More on Online Hell in WAMU land

On Tuesday night I discovered that WAMU had charged me for a periodic debit on my account as a result of their inability to transfer the charge to our new account. When we first began to encounter a problem more than two weeks ago, we were advised to close our two joint accounts and to set up a new account which could then be secure but which would for a transitional period accept debits and credits from the two prior accounts. I was assured by a branch manager that this could happen. That did not happen.

I called the 800 number and spoke to a person named Brian (Team 400) who said, he would do all of the following: First, he said they would as a courtesy (even though this seems to be their fault) reverse the debit on our account which was generated because they were unable to discover that the periodic debit on the earlier account should have been transfered to our new joint account. (which has plenty of funds in it) I thanked him. Second, he said that after a periodic deposit that I was expecting on July 10 had been deposited that he would transfer the funds from the deposit and then close the legacy (or penny) account.

On Wednesday I tried to access my account (to make sure that what I had been promised would actually come true) and found it had again been locked. I asked my wife to call the 800 number to reset the password and she was told that after the reset that we would be able to log in. That was also false, a lie. Late this afternoon, I logged in using my user name and my temporary password.(Copied from the original email) The system would not accept it. I was again found the account was locked. The screen which said it was locked also says "You can unlock your profile online or you can call customer service for help at (800) 788-7000." That is not true. See how helpful the people at the 800 number are below.

I got back from an all day meeting and called the WAMU 800 line to see if I could get the account unlocked. I first spoke to a customer service agent named Melissa. I asked if we could either reset our password or if there was a way that I could verify whether the deposit had been received and properly transfered. She indicated the account had been locked. She was either unwilling or unable to verify that my instructions with Brian the night before had been carried out. I asked to speak with her supervisor, a person named Laurie, I made the same request and she indicated that the "risk operations" department was only open during "normal" business hours and that I could call them in the morning. I told her that I wanted to solve the problem now. I have already spent an inordinate amount of time trying to correct a set of problems that for the most part were created by an inane set of rules. She was unable and unwilling to help me and so I asked to speak to her supervisor. Laurie told me that the supervisor was "unavailable" and that if I wanted the person could call me back in 24-48 hours. She repeatedly advised me to call risk operations during normal business hours. As you may remember from the earlier post, I fell for that one two weeks ago and after 48 hours was called by a senior person in that division who said basically "I can't help you."

Interestingly on Thursday morning I went online and discovered that the 800 number screen on the website clearly states that one should call that number (not risk operations) to get an account unlocked. So what Laurie told me was incorrect, I spent more than 30 minutes on the phone with her last night. On Thursday I called and spoke to a person named Pat who was able to get the account unlocked (without going to risk operations) and then talked to her supervisor named Wendy who was able to get the erroneous charge reversed.

Ultimately any customer service business, and that is the business that WAMU should be in, has a responsibility to allow their telephone service people to be able to have some ability to solve problems. My job is not to try to figure out how to navigate their bureaucratic rules. (In the last three weeks I have probably spent more than two full work days trying to resolve the issues on my WAMU accounts.) Neither Melissa nor Laurie seemed to be willing to try to work through this problem which was (and should have been) frustrating. I was prepared to present any information about the accounts (including all of the security passwords, social security numbers, account numbers and other linked information) but this supervisor (without any seeming authority) continued to ask me to either call risk operations in the morning or to have her supervisor call me back in the next few days. Based on my previous experience, I was skeptical.

I am not sure whether I have had a unique experience with WAMU or not. I suspect I am not alone. I work with a number of financial institutions including brokerage houses and other banks and at this point have not found any organization that has less attention to trying to solve consumer problems than WAMU. They set a series of rules and seem unable or unwilling to try to work with the customer. In each of the other accounts, I have been able to find someone in the organization who is able to solve my issue (none have been as prolonged as this one). I realize I can be a demanding customer but I also realize that when the system works reasonably well that compared to other customers (who do not use online deposits, who rarely interact with branches and who do not need statements or checks) that if the system can be made to work reasonably efficiently that I represent a cost savings to the company (no mailing costs, no check processing costs, etc.) But WAMU seems unable or unwilling to understand the economics of our relationship. If you want to use online banking at WAMU, based on my experience from the last few weeks, I would recommend against it.

One of the realities of online services is the necessity to provide service in a reasonable manner - often 24/7 - evidently someone on the WAMU management team does not understand that basic principle. But without it, the service part of online banking is worthless. In this case "FREE CHECKING" based on my experiences over the last several weeks, is not free.