Washington Mutual review: Anyone that considers opening accounts with them should beware! 103

If WAMU was set up correctly, the card should be declined upon there being no money in the account. Instead, they tap fee charges onto the account to make money. The advancements in technology should allow for improvements in life and not for degradation of a customers life. I had 5 overdraft charges that occurred all in one day cumulating to about $170. WAMU refunded only one of these charges and left me stuck with the rest of the FEE charges. I think it's a big bank scam. If i have no money in one of my accounts, the card should just be declined! If I go to a store that accepts only cash and I don't have any cash then I can't spend it. A debit card should work the same way. Instead, I have no money in the account, WAMU makes it worse by adding in FEE charges to compound the problem. How does that make any sense? How is that being helpful to customers? I am not a 'huge' fan of BOFA, but I must admit that BOFA has been much much more courteous about reversing charges then WAMU.

Don't use this bank if you will ever need customer service (see other reviews! Believe me, You'll need it!). The customer service calls are answered all over the world, including Manilla Phillipines. In addition, they can't speak English. They can't even pronounce Washington Mutual, which was sad.

Once I was tired of repeating and respelling things over and over to many different people, I asked if they were in the US and they lied to me and said they were in the Seattle area. I asked them a very simple geography question about the Seattle area and they had no clue what the answer was. I was later told that they were instructed not to tell the customers that they were out of the country, but that rule has since changed.

I went into my branch to discuss this with someone and what I got was a haughty, indignant attitude from the manager, who loudly told me that outsourcing was now industry standard, and I would not find another bank that did things differently. I then listed at least 5 banks in the immediate area that are locally owned and calls were answered in our own city. He then tried to change the subject, "So, then what can I do for YOU?"

I called Corporate office and the nice lady that answered said that it was pretty unpopular with the customers, but that the call outsourcing was a corporate decision that she could not change. She said that the best thing to do would be to voice your opinion at the corporate level and possibly if enough people call or close their accounts, the "suits" might sit up and take notice.

I have been a customer for almost 20 years and I am going to a local bank. Do yourself a favor, THINK LOCAL...use a Credit Union, or a local bank, something other than this huge monstrosity of a company.

I have had a Washington Mutual master-card for about 8 yrs. I have repeat-edly requested my account be reviewed to lower my interest rate(presently @ 31.99%). I received an offer from "wamu" @ 12.99% 'PREAPPROVED'rate and a transfer bal. of 0%. I spoke to the customer service rep and she told me because my account was older than 90 days she could not honor the offer.The agreement does not state ANYWHERE terms of this nature. (product #222T92E) I have been an excellent Cardholder with a good track history, (with no consideration). I think this offer is truly not honest and over the past eight years they keep telling me they'll review my account, HELLO? In hindsight I think this is wrong. (p.s.--the highest card I hold has a 15.99% and lowest is 8.99. There's nothing wrong with my credit. Help. Chana Fonte.

I have more then just one complaint for this company. So let's start on day one... I opened my checking and savings account with about $3000 in cash. So all the girl needed to do was DEPOSIT. But instead the bank teller decided to TRANSFER an extra $1000 from someone else's account into mine at the same time. So as the days went on I paid bills and went shopping and kept tracking the numbers in my little check book. Also, the savings account was pulling money out of the checking every month just like it was supposed to. All of a sudden two months later Washington mutual withdrawals $1000 from my savings account which was supposed to only have about $150 in it. The only thing the transaction history said was «amount owed to WaMu." huh? So I called and told them what happened. The man said he would look into it and call me back. (I never heard from him again) BUT they made sure to pull the $1000 from the correct account...my checking. So I was exactly -$850 in my savings and -$500 in my checking. I called and they told me that even though it was a bank error I did spend the money and had to pay it back. They closed both my accounts and I had to pay $850 then they returned the extra $1000 that they took from my checking. THEY NEVER RETURNED THE OVERDRAFT CHARGES! And now I just learned they sent my "claim" to a business that puts your name on a list that pretty much lets every bank know you can't open an account...for 10 years!

Luckily I already had another account opened. It was a Washington mutual account but it was the only one I could use. Recently some of their policies have changed. My hair dresser of three years accidentally charged my card twice. So instead of $250 being taken out she charged $500 and overdrew my account. I called her to let her know and she said she would put it back no problem. Then I called wamu to tell them that she would fix it and they could reverse the overdraft charges. They informed me, once more, that it was not a bank error and that they would not reverse the overdraft charge. I'm sorry but that means I have to pay for something that is definitely not my fault. They told me to call the merchant and have them pay the fee. So now I have to call my sweet hairdresser who made an honest mistake and tell her to, practically, give me back the tip I gave her that day. Unbelievable! Thank god my hairdresser uses a credit card company and it was their fault so they are going to pay for it. But still. Washington mutual just got $30 for free...something is wrong here. If the mistake had not happened they would never have taken out that $30. And it didn't mess up there funds...it was mine so I should get the extra $30 if anyone.

The point is Washington mutual will find any way to STEAL money from you! DO NOT BANK WITH THEM!

I have wamu credit card and each month I paid balance full. This last billing cycle I have over $1000 purchased on the account and I made 2 payments within same billing cycle and paid the amount in full; when I received my statement for this month it shows that my account has a balance so I inquire about it and they couldn't give me clear explanation for the finance charges on there; they was 2 diff. charges on there for purchases-current cycle and purchases-previous cycle. I never saw any credit card that has 2 purchase cycles. and for something that was already paid full finance charge should not accrue since it was paid within the same billing cycle.

So you think you money is safe in the bank. better think again it may be much safer in your sock drawer. I May of this year I opened a CD at Washington Mutual with $75, 000 from the sale of my last home. The CD was in my name alone since I was single when I purchased the house and had just gotten married when I sold it. In California we call this separate property.

It never occurred to me that the funds might not be safe or that someone could remove them without my permission but that is exactly what happened. Beginning in August my then wife systematically transferred the funds out of the CD and quite without my knowledge. She did this over the phone by simply calling Washington Mutual and making the transfers. I had a joint family account with her in order to pay our mutual bills that she managed and it was to this account she initially transferred the funds before removing or spending them.

