Chase Bank Reviews

On June 15, I returned home from a business trip to discover Chase has again mailed my statements to my home. The date on the postage was June 13. So, my first request has obviously been ignored. I called the same number right away. I explained my problem and not once did the associate on the phone apologize. She only offered to put in another request and said she would set me up for online statements, which would work well for me as I travel with my laptop. I asked how I can be sure that no mail will be sent to my home. She assured me that she had it taken care of.

Fast forward to July 7th. I returned from a three-day event to come into my home and find my mail on the counter which had been collected by a roommate. There were two Chase Bank statements in my mail both dated June 30th. One of them was opened by a tenant supposedly by mistake. I was livid and since it was 9 pm, I waited until the next day to confront my bank.

I decided to go into the branch instead of calling someone who is probably working 15,000 miles away and who could not seem to care less. So on July 8, I went into my local branch to talk with someone in person. The teller could not help me, so he sent me to an account associate at a desk. I sat with her and explained my dilemma. I told her I was very upset and she understood this. She was actually the first Chase associate I had encountered in months who had shown any kind of human emotion or empathy! I told her that I would like to remove my physical address from their records since all my efforts to cease mailings to my home were ignored. She explained apologetically that I cannot remove the address. So I gave her my work address for the time being.

She also explained that I have to go online and request online statements myself and that it cannot be changed from home mailing to online over the phone. And also that the request might take 1-2 months to take place! Knowing that at least my statements will be mailed to my work office temporarily, I went online to make the change. There is no box to check to stop home mailings. It only allows you to get online statements in addition to the others. So I guess I'll just get all these ridiculous mailings at my office, which is a waste since I can get them online. So much for privacy and customer service. No wonder banks these days are in such bad shape.

I even sent comps and all kinds of information to help and all we got back was a form letter saying we did not provide adequate information?! No one knows what they are doing over there and they have no interest, whatsoever, in helping people. I think Chase has used the government money to buy out smaller banks to become even bigger and have more control of the market. This is very scary. Also the White House is no help at all and I don't think those people have a clue about how to help people, really sad. My son will probably lose his home as there have been 7 foreclosures in his complex.

My father ran to the bank to solve the problem and put enough cash to cover it plus $200. In the meantime, the bank had taken more fees for small amounts again, which did not show on the bank computer. Therefore the new loss was for $210. The next day, my father went back to the bank and made another deposit plus a $570 check. But for some reason, small expenses from a previous week had just been paid against a negative balance at the wrong time. Another $275 was then taken from my account. In other words, I spent $120 with money available, but the bank chose to delay the credit of the checks and took almost $900 in fees. Is this legal?

In David Lazarus' article in the LA times, Stephanie Jacobson, a Chase spokeswoman, said most cardholders who received "promotional low-rate financing" over the last five years have paid off their loans. "However, there have been a small percentage of customers that have not made as much progress in paying down these loans," she said. "Our desire is to have these loans repaid in a reasonable period of time."

I'd say to Ms. Jacobson, "that simply isn't true". And tell me Ms. Jacobson, what do you call a small percentage?

I have been trying to get a little more information from the Chase representatives that answer the phones. They are extremely rude! One question I had, they finally did answer. I asked them, "What's to stop you from raising the payments again?" Their answer, "Nothing, we'll do it if we want." I think that's important for all to know if you plan on making the higher payments to them. Basically, they are calling the loans in a very underhanded, sneaky way. I seriously doubt it's legal.

Again, please file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission; it can be done via phone or online. Also, with the Comptroller of the Currency and Administrator of National Banks. This can be done online also. If you'd like, you can download and print out the form and send it in. Those two offices seem very interested in what Chase is doing!

One other thing a Chase rep said, she claimed that Chase had already paid back the TARP money the government loaned them. More appropriately, the money that we, the tax payers, bailed them out with. I don't believe that for one second. It's just amazing to me how Chase can flip close to a million customers off. They really could not care less about a future, solid customer base. I will never borrow from Chase again, ever!

Chase has an even more regressive overdraft/NSF fee schedule and policy. They charge up to $35.00 fee in order to cover a small 'loan' to primarily lower-income customers. Their whole policy as to which transactions (debit withdrawals, credit withdrawals, and various deposits) are credited to your account is biased toward making your balance as low as possible and therefore inciting as many overdraft/NSF fees as possible. This is a regressive (read: penalizing the poor more than the rich) policy that should be illegal - if for no other reason than a $35.00 fee for a $3.00 “loan” constitutes egregious and predatory loan practices that far exceeds the (now heavily regulated) terrible practices of those "check for cash" businesses.

Also, it doesn't matter if you take your deposit directly to a branch teller, all non-cash or non Chase checks deposits have their funds held until at least the next business day and possibly as long as 5 or 6 days. So when somebody writes you a valid check that is worth real American dollars to you and you give it to your bank for safe-keeping, they reward you by putting the cash in their pockets for as long as possible before letting you touch it. No more $100.00 per day of deposits being immediately available for withdrawal. It does not matter if you are a customer of several years who has never deposited a bad check or written a bad check.

They also canceled the Visa and MasterCard “purchase protection” program that WaMu had. This was a little-known, but very valuable program that gave users of Visa and MasterCard debit cards additional protection when using their card to buy goods and services, such as, lowest price guarantee, extended warranty, theft and accidental damage protection, etc. Chase is going to run itself into the ground with its oppressive monetary policies. If enough of us “little guys” take our cash elsewhere, it will hurt them indeed! Go find a local credit union!

We paid our taxes late this year, and we had to fax proof that they were paid. This is understandable. We switched homeowner's insurance back in November 2008. Washington Mutual claimed they received no proof of the change other than the cancellation notice they received from the previous insurance company. They then did an escrow analysis and raised our house payment starting in July of this year.

I had our homeowner's insurance fax proof of insurance and its effective date on June 29, 2009. I also paid June's payment as well as all late fees the account had accumulated for unpaid late fees. However, the payments were not applied as I requested. I have made numerous calls with much agitation, trying to resolve this issue to no avail. I kept getting the runaround and "It takes 3-5 business days for the correction to be made and applied to the account." This was 1st requested on June 29 and again every day from then on. I am not sure why I should have to wait 3-5 business days for someone else's mistake. Not to exclude the fact that it was applied wrongly twice before properly requested for change.

I also requested July's payment to be taken out and applied on July 3, and it still has yet to be done. In the meantime, my account still has escrow charges that have yet to be removed. This is very frustrating. I understand that there have been holidays during this time, but it started on June 29 and this is July 7. Also, there is a barrier in communication due to a numerous number of persons working for WaMu who are foreigners and are almost impossible to understand. This is America! I should be able to speak to an American.

This is very unprofessional, inefficient and unacceptable for any company in this day and age. I thought dealing with a mortgage agent and a local branch would be faster, better service and less discrepancies, but it was a total nightmare. My refinance took more than 7 months and they never approved me, despite having an excellent credit score (before WaMu messed it up), 46% equity in my condo, and a decent income. I can't go to another bank or lender because WaMu has seriously degraded my credit score.

