WAMU is no longer my favorite bank.

cyberdan · Jul 30, 2008

A while back I had nothing but praises for WAMU (Washington Mutual) Bank. I went in to see about an account and talked to the new account manager and an assistant manager. I told them my plans that I needed a bank to accept bagged coin. I was told NO PROBLEM and assigned a teller to exclusivly work with on my deposits. They asked a favor of me because they were a small branch. They asked that I call ahead in the morning of deposit so they could arrange an armored car pickup that evening. They also mentioned if I sign up right away they have an unadvertised special of a $75 American Express gift check.

So I signed up and a few weeks later I did get my $75, so far so good. I made my first two bag deposit and got nothin but smiles. But one month ago I bring in two more bags to my assigned teller and the bank manager walks up to me and says I can not bring in bags as they can not verify the amount and they do not have room in their vault. I explained exactly what I was promised and she agreed to take these two bags this time only. She will call her HQ in the morning and get back with me on a final decision. Well, two weeks later and no call so I call and leave a message for her to call. Another two weeks and no answer so I went in last night and she blamed it on someone else.

Real professional place WAMU!

She also had me sit in the lobby (half hour) while she did all the calls she should have done one month ago.

Final decision from up above :angry4:

no bags allowed. I could bring in all the rolled coin I wanted. Have not decided if I want to close my account yet or not. There are times I will have $200-300 in rolled coin. Not enough to fill a bag but too much to want to hold onto till I can fill a bag.

blurr · Jul 30, 2008

cyberdan said:
A while back I had nothing but praises for WAMU (Washington Mutual) Bank. I went in to see about an account and talked to the new account manager and an assistant manager. I told them my plans that I needed a bank to accept bagged coin. I was told NO PROBLEM and assigned a teller to exclusivly work with on my deposits. They asked a favor of me because they were a small branch. They asked that I call ahead in the morning of deposit so they could arrange an armored car pickup that evening. They also mentioned if I sign up right away they have an unadvertised special of a $75 American Express gift check.

So I signed up and a few weeks later I did get my $75, so far so good. I made my first two bag deposit and got nothin but smiles. But one month ago I bring in two more bags to my assigned teller and the bank manager walks up to me and says I can not bring in bags as they can not verify the amount and they do not have room in their vault. I explained exactly what I was promised and she agreed to take these two bags this time only. She will call her HQ in the morning and get back with me on a final decision. Well, two weeks later and no call so I call and leave a message for her to call. Another two weeks and no answer so I went in last night and she blamed it on someone else.

Real professional place WAMU! She also had me sit in the lobby (half hour) while she did all the calls she should have done one month ago.

Final decision from up above no bags allowed. I could bring in all the rolled coin I wanted. Have not decided if I want to close my account yet or not. There are times I will have $200-300 in rolled coin. Not enough to fill a bag but too much to want to hold onto till I can fill a bag.

Don't waste your time with them. Check around until you find a better bank and switch. Banks don't have to take bags of coin. They can do all kinds of things to make life hard. Don't waste your breath, just find a good bank and let Wamu know why you are switching. I would think in the current state of our economy they would want every customer they could get. Good luck.

John

cyberdan · Jul 30, 2008

blurr said:
Don't waste your time with them. Check around until you find a better bank and switch.

I already have an account with all the other major banks in my area. They were only going to be a backup deposit bank. I feel I will just use them as a major rolled coin dump bank.

Another WAMU branch has always been very good to me when CRHing and this was before I had an account.

Silver_Fox · Jul 30, 2008

Don't stop with them yet. Let them know that is a classic bait and switch scam to get your account. Mention that the Feds frown on that stuff. They might change their mind.

cyberdan · Jul 30, 2008

Silver_Fox said:
Don't stop with them yet. Let them know that is a classic bait and switch scam to get your account. Mention that the Feds frown on that stuff. They might change their mind.

They are going to pay (remember I already got $75 to sign up) someone is going to have to carry around a lot of rolled coin.

This is really an assistant manager exceding her authority and promising something she knew nothing about. The new account guy no longer works there.

jrf30 · Jul 30, 2008

Their bad debt ratios are high anyway. Whcich means they may not be AROUND for much longer. So, don't worry about it.

No one thought INdyMac would go either. And last week I told someone to pull money from FIrst National of Arizona, and that one went on Friday afternoon. Gone.

NO, WAMU won't be gone this Firday. But it is near the top of the list for potential banks to fail int he future. Now that IMB is gone.

Ju8vP3t · Jul 30, 2008

I return all mine to WAMU, after a few times of going in, I asked if I could just bring in a bag of loose coins, they said no, had to be rolled, I asked them what they did with them, and they return them via car service, but the car service won't take rolled coins, so someone at WAMU has to unroll all the coins(and verify them,count 'em, which I don't think they do) and bag them up, so I said why don't I just bring them in bagged, saves me time and saves you time...but the answer was still no...so it goes

Silver_Fox · Jul 31, 2008

Hoped you already cashed that check CD.......it might not be good much longer.... :icon_jokercolor:

Lucky Jack · Jul 31, 2008

I also had problems with my Wamu. It's a branch office but it's not that small. Usually 4 or 5 tellers on duty all the time. I used to bring my halves in by the box, already rolled. About the tenth time the manager came over and said if I continue bringing in that much coin then they will charge a fee of $75 because they have to call a truck each time to pick them up. No room in the vault to store them. Fortunately there are four Wamu's within about 5 miles of each other so I rotate now and avoid the one nearest my home that I had trouble with. I also dump at BofA and they've never given me any trouble.

cyberdan · Jul 31, 2008

Silver_Fox said:
Hoped you already cashed that check CD.......it might not be good much longer..

OH YEA! It was 1/3 payment toward a great GPS navigator. The other 2/3's was from some MD finds and a contest I won at work. :thumbsup:

The only thing I can't figure out how to do is put in long/latt coordinates to use it for Geocaching or are they as accurate as some of the handheld devices. :icon_scratch:

cyberdan · Jul 31, 2008

Lucky Jack said:
No room in the vault to store them.

The manager was very clear, as long as they were rolled she had no problem with any amount. I don't like to roll so I am not worried about her telling me that.

I did have that "no room in the vault" problem with a small WellFargo branch once. I was depositing rolled halves under the window. The teller left the window and came back with the vault teller and started pushing the rolls back to me. The vault teller told me they will not accept any more rolled coin from me because I filled their vault.

I felt a little angry but also proud. All by my self I filled a WF vault with my own money. :tongue3: