Feb 26, 2008 03:06 AM
3743 Views
WAMU's free checking is certainly not free from headaches or annoyance! Online customer assistance is dreadful - all responses are "canned" responses that do not apply to specific questions.
I closed the free checking, savings, forced savings, and "sweep" accounts I had opened within two weeks of opening them. Their Customer Service is still writing to me - unaware that I've closed the accounts. It cost me about$15 to get out of the accounts, but I would never trust them with my money.
Below is a detailed history of my Customer Service experience:
Via their online Customer Service, I asked to have my new accounts associated with an already-existing user name(from a mortgage I had several years ago.) Several days later(not the 24 hours promised on the electronic form) they informed me that my issue had been resolved and the matter was closed. Nothing had changed.
I wrote again and said I was getting frustrated. They wrote me an answer that didn't accurately answer the question(specifically, it contradicted facts that I had given them in my initial request).
Five days later they replied, telling me to contact Customer Service by phone. I tried to contact Customer Service by phone, but the wait time was going to be 13 minutes. I tried again several more times, getting similar wait times.
Finally, I drove to the nearest branch and closed all my accounts. While closing the accounts, other people in line commented that they had had similar online experiences and that was why they preferred to actually come into a branch to do their banking.
I wrote again to Online Customer Service telling them that I had closed my accounts due to their poor customer service, and they wrote back to me again(the usual five day delay) apologizing that "Telephone Banking" had not been able to resolve my issue. (.?)
Several days later I received another reply saying they valued my business and would be happy to try to help me.
I appears that they either do not read or do not understand anything you write to them. It's the worst service I have ever received - and I certainly would not trust them with my money!
BEWARE.