I immediately called the company to tell them that they were mistaken, that I had copies of the agreement, copies of the checks and that pursuant to our agreement I was not in default, but was within our plan. The representative told me that there must be some mistake because she could see that I had paid on time. I was told to ignore the letter. Three days later, I received another letter from the attorney they had retained for the foreclosure. I called WaMu back and was told that there must be some confusion because it says that I broke the agreement, but it doesn't look like it. I was told I would receive a call back within the day. I never received a return call.

I made a total of 9 calls, but never received a return call. The agreement we made on March 28th was a valid, legal binding contract and WaMu breached by going forward with foreclosure. At the last minute, I filed chapter 13 to protect my house, but I incurred the added cost of $3500 plus a great deal of stress and loss of time. WaMu made and then violated a binding contract. To my detriment, I relied on both their verbal word and a written agreement sent and signed by WaMu. I made payments on time and for the exact amount requested and I never received a return call. WaMu violated their own policies, consumer fair credit laws, state mortgage laws and they breached a contract that caused me monetary and stress damages.

When I called the bank, I was informed that the check was a fraud and that in fact, the person whose name was on the account was being sought for writing bad checks and that I would be responsible to repay the bank the money. I asked what I can do about the situation because I did not have that amount of money to pay back and the money had been spent. I know that the person who I gave the money to should have been the one to give back the money but in order to protect my account, I paid back the money.

I found out that the person who sent the check was being sought for writing other bad checks and that the account number was missing one number. You would think that the teller who deposited the check would have noticed this. I was told that the money was released as a courtesy because I was a Chase customer (any other time even when it has been a check from the government, I was told that the check has to be verified before releasing the funds). So now, I am out the money that I paid back to the bank and also was put on a list saying I was passing bad checks and cannot seem to find out how to get my name removed from this list. I lost my money, my bank account and I cannot open another account until my name is removed.

I asked the teller to verify the check at that time before depositing. She examined it visually, but did not verify it electronically or take any other precautions before assuring me of its validity. I returned in forty eight hours to withdraw the funds to wire to the scam artists, as instructed. When I was allowed to do so, it further convinced me that the check was good and had gone through. I found out too late that Chase doesn't verify checks before releasing funds. As soon as I realized this was a scam, I contacted the bank. Alas, also too late.

I wanted my check back. I e-mailed for 4 days and got the same response, they would look into it. Customer service could not contact the bank on 6/18 so I was told someone would contact me before the close of day. Nobody called me. I finally took off early from work and went to the branch and tried to understand why 1 check still had $7,000 pending and they weren't quite sure where the other check was. She couldn't explain why my check was being held, when they knew the funds were there. The excuse they used for the 2nd check was that his check hadn't cleared.

In the end, my brother went to his branch and deposited $12,000 directly into my account and even then, they messed up and showed only $1,200 and he had to go back and correct it. The funny thing is they know he had the money, yet $7,000 is still pending as of 6/29. I got a generic letter telling me about my first deposit on 6/26 and referring me back to customer service if I had any other questions.

I was in need of cash and went to the ATM to withdraw $100 when I know I had at least $181 in my account that was with a bunch of pending charges. I did the math several times. ATM said insufficient funds. I checked my balance on the ATM machine, and it said I'm minus $161. So I checked my account balance on my phone, and it stated I have positive $181.

Then I went to several different ATMs from different banks, and they all denied my withdrawal. I tried to buy a pack of gum with my card for $1.29, and it's "no sufficient funds." I called the number on the back of my card, and apparently, Chase's automated telephone was down and they would be back up by Sunday afternoon (June 28). Wow, talk about unsatisfactory customer service.

I canceled all my plans of going out with friends and headed home. I immediately went to www.chase.com, and their website was down. 20 minutes later, I tried again and logged in. My account balance as well stated positive $181. I called up Chase again, and they were still down. There is no freaking way I am negative, no way in hell, and I am furious! I don't even know how I'm supposed to buy my date girlfriend lunch tomorrow with the $18 cash I have on me.

This has triggered computer gone wild. I have talked to 150 consumer service people and they have no idea what’s going on. I have finally got someone in the insurance department reviewing this, but they still say we owe them. This has gone on for over 1 year now. At this time, Washington Mutual is reporting to the credit bureau that we are 2-4 months behind and they are affecting our credit rating. They take 2-4 weeks to cash our checks and lose some. I have every check wrote to them with dates and every check they cashed and those dates. I have every piece of paper they sent us and what I have sent them. I have better records than them.

I know that what they originally made us do was illegal because I have Florida's law. They have jerked us around for a year to the point you want to scream. Now, they are reporting false information to the credit bureau and affecting our credit. That's on top of not resolving the insurance problem.

Our Representative Connie Mack's office is helping us at this time and we have finally got some responses from Washington Mutual. We do appreciate you letting us vent. They have made us spend hundreds of hours on this. They sometimes called us twice a day. What they originally made us do was illegal. Take out an insurance policy on our home to cover the mortgage. The insurance company agreed. Now, they are destroying our credit by reporting false information to the credit bureau saying we are 2-4 behind. We have every check that we sent them.

I don't know if I should go to small claims court or just switch banks and let them lose another customer. At this point, I don't care if it is their rules and I didn't read the fine print. Any bank that treats their customers like this really needs to go out of business for sure. They didn't offer to just give me a warning and give me a refund, they just said "we looked at our rules and WaMu/Chase is correct". In other words, WaMu/Chase has the right to screw you because we don't care anything about who makes money for us, sounds like the US government! Any suggestions or a great bank to switch to that treats customers like family?

I don't know if I should go to small claims court or just switch banks and let them lose another customer? At this point, I don't care if it is their rules and I didn't read the fine print. Any bank that treats their customers like this really needs to go out of business for sure. They didn't offer to just give me a warning and give me a refund, they just said "we looked at our rules and WaMu/Chase is correct". Any suggestions or a great bank to switch to that treats customers like family?

I had called Chevy Chase and they told me that my account would not be closed until resolved. So now I have a charge off of $275.00 (because one of my weekly paychecks got deposited) and reported to Chex Systems and the refund from Sallie Mae hanging in the wind. I am outraged that they closed the account without resolving the matter. This is just the shortened version of the damage done to me financially because of this issue. I want to file a class action suit regarding this posting—the largest to the smallest. If they had not done that, I may have had one NSF but refunded because of Sallie Mae's error instead of 13.

Then on Friday, June 19th, I deposited cash. I was told that it would take 24 hours for the cash to be available in my account since I have an account opened in Oregon and I was depositing funds to a California branch. As of Monday, June 22nd, the funds have not appeared in my account. So now I have a negative balance in my account. Where is my money? I was told by the teller that these delays would be in effect until October!

