Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 10:37:53
We have been customers of Home Savings, so now we are customers of
Washington Mutual by default. Today, when I made my regular monthly
deposit, I was informed that if I wish to deposit more than 4 rolls of
coins, I will be charged 10 cents per roll. Let me get this straight:
I'm going to be charged for the privilege of depositing money into my
own checking account? Obviously, this is not about the money--it's
about the principle. After reading the rest of the letters on your
website, enough is enough. I'll bank with one of the few remaining
independent banks, and hope they don't get digested like the rest.
From: YosemiDee@aol.com
I have never had such bad service at a bank before. In early May I
received
a notice for fees due for my safe deposit box. I hand carried my check
into
the branch and paid the fee. Mid July I received a LATE NOTICE from
Washington Mutual stating that my payment was late and that I owed an
additional $5.00 for a late fee. I ordered a copy of my cancelled
check and
again hand carried it into the branch and spoke with the manager (after
having to wait for 30 minute before I was helped.) She made copies of
all of
my paperwork and said it would be taken care of. This was mid July. I
asked
the manager at that time to send me a confirmation that my account was
cleared. A month later and I still have not received anything from
them. I
contacted the branch again. After being put on hold and having my name
asked
SEVERAL times another person came on the line. She did not identify
herself.
It turns out this was the manager that I had talked to in July. I
asked her
if my account had been cleared and why had I not received confirmation
of
this? She told me that the computer showed that my $25.00 payment had
been
received. Guess what folks? I had been billed $40.00 and had paid
that
amount. Now I have to go back to the branch and give her MORE copies
of the
information that I had already given to her. She "does not know why I
was
billed $40.00" for the size box that I am using and she would "have to
look
into it." She says she is requesting that a confirmation letter be
sent to
me....we shall see if that ever happens...In the mean time I am heading
over
to the branch AGAIN to deal with this problem - this time, I will be
CLOSING
MY ACCOUNT! I have had nothing but problems with this WaMu since Coast
Federal closed. Home Savings was no better. It's pretty bad when you
can't
trust the bank that you use. Now I am wondering what everyone else is
changed for their safe deposit boxes.
From: "Tonya Yorke"
I'm so amazed that one company can treat so many people so poorly.
My husband and I have had nothing but problems with THREE different
branches
of Washington Mutual in the Tacoma/Auburn, Washington area. The funny
thing
is, the tellers are so helpful. They for the most part, really want to
help
you. Management? That is a whole different story. No one seems to know
why
out of the blue they decided to put a hold on your accounts and tell
you
they will close them in two weeks. No one seems to know who is
responsible
for a debit card transaction that is taken out of the account, put back
in,
taken out AGAIN, then put back in two times more! The vendor nor the
bank
could claim responsibility. So, I told them I was going to the bank,
withdrawing the balance that they say I have (subtracting outstanding
checks) and closing my account. That they better take note because they
just
screwed themselves out of $200.00 and because they can not tell me who
is
doing it and that it won't happen again I will stop the madness by
taking
the money and closing the account. Very strange thing, a couple of
weeks
later they even wrote me a letter to say that after an investigation
they
found they had made an error and the money was MINE! Please find just a
little bit of satisfaction in that story. Needless to say we are
closing all
accounts with them, telling everyone we know not to bank with them and
moving on. I really hope you see that $8,000.00. PS if you have the
names
and addresses of people that might actually listen to our complaints,
please
let me know. Everyone we have talked to at management level acts like
the
names are top secret and won't give us any information. Take care!
Tonya
Yorke
From: "Krystee" (BettiePage@rhy.com)
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
I was stupid enough to open a new account with my divorce settlement.