During this period I never received any communication with Washington Mutual regarding this CD. I went long my happy way secure in the fact that my money was safe in such a wonderful institution. When I discovered the loss I immediately went to the local branch and spoke with the manager. She determined that my wife had committed Bank fraud and had even deposited a bad check for 75, 000 dollars to try and hide it from me. he indicated to me that if I filed for bank fraud they would prosecute my wife. I chose to do exactly that and to my surprise the banks fraud department determined that because the funds were transfer to a joint account I had received benefit from the transactions and the problem was between my wife and me. Ridiculous as this seems the bank denied my appeal on the same basis.

I have since filed a complaint with the Department of thrift supervision but for 6 months I can get no response out of the OTC. Now I come to learn that the CEO of Washington Mutual is on OTCs' board “Wow talk about the fox guarding the chicken coop”.

I have been working in customer service for about 4 years now, and never had I ever been mistreated by a rep ever. They make bill collectors seem nice.

One day I was depositing a check that my sister gave to me, and they denied it saying that my account is under fraud investigation. Due to the fact that I was making to many deposits (Cash deposits)

so I called the customer service to see what was going on- they transferred me to Fraud Risk Operation. Let me tell you, she (Debra) was trying to make out to be a criminal. She told me that my checking account was going to be closed and my card was going to be deactivated, I was begging and pledging with her that I can assure her that this is not a fraud issues and she just kept interrupting me and speaking over me. I had asked her for her name over and over she just told me that she didn’t want to give me that information. After repeatedly of me asking her for her name I finally got it.

Finally, after I was asking for her advice and possible help to resolve this issue she told me that I should have not been a fraud criminal and I should be held accountable for my actions then she hung up in me.

So now I need to do further research to make sure that my voice is heard.

I lost my job in May due to the company's filing a Chapter 11. As a result, I paid my mortgage until last October. Prior to that, I sent WaMu letters, copies of which I have (sent certified, return receipt requested) indicating my problem and what I planned to do to rectify the situation, to wit: I would, at the earliest possible time, withdraw a sum of money from my IRA to cover the back payments and to proceed with timely payments from that point. I had sent them the following: a letter to my financial planner, indicating he was to sell part of my IRA, a letter from my financial planner to Wa Mu indicating what he would do, a copy of the check I got from my IRA which needed to be placed in a bank for 11 business days prior to clearing, and two checks for the "reinstatement" and "assorted fees" to their vulture of a lawyer, amounting to some $4, 500.00. To be fair, I still owe them $128.96 -- a letter to them was enclosed with the checks and the schedule of payment for this coming Friday to send the rest of the money by Fed Ex to some clown in Jacksonville.

What did I get for my pains? Harrassing phone calls sometimes 4 times a day, and just yesterday, a notice my home was to be placed on a sale on April 15, 2009! Tell me the old guy from It's A Wonderful Life doesn't run this outfit!

I financed my home with a primary and secondary mortgage from Washington Mutual. After the loss of my job, I could no longer afford the mortgage payments. Instead of risking a foreclosure, I found a motivated buyer and began a quick close on my property. At signing, I realized that WaMu charged a total of $21,394 in prepayment penalties, which was not something that I was made aware prior. I am left with no capital to rent or purchase another home. Is there something that I am missing in trying to the $21,000+, that is rightfully mine...

Once again I have tried to find out what will happen to my loan when it is paid off May 1, 2009. I have auto pay. My last payment will not be as much as my auto pay has been. Do I need to cancell further payments at the bank or will WaMu stop taking money out of my account once my May payment has been made? There is no number on the phone answering tree at WaMu that addresses pay off. There are no live people to talk to, only machines. I sent an email from the web site and got this reply:

On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 6:28 PM, Personal Banking wrote:

Please visit Chase.com at http://www.chase.com to refinance, apply for a
new home loan, check mortgage rates or talk with a Mortgage Consultant.

If your inquiry is regarding your existing WaMu Home Loan, please
contact Customer Service at (866) WAMU-YES. Thank you for your
business.

EQUAL HOUSING LENDER

Privacy & Security: To access the Washington Mutual privacy policy go
to:
http://www.wamu.com/customer_service/questions_answers/security_privacy/default.asp

Please note that you are unable to respond directly to this message. If
you have any questions about your account or need further assistance,
please contact Washington Mutual Customer Service. Products and services
offered by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and its affiliates are not responsible for and
do not endorse any information, advice, opinions, or services from
third-party news information or service providers. Washington Mutual, a
division of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

All products are subject to credit and property approval. Rates,
program terms and conditions are subject to change at any time without
notice. Not all products are available in all states or for all
amounts. Other restrictions and limitations apply. © 2009 JPMorgan
Chase & Co.

My father passed away on 01/03/08 and has a line of credit $250, 000.00 with Washington Mutual. The line of credit is being used by my brother Steven B. Pierce for his personal use and I am not even sure if Washington Mutual knows my father has passed away. There is a trust and Stven B. Pierce is spending the money that would be apart of the inheritance for the one stated in a Pierce trust. I am included in the trust along with my sister Linday Anderson.

My brother is living in my fathers home. The only thing that has cash value is my fathers home. My complaint is why is Washington Mutual allowing a line of credit to be spent when my brother does not work and he could never pay back the continued line of credit that is being drawn from my fathers line of credit for Steven B. Pierce's personal use.

Approximately one year ago I took the offer for 0% interest for one year on a balance transfer. Trying to make on line payments have always been a hassle. Three or four months ago there was a glitch in the on line payment and I did not get a confirmation #. It never was credited to my account. I did not find this out till the next billing cycle. Upon speaking with the representative she said there was nothing she could do except take the payment in full and charge me $9.95 for the payment. I also noticed the interest had been raised to 24.24%. I questioned the representative and once again she said there was nothing she could do and I had to call customer service. So I did and was told that was part of the fine print and that is what my interest rate would be till I paid off the balance. It is very convienant for WaMu or JP Morgan or whom ever now owns the account to not notify me that the rate had gone up to the max and I only found that out on my next billing cycle. I have since stopped using the WaMu card since the interest rate on new purchases went to 25.49% and I can only feel for all the other account holders that have fell victum to this outrageous percentage for a computer glitch. The customer service representative even said my account had been paid on time except for the one error. The monthly amount I am now required to pay has went up by approximately $27.00 which is all interest. I feel the establishment once again has taken advantage of middle America. Of course what else is new.