On 2/27/09, I called the national number and spoke with Ashwin **. He gave me a rate of 5.375% with one point. Since my credit score was very high, the 1% dropped to .5%. WaMu would be paying all closing costs and appraisal fees. If the rate dropped .5% or greater during my processing time, I would float down to the lower rate. The refinance process will take between 40-60 days. The loan amount would be my current balance, but because of my lower interest rate, I would be saving approximately $125 on my monthly payment. Nothing was ever said that the process would cease after 90 days if not finalized. All this sounded too good to be true, but I believed them.

I received a call from my appraiser who was at my home within a week. Everything seemed to be moving rapidly. My loan processor sent me an email with his contact information. I received my good faith estimate, confirming what was discussed. On 3/10/09, I received an email from C **, who wanted a copy of my Living Trust and confirmation from the homeowner's association that the monthly fees were paid up to date. Information was faxed to her on 3/11/09. On 3/27/09, I called to check on the status of the loan. B. ** was no longer at the number he had just sent me. I spoke with Annette who said the refinance was in the approval process.

On 4/16/09, I received a call from D., who said he was helping B. **. He was asking me to sign IRS documents to release tax returns and again for my homeowner's association name and address. Information was faxed on 4/17. On 5/6/09, I received an email from W. **, who said he was helping B. **. He was asking too for a copy of my trust document. Information was faxed on 5/6. On 5/15/09, I received a letter for another request to sign for the release of tax returns. It's sent on 5/15.

On 6/9/09, I left a voice mail for B. **, wanting to know the status of my loan. No response. When I tried the Customer Care Number, no one answered. On 6/15, I sent an email to A.**, B. **, and P. ** regarding the status because it had now been 3-1/2 months. I told them I had been leaving voice mails with no return calls.

I received an email from B. ** which said he was transferred to another department as was his manager, P. **. He looked in the system, and my loan was declined and my $750 application fee credited back to my credit card. I asked why, and he said my commitment and rate had expired. He said my loan had been transferred to L. **, who also failed to respond to my email. He then failed to respond to any additional emails asking for an explanation.

My feeling is Washington Mutual was not going to make any money off me, but instead of telling me up front, they led me along for 3-1/2 months which made me lose a lower interest rate by refinancing with another lender. I wish there was something that could be done.

Anyway, I overdrew my account on the same day my direct deposit was to come in. So, like a lot of people here, charges were moved as to occur before my direct deposit came in. As a result, I have been hit with about $240 in overdraft fees this week. That's almost my entire paycheck.

I spoke to a branch representative and they said they might be able to refund one of the charges as a "courtesy" but they don't refund any overdraft fees unless it is bank error. I explained to him my account is in the negative and I'm currently having family transfer money to my account, this may take a day or so. I was informed I may be charged more in fees in the time I get my transfer. These fees have essentially wiped out an entire paycheck for me. I don't understand how a company can do this.

Finally, WAMU issued a temp work out which Debbie ** of WAMU left me a message on my home phone indicating WAMU would work on a permanent solution.I cannot count the amount of calls I've made to the lender to find out my modified payments. The lender has since then only requested over and over a revised package. I finally contacted an approved HUD housing counseling to help me complete these loan modification packages. The housing counselor indicated there was a new presidential program and I would qualify. Although the housing counseling sent this package to the lender, the lender still proceeded to send my loan to foreclosure. When I was served, I proceeded to send proof to the court.

Months have gone by and finally, I received another temporary work out for three months only to find out the payments are not affordable. I am now turning to legal advice. Recently, the tenant of the second home has expressed their interest in purchasing the home. If this home sells, it would help our situation. I've requested a short sale package from the lender and they agreed to send one in a week or so. I'm still waiting. I have expressed to the lender I am willing to start making my payments as soon as they can show me they are willing to work with me. All my loans have been through WAMU. They have made a profit from all the business I've given this lender not to mention referrals. I cannot write the complete complaint because it would take many pages to tell the whole issue.

It's really made me think twice about leaving the account opened. The reversed amounts are due to be terminated before the completion of the research. I'm being told not to worry because if they are terminated we will take care every fee occurred. That's irrelevant when it's your lights. So I guess they're going to replace my food too. This doesn't make sense not when there was a deposit slip with it. Someone has my money and either way it leads back to the bank.

This went on for months (I have exact dates, how long I waited, who I spoke to, etc) and was told that no one could tell me about my status but that one person. I even got numbers of many people in her department and her manager and those numbers were also either full or no longer available! Finally, over 3 months later, I got a rep that was able to internally find someone in that department who said that the negotiator no longer worked there and my file could not be found. So I had to redo the whole process and submit directly to a supervisor who “would expedite".

Last week, June 11, I get a call that I would be given a temporary reduction for 3 months while my modification was still being worked on. It sounded great finally. But then the rep says that, Oh, I see you are not behind in your payments so I cannot offer you anything sorry. I get a call today, June 17, from the same rep saying they need me to make payments for the next 3 months, at the current rate that I am already paying and then as long as I make those payments then the loan modification process will continue and be expedited.

I have been making my payments the whole time they have dropped the ball horribly. This is the most unprofessional and disorganized and disrespectful company I have even encountered. What they say makes no sense. They are playing games and have no loyalty or regard for people attempting to be proactive and not get behind. Now that months have passed, we will be forced to fall behind in payments unless they get on with the process. I have lost countless work hours on the phone just trying to get the status of my own loan process, plus now that this has dragged on we are not going to be able to continue to make current payments unless they make a decision.

2 business days later, it is still not closed. I went in to the branch and was told it would be taken care of. I called this evening on the 1-800 line to make sure it was closed and spoke to someone who could barely speak English. I was told that it could have no activity for 5 business days and they would send me a letter! I told him I balanced it out and wanted it closed.

In the meantime, it is going to go negative from electronic attempts to withdraw. Who knows when it is going to be closed! In addition, my children have savings accounts that we never had any problems with but Chase charges the children fees, WAMU did not. They charged $2.00 for balance inquiry and it made my sons account negative. So they charged him $34.00. He was allowed to take $20 out of ATM that said he had balance which he must not have had because they charged him another $34.00. In the end, my child’s savings account was overdrawn by $92.00.

It cost extra to use a non-Chase ATM. I'm tired of waiting in line while they attempt to sell every client more services, whether they qualify or not. It costs me time and money. I will change banks for personal accounts and mortgage ASAP.

I called and they let me know that it's some 20 non-sufficient funds charges and that somebody has tried to pay things over the internet, but there was no money in the account, so WaMu just kept charging the account. Then they closed my private account, took the money from that one to pay off the joint account and closed the joint account too. I have now been calling the bank for 4 months. I have been hung up on probably close to 20 times- intentionally or not, I don't know. I have been nothing but polite to them every time. I now have a collections agency calling me everyday.

My credit is ruined and WaMu is telling me different things every time I call. Nobody wants to deal with this and that company is the worst managed company I have ever encountered in my life. I'm at a loss. They keep telling me they are taking care of the matter and I have even received letters from WaMu telling me they have credited me the money but when I called them, they said they have nothing in their system regarding the letters they sent me. Everyone at the bank tells me different amounts that I owe, when in reality they owe me money.