I opened it with a large check--A CERTIFIED LOCAL CASHIER'S CHECK--, this was all I have to support myself and my two year old daughter. They are holding the check for eleven days. They refuse to call the local issuer of the CERTIFIED FUNDS and verify it, so guess what? They are earning interest on my check, I am bouncing checks, but I can't feed my daughter or put gas in my car, simply because they won't perform some basic customer service that ANY OTHER BANK would. Did they tell me this when I opened the account? NO! No matter who I call, no one will help me, this is their policy and they stand by it. I was going to invest in their CD's, refi my home with them, but they could care less. I've called several other banks, all of them instantly make certified funds available, or hold them for no more than 24 hours. ELEVEN DAYS, And one phone call could fix this. Do they care about me or my two year old daughter? Well, the branch management in Fairwood, Washington doesn't. Neither does Customer Service on their 800 number. They are at best patronizing and at worst rude. I've had better service at McDonalds than my bank. Can you believe this? Of course I'm incurring return check fees, borrowing money to live on, WHILE THEY EARN INTEREST ON MY SETTLEMENT. I HATE THEM! I am going to the BBB, several financial watchdog groups, pulling out my settlement from their grasp (if they ever make it available) and trust me, it wasn't small beans, and I am going to complain to everyone who will listen. It's a stupid policy that no other bank would think to do. This was a local, certified cashiers check. JERKS! Maybe next time I should put my two year old on the phone and they can explain to her why I can't even drive her to the park because I can't afford to put gas in my car.
From: RBeatty400@aol.com
I have be doing business with Home Saving of America for over 15 years
and
It's been a good relationship. They were purchased by Washington
Mutual and
I was informed by them of the Important information regarding changes
in my
individual retirement account plan agreement. One of the changes was
that I
would automatically give up my right to sue them effective the
changeover
date and would have to submit to binding arbitration. I wrote them and
told
them I have never sued anyone in my life and that I hoped I never would
but
that I was ceertainly not going to give up my right to do so, or have
them
unilaterally remove it for the privilege of parking my money in their
bank.
I am in the process of taking my money out of their bank
Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 11:50:12 -0700
I was just about to check out WaMu as a potential bank for my husband
and I. Thanks for your notice, I don't want to bank with a company
that
can't provide privacy for its customers. I enjoy online banking and I
have a business so I can't afford to put my privacy at risk. You have
my support. I have a checking account at WaMu that I'm planning to
close this week, thanks to your notice. Good luck!
From: "Lindsay Davis" (ldavis44@hotmail.com)
I am 44 years old, and have about 20+ years of banking experience
overall.
Like you, I have suffered through the mergers, and was laid off after
almost
7 years of service to one bank in particular. Since the late 80s, and
especially into the 90s, I have become totally disgusted with the
banking
industry, and the corporate greed that is now running rampant within
the
industry in general. I no longer work directly for a Bank, but do work
for
a subsidiary company of a bank.
For the last year or so, I have had my personal account with Bank of
America, however when NationsBank recently completed their merger with
Bank
Of America, they raised service charge fees, and generally just screwed
up
what had previously been a pretty good bank ! I decided to open up a
"Free"
account at Washington Mutual, and within 4 weeks of doing so, I
received a
letter stating that Washington Mutual was closing my account. The
letter
gave no reason or explanation whatsoever as to why my account was being
closed. Luckily, I had not yet closed out my account at Bank of
America,
and so I am still doing business with them as of now.
This entire experience with Washington Mutual was a very negative one,
and I
DO NOT, and WOULD NOT recommend Washington Mutual to ANYONE wishing to
open
an account, make a loan, or establish any kind of banking relationship
!
I would also recommend that EVERYONE write or E-Mail their Senators
and/or
Congressional Representatives (as I did) regarding the excessive, and
ridiculous fees that are being assessed by banks against their
customers !
Banking customers are now being penalized by banks for merely being
"customers". The banks are committing "customer extortion" in my
opion, and
getting away with it, and it's time for Government to take a long look
at
the situation, and put a stop to it.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Davis
Carrollton, Texas
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 11:26:32 -0800 (PST)
Good luck with your fight. I too was looking for the Washington Mutual
website when I saw your URL come up first. It's good to know your
internet
message is being seen, read and can hopefully make a real difference.