J.W. Coons

WAMU's customer service specially the fraud unit is a disgrace. WAMU notified me that I deposited an "empty" envelop thefore they are taking the money out of my account. I looked at my account and found a series of fraudulent transactions. When I reported this to WAMU they declined my claim right away. No investigation, no nothing. Reason for denial is because I did not lose my ATM card nor did I share my PIN with anybody. That the PIN is a personal ID. How stupid can that be? So what is the use of the camera that are installed in each ATM, what is the use of a fraud department if they do not want to investigate. And this transaction was done the same night that WAMU was bought by JP Morgan. Is this an inside job or what.

I have been with this bank for more than 10 years and this is the kind of service I got. First day: I waited 1 1/2 hours and 6 transfers. Second day, customer service said "I cannot help you, you have to call this number, Can I help you with anything else?", 3rd try, I went to the branch office, branch office called the department and transferred the phone to me saying they are declining again. That a manager will call me within 48 hours to explain why I was declined, 24 hours had passed, I am still waiting. They could not even give me the name of the manager.

Is this the kind of service you give to your customers? You're like a Goliath treating small hard working people like dirt. LOUSY customer service, the tone and attitude are condescending. if you cannot do your job or unhappy with your work, just QUIT. Other people who really need jobs can provide better service than you.

I wonder how many fraudulent transactions were committed on 9/24/08. if you have the same experience, please, let your voice be heard. I am all alone here trying to fight this giant institution.

Washington Mutual, Stole me home. It all started with me wanting a truck to, well get to work every day. So I go to the bank that was handling my mortgage. They give me credit line of 48, 000. I use 3, 800 of this money.I payoff the loan and two years later, there foreclosing on my home. Not because I was late on my mortgage or that I never paid it. They went over the junior loan of not 3, 800 but of 48, 00 and took my home for the 130, 000 I had on my mortgage.

So I dont know what to do with them. They seem to have a scheme in which they dont seem to get in troupble for, half of which I am at fault for but it shouldnt cost me 400% interest. So I work in a driving position and I primarilly pay for gas and get reimbursed for at the end of the week. Over the past 2 years I have been trying to get them to give me a 100-150 dollar overdraft protection type thing for this occasion, or a small line of credit to attach to my checking account but instead I keep getting declined from this minimal line of credit. So the thievery is this when it comes to processing my charges they seem to adjust the charges to there advantage by putting through the larger sum charge. example I would have a charge $2.50 x3 for parking and later that day fill up for 50.00 for a total of 57.50 in charges and say I have 48.50 in acount the route the charges so that the 50.00 goes through that is 33.00 overdraft for going 1.50 over then they decide it is time for them to put the 3x2.50 in for 33.00 each so I went from being over drawn by 9.00 to an outstanding 141.00 in the hole. how is this legal getting a 1500% markup on 9.00 dollars and unwillingness to work with me in any way. Then I get up one morning and check my account in which I do daily and realize that I have a ballance of -23, 000.00 dollars in which at fault of there own the froze my account of all funds for a week. I have direct deposit so you kinda get an idea of the problem. So im am debating on filing some class action suit to get this out in the air. they are doing what they can to screw the people that are barely making it through this rough time while spending the tax money of mine to benefit them, bailout and such, kind of tired of it but what options do I have

I financed my mortgage with WAMU, paid off the account in full and with interest and late fees. Then I found out this week that Washington Mutual (WOOHOOWAMU) has been reporting me as a Foreclosure. Now I have to dance around the phone lines and non-english speaking customer service reps. at WAMU, woo hooo. I guess I should get on the ban wagon and sue to defamation of character.

Who do i call? Loanbusters? I have had Lexington Law Firm handle this once before with no results. Now I have to hire another lawyer to sue these ###, well thats not a problem.

I have two homes financed with Washington Mutual. Both loans were sold to that company by the original lender. I also have a credit card through WaMu. In dealing with the company in both mortgage and card departments I have found wait times to speak to a representative to be sometimes in excess of 30 minutes. Service reps are both uncaring and unmotivated, and supervisors are rude and cold.

We recently were forced to spend many hours working some of these people because those in their processing departments either cannot read or comprehend simple documents. After changing home insurers and sending proof of insurance to WaMu, we find that their clerks cannot tell the difference between a proof of insurance and a bill. Consequently, even though I had paid the insurer myself, WaMu proceeded to disburse funds from my escrow accounts to the insurance company -- not just once but THREE TIMES IN 72 HOURS... AND OUT OF THE WRONG ACCOUNTS. Next thing I find is that one escrow account is depleted by several hundred dollars and the second is down in the negative balance column.

Their card services are just as bad. Reps are surly and some cannot speak the language clearly. Statements are made which are not true and accurate and calling to correct errors is usually an ordeal. I have closed the card account after only 5 months. Obviously the house mortgages are not so easily disposed of. However, I am a very successful real estate broker who is frequently in a position to influence buyer decisions regarding lenders and financing details. Enough is enough. I'm tired of the crap, rude behavior, broken promises and poor service from those that expect me to pay them. I will do without rather than do business with WaMu again.

Well here I go again another bad complaint about washington mutual, this time was a fee of 60.00 that I was never told of via phone when I made the request to have some past statements sent to me...of course they said when I call to get it back that this is somewhere written in the customer fees in one of there many small fineprints ...I am sure it is ...what is wrong about it is that this was never told to me when I asked about getting copies of my statements...why is it that they have such bad customer service ...I am much more than just unhappy I am mad 60.00 bucks does not come easy for someone like myself and I know that this is there way to just ripp off the customer and get as much money out of us ...but no more I am taking what little they left in my account and going elsewhere, this gal is gone and I hope that who ever reads this and is considerng using them think twice and browse the web to read other complaints like mine...I have one more thing to say to WAMU hope you enjoy my 60 bucks and put them where the sun don't shine...cause that 60 it's all your going to get from me..no more. well maybe more complaints on other sites...see ya.