I have letters from the bank saying they credited me back the initial charge but now WaMu claims they never sent those either. I have names of people I talked to, but I never get to talk the same person twice so it's moot. I am sure I know who did all these charges too. A guy who gets packages in many people's names. My credit is ruined. This despite them owing me money. This has taken so long and nobody wants to help me, I'm about to give up.

I do not understand how Chase can get away with this. It is outright unethical and cannot possibly be within the law.

On May 12, we received a letter which said that they were cancelling our request because of incomplete application. I called and spoke to Casey. He verified that they had received the info and would email the manager to reopen. When we had not heard anything, I called on June 14 and spoke to D. **. She said that they had not received the missing info in a timely manner and had shredded the application. I faxed that to them the day after I got the letter requesting it. What do they consider "timely"?

For a month, I thought that our request was being processed. Now, we have to start over, losing over a month of time. This is very stressful, especially since my husband has had both a stroke and heart attack in the past two years and needs to keep calm.

Every few weeks, they would tell me something new that they needed faxed to them. I would immediately fax it and it would take weeks to find out that they still didn't receive it. To make a long story short, I wrote them a letter telling them I had finally started work and could send them a payment. Then, I was informed that my house had gone into foreclosure but that it has also been assigned to a person for modification. I have not been notified by mail of any of this and they couldn't give me an extension number to call this person.

My daughter called to say that on June 11, they put an abandoned notice on my house saying that if I don't call in the next few days, they will secure the property for the bank. I still pay for the utilities for this house and my belongings are still inside. I'm a 64-year-old female who is trying her best to fight an invisible overwhelming foe. I called the number on this notice and they only work Monday through Friday, so I'll have to call in the morning and hope that I can speak to someone who knows what is going on.

When I called the customer service number at WaMu, a rep said that it has not been given a sale date yet and gave me a lawyer's name, but also said that they cannot give me anymore information and I have to go through the law office. I told her I have not received anything in the mail from anyone. When you look at WaMu's website, it sounds so helpful, but that's not true. I believe that this customer rep probably knew that I'm out of luck but couldn't say that.

I just want time to clear my things out of the house if they aren't going to give me a modification. Now I'm wondering if they'll try and hold my stuff for money. I wasn't over my head in the mortgage or owed more than its worth but because I lost my job and the housing market is so bad, I feel like the rug is being pulled out from under me. I'm not as bad off as some people but, I hate that at this stage in my life my credit will be negatively affected and I won't be able to repair it.

I try not to let this affect me physically because I have to teach every day and be emotionally strong, but I'm not sleeping well and my blood pressure is climbing. I will be devastated if I can't secure my belongings in the house.

After receiving a second call telling me that they did not receive anything, I wrote my loan number on the top of every page that I sent in and to no avail. Luckily, I kept the confirmation from the faxes I sent them. I finally received a letter in the mail from Washington Mutual telling me my info was still incomplete and they would not review my case. Not a nice letter to receive because at the top, it says they are a debt collector collecting a debt and that you will now be reported to a credit bureau as being delinquent (not fun considering I have tried as hard as possible not to miss a payment). When I called Washington Mutual, they said they still had not received the information I had faxed them twice and that now I would have to start all over again with a brand new application. Most likely, I will try one of their loan modification centers. Hopefully, they won't lose the paper work on the fax machine.

I filed for bankruptcy to stop them from selling this house. It was approved and I started paying. Then they wanted more money I could not pay. On the advice of my lawyer I had the bankruptcy dismissed and tried yet again to work with the bank. I was quite pleased to reach someone right away because now the whole country was in a mess. They seemed they wanted to help and they had also received bailout money. I was told nothing would happen until the assigned counselor spoke with me, what a relief. I sent them everything they asked for numerous times. No response and many calls saying someone would contact me. I waited and called, but nothing after 4 months, and no contact. I received a notice of the sale of my house for May 28th. I contacted the bank’s attorneys who were of no real help and offered a number for me to call. I finally spoke to some arrogant man who said my information was purged, but told their attorney I never sent them anything. With no options left, the house went for auction and the bank; the only bidder paid $100.00 for it. So now I have no home. I don't know where I am going and I am upset. They not only received bailout funds, but now they also have my house that I have paid on for almost 9 years. I didn't want a principal reduction, just a simple modification of the maturity date to add what I had missed to the end of the mortgage. That is all. I have nowhere to go. The stress of all of this has made me sick even to the point of having a breakdown. This is not right. They should not be allowed to have their cake and eat it, too.

I received a letter from WAMU on May 29 informing me that they have received the information and within two weeks, I should get a call finalizing the loan modification. I have not heard back so I called on June 11 to check the status of the loan modification before I made my June mortgage payment. I was informed that the loan modification was denied on June 8 due to lack of required documents. I was eventually transferred to the customer care dept and spoke with Leon. He said the documents were never received and that I should re-fax or send them to an address in Glendale, CO despite me stating that I received a call two weeks ago saying that all the required information was received. I also mentioned that the material I mailed was extremely confidential and where did it go if not received. Frustrated, I hung up then decided to call back. After a lengthy process to speak with customer care again, I talked with Allen this time.

The documents were received but there are no notes as to why the loan modification was denied. I could not get an answer as what information was lacking. So I asked if I could fax the information and he told me I need to submit a new application because the original application and information I sent have been shredded. I will complete a new application and resubmit with required information this time by fax though I am not confident anything will be done. In the meantime, I get called daily from WAMU requesting my mortgage payment from someone I can hardly understand while I could not get a call on my loan modification which I really need.

I really need the loan modification since it looks like I cannot sell my house. Nearby houses are already in foreclosure and the properties are in very poor condition which is the reason buyers are turned away. I will have to dramatically reduce the price below the breakeven point in order to sell. I requested from WAMU a lower payment either by reducing the interest rate or reducing the mortgage of the home to reflect the reduction in price. At the house in Bloomington, IN, I pay the mortgage, taxes, utilities and maintenance. I am also paying rent and utilities in West Lafayette, IN.

I live month by month and am getting behind in owed income tax. I need another car but cannot save enough or afford a payment. I really thought WAMU took these loan modifications seriously. It takes an effort to apply, complete forms, gather information and send). Then, two weeks after being informed that the loan modification will be completed in two weeks, I discovered that it was denied with no specific reasons and all submitted records have been destroyed whithout a chance to discuss this with them.

Many hours were wasted on this issue. I spoke with so many people in so many departments, being transferred time and time again with the explanation that their left hand did not integrate with their right hand and the information had to be faxed, mailed, and/or sent electronically to Department A so Department B could audit the information and find out why my line of credit was frozen even after proper documentation of my flood insurance was sent by my insurance company. They were so rude! Like it was my fault that their records were screwed up. They never apologized or offered any show of accountability.

