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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Chase THIS!

Yes. That's right. I'm giving you, CHASE, the finger. And to those who occasionally make deposits without using online banking, I salute you.

Here's my story...

I know some of you are not willing to admit this, but, I will. My account was overdrawn. There it is. I said it, yes - OVERDRAWN.

So, it's 6 pm PST and I feverishly go to make a deposit at the ATM (or what some of us Midwesterners call the CASH STATION). I pull up, hop out of the car with envelop in hand, dial my digits and ...what's this? There isn't an option in the ATM menu to make a deposit. Who has ever seen such a thing?

ATM options:

Transfer
Withdrawal
Check balance
Pay something
Scream
Cancel
Pay a fee (OK not this one but I'm on a roll here)


Since this is an account I rarely use (that's my "I'm responsible, don't judge me disclaimer"), I wanted to take care of this as quickly as possible and be on my way. This was an account that I opened in another state before relocating. Here in lies the problem.

Let me back up to the weekend of July 26, 2009. Apparently, this was when Chase would convert all WAMU customers to Chase accounts. I tried to make a deposit that weekend, and the deposit option was again missing. I called Chase and a rep told me to try another bank, of course I did. After three attempts (two banks), I decided to wait until Monday. Monday morning (9am) I go into the bank (that's now only open 9am -6 pm Mon-Fri, unsure about Sat.hours) to make a deposit. I informed the teller of the missing deposit option, he then told me, "Oh that was just for the weekend."

Fast forward to today - I called Chase in a HOT FIT OF RAGE and talked to someone who then had to transfer me to someone else. Five minutes wasted. The next Customer Service Specialist (CSS) I talked with, I explained that this unleashing was not directed at them personally (Side note: I used to be a CSS in another industry and understand how customers can misdirect their anger).

The CSS informed me that they (Chase) had no idea that I'd originally opened my account in another state [and therefore would not have been notified me of this inconvenience and/or other changes as a result of this Chase / WAMU merge]. DOES THIS IN ANY WAY SOUND CONSUMER FRIENDLY?  How would I know they (Chase) didn't know the specifics of my account? I mean, don't they own it (figuratively speaking)?

So... not only have the bank hours changed but for three months, I have to go into a bank to make a deposit. First of all WHO GOES INTO THE BANK ANYMORE!?

Here is what I know from the rep:

  • Although all WAMU banks are now Chase, specific states are not completely converted to the Chase system 
  • Chase sent customers a welcome kit, which did not include the information that deposits could not be made at an ATM in California until OCTOBER 24, 2009.  What an inconvenience!!!!!!!!!!! There are five other states in this group including Arizona.
Here is where I used knowledge from a past life and deductive reasoning:

I think Chase may have failed to pull a list of customers who opened a WAMU account in one state and  relocated to another.What a failure on their part if they did overlook this. I'm writing a letter to the corporate office. There are lots of inconvenient changes happening and why should the customer suffer. Granted this may only affect a small sect of customers (or may be not) - the inconvenience is worth mentioning.

Mickey (very teed off!)

5 comments:

  1. *sigh* I am going through my OWN issues with the whole WAMU/Chase fiascal. I PURPOSELY swtiched from Chase YEARS ago because I hated them...fell in love with WAMU...only to end up right BACK with Chase. I can tell my story for days...it'll make mad all over again. So now, back to looking for a new bank!!!

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  2. Ok, I left them back when they were still Bank One, made a deposit and they claimed to have never received it and froze my account, mailed me a letter stating such. I was traveling 100%, which is why I had them. All of my checks were returned as unpaid, not NSF, just unpaid. When I finally realized, they did very little to rectify the situation. I finally did get one lady that was very helpful and tried to talk me out of leaving, didn't work, I ran quickly and never looked back.

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  3. Wow! I think I'm taking you both up on your advice. Of course I feel somewhat shackled by online banking and having to get all my account numbers and information so that I can smoothly transition to another bank. But...it's worth it. Thank you both for the support!

    Mickey

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  4. Mmmm hmmm, that's right! So I had to deal with the merger while still hospitalized. I missed a payment on my WAMU (Now Chase)MC and my APR shot up like a bat from hell. From 9% to 27.3%. Oh Come On! So I had to make phone calls in between physical therapy sessions in order to reduce the APR to the original rate. I was told by the 4th CSS (Strawberry was her name)that I had to call back 10 days post merger as accounts would not be changed before or during that time. My account was eventually sent to the "Customer Account Specialists" and was eventually granted the lower rate once again. But the charges for the prior 2 months were not removed. Ugh. I hear you girl, the mental anguish of having to change banks is almost worth it considering I have online accounts tied to my bank account. Hell, Let's go back to bartering goods and services. lol. Love you M.

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  5. O - LOL! That's just terrible. Glad it worked out but the hassle, I know, was a headache. I think it would be easier to barter than work with Chase. LOL love you and thanks for the reply. xoxox

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