I owed a company and certain amount of money, I had issued them a check that I substituted for cash, when I requested for my check back they stated that "WAMU" has my check. I called WAMU and requested a stop payment on this check and a couple of days later WAMU let the cash get check after my request for it to be stopped! It left my account in the negative. I called WAMU and explained to them that they OVERRIDE their policy and let this check be cashed anyway. They would not admit that they screwed up and refused to pay me back my funds. I WILL NEVER SUGGEST THAT ANYONE BANK WITH WAMU... THEY ARE HOME OF THE LIARS AND NOT HOME OF THE FREE!

Washington Mutual - www.wamu.com

I have been trying for 4 months now to get my address changed on my Wamu account after I moved. First I called and completed the change, (or so I thought). The lady said it may take a month before I'd start getting my statements at my new place. It seemed a little long, but I figured no biggie since I could pick up any stray mail from my old roomates until it went through. After a month and a half, and still no statements or mail from Wamu, I called again and was told there was no record of my request. We did it again, and again I was told it would take about a month to go through. After another month and a half or more, I decided to call again and was told, after waiting 10 minutes on hold, that it hadn't gone through because somehow the last 2 digits of my zip code were missing from my request,(remember, I gave the info over the phone,but somehow they didn't have it). I asked why they didn't just call me since they also had my phone #,or look it up online, but they didn't have an answer. I let them know I was not a happy camper, and was assured by the guy that they would bypass the normal red tape and that it would be done "within 24 hours". I stupidly took his word because he sounded so concerned and compassionate,(picture a Toby McGuire type, super nice rep who is going to get to the bottom of your problem because,"that should never have happened, and I will personally take care of this,you have my word and sincere apology for any inconvenience this mistake has caused you.") I hung up glowing with that good feeling you get when a persistent problem is finally solved.

What a sucker I was! I didn't double check it,(like an idiot), and assumed all was well finally. I did notice that I still hadn't seen a statement in awhile, but assumed I had just missed one after the change had gone through,-WRONG! About 3 weeks after that last session, I was shopping on Ebay and spotted a great bargain on a guitar that I wanted to buy. It had just been listed,and had a "buy it now" price that was about a fifth of its actual value and I wanted to snatch it up before someone else nabbed it. I pushed the button to buy it now, and when I tried to pay for it got a message that the buyer only accepts paypal payments from accounts with a "confirmed address". That means my shipping address had to match the one that my bank sends my statements to in order to complete the purchase. I decided to bypass Wamu "customer service", and tried to go online to do it myself if possible. I was relieved to see that indead I could change it myself and proceeded to change it,or at least I thought I did. It's a simple 3 step process, and since I was in a hurry, I thought I was done when I got to the step 3 page and didn't see anything at all to click. I had already filled out my new info, etc., and thought I was done. I went back to Ebay to buy the guitar, and it happened again, -payment refused because of an unconfirmed address. I went back to the site and did it again and this time noticed that step 3 just doesn't have any options, or buttons at all to push in order to complete the process. It's a complete dead end, so in effect there was no way in hell for me to change it myself at all. I went back to Ebay to beg the seller to accept my payment, but of course the guitar was gone by then. That was Wednesday. I called Wamu again early this morning,(Friday), and spoke to a executive level customer service, who assured me that I had finally reached the place that could and would absolutely fix the problem.

He said someone would be calling me "most likely today, or at the latest on Monday about it. I haven't heard a damn thing all day, (8 pm now). I can't wait for monday to see if they actually call me back. I have no expectations of that happening at this point. I will be changing banks as soon as it's convenient, even if they call me Monday and have fixed the problem,(in which case I'm going to call the Pope and report a miracle). To anyone at Wamu bothers to read this:-YOUR VERSION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A BAD BAD JOKE TO BE INFLICTING ON YOUR CUSTOMER/VICTIMS. I HAVE TO LAUGH WHEN I SEE YOUR COMMERCIALS TOUTING YOUR SUPPOSED ATTENTION TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, -WHAT A ABSOLUTE CROCK! YOU HAVE BY FAR THE WORSE CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE,(AND I'M 51 YEARS OLD AND HAVE SEEN PLENTY OF CUSTOMER SERVICE PROBLEMS IN MY LIFE!). WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? IT'S UNBELIEVABLE. JUST GROW A DAMN BRAIN ALREADY AND START TREATING PEOPLE RIGHT, OR AT LEAST QUIT LYING ABOUT YOUR "CUSTOMER SERVICE" IN YOUR ANNOYING COMMERCIALS. I AM SHARING MY STORY WITH THE PUBLIC HERE, AND ALL MY FRIENDS, AND ANYTIME THE SUBJECT OF BANKING COMES UP, THIS STORY WILL BE TOLD.

WHAT UTTER AND COMPLETE ###S YOU MUST BE TO SOMEHOW GET IT THAT PEOPLE WANT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, THEN TREAT PEOPLE LIKE CRAP WHO NEED HELP. WHOEVER IS THE HEAD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOULD BE INSTANTLY CANNED IN MY OPINION. IS GEORGE BUSH MOONLIGHTING THERE BY ANY CHANCE? SEEMS LIKE IT.

I WILL HAVE A PARTY THE DAY YOU ARE SWALLOWED UP BY SOME OTHER BANKING INSTITUTE, AND I WON'T HAVE TO SEE YOUR [censored] SPOTS ON TV AGAIN. I dare anyone from Wamu to reply to this. I'd love to hear a good excuse for all this. I hereby give permission for this website to give my name and phone # to any Wamu rep who contacts you and wants to talk to me personally. MAKE MY DAY PUNK! LETS HEAR IT. TELL ME HOW SORRY YOU ARE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING AND HOW YOU WILL TAKE CARE OF IT PERSONALLY. - I F***ING DARE YOU. GROW SOME BALLS - CALL ME, (THE CUSTOMER YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT)-LOL.