After WAMU finally cleared up the flood insurance issue on their end, my line of credit remained frozen. I spent several more hours being transferred from department to department. No one could figure out why my credit was frozen. All my payments had been made, and my credit was in good standing. After about 18 months, I got a letter which explained that since I had lost my job, I had violated the terms of our agreement and my line of credit would not be reinstated.

To this day, I make payments but do not have access to my home equity line of credit. I have begun to be harassed by Chase for flood insurance. I have coverage and do not understand how the bank can freeze my credit but then charge me for insurance infractions on that line of credit. WAMU has been a huge nightmare.

Do I have an opportunity here to be added to a class action suit? I hope so. I should be compensated for all the time I've wasted and extra charges I've incurred. I have documentation of phone conversations I had with WAMU. I'd also like to look into saving my house due to medical hardships. I appreciate your consideration.

My mistake was believing the teller was truthful about the funds being available in one or two business days. The lies and deception by these institutions has created mistrust in the banking system because they are able to business as if they were a local bank but actually using the loophole they have six business days to pay out because they are actually an out of state bank. I asked for the check back and would take it to the local bank that issued it and return with the cash. I was refused saying that check was already in the system. Not only had I given them this $140,000 for six business days to use as they please but I also was not able to pay off my loan that they are charging me almost 7% on $119,000. Who says crime doesn't pay?

WaMu thanked me for contacting them before anything happened and said I would be a great candidate for a loan modification. They also told me that during the modification process, our credit wouldn't be negatively effected by a late payment. Four months later, we were denied for a modification due to lack of documentation which I sent in 3 times and made sure they got. Because the mod was taking so long, my husband and I decided to sell our house. We sold it in a month which was great!

As we were trying to get pre-qualified for a loan on a house $80k less than what we own on our current house, we realized that we had 2 late payments on our credit score from WaMu. After hours and hours of talking with multiple different people from WaMu, they basically said it was my fault and they wouldn't change anything. So we are closing on our house at the end of July and can't buy a new house because of the lies WaMu told us.

I am so sad with how this all turned out. We tried to do our due diligence and catch the problem before it even started but WaMu just blew smoke and now our credit is ruined. I want to be a part of a class action suit. I feel like our livelihood was totally affected in the worst way because of WaMu. I feel for all of you!

On Thursday June 4, I got through on a direct line and left a message on an answering machine. I did get a call back stating that my application had a new loan processor and I would hear from her on Thursday or Friday. I did get an e-mail from her and she said the application was being sent back to underwriting and that it would take 2-3 more weeks and then will have to go to another department for condominium review. So in the meantime, we are still waiting. I could understand if I am a new customer but they hold our current mortgage which we have reduced by making extra payments on the principal and our FICO scores are over 800.

I have fought with them on many occasions regarding their unethical practices and protocols when it comes to people's money. I have decided to close my account. These charges take away from my day to day activities. They are stressful. They take away from my children and this bank has proven to make life **! In this day and age, everyone deserves a financial institution that respects their money!

Again, I tried calling WaMu customer service several times to figure something out. Instead, I usually hang up the phone crying because they made me feel so bad. After many letters warning default/pre-foreclosure/foreclosure, I decided to sell my house. I found a wonderful realtor (after being turned down by many) and the house was approved for Short Sale. The house was sold within 4 months. I received a letter saying that the loan had been satisfied and I was no longer responsible for the debt. I no longer have a debt.

Now two years later, my husband of one year and I are trying to buy a house. This would be his first home purchase and my second. We both make okay money and have good credit scores. However, we were denied the home loan only for the reason that my credit report states foreclosure! I have disputed with each credit bureau and have had no luck. Yet. I'm in the process of writing a letter to WaMu and I thought I was done with them. They incorrectly reported to the credit bureaus and I want the information updated! But in the meantime, my family is stuck in a small, overpriced rent property.

I explained I gave sufficient time for any outstanding debts to be cleared from my old WAMU account and there was nothing outstanding on my record when I closed the account in December of 2008. Now WAMU is attempting to extort $162 from me without telling to whom this debt is supposedly owed. I do not want to ruin my credit, what am I to do? Help!

I called many times in January, and was told that a P. ** was assigned to me. They gave me a number to call. It said it was a non-working number, and gave me another number, which asks for your loan number or SS, then that number said it could not find my loan, and then hangs up on me. Finally, I called another number, and it’s their Collection Department’s number. They give me Peggy **’s voice mail. I called and left a message. After about 3 days, I got a message from her, stating she has no idea who I am, or what this has to do with? Again, I called and get the Collection Dept., and they transferred me to her again, but this time there was no callback. I was then told my modification is being worked on, but no one knows who is working on it, and it may take until April to go through.

I finally got a call on 04/12/09, and I was asked to fax out updated papers. I did this at the WAMU bank on the 13th of April. This time, I made a payment in March, and then in April. May comes, and I tried to make a payment, and they can't process it in the bank. I also got a Katie on the phone from WAMU, and she told me to fax the papers to her, that they may have never gotten them. This was on May 26, 2009. Again, I faxed them from WAMU bank. I got a phone call on Sunday from their Dept. of Collection, and was told it was being recorded. I spoke with Dwayne, and of course he wants a payment. I told him that I would pay, but I wanted a letter from WAMU, telling me what months I owe, and how much in total and where I should send my payments, and if I pay all of it, will it stop any foreclosure started. I stated that I would pay, and send a certified mail with signature request.

He said that he could not do that! I told him that whenever anyone calls me from WAMU, I also am recording, and he told me, “I guess this conversation is done, and we are no longer talking” then he hung up on me. It’s funny they can record me, but I can't record them. Now it’s June 5th, and no one has contacted me. I am sick from all of this, physically sick!

This is very unprofessional. I will make sure and let everyone I know not to bank with Wamu. I opened another account while I waited for the situation to be fixed with the idea that I would return with the bank I have been with for 9 years. I can't believe that with the economic status we are all in this bank would take advantage. I cannot believe that they are so bad off that they must steal my money from my account. I am making sure that everyone I know hears about it because I don’t ever want anyone to go through this.

Failure to meet the stipulations of the platinum checking account resulted in a $20 monthly service fee. For whatever reason, Washington Mutual began charging me a $20 monthly fee stating that I was not meeting the terms of the account. Unfortunately, this is an account that I do not use often and this $20 service fee went on for a little over two years unnoticed.

When I called Washington Mutual to question the $20 fee, they confirmed the fact that I was still a Washington Mutual loan holder and that this account should be "free." I asked their "senior manager" if they would refund my money and I was told that I did not catch their error soon enough and they would not refund my money.

Our current mortgage rate is good - 5.875 and we are 6.5 years into our 30-year loan. Our credit scores are good, around 800 and our house was appraised at $405K and our loan is only $215K. I am trying to take advantage of historically low rates, save myself a few hundred a month to help make our daycare payments for three children, now I'm out $850, plus months of frustration. Out of pocket costs - $750 refinance application fee, $100 home equity subordination fee. Mortgage refinance was promised to close in early April, so I have also lost about $225 worth of monthly mortgage savings ($675 total).