I had accounts at two banks: Tokai Bank of CA and Coast. It took a long
time to research the fee structure and available services at the various
local banks before I settled on these two (then) excellent choices. I
was
completely satisfied with Coast while they were still around.
I am appalled at the rate that the small banks in this area are becoming
consumed by large conglomerates. Did some banking anti-trust law
recently
change and as a result, we'll soon end up with 3-5 giant banks in all
of
LA? Or is it because of a gross accumulation in capital due to the
incredible profits banks have been making in the past years due to,
among
other things, rapidly increasing fee structures and ATM surcharges?
My question now is, CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD SMALL BANK THAT STILL
CATERS TO ITS CUSTOMERS WITH REDUCED (OR NO) FEES WHILE PROVIDING
ADEQUATE
SERVICE? And no, as a freelancer, I don't think I qualify for any credit
unions.
From: untouchablej@webtv.net (Joanna S.)
I came across your web page while trying to locate the Washington Mutual
Home Page. By the way the capitol letters really are attention getters.
After reading your page I decided against pursuing the Washington
Mutual home page (I also e-mailed your page to friends). I just wanted
to commend you and wish you luck in your fight to get what you are owed.
STICK IT TO THEM SISTER.
PS
The reason I was checkig out Washington Mutual is my bank, Barnett
Bank, merged with Nationsbank and now Nationsbank is merging with Bank
of America! Sound familiar? Anyway I will do my best to spread the
message that Washington Mutual is just another fatcat trying to screw
(pardon my french) the little guy.
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 11:18:29 -0800
Thank you for your insight regarding WA Mutual. I have been banking
with US Bank for 30 years. They have recently had a merger with US Bank
1 of South Dakota. They no longer do any customer service at their
branches, and you have to call a customer service line for any help.
You can't even order checks at a branch now. Besides that, they have
made many mistakes on my accounts, which take weeks to fix. I am very
dissatisfied with US Bank. Someone had recommended WA Mutual. Thanks
to your insight, I will not be looking there for my banking. Do you
know of any good banks, ones with good customer service? If you have
any recommendations, please reply. Good luck with your endeavor!
Sondra Donahue
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 98 21:33:53 Pacific Daylight Time
I was a customer at Great Western Bank for 10 years when Washington
Mutual took over- The takeover
took place in July 1998. I had never had a problem with Great Western
before- In August (1998) my
mortgage company took out an electronic payment ($5,000) I was told
that the withdraw would be for
$2,017- so I ended up $500.00 short of the $5,000. Washington Mutual
covered the check and charged
me (of course) and that was fine- but I bought this house a year and a
half ago and have changed my address
with Great Western and Wa. Mutual at least 9 times and my mail was
still going to my previous address- so
it was three days before I found out about this. this meant 12 more
checks at $18.00 a pop. I brought the
balance back up, but with $234.00 taken out for the checks and lots of
new fee's for balance inguiries (as
much as $1.00 each time I looked at my money) Iwas in the negative
again by Wednesday- which I also did
not find out about because I still was not recieving my mail at my
house- to make a long story, well long-
within a ten day period of time, Washington Mutual had taken $1,000.00
from my account- Since most
checks go through twice, I was getting hit twice for $17.00 or $18.00
per check, each time they were sent to
the bank- Now I had meetings with three account reps- and wrote out
thirty personal appolofies to these
merchants, who by the way were also bieng charged by Washington Mutual-
I ended up paying the $20.00
per check merchant fee's on 55 checks ($1,100) plus the $1,000
Washington Mutual had already taken out
of my account. Now I was calling on a daily basis and struggling to
figure this mess out- My deposits for this
four week time frame were $8,000- my withdrawls (including the $5,000
mortgage payment) were $7,540-
and yet within 10 days, Wash. Mutual took the rest, and get this- They
now want $800.00 more. I have met
with the Branch Manager on 6 different occasions to figure this out and
it was supposed to be in "review"
when I recieved a collection letter from CheckSystems- Since I had
been assured by the branch manager (
Omar Hassan) the while it was in review, it would not go to
CheckSystems, I was very upset- especially
since I was STILL recieving mail at my previous address- I had
transfered all of my business accounts as
well as my personal account in late August and when CheckSystems
reported this information- ALL of my
accounts were automatically closed out-I recieved a letter today
stating that I never did change my adress
with them- ha, and that Omar said that he would take $200.00 off the
$800.00 out of the "kindness of his
heart"---- WASHINGTON MUTUAL SUCKS!!!!!!!!