WHAT A BUNCH OF SCREWUPS! ENOUGH SAID.

Wamu offered me an option to select bi-monthly payments for automatic withdraw payments on a 4-unit apartment building I just bought and I made the payment for the following month and figured auto payment was set up, but they don't allow bi-monthly payments on rental property even though it was a selection on the paper work they gave me. So, I didn't pay the month after I sent in the paper work, I figured a month and three weeks was more than enough time for auto pay to be set up, but it wasn't. They put my property to a forecloser agency right away. I paid the month that the auto payment didn't take affect and filled out the auto payment paper work again. I filled out the paperwork like the first time, because they said they never received the paper work on the first setup. The same thing happened again, that is when they told me that bi-monthly payments were not accepted. They gave me two lates to the credit agencies and ruined my credit. I thought I was the customer to be catered to? Wamu is the worse company I have ever dealt with, there should be a class action law suit against them for bad business practices. Wamu puts you on hold for 10 to 45 minutes, dropped calls all the time when they transfer you to another department that knows nothing and not working with the customer to lower interest rates, they are more interested in foreclosures then helping anyone. Wamu is the worse company by far I have ever worked with. Please stay away from Washington Mutual at all cost.

On many occasions I have incurred overdraft fees. Usually I incur these from transactions taking 2 weeks to show up! When I ask wamu to reverse these fees not only does it take them literally two weeks to respond to me but then they say there is nothing that can be done because it is bank error. Recently I had a 6.00 charge go through that wasn't supposed to the company refunded my 6.00 but I am still stuck with a 30.00 fee! When I e-mailed Wamu regarding this and said I could show proof that it was not my fault they said there was nothing they could do since it was not bank error and that I should take it up the merchant who caused the overdraft. They even say on their account information that we are allowed one free overdraft fee reversal a year I have yet to obtain that yet. Their customer service sucks, their website is slow and always has issues, and transactions take forever to show up. I have a Wells Fargo account too and almost (very very rarley) have any issues especially with overdraft fees. I even have overdraft protection set up on my Wells account and it works perfect. I have asked for the same from WAMU but they never respond and let me know how. And calling on the phone is an even bigger joke their reps are rude and unhelpful it is always well, their is nothing I can do about that for you today.

After over three years of sterling payment history wtih Washington Mutual on two different Visa cards issued by them, I opened one of the two bills this month to find they had jacked my APR to 24.99 percent, a full 8 percent! I was advised by someone at customer service who spoke English as a second language that I was "sent a notice in November 2007 that explained if you do not close your account, you agree to an increase (repricing) of your interest rate up to 24.99 percent." Of course they hid that in the fine print of a paper bill that I have no use for, as I do all of my payments online, not through the mail. I tried to get them to reverse the rate hike back to the original interest rate given my past loyalty, sterling payment history, etc., but they could only "apologize for the inconvenience." I asked them to close my account and now I'lll have to take forever to pay off the outstanding balance thanks to the jacked up interest rate. Another very unhappy Washington Mutual customer here...

I want to share my story with anyone who is banking Washington Mutual. If you are like me, and like to be provided with decent customer service WAMU is not that bank. I understand that my situation had a bit of bad luck involved, but there was absolutely NO EXCUSE why they treated me the way they did. Hopefully, hearing my story will make you think twice.

Last summer, someone had hacked into my checking account. They spent my money at big chains like Best Buy, Wal-mart, fast food places, and gas stations just a few hours from where I lived. I noticed the unauthorized charges immediately since I check my account online daily. In one day, they managed to spend over $500.

Immediately, I called WAMU's customer service line to file a report. After waiting for a good half hour, I got a hold of an operator and explained my situation. She told me she was going to transfer me to another line so I can file my report.

I must have waited about 3 hours on the phone listening to some of the worst elevator music and then I heard a click. Yep, the phone got disconnected. I call the customer service line again and wait some more. When I finally got a hold of a operator, I told them I got disconnected when they tried to transfer me and I asked for the phone number directly. She told me that she was 'terribly sorry' and their phones sometimes disconnected people when they try to transfer.

The department she transfers me to must take care of some unusually large number of cases or they are very short-staffed. I waited another several hours to get an operator and was finally able to file the claim. I called WAMU after work around 7pm, and did not get off the phone until 2am. The whole time, I was worried that whoever had hacked my account was still using it! If I had found out while I was at work or school, there would have been no way for me to sit on the phone for that long.

Anyways, the lady told me that she was canceling my card and sending me a new one. She then told me that WAMU will be investigating my claim and it could take up to 60 days before the money gets credited into my account. I then ask her should I cancel my account and make a new one since my account was hacked? She told me not I didn't need to worry since they were only using my card number.

It did not take more than a week before I noticed another $300+ fradulent charges in my account. I started kicking myself for not listening to my gut and canceled my account.

I called WAMU again waited another several hours. When I finally reached the person I was suppose to talk to, she tells me that my card was NEVER CANCELLED! Again, they are 'terribly sorry'. They are canceling my card right away and sending me a new one.

A couple days later, while paying for groceries with a check since I didn't have my debit card, the check didn't go through. I was very confused since I had enough money in my account. I had sent out several checks to pay my bills which also bounced! It turned out that WAMU had put a hold on my account because I had filed a claim. I would have appreciated it, if they had inform me about this. To this day, WAMU has not reimbursed me for the bounced check fees.

The icing on the cake was when I received my card in the mail. They sent me a regular ATM card, without a Mastercard or Visa logo.

To make a really long story short, I spent the next couple of months calling WAMU when I can. I'm a full-time student and a full-time employee so it was hard to make time when you know filing a complaint takes outrageous amount of time. I ended up making the phone calls when I would go to sleep. I put my phone on speaker and slept with the phone next to my head and I would wake up when someone would go 'Can I have your first and last name?'

Their customer service staff has a lot they can improve on. Most of them have very thick accents so it is difficult to understand them. They do not know how to answer your questions because they are not trained well. They like to answer your with 'i believe so' or 'let me check with my supervisor' (don't let them check, they will put you on hold forever!). Not a definite YES or NO.