After providing them with the requested documents, they froze our credit line. no longer able to access it only to continue making payments until paid in full. This better not hurt our credit! They're reasoning was that there was a change in our income! Absolutely not true! What do we do now? I do not feel they should be able to get away with this. If this was an isolated case, I wouldn't think too much of it, but as I read on and on and on, they are doing this to a lot of us and we should be able to do something about it. Mad as hell!

The vice president and branch manager drafted a letter and mailed it to the check recipient, as well as a copy to my home address. The letter contained multiple errors throughout. First, while the letter was addressed correctly to (Mr.) Brian **. It then incorrectly starts with "Dear Ms. **". Second, my name, Shannon ** is misspelled throughout, as Shannon **. And finally, it incorrectly refers to "Ms. **" instead of myself several times. I would have hoped that a letter of this nature would be proof-read before it's sent.

Additionally, I deposited a check written from another Washington Mutual member shortly after this incident. The funds were immediately withdrawn from the other member's account, and I confirmed when making the deposit in the branch that the full amount was available in my account. One week later, I viewed my checking account information online, only to find that a hold had been placed on the deposit made a week earlier. Not only had these funds been immediately removed from the other account, but they had been withheld from my account balance for a week and I had not been notified! I called Customer Service and was told that risk operations took this action the day after I made the deposit, although the supervisor to whom I spoke could not give me a reason why.

These repeated "holds" feel as though I am continually giving Washington Mutual "loans" from my checking account without my consent or knowledge. It's unethical and recurrent.

The limitations in the state of Florida is 7 years. It's been 9 years. Now I have pending transactions with merchants that will not be paid because out of the blue I have to pay money to them. Please tell me, can they do this?

The accelerated payout was robing me of the value of the loan I paid 3 fees for and my effective rate was going up monthly. Four times, they told me the effective rate means nothing and they had not raised my rate. I was given no chance to opt out and keep the terms I contracted for. I was not allowed to consolidate the two accounts so as to pay only $10 per month but had to pay $20. I reported to the Comptroller of Currency who will not even accept new data of coercion. I would like to add that Chase claims they are the only office they are responsible to.

I am learning more now and about to write the state attorney general because the exact office responding to the Comptroller of Currency said they would not budge on the terms and the COC web site says they get you to top people and, each month, my rate was climbing. I, again, was stupid and believed Chase. I paid a fee and transferred to a limited term at B of A. Ten days later, they removed the fees. They are refusing to restore me to the terms I would have if I had not believed their head office for 10 more days. They further pushed me to rush as if triple payments and $20 a month at the purchase rate was not enough extortion. They told me it would be 2 full cycles to accept their only way to get out of the $20 per month at purchase interest, that was to accept a high 7.9% rate. I even paid off the extortion fees that would remain for could be 3 billings.

For those of you this has happened to, notice the fees do not come at any item you can anticipate, not the cycle date or the due date. They won't tell you it is billed in the front arrears. I was being threatened with 60 of these payments even after doing the only thing I could do to get the fees to stop and they assured me even if I was charged $60, only $10 would be credited back. All these tactics are extortion to take away our contract. I disagree that fees and effective interest mean nothing. That is what is really paid. I believe in California, I should have been given the right to opt out but they claim they are not a California bank. They solicited me in California. The Comptroller of Currency will not tell me how they are funded.

I noticed on the news the new president of Chase comes from the Comptroller of Currency. Chase insisted they were their only governing agency but now I am going to the state attorney and take all suggestions and stop believing Chase. I still have a thick file of their solicitations and was careful to call to make sure no terms could change. Then I believed the executive office 10 days before they removed the fees. Fool again, I believed they were assured by their good legal department that they could and would not back down on this. So I figured a long legal battle and that is what it will be. They took a bailout affecting my taxes, removed money from the economy to all they did this to. They broke a simple contract so causing trust further hurting the economy.

I want to know if this country will allow them to take tax bail out money and break a contract to all of paying timely no matter what the tricks. Don't believe the lie. They told me that the only option is the Comptroller of Currency. Next is California's Attorney General. I am relieved to see they proceeded against Chase in 05 for a different illegal practice.

I called then two times a day for 60 days. I never received any returned calls, no letters. I was always transferred over to a collector who did not know what was going on. I have yet to speak to a live bank person. And because of their delay, I found out in March of this year that they accepted the modification. But they are now trying to foreclose because they said I am 2 months behind on payments after several attempts to contact them about the approval and lost out on the deposit, because she held the other house for a month for us.

Now just because they did not return my calls, they want all the money they said we owe because of their neglect towards me. They should make it right. I never get to talk to a banker from the bank; it’s always a creditor. I have asked to talk to someone and they refuse to put me through. I have changed my phone number twice because they would call me on the hour every day, and it was always someone new. Even now they will not work with me; I am now in a decision mode. Do not finance with this bank.

When she didn't call, we called her. She continually stated she was working on the package, or she needed signatures. She sent us paperwork to fax back to her on two occasions. Both sets were lost. Betty does not return our calls. It is now March of 2009. We haven't made a mortgage payment to WAMU and they don't return our calls. On March 30, we received a FedEx package from Betty with a letter stating we needed to complete the list of items and FedEx them back to her (third package of the same stuff she already has). The letter gave us 10 days and Betty gave us 3 according to her pre-paid return FedEx. We sent the package information and paid to send it ourselves.

We got a letter yesterday from Chase (4/17) denying our workout, because it was late and missing items (items not included in the letter or on her list). Our home is back in foreclosure! Give me a break! They don't return our calls for two years and we are late? Thank God that Genworth Financial (our PMI holder) has contacted us to assist with our workout efforts. We have sent them the same documents and the person has kept in touch via emails. Hopefully, they can help us. What has resulted is a credit rating that indicates we have been behind and in foreclosure for two years. We are in fear of losing our home that we have made every effort to keep. We are stressed out and worry that WAMU will throw another curve ball at us. How can a company ignore its clients? We don't get it.

The next month went fine. The month after that, I was on vacation for the week; my auto pay was to go out to WaMu. I returned home to find it had not. I was by then late on my payment. This was September 2005. I started sending a check each month for my payments, refusing to pay the late fee. Each month I would send the check on the first in order to get it there well before due date; however, WaMu would not credit my payments until after the due date. Late fees began to pile up, which I argued and refused to pay. I was being threatened with foreclosure if I did not pay these amounts. WaMu began refusing to accept my payments, stating they were under no obligation to accept a partial payment.