From: Sollojo@aol.com
From: WeHumble13@aol.comAdd
We went to get cash from the ATM to take our family of five out for a weekend
getaway. We haven't had a vacation in years, but really needed this three day
getaway. We couldn't get to our money and no one could explain why. We were
left to stay put and to try and get some answers the following week. There
were no answers and we gave up easily with no returned calls.
About 6 months later, we went to get cash for food, and our account said
"overdrawn" by $13,000!!! We never have that much money at one time. We're
paycheck to paycheck. It took us 13 days to get any answers, and letters for
all the checks they bounced, as well as paying for the charges that we had
occurred. I had to fax to California's corporate long distance proof that I
was no liar, twice! I hate this bank with a passion and have never been so
mistreated! I still cannot write checks at certain places because I am on
file. I didn't bounce them, Washington Mutual did, because someone made a simple data entry
mistake, and they blatantly called me a liar for 13 days. If I can help please
let me know, I Used to be a single mother of three myself.
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:42:16 -0800
You are so right in your assessment of Washington Mutual. In July they
deducted a check from my account twice. This caused me to be off in my
books, thus in turn one bad check turned into many over the months.
When all of a sudden I was over 600.00 over drawn I went in and
requested a total print out of my statement, which over three months
was a total of 340.00 in just bounced check fees. This took me days to
go over and trace back, only to find the cause of the missing money
was their fault. Washington Mutual was not very helpful in helping me
try and find the problem or resolve the situation. This in turn caused
me some undue stress. To me Washington Mutual is getting fatter off of
their mistakes. If only there was a good decent bank that was willing
to provide the type of service that they advertise, then I think we
would all be that much more happy. Thank you for letting me vent. I
hope this is read by many people and they all decide not to go with
Washington Mutual.
From: NavitaAnil@aol.com
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 14:52:21 -0700
From: private
From: NEENEE510@aol.com
From: DexterVal@aol.com
From: Kyung47@aol.com
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 15:56:00 -0500
From: "JIM MENJIVAR"
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 07:56:08 -0700
From: "Cleve B. Crudgington"
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 18:12:28 EDT
Subject: My turn
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual Bank
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 11:59:05 PDT
I have my mortgage with WM and about all I can say good about them is
that
when I mail in a payment, the next statement arrives by mail in about
10
days. This is good if one can afford to make more than one payment a
month.
However, I have had property tax problems-not of my own doing. My
residence
was mistakenly zoned commercial, not residential by Cook County.
Commercial
is 33% and Residential is 16%. So for every two dollars I pay in
property
tax I should be paying one. Now this is not WMs fault. But after
court
proceedings to get the status of the property changed successfully, I
tried
to talk this over with WMs tax department. How astonished I was to
find out
you can only fax them, and I have. Imagine not being able to talk to a
very
important part of your mortgage company! I have sent them
documentation
from the courts and requested that my mortgage be recalculated. I have
asked to reply by phone, letter or fax. It is as if my request has
fallen
on deaf ears.
If I knew what steps to take to get my mortgage in someone elses hands
I
would do it in a heartbeat. Their customer service people (average
hold
time approaches 15 minutes) say THEY cannot even talk to their tax
department. Any attempt to get to a supervisor to complain or get
someone
to take responsibility gets stonewalled.
Subject: Wamu.......
