Jun 07, 2007 11:33 PM
5441 Views
I signed up for a free checking account online about a month ago from WaMu, and after that I received my first paycheck from my new job, and went to a WaMu branch here in Chicago to deposit it. After the transaction was completed the teller said “Thank you, have a nice day” and handed me my receipt. I looked at the receipt and noticed something very interesting. It read:
Balance:$1, 536.04
Available Balance:$100.00
The reciept stated that they were delaying the availability of the check I just deposited, in person, to a teller. He did not think to mention.”uhh, by the way we’re holding your paycheck funds for 11 days.”
This check was a legit payroll check written by the company I currently work for, and not the first from this company that WaMu has ever received and I know this for a fact. The teller said it was to protect the bank from a check that wasn’t legit, or that wouldn’t be paid. I explained that this was a check from a local Chicago company, and it would be paid. They would not take my word, and thus the hold was not released, and I waited…11 days for my money. Luckily all my bills were paid at the time for the most part.
However, this same thing happened to me again with my second paycheck. This time I went through quite a bit of wranging to get the funds released, and even as I type this and the bank’s asst. manager assured me that they would be released by 5pm yesterday, they still have yet to become available. I will soon be making a phone call to find out why there is still a hold on my acct.
To put it shortly, this is the biggest bunch of crap I have ever experienced at a bank, and the only reason I am staying with them right now is to avoid more hassle of withdrawing the money, closing the account, and starting all over again with waiting for another debit card, more checks, and yada yada.
Washington Mutual suggested I should have signed up for my account in person at the branch. Okay, if you wanted me to do that then the service online shouldn’t be available. For the first month all new customers are subjected to this stuff. The reason being: the bank doesn’t trust it’s customers to deposit good checks.
Too bad, so sad. You’re a federal bank, deal with it. Nuff’ said.
~Andy Kent
