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.
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!)