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 09:47:55 -0700
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 12:20:38 EDT
Subject: Washington Mutual
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
From: Heath Kornblum (heathk@wa.freei.net)To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Boycott
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual Bank - Your Website
Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 21:47:52 PDT
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
From: careyann@pacificnet.net (Carey Strelecki)
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 16:38:03 -0500 (EST)
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: washington mutual bank
From: "progressive consultants inc." pci@earthworld.com
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: WA Mutual
From: Michelle Lemrise michelle.lemrise@gte.net
To: justice4me2
Subject: Washington Mutual Sucks!
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 020:14:28 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 12:39:56 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: I was cheated, but not like you...
Reply-to: "letsgo420"
From: "letsgo420"
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 00:08:08 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual- DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO BE OUR BANK
Thank you for the awareness regarding WA Mutual. It was really sad to
hear
about your story. My wife and I were real keen in opening an account
in WA
Mutual, we surfed the internet for this Bank and entered your web page
and
after reading your page, our eyes have opened for a better deal.
Seafirst
seems to a good bank, their customer service is excellent but the CD
rates are
little low. Do you know any good bank in Redmond,WA which offers high CD
rates?
Thanks
Best wishes,
From: stephen Anderson
Subject: Washington Mutual Sucks
To: "'justice4me2@yahoo.com'"
I only have a mortgage with Washington Mutual. We had to open up a
checking account in order to have the mortgage but all we've ever had
in it is $.01. We didn't like how they give you an overdraft but then
charge $18.00 each time you use it. I personally would never keep an
open checking account with a bank. I prefer CREDIT UNIONS. I've been
very happy with every credit union I've been a member of. They
certainly know how to treat their members, and the banks are trying to
do away with them. We have a trailer home on a University Campus and
the only people we could find that gave loans for trailers was
Washington Mutual. We like to make our payments three months at a
time. We send in three payment coupons and the bulk of the money,
exactly what three payments would be if they were made separately. We
do this with two other payments and they handle it just fine but
Washington Mutual always messes it up, and they try to penalize us for
early payment which is something they say they do not do. They are
trying to charge us interest that would not exist if we made the
payments separately. Like I say, I hope everything goes well with you
and you get what is yours, but to everyone else who has problems with
this bank, JOIN A CREDIT UNION! Unless they are not available where
you are.
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 01:25:27 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: (no subject)
PLEASE E-MAIL ME I WAS A 13 YEAR HOME SAVINGS EMPLOYEE. I JUST
RESIGNED 2
WEEKS AGO. SEVERAL HOME MANAGERS ARE CONSIDERING A CLASS ACTION SUIT
AGAINST
WAMU.
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 02:26:01 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Merge with Washington Mutual & watch them cheat your $ away
Hello,
I am a new victim of this sucky Washington Mutual merger with
Homesavings.
My story is still going on, in fact I just found out they return
another check
of mine. What they are doing is if you deposit through the ATM at
Homesavings
they are holding those funds for 2 WEEKS!!!! Forget living paycheck to
paycheck.
I called my bank (Homesavings) this morning again and talked to someone
in the
branch. I said to her,"This just started happening didnt it?" She
agreed. I
then asked,"Did anyone ever send us customers notice that this was
happening?"
The answer was ,"No" But, yet they take a fee of $18.00 for there
incompetance. Its not posted on the ATM that they hold it for 2 WEEKS
EVEN.
WASHINGTON MUTUAL DOES NOT CARE FOR ITS NEW CUSTOMERS THAT THEY BUY
THROUGH
THESE SUCKY MERGERS!! I AM TAKING MY $ SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Thanks for letting me vent. Good luck in your endeavors
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 03:51:33 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Its a doggy dog world
Another sad song. I HATE THAT! But I am surely glad that you had put
up that
web page to warn us. For a minute there, I thought I was going to
inquire
more about Washington Mutual.