In December of 2006, my property tax bill came out. I had always paid my own taxes; there was no escrow agreement or payments for WaMu to do so. My bill comes in December, and I would pay it in January every year with income tax refunds (taxes are due by mid-February). All of a sudden, WaMu went and paid property taxes on my home in December, leaving me with a negative escrow balance. They began charging late fees, penalties, and increased my house payment. I agreed to pay a higher house payment to cover the negative escrow but nothing else. I refused to pay late fees, penalties, or continuing escrow for future tax years. They still refused to accept payment unless I paid the entire amount they claimed were due for late fees and penalties and for the escrow balance plus all the missed payments, which were due to their refusal to accept the payments.

They foreclosed on my home, and in March 2007, I ended filing a Chapter 13 to keep from losing my home of 20 years. The trustee’s office had to threaten WaMu with legal action to get from them information on my monthly payment amount and balances on the mortgage and the arrears. Three days after my Chapter 13 was filed and WaMu was notified, they auctioned my house, verified by the county sheriff's department. My attorney said not to worry, that the court would have that sale set aside. (He was a useless liability as an attorney- a whole separate story). Well, my home burned down last fall and we rebuilt. I used part of the contents money to pay off my Chapter 13, which was almost all WaMu (even my good accounts had to be filed and it screwed them up as well). I am waiting now to see how long it takes for WaMu to pull something with me again - I just made my first payment to them this month outside the protection of the court.

The consequences have been steep from all of this. The stress of going through all of it was terrible. The financial impact has been tremendous, with a Chapter 13 to work off on my credit now. Now, the worry of what will happen with WaMu outside the protection of the courts is a daily nagging concern. I mailed my payment with Priority Mail delivery confirmation to prove delivery date. I also mailed them a letter the same day, which has not been accepted. I cannot access my account online anymore, and I cannot get anyone to help me when I try and call WaMu.

We, and it seems a lot of others, sent in our statement of hardship along with every requested document not once but twice. Apparently, the address on the envelope that they sent us was incorrect so it was sent out again. We have been told on three different phone calls, three different dates of when they received our information and that it would take 60 days from the time they received it till a decision would be reached. This was told to us after telling us that they would not put us through to management, that there was no program that would help us, and management would tell us the same thing. Apparently we are going to have to find a lawyer and show them how hard we will fight. We are thankfully only a month behind and have been able to stay that way.

We need, I need help. I cannot keep up the hours I have been working trying to keep our house. I have been sick several times in the last month partially due to exhaustion. Someone needs to step up and please make WAMU accountable for what they are doing to hard working home owners. Thank you to whoever steps in to answer our cries for help and God Bless all on this board.

Concerned, I called the customer service line and was told that they had put it in the wrong account. They were aware of the problem and are holding on to the check. He said the check would be returned to me through the mail. Since stolen mail was the reason for this mess in the first place, I was less than pleased. So, I requested that since they have the check and the deposit slip, they deposit the money in the correct account. He refused, saying they were not able to do that; the only way I could get the check back was to wait for the mail. Two weeks went by and no check. Finally, I called and they said that they had directly deposited the check into my account that morning, which is exactly what I asked them to do, just two weeks earlier.

Around this time I received my new debit card. I called the toll free line and it said my card was activated. Later that night, I tried to use it. It was declined. I called the customer service line and was told it should work now. The next day I tried to make a purchase - it didn't work. I called once more. Same thing - I was told it would work and it didn't. Finally, I asked to speak with a manager of a local Chase. She fixed the problem for me. This ended up being a total of three weeks that, through no fault of mine, I couldn't access my money. This past week, I was going to a shopping center a few hours away with my friend. To ensure I would have enough money, I deposited a check in my account. Sure enough, when I went to make a purchase, my card was declined. There was plenty of money in my account, and this was not a new card. I have been with Chase for almost 6 years. I have large amounts of money in CDs and other accounts, and this is ridiculous. I'll be closing my account with Chase this week. I don't want an explanation; I just want out.

I asked for assistance and all I got was attitude. I told them this was a bank error and they said it was mine. They stated that because I made these withdrawals, they would show on my account as being withdrawn, but on the 1st business day they would be all put back into the account and re-withdrawn starting with the bigger item to the smallest. This has caused me to pay $180.00 in overdraft fees and to put me in the hole with more important bills. I'm hoping that maybe someone will assist me in this matter. The Branch Manager at Chase in Palos Park stated that she was going to close my account due to this matter and supposed abuse of the debit card!

After they labored over my account for a few minutes, I had to go to work and asked if everything was okay and if they would fix it because I had to go to work. The head teller told me that as long as they couldn't prove that I had done it and I had not spent any of the money, I should be okay. I told her that if I had done it and spent any of the money, the last thing I would do was tell them about it. I asked her what would happen when they found out it was the bank’s error; would anyone of them have to pay for the error? She seemed upset that I had even suggested this, and seeing as I did not have time to push the matter, I left.

We tried negotiating with the merchants who said okay, we could pay them when it was straightened out. But Chase charged us the fees and kept charging us fees. Then we asked them to just close the account so that nothing else could come through as we have gotten everything fixed. They said we couldn't close the account and not to worry, there would be no more fees. They lied! They said that we would have to wait for them to close the account; that would take 60 days! We made a total of 24 phone calls to the bank, all the way to the top. When I finally said I wasn't going to pay them, they started with the daily and hourly phone calls even though one of us had just spoken to them, sometimes minutes before. I was told told how sorry they were so many times I swear it's their mantra. They were never rude because they knew they'd screwed us. They finally closed the account and it caused us $823 in bank fees alone which we have yet to finish paying.

This past Tuesday, my new wife and I entered and spoke with a different representative. She stated she could not enter the information without my wife's ID. My wife obliged and handed the rep her driver's license and Social Security card. My wife is originally from Vietnam but has been a citizen for almost 12 years. In a demeaning tone (in front of two other customers), the rep states, "Are you even a citizen?" This pissed me off. I wasn't asking to let her write checks, draw money from the account, obtain credit from the account or the bank. Then she stated she needed to see my wife's credit cards. At this point, I was so pissed I put an end to it and my wife and I decided to leave. I am contacting the Chase corporate office as well as the Better Business Office of Denver. This screams of racial discrimination and I will not let this drop.

It's fairly obvious what the agenda is behind these tactics. Chase expects to be unjustly enriched by being able to market pools of these types of loans under more favorable underwriting standards, and at a higher rate of interest than that charged to customers who opened full doc loans at the time.

They will still charge 5% of the balance as minimum, with the option of lowering your minimum payment back to 2% with a new interest rate of 7.99%. I just think it's great that they are not going to get away with that ridiculous monthly service charge. Anyway, I just wanted to tell everybody that it does pay to take a stand and the big guy doesn't always get his way! Congrats to all of you who, like me, stood up to Chase. I read that this fee only affected one-half of one percent of their customers, but apparently it was a feisty little group! Don't ever give up!

