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Washington Mutual

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Carita of Los Angeles, CA September 15, 2008

Carita of Los Angeles CA (09/15/08)
My husband and I have been Washington Mutual customers for over 7 years and until this last year I've had very little complaints about this bank. I do however have an enormous complaint. Washington Mutual deliberately places an automatic hold on every single deposit that we make inside of a branch. These checks that we deposit are the only checks that we deposit (weekly). I believe it's another way for them to collect more fees from us. I've spoken to management about this issue and received no sufficient answer. I've called on numerous occasions to try and have some of the fees refunded and they are so rude and unhelpful. Placing a hold on funds when they know there are pending charges is absolutely ridiculous.

I was told to alleviate this problem (by a nice teller) to open a new free checking account. I immediately did so, but the problem hasn't stopped. This account has never been overdrawn and when I tried to make a deposit this past Friday the 12th I was informed that there would be an automatic hold placed on this check. Which, I can rightly understand that it's at the bank discretion to place hold on certain funds until clearance has been issued. But, when the check clears any NSF should be refunded as a result of the hold.

My advice to anyone opening a free checking account with wamu is to always have a more reliable bank account such as one with a credit union or local bank. I also check my account regularly and even though I've requested to have an immediate alert to any negative balances reflected on my account I never receive any. I'm currently in the process of going to a different bank.

My account with this bank is impossible to keep current. I've suffered a loss of hundreds of dollars.

Carita of Los Angeles, CA September 15, 2008

Carita of Los Angeles CA (09/15/08)
I just wanted to state that my husband and I have been Washington Mutual customers for over 7 years and until this last year I've had very little complaints about this bank. I have no problem paying overdraft fees because I feel like we're being kinda reckless in our spending and we simply have to cover all of our transactions; it's our responsibility. I do however have an enormous complaint. Washington Mutual deliberately places an automatic hold on every single deposit that we make inside of a branch. These checks that we deposit are the only checks that we deposit (weekly). I believe it's another way for them to collect more fees from us.

I've spoken to management about this issue and received no sufficient answer. I've called on numerous occasions to try and have some of the fees refunded and they are so rude and unhelpful. Placing a hold on funds when they know there are pending charges is absolutely ridiculous. I was told to alleviate this problem (by a nice teller) to open a new free checking account. I immediately did so, but the problem hasn't stopped. This account has never been overdrawn and when I tried to make a deposit this past Friday the 12th I was informed that there would be an automatic hold placed on this check. Which, I can rightly understand that it's at the bank discretion to place hold on certain funds until clearance has been issued. But, when the check clears any NSF should be refunded as a result of the hold.

 My advice to anyone opening a free checking account with wamu is to always have a more reliable bank account such as one with a credit union or local bank. I also check my account regularly and even though I've requested to have an immediate alert to any negative balances reflected on my account I never receive any. I'm currently in the process of going to a different bank. My account with this bank is impossible to keep current. I've suffered a loss of hundreds of dollars.

Douglass of Sarasota, FL September 15, 2008

Douglass of Sarasota FL (09/15/08)
I'm a WW2 disabled veteran, life member DAV. I was charged late payment fee of 39 on Sept 2 and overlimit fee of 35 on Sept 5, total 74 for an overlimit of 10.11 on Sept 2!. I visited branch on Sept 4 to review account and advised 40 due which I immediately paid. NO TIME was I advised about the fees then. They offered me ZERO protection - as my previous requests to make credit card payments automatic were stalled. My credit card due date, 2nd of the month, is in my view, purposely set up to generate fees as my Social arrivers too late to avoid fees Worse too, {on the Gulf Coast] we were under 2 successive hurricane alerts, & could not visit bank earlier in week.

Do you have any authority to deal with WAMU? If not PLEASE suggest appropriate authority like FDIC? As a minimum, I request these charges be reversed. MANY THANKS for your attention to this! Electronic theft in form of unannounced exessive fees.

At 85 I'm frail and this huge dent in my budget caused my service-related disability of VERTIGO to intensify and cause emotional harm to my health

Keri of Laguna Woods, CA September 15, 2008

Keri of Laguna Woods CA (09/15/08)
I recently took over my parents accounts. They had been with Washington Mutual for thirty years. (Although it wasn't WaMu at first.) My parents understanding of the account was that they had free checking and the 1000 back up if they were overdrawn. Well, the free checking account now isn't. When I read the statement my Mom had turned over to me, there was a 12.00 per month charge. I asked for a credit for the years of unauthorized fees deducted from the account. Well, they couldn't do that, but they wouldn't charge the fee again.

They also asked if I had the original agreement, I didn't. I asked if they did. They did, but they couldn't release it to me. Why? I had my name on the bank accounts. Next, I found out, by simply talking to one of the teller's (God bless his honest heart) that my parent's saving account was making O.5% per year. We raised it to 1.5%. When I took the time to find the branch manager to commend the young man....she was less than pleased.

Then, on another statement, I found a 35.00 charge for the 1,000 back up funds that originally were supposed to be a part of the checking account agreement. I called and talked to someone who said, That is standard procedure, a letter to you went out in the mail. A supervisor told me that they had attached the fee and that I had received notice in the mail. She assured me it was a once a year fee. I asked her why I would pay that when there was more in a savings account. Well, apparently, I hadn't received the information in the mail, she explained, but that was the new policy.

I must have missed more in the mail, because the WaMu credit card statement didn't come one month and I didn't remember to pay it. There was a 40.00 fee for the late payment, but they wouldn't raise the interest rate. I was upset about now getting that statement. I talked to people in the Phillipines. It was as though I was talking to a wall. I persisted and was connected to Texas to the Vice-President of I don't know what. I explained the situation. Credit card history for years, never missed a payment, now one missed and could he please not charge me the 40.00. Sure, no problem. Guess what? On the next statement the 40.00 was deducted from the account...and then added on again.

I had a lot going on, so I didn't pursue it. The calls had taken over an hour and a half and I didn't have the time or patience to do the ridiculous twisted dance again. I have not yet had the time to go back through my parents records to access the damages, but I did ask a WaMu phone representative for the records. Well, they just didn't keep them back that far. This bank is useless...and going down so they are stealing from their depositors. Class action would be my recommendation, but then we still won't get the money back.

Tonia of Kennesaw, GA September 14, 2008

Tonia of Kennesaw GA (09/14/08)
On several occasions I have been charged NFS fees because Wamu keeps depositing debits instead of credits. Let's say I have 100.00 in my checking account at 3am on any paticular day. Then my direct deposit states that it came in at 4am, then I have a debit purchase of 400.00 I made at 4:30am. They will debit the 400 amount before the direct deposit even though it shows in their records the order of the activity and I get slapped with a 34 overdraft fee.

This has happened over 20 times. They debit my account in the wrong order to get the maximum overdraft fees. I have caught them several times but now they will not tell me the time my debits actually come in. I even questioned a supervisor about it and accused them of deliberately doing this in an effort to make money from the NSF fees. How do I prove this and how do I file a complaint.

My account has been charged over 1000.00 in NSF fees.

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