Once I asked where I can find my account number on my online account page and the operator when into a 5 minute tangent why they are not allowed to post your account number on your account page. A little bit of looking around on the page, my account number was easily found.

In the end, I eventually got my money back after several weeks. But those bounced checks resulted as late payments on my credit history. I later found out when I bought my Scion. Since I'm only 21 and only have 2 credit cards which I rarely use, I had to call my mom to fax over a sheet to co-sign... more embarrassment.

The manager gave me a number to a credit agency and he told me I can dispute those late payments, but happened to lost the number. Does anyone know more information about this?

And if anyone is curious, I closed my account as soon as my claim was closed. I bank with Wachovia now and used their customer service line a couple of times. I am satisfied with their wait times and seem to be better trained to answer your questions than WAMU.

Don't use this bank if you will ever need customer service (see other reviews! Believe me, You'll need it!). The customer service calls are answered all over the world, including Manilla Phillipines. In addition, they can't speak English. They can't even pronounce Washington Mutual, which was sad. Once I was tired of repeating and respelling things over and over to many different people, I asked if they were in the US and they lied to me and said they were in the Seattle area. I asked them a very simple geography question about the Seattle area and they had no clue what the answer was. I was later told that they were instructed not to tell the customers that they were out of the country, but that rule has since changed.

I went into my branch to discuss this with someone and what I got was a haughty, indignant attitude from the manager, who loudly told me that outsourcing was now industry standard, and I would not find another bank that did things differently. I then listed at least 5 banks in the immediate area that are locally owned and calls were answered in our own city. He then tried to change the subject, "So, then what can I do for YOU?"

I called Corporate office and the nice lady that answered said that it was pretty unpopular with the customers, but that the call outsourcing was a corporate decision that she could not change. She said that the best thing to do would be to voice your opinion at the corporate level and possibly if enough people call or close their accounts, the "suits" might sit up and take notice.

I have been a customer for almost 20 years and I am going to a local bank. Do yourself a favor, THINK LOCAL... use a Credit Union, or a local bank, something other than this huge monstrosity of a company.

I received a check from my aunt a few years ago for my birthday. It was a Chase check, as she works for Chase. I brought it to my Washington Mutual bank and deposited it, then made some purchases. I got a letter in the mail the next week stating that the check had not cleared in the account and that several of my purchases were overdrafts because of it. I went to the bank and paid the $100+ that they told me I owed them, but resolved to look into the issue more.

I called my aunt and explained what happened. She asked me why the check had not cleared and when I read the whole letter from the bank, they said that they could not find the account it was coming from. She said this was impossible and that I should call Washington Mutual. I called their headquarters and explained the situation, but was told that Chase's stamp was on the check, making it their fault.

I relayed this information to my aunt and she investigated the matter further, talking to several high up managers in her Chase office. They said that it was most certainly not their fault, and that Wamu had affixed their stamp to the check. This went back and forth several times and I spent countless hours at my Washington Mutual branch and on the phone with many managers from Wamu. I never got a firm answer from Washington Mutual and they refused to refund my money.

To this day, they haven't corrected the problem.

I had a mortgage with WashingtonMutual for four years. I have tried to delete PMI, WaMu sent a letter indicating that I must have an appraisal done at my expense. I found an appraiser in my area for $275.00. However, Wamu told me that it is there choice on selecting an appraiser though it's at my expense. So I had to pay $335.00 directly to Wamu. After I followed all guidelines for PMI deletion needless to say Wamu declined to delete this senseless charge. Wamu is a fraud.

Used WAMU for 3 years, no problems. Had several debits show up from credit report companies. Complained to WAMU who declined to remove the charges until after I called several times. When I called 800 number to inquire why these charges kept showing up, found out the 800 number was in the Philippines? WHY THE PHILIPPINES?

My payment was due on 09/11/2008, I couldn't make the payment until then, I went online to make the payment and it wouldn't let me schedule it for the 11th, I called customer service and she told me to schedule it for the 12th and it would show I paid it on the 11th, I just got my statement for Oct. and it shows a late charge of $39.00. I called and talked to Rena which is the customer service represenative from Washington mutual I told her the situation and what the other rep. told me, she asked why I didn't chose the speedy payment for $14.95, I told her I was told that I didn't have to chose the speedy payment because it would show I paid it on the 11th of Sept, even if I posted it for the 12th of Sept, and I told her that it was against the law for what they did.The rep. Rena started arguing with me so I told her I wanted to speak to her supervisor and she hung up on me.

It is time to do something about credit card lenders such as WAMU who practice deception in their credit lending practices!

I have been a customer with WAMU since 6/2000 with a perfect payment history. To my surprise, when I opened my latest statement my interest rate jumped from 5.99% to 16.34% to now 25.29% all within 6 months.

What kills me is that I have not been late on any other credit account that could warrant such a drastic measure on WAMU's part. This Ladies & Gentleman is called "LEGALIZED LOAN SHARKING!" And trust me when I tell you that I am going to do something about it.

I called WAMU this afternoon and successfully spoke to 1 Customer Service Rep, 2 Supervisors & 1 Customer Relations person. I had to kindly ask them to stop apologizing and giving me the typical sterile and robotic answers that they dish out to customers and start taking responsibility and accountability for what they are doing to their customers.

At first they tried to state that they periodically review customers accounts and change interest rates based on their review. When I asked them what my FICO was, they stated that they were not allowed to discuss that with me. I advised them that that is not a correct statement because legally they are not allowed to run a full credit report on me and that the truth is that my excellent credit score had nothing to do with it. Then they stated that my credit limit on my account was high. When I asked them who set my credit limit, they advised me it was them. When I asked them to specify what area of a signed agreement noted that if I used my credit line, it would increase my credit rate, and they advised me they did not know.