I then called the bank and explained that at 12:30am, it showed no such transaction had occurred and that since it was already April 2nd, I knew that I could just make the deposit in person, since my autopay had not yet posted to my account. This has always been the rule for the 10 years I have banked with WaMu. In fact, as long as you make a deposit before the end of the banking day (up until 11pm), there has been no overdraft fee for items posted that day. I was always told that the system updates between 11pm and midnight. The rep told me that the 2 overdraft fees I was charged would be refunded once they posted and to call back the next day. I did that and was transferred to a manager, who after letting me explain the whole thing again and explaining to me that none of the things I had always been told mattered, he refused to refund the overdraft fees. He said the posting was not backdated because they paid the draft when it came in at 7pm on April 1st even though it did not show as pending or posted until April 2nd.

He said that they can charge overdraft fees as soon as they pay it, even if they don't post it to the account until the next day (or however long it takes them to get it done). My local branch manager even thought it was fishy but when she called, she got the same answer I got. I was billed $70 in overdraft fees because they backdated the time of posting to my account. Very sneaky! Reason they wouldn't reverse the fees? Because I already had 3 reversed in the past 12 months! They say they only reverse them due to bank error, but they never admit error or worse, bank misinformation or more accurately deliberate deception!

I also saw a MetroCard had been purchased on 12/31 (New Year's Eve) when I was in Albany, New York, 200 miles away. I went to my Chase Branch (Columbus and 86th Street) and explained what had happened. They gave me the number to "dispute it by phone (866-564-2262)." I spoke to "Bel" in the Philippines and initiated a claim, # **. By the time I got home and realized I had found another illegal charge, they had already denied my claim. I was given two reasons(?) for it, by Linda **, in Houston. The first was that "all the transactions were in the same area." The second is that "the person knew my pin number and did not make multiples tries."

She told me to go to the police, which I did. I went to the 24th Precinct, 151 West 100th Street, New York, NY and received a complaint report# 1744 I then received many emails to call Chase again. So on 4/5/09, I called back and spoke to James in Ohio, who has an ID number, "but does not have to give it out." Nor does he have to give his last name. He told me he had to stick by what "fellow workers said because it took you too long to complain." Disputed charges are: 03/26/09 - $10 (on my daughter's account); 12/31/08 - $10 (my account) this is also known as New Year's Eve; 1/20/09 - $25 (my account); 1/27/09 - $25 (my account); 12/23/09 - $10 (my account). All charges are illegal. I am not writing to complain about $80. My time is worth a lot more money than that. I am writing because Chase's system has been breached, and no one, who works in Claims and Fraud, where they should care most, has any interest whatsoever.

Through a series of complicated discussions and disconnections, which included being told the fraud department was closed on Sunday (they were the ones who disconnected me), and none of my answers answered to my satisfaction, I proceeded to ask about the charge and why it was considered a risk. One hour and 45 minutes later, I was connected to Dennis who explained the following: WAMU accounts and charges made to them are reviewed by a computer. At its whim (no guidelines given), the computer will suspend one's card and make a call out to the account's owner. In the meantime, if you depend on this card, it will not be usable. The suspicious activity I had on my account was taking my family out to dinner at a well-known chain restaurant on a Saturday night.

Then the kicker was when I renewed a subscription to a professional community (well-known especially to the banking community), which I did online. It included all my personal information, including the number on the back of the card. I was told my actions triggered the account to be suspended. I guess dinner on Saturday and my other purchase is somehow unusual? I was told I can expect such reviews and service suspensions from time to time now with WAMU/Chase unannounced, and the requirement will be to plan to spend a long time on the phone to prove myself to WAMU's computer.

Apparently, they have no clue on what is going on. They filled out another paperwork. In the meantime, I am getting charged with late fees and I keep paying the payments manually. Finally, the next month, autopay worked. A couple of months later, I get hit with another late payment notice and a couple of other threatening letters about the cancellation of my account and being reported to credit companies.

When I visited a local branch, they said that when J.P. Morgan bailed out WaMu, all autopays were suspended. And they apparently sent out notices, probably in junk-mail looking envelopes. So, anybody who do not open junk mails like me would have missed that. I went to the local branch again and again to bring my account to current and avoid a credit issue. Each time, they promised to follow up and no progress was made until I went back and asked again and again. To make things even more complicated, each time a different representative is assigned to the task, so there is no continuity. All in all, WaMu experience has been, at best, awful.

Every time I call, and I call at least once a week, I write down the name of the person who helped me, the questions they ask, the information they give, etc. Then the next time I call and Joe tells me something new, I let him know that last week, Sally told me this. It seems to make them nervous and anytime I did that, I got a serious reply. Also, twice I went to my local bank and had them call and write me a letter stating what happened. Hopefully, I am in the last step and all will be okay. I love my home and just called to see what they could do to help and suddenly my credit is destroyed (not if I sign) and I owe tons of money (not if I sign). I'm kind of backed up against a wall. By the way, my contribution amount is only $600. I saw some guy that needs $3,000. Well, good luck to me and good luck to all of you.

Then I noticed that my interest rate had gone up. They had retroactively (to the start of the previous billing cycle) raised my interest rate from 1.87% to 18.24%. I called customer service again. I got nowhere with the service rep. The manager was not even listening to what I was telling her. She said that it was my fault since (she claimed) they had sent out notices and emails that the website would be down (I was not aware until the site went down). Also, since they offered other options: a phone transfer with a fee, and going to a bank to pay the bill, she claimed it was my fault. It’s too bad if it costs more or if it was inconvenient. I explained to her it was unreasonable to raise my interest rate over 16% just for being one day late considering their website was down.

In addition, the mail should have gotten from CA to IL in less than 5 days, especially when sent from a major post office. She said that it was in the terms and conditions, and there was nothing that she could do. I told her to consider the intent of the rule (not just the literal interpretation), that I was not suddenly a great credit risk for being a day late considering the circumstances. She said that they had rules and regulations, and there was nothing that she could do. I said she had the authority to lower my interest rates. She denied that she did. I asked her who did. She replied, “Nobody, they had rules and regulations that we have to follow.” I said that she had to be wrong; her boss certainly had to have the authority. She asked me if I wanted to talk to her boss. I said sure. She put me on hold and then hung up (and hung me up too). Consequences: over $200 extra in interest for the previous month. And for every month including this month, an additional $200 (or an additional 16%-17% of the balance) until the account is paid off.

I was passed to 3 different people who said they had my info and would help. The help was to try and pay the full amount that I don't owe and I needed to contact their lawyers to get the amount. I owe them to be squared away with them. If I can't pay in full, I was told their new president has new plans to help (if I qualify). Not. My neighbor has not paid his mortgage since August 2008 and still no foreclosure. Why? He owes more than the property. While me, they can make a killing on my home. I have too much equity - free money to WaMu.

Side note: I have called their law firm 6 times, all different hours. All voicemails and no return calls. This from a firm that says they are serious about FL foreclosures. Yeah, they're serious about selling people's homes. Their website is all greed. To all WaMu customers, I am sorry and good luck. I served this country. I fought for this country. Now I wish I didn't live in this place because it is no longer a great country to me! When you want to screw your own, that is sad. But be careful, some screw back.