take my husband out to lunch. (never mind that I was tired of listening to my Nursing Midwife--I needed to get up and get out. Eating lunch with my husband was not going to affect my blood pressure right?) I took my husband out for Mexican Food (see review on Sal's) and when I tried to pay with my Checkcard, it was declined; never mind that I had deposited $950 in cash on the first of the month.

When I got home, I called customer service only to find out that they had suspended my card. I was told that the deposit I made at the ATM on the first of the month contained no cash, but an empty envelope instead. They lost $940. I stayed on the phone for another hour talking to all sorts of different people in different departments. They transferred me around the entire state of California only for me to find out that I could file a dispute and that the paperwork will arrive shortly--in 10 days! And by the way, was I aware that because I had deposited an empty envelope and was suspected of trying to cheat the bank, they had removed $940 from my account. Never mind that I had written $800 worth of checks on that money. True to their word, the money was removed and that night I became overdrawn by $450, plus $74 in overdraft fees.

Remember how ATM's have video cameras for our protection? The particular ATM I made a deposit with, conveniently had no video tape in the camera that evening so my transaction--me pulling the cash out of my wallet, stuffing the envelope, licking it (subsequently getting a gnarly paper cut, btw) and putting it in the machine, does not exist.

This morning, I waddled my pregnant body into the branch I tried to cheat out of MY money, slapped my check stub, ATM receipt, 10 months worth of bank statements which consistently showed deposits every 1st and 15th, and my latest blood pressure reading (courtesy of my Nursing Midwife) on the counter and threatened to give birth on their carpet if I didn't get to see the Operations Officer at that moment. I insisted on my dispute paperwork now, not in 10 days. I showed this woman, the Operations Officer, all of the proof I had, then pulled a blank video cassette out of my bag and told her where to stick it--in the ATM camera. (though this was NOT where I had in mind)

The good news is that I was awarded a provisional re-deposit of my funds until the investigation is completed. The bad news is, I'm still a suspect. In the meantime, I have borrowed some money from my father (who btw, was an Operations Officer and Assistant Vice President at the same bank for 20 years before getting out of the business) and opened up a new account at a different bank. I intend to close the account when this mess is straightened out.

I don't know what you think, but I expect banks to make the occasional minor error. Losing a large sum of money is not a minor error, nor should a person have to wait for 10 days to file a dispute. They've lost my business.

More on the whereabouts of my money at a later date. I have to go back to bed.



Recommended: No