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WAMC - Washington Mutual Customer Experiences

 

 

Introduction 


  == 12/07/05

Why, oh why would anyone want to spend time discoursing on the details
of doing business with a bank?

What is a bank?  You put your money in, you take your money out,
you do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself about....

In June, 2005 I opened an account with Washington Mutual.
I have (and have had for a really long time) accounts with both
Citibank and First Republic.

Why change now?  This is a really long story which I'll fill in the
first time anyone asks.  No kidding!  You are entitled to know what
is really important to me.

*  On-line banking and bill payment.
*  Timeliness and accuracy.
*  Branch customer service.
*  Telephone and email customer service.

Here are some brief facts (or FAQS) as will appear later...

1. I moved to San Francisco from New York City in March, 1997.
2. I have had a banking relationship with Citibank since 1977.
3. I live SOMA (South of Market), five minutes walk from a WaMu branch.
4. I opened accounts with Washinton Mutual in the spring of 2005.
5. Question to marketing:  Why did it take 7 years to open a WaMu account?
6. I am in the final stage of evaluating my relationship with WaMu.

     


Document Index



 

Quick Links to Other Pages

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Jeffrey's Washinton Mutual Customer Page Ix This Page
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Washington Mutual Equity Source Issues  


   

Problems and Customer Service Issues with Chase Conversion

2009/02/06 Cannot Login. Screen says "Choose a new User Name to get started."

I already changed my User Name the other day. Why is it asking again?
There is no help, contact, or any other link on this page. See for yourself!
The support representative tells me that screen does have About WaMu | Locations | Contact Us on the screen, to the right of the Chase logo, under the address bar. Do you see it? I don't. Finally, I went from the bad screen to http://wamu.com/ and lo, there I was, logged in to my welcome screen Hello, Jeffrey where I could click "View your Account Balances." I asked when the problem might be fixed. The answer: "10 business days."
I complained that it had taken me a full hour on the telephone, just to get to my money.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention the first person with whom I spoke. After wading through 8.5 minutes of endless voice and menu prompts I finally got to speak to a person. After giving my account number, first and last name, social security number, date of birth, and street address she asked me "In which branch did you make your $825 deposit?" Yikes!, what egregious egocentricity to assume that only I could make a branch deposit. I told her I did not make the deposit. I'm in Hawaii. My tenant made the deposit in San Francisco. Not acceptable. Unless I could tell her which branch, she couldn't help me. Does anyone at Washington Mutual (or Chase) understand how their customers use their bank? I really wonder. I just so love to talk to a robot reading a script. Time for a supervisor.
 
So I'm posting this page and will send a link using their secure email.
I was told it will take 10 business days to get this problem fixed.
I guess I can live with the nuisance for a little while. I did suggest that they might test their changes before insulting customers.
When I complained about how long it took to get to a person, the supervisor said that they would have that available in a few week. I supposed I wasted my breath suggesting that they get their support act together before they subject customers to there broken changes.
 
Let me know what you think: WAMC9B06A AT CustomerFromHell.com

Problems with Online System and Customer Service

Time Line Summary -- See details below

2005/06/10 - 2005/12/20 Time Line Summary -- See details below


2005/11/19 Cannot Login. Get a screen with the message Online Banking does not support your browser version.
The message says to Download Netscape or Download Internet Explorer but there is no mention of Firefox.
 
This is really strange. All online banking functions have worked fine since June, 2005. I'm using Opera version 8.50 on my Dell laptop. Let's do some experiments...
1. Before going to the Washington Mutual Logon panel I set Opera to its Identity as Mozilla. Opera can return its Identity as Opera, Mozilla, or Internet Explorer.
2. The Logon works fine. Now I set the Identity back to Opera and go to the usual online banking functions.
3. Conclusion: The bank update changed the logon function to exclude Opera. A bunch of questions runs through my mind...
a. Why would they do this?
b. Did anyone at the bank make a conscious decision?
c. Was the new code written by 18 year-old programmer in Bangalore?
d. Why doesn't the browser error panel include Firefox?
 
2005/11/22
12:14:57 I call Washington Mutual Customer Service at 800-788-7000.
12:16:44 Lisa answers the call and gives me call log Case Number 1161468.
I give Lisa my email address browser@customerFromHell.com Lisa laughs but I indicate it is, indeed a genuine email address to which someone can reply. Lisa tells me that the bank did an update on the weekend and suggests that I hold to speak to an online banking supervisor. 12:22:25
12:24:16 Myra picks up the call. We go through the usual authentication of checking account number, social security number, date of birth. I tell her that Opera must work and that fixing the web site is a condition of my continuing as a customer of Washington Mutual. I make it very clear that this is not negotiable.
I ask about Firefox and Myra say it is supported. I tell Myra that Firefox does work but it does not appear to be supported anywhere on the WaMu web site.
12:29:45 We each say our polite goodbye.
 
2005/12/15 I send an email, reference number K3480273743A1D3A2 to Customer Service regarding the issue:
What about FireFox? What about Opera?
How about a reponse to my telephone call of 2005/11/22 Case number 1161468 on this subject.
 
2005/12/19 I read the reply to my message. The reply actually came on 2005/12/16 and appeared in my email inbox as from: Personal Banking with subject: You have mail. Very cute, but I very nearly deleted it as spam since it displayed nothing to identify the sender as Washington Mutual or a subject with something relevant. But, I digress. The verbatim reply I received from Kristin is here.
Well, I did receive a timely reply, however useless. I'm sorry, but that reply was not acceptable. I included a case number to which Kristin should have referred. The subject of my email was really quite clear. Do you disagree?
 
2005/12/20
11:49:13 I call Washington Mutual Investor Relations at 206-461-3187. Leigh promptly answers and I explain that I want to know how to get something into the proxy statement and/or annual report. Leigh says I must speak with Carlo Olsen and I am directed to her voice mail. I leave a voice mail.
12:48 I get a phone call from Leigh. Wow, that was fast! I tell Leigh that I want to speak to someone in authority who has the responsibility to answer my questions. I promise to sent her an email with all the details. I explained to Leigh that I called managment because my first two attempts (the phone call and the email) went unanswered. A very long time ago I adopted the well-known baseball rule "three strikes and you're out." My form is "One, Two, Chairman."
 
2005/12/21 It took much longer than I intended to properly narrate the issues. I do believe that I have explained this problem in gory detail. There are other issues with Washington Mutual. Some are banking issue. Some are bill payment issues. Some are minor and some are important. But, none of them matter if Washington Mutual does not listen to, and reply appropriately to its customers.
I should say that I have had exemplary service at the branch. I will save this subject for another day...
 
If you wish to contact me regarding this issue please email me at CfhWamC@WamuCust.info
Trolls and spammers will be terminated with prejudice.

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