So in recapping my conversations with all of them I stated:

" So let me understand this...I have been a perfect paying customer for 8 years, you don't have any idea legally what my FICO score is and you don't know who really authorized this unjust credit rate increase and there is nothing you can do about this? - Well here was my answer to them...Isn't the real problem is that your CEO in April was asked to resign by the stockholders for mismanaging the home loans turning WAMU into a foreclosure nightmare? Isn't this the real reason that you are picking on your good paying customers is because your company made horrible financial mistakes and now you want to tap the good paying customers for more money? If they consider me a risk, how does jacking up my rate 10% and increasing my payment by $100.00 a month solve mine or their problems? Or are they just like the large oil corporations who increased the gasoline prices 125% in the last 12 months, or the food industry who increased all of the food prices by 38%, or the water company who increased water usage by 50% starting July 2008?

I really get it now...so all large corporations are all squeezing us to death. Well I am not going to take it any more! It is time to go after them & my first mission is WAMU and it is for Loan Sharking.

I will get in touch with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), who chairs the key House subcommittee with jurisdiction over unfair credit practices, along with Reps. Mark Udall (D-CO), Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Lincoln Davis (D-TN). They are among the now 61 sponsors of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act, HR 5244, introduced by Rep. Maloney.

If this does not work, I suggest that we all quit our jobs (if we even have one right now), collect unemployment & declare bankruptcy. That would allow us to completely dissolve our credit card bills (that we have all been using to pay for bare essentials because we can not possibly keep up with the cost of living) and allow us to make reorganized mortgage payments and get food stamps (to help pay for the inflated food costs.)

The Banks and Lending Institutions have financially ruined this country. I don't feel sorry for them at all. I hope the stock market crashes and we fire and imprison all of our elected officials for doing a crappy job! I am sick of all of these messes and look out because I am going after all of them...starting right now!

In June of this year I was lied to by teller & two managers at Washington mutual, branch at down town bklyn - fulton st.& coney islad &east 16th both in bklyn, Both had me to take time off from work to get check approved needed different id., wire money. Once I got the id they said I needed for my check to be approved, they said I had to wait. You advertised no fee for wire transfer I paid both times 20.00 I had an account with this bank (dime savings) for more than 20 years. Train these managers to tell the truth.

I am going through a divorce and part of the temporary settlement was for my husband to give me 3000 to assist me in moving to a new home. I deposited 1500 in cash and a 30 check in the ATM because the branch was closed.

I was moving in the next morning, so I wrote two checks to the apartment complex for my security deposit and first month's rent. I also wrote a check to my cable company for installation. Over the past week and a half, I've had to write a few more checks for household goods, a doctor's visit and groceries.

I was informed that My two checks to my apartment complex were returned as NSF because Washington Mutual put all of my funds on hold. My direct Deposit went in last friday, and all but 100 of that was put on hold as well. I had two small checks that would be covered by the

Updated On: Monday, May 12, 2008

One of the ridiculous messages I got:

NSF Transaction Amount Action Fee Date
Check 0009 283.56 Returned 0.00 50808
Check 0010 30.64 Returned 0.00 50808

As of the time this notice was generated (which may be later than the time the transactions were presented), the available balance in your account was 533.33.

Even better:

Thanks for contacting WaMu. I'd be happy to assist you and apologize for
the delay in responding to your request.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Our records indicate there were four
checks returned. You did not receive any fee for each of these checks.
There was a check returned on May 6, 2008; one on May 7, 2008; and two
on May 8, 2008.

As you requested, the records for your account have been reviewed.
Unfortunately, the following items were returned unpaid:

- Check 6 in the amount of 750
- Check 7 in the amount of 931
- Check 9 in the amount of 283.56
- Check 10 in the amount of 30.64

The ledger balance in your account on May 6, 2008, was 1, 417.21.
However, part of your deposit in the amount of 1, 530 that posted on May
5, 2008 is due to expire as the date of May 12, 2008. The funds will be
available on May 13, 2008.

The original cash deposit was made on MAY 3rd. Another deposit was made on MAY 6th. A payroll direct deposit was made on MAY 9th. There were more than enough funds to cover all of these transactions.

I was informed that WaMu posts all debits prior to posting any credits. So if my payroll deposit goes in at midnight, any and all debits will be posted prior to the direct deposit. I have seen my direct deposit not get posted until 4PM.

Avoid this company at all costs.

About a month ago somebody used my ATM (mastercard) and draft money on several ATM and also on ATM on Losvegas. I notified the bank right away as soon as i saw the unauthorized activities. After a month and a half the bank is refusing to give me the money. Some of the money has been drafted after i notified the bank and my card has been canceled. I called the 800 they have no body can help me, i also went several times to the Branch in Rolling Hills and each time only they have 2 employees and they say they are shorthanded and they can not help me. i really need help and it looks it is inside job.

My son in law pays his bills on time and more than the minimum amount. He received a notice that his interest rate was being increased from approximately 7% to over 22% and he called and was left on hold for over 30 minutes trying to reach a supervisor, who finally told him they couldn't change it back and couldn't tell him why, but that it would be in a letter. The letter is a form letter and states that they have researched their accounts and that his debt to income ratio doesn't meet their standards and they believe he is a credit risk, so they are upping his interest rate... This sounds like a scam, my son in law has a high Fica score and I need to find out where I can officially complain regarding this unfair business practice going on in California, where the consumer fortunately has better protection against predators like Washington Mutual.

THIS GUY SENT ME AN EMAIL SAYING THAT HE IS GOING TO OFFER ME A JOB OF A MYSTERY SHOPPER. AT THE TIME I NEEDED A JOB SO I FELT FOR IT AND TWO DAYS LATER A CHECK OF 3, 800 CAME TO MY DOOR THROUGH UPS AND I SIGN THE PAPER. THE DEAL WAS TO GET THE CHECK SEND IT TO SOMEONE ALONG WITH DETAILS OF HOW THE CASHIER/ATTENDANT REACTED IF I WOULD BE EVALUATING HIM/HER. TURNED OUT WHEN I DEPOSITED THE CHECK IN MY WASHINGTON MUTUAL ACCOUNT, THE CHECK TURNED OUT TO BE COUNTERFIET AND NOW THE BANK HAS SHUTTED ME OUT OF THIER SYSTEM FOREVER I THINK. AND ON MY PART IT IS NOT FAIR BECAUSE I AM CONSIDERED A SCAM VICITIM IN THIS SITUATION. THE BANK SHUTTED ME OUT OF THIER SYSTEM AND I CANT BANK THEM FOR A WHILE NOW WHICH I THINK IS NOT FAIR ON ME. I THINK SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

I have recently notice a charge made to my personal bank account, in which i did not make. the fraud title is MC-RESERVATION REWARDS (with a bunch of numbers that follow).When i first started to notice these, they didn't make any sense, and i thought they were actually rewards. Somehow it just doesn't ad up. A few months ago, i went through something similar, where it says TRANSACTION TYPE: debit with out PIN. and someone took my card and made a bill charge through T-mobile. of a charge of $250.00. I caught that right away and got that taken care of. I basically had to 'kill' my card, so no one else could made fraud charges, and now its happening again with my new card!