I'm sorry that this had happened to you. For all the misery that they
had put
you through, I hope something good will come out from it. Messages
like yours
are greatly appreciated. Thank you for watching out for others.
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 23:17:33 EST
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual
I am an ex-Coast Federal Employee for 19 yrs. I understand your feeling
very
well.
Luckly I did not have to work for them and got my severance from Coast.
All I want to say is those 3 (Killinger, Rinehart, specially Ray
Martin)made
millions and million dollars from these merger. They never thought of
little
people. I felt cheated, angry because I spent most of my golden time for
them....
But they will get there's. Good Luck to Coast and Homes
ex-employees!
From: "Jeff Brill"
Organization: South Florida Water Management District
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: UNFAIR & FALSE CREDIT REPORT BY WASHINGTON MUTUAL
MY WIFE AND I APPLIED FOR A LINE OF CREDIT, WE WANTED TO CONSOLIDATE 2
CREDITORS. LIKE OTHER COUPLES WE ARE MIDDLE
INCOME 2 CARS, A HOUSE AND WE PAY OUR BILLS WE APPLIED FOR
THE LINE BECAUSE OF ACCESSIBILITY. WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD GOOD
CREDIT. WASHINGTON MU, DENIED OUR APPLLICATIONS BECAUSE
THEY CLAIM I HAVE NO JOB, AND WE HAVE BAD CREDIT. THIS IS BULL
SHIT, MY PAY CHECK IS DEPOSITED INTO A ACCOUNT IN WASHINGTON MU. ALSO
OUR CHECKING ACCOUNT IS THERE AND
THEY CAN SEE DAM WELL THAT WE PAY OUR BILLS, WE GET OFFERS
FROM OTHER OUT OF STATE BANKS FOR CREDIT LINES. SO WHY CAN'T WE GET THE
LINE OF CREDIT SIMPLE MY WIFE AND I ARE
MINORITY SPECIAL POPULATION. I PLAN TO CONTACT ALCEE
HASTINGS AND THE STATE DEPT. OF BANKING. I CAN TELL YOU
THIS MAN, THEY NEED TO DUMP THEIR INFORMATION SPECIALIST,
THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PULL UP A SIMPLE CREDIT REPORT.
I AM IN THE FIELD OF GOVNT MIS AND I KNOW MY JOB BUT THEY DON''T.
JEFF BRILL
To:
Subject: I'll keeping an eye...
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 11:21:42 -0800
I read your story...!
Most definitely you should keep fighting to get what belongs to you.
I'm a customer of Washington Mutual and I came across your story
to see if I could join online banking (I'm not sure if they already
offer
this service) as I did in Coast Federal and Home Savings, I'm the type
of guy that is never happy in one place for too long, I have moved
within
the past 10 years probably 15 times and obviously I have changed banks
and branches that many times, let me say this...
All, I mean all, steel money from you, I have lost tons of money in many
different ways, you name it they have done it to me. I don't trust any
bank
and Washington Mutual I guess will be on top of the list.
I decided to be a member because is closer to home, that's all.
I have all my money in 2 credit unions (so far so good!) , Merrill
Linch, and
others...no banks!
I just gonna keep my eyes open on these guys.
Keep fighting, you lost the battle, not the war.
Good luck,
Jim Menjivar
Northridge, CA
From: richard jung
To: justice4me2@yahoo.com
Subject: Washington Mutual Bites
I had been a business customer of Great Western for three years and was
very happy with the professional service I received at all times. The
staff made an effort to know me personally and genuinely cared about
helping my business grow.
When the bank changed hands I noticed the difference right away. First
off, the bank moved locations many times straight across the street. All
of the Great Western staff were terminated and the service deteriorated.
The three year relationship I had built meant nothing to them. At the
same time WM started there advertising campaign and there childish
games and promotions. All fluff and no substance. When I needed them
they were no help. I am happy to say I have switched banks and have made
a point of warning everybody I know about Washing Mutual. In three easy
words Washing Mutual Bites!