WaMu Fraud is the top news headlines. But Washington Mutual securities fraud is a separate cause of action from what many shareholders presume. Shareholders are in the hole and are desperate to recover their losses.

A law suit filed by an individual investor in Los Angeles County fails to state cause of action. The crux of the case is, a shareholder who left without his investment sued Washington Mutual and JP Morgan Chase in Municipal Court of Los Angeles, Santa Monica Branch. The law suit that was filed alleges fraud on the part of both companies involved in the Washington Mutual and JP Morgan Chase merger.

As I sit here typing this, I have now been on hold for 1 hour and 49 minutes. It wouldn't be a problem but this is not the first time I have experienced this with Wamu. Some background: I went online to check my balance and saw some charges on my account that I had not made. I called the 1-800 number provided by the website only to spend the next 10 minutes in automatic response purgatory. There are simply no options for speaking to a representative.

When I finally managed to get through, the girl I spoke to told me I had to speak with someone in another department, and that I would be on hold for "up to 15 minutes" due to a large call volume.

That was almost 2 hours ago.

I am still on hold and am basically a prisoner to my phone (and Wamu) on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Swell.

I would be slightly less furious if this hadn't just happened to me LAST WEEKEND when I was in Canada for a visit. After an embarrassing refusal of my card at an upscale restaurant, I called and learned that a security hold had been placed on my account and I would have to remove it. It was irritating enough that this hold had been placed without ANY communication to me, but to add salt to my wound, I had to *again!* be placed on hold for excruciatingly long periods of time (especially given that I was on my vacation - I hadn't planned on spending hours on the phone w/ Wamu). I had to call three times before the issue was resolved (the first two times I was inexplicably CUT OFF right when I had gotten through to a representative after waiting on hold for 20 minutes each time, the second time it happened I almost cried I was so frustrated).

Washington Mutual's customer service is the absolute pits. I see those "customer friendly" commercials on TV and I literally laugh (bitterly, it's a very bitter laugh).

Two hours and 1 minute. Still holding...

Like many Americans that find the economy squeezing our pocket books, I am even more overwhelmed when my credit card companies arbitrarily raise interest rates to painfully high amounts on existing balances. Recently I was raised to an interest rate of 23.85% on my Washington Mutual credit card, which has now been taken over by Chase. This occurred during a time when my credit score was rising into the higher range of “average". I have never missed or been late on a payment, and I always pay more than the minimum payment due.

When I spoke to two supervisors in the credit card department of Washington Mutual/Chase, I was told that they “are unable to negotiate interest rates." They said that they monitor their client's accounts constantly and “IF" an offer for a lower interest rate comes up, I will be contacted. This is a joke. I have never received an offer for a reduction in interest rate on an existing balance. Usually the only offers for lower interest rates come from competing credit card companies trying to lure me away from other companies. They offer misleading rates which jump tremendously when the honeymoon is over. After reading online comments at numerous sites, I find myself almost feeling lucky to be asked to pay “only" 23.85% on this Washington Mutual Credit Card, because for some are going even higher. This interest rate is more than 10% above any other card I hold. I fully expect to hear from other companies that just haven't yet gotten around to raising the interest on my other cards. They want to get their shot in before new rules take effect in 2010. It's like telling a criminal that he's going to have to stop stealing in 18 month, so he better get to it.

I was told by one supervisor that I had received a notice that this raise would occur if I didn't “opt out" by a date that has now passed. We check our mail carefully and if we received such a notice it must have been very well hidden in the fine print. These practices by banking companies have to be regulated and controlled before 2010. I am hopeful that The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights: Balanced Reform, will pass and take effect quickly. Please do all that you can to help those of us that find ourselves at our wit's end in this very tough economy. The very companies our tax dollars have been given to without restriction are now gouging us for every cent they can. Only you in Congress have the power to stop them.

I received a letter in late January from Washington Mutual stating they would be changing our service over to Chase Bank so I thought maybe the billing cycle date was going to change as well and I never received a bill. Then I get a letter in the mail stating it was a friendly reminder to send a payment, at which I immediately called to let them know I did not receive my bill so I made a electronic payment as I always do thru my checking account for the amount they were requesting in the letter that same day.

When I asked if I would be charged a late fee I was told they could not do anything about it because my payment was late. So, I paid the bill and then waited 5 days (as I was instructed to do) for the payment to be posted to my account. Then I call back andget a extremely rude rep on the phone that said they could not help me and did not offer me any options as far as disputing or appeling this decision, rather he said he would just cancel my account.

I called back and asked to speak to a supervisor and they told me they couldn't help either. I then sent a written appeal disputing the late charge and was again told I would not be credited. I have asked them to send me a copy of the statement that I never received, and to this day I have not received anything. My statement date on one bill is closing date 12-3-08, then the next one with the late charge is dated 2-3-09.

In response to my written dispute from Chase Bank they sent me a letter with 'tips for avoiding late fees'. Did they even review anything I sent? I doubt it! I am appalled that they can not understand why my payment was late. It obiviously wouldn't have been late had they sent me a bill in the first palce. I realize there are people that may call in saying they never received their bill, but if they looked at my payment history they would find that I have never been late with a payment once!

I really thought that Chase Bank would be more considerate than Washington Mutual was to me since they might have been losing their jobs, because I have never had a credit card company NOT fight to keep my business until now. Its only 39.00 but it is the principal and I still do not no what was on my credit card for the month of January.