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We have been Washington Mutual customers for MANY years (15+). They were recently acquired by JP Morgan Chase (this ruined Wamu). We have a visa card that we use pretty regularly. We charge it up and pay it off several times a year. Never a late payment, we always pay way more than the minumum due.
Previously we had an interest rate of about 8%, then about 3 months ago it went up to 14%. It bothered me, but I didn't do anything about the increase. So then we just got our bill for this month - and the interest rate went up to 30.9%.. We have excellent credit, no late payments to anyone!
I called them and they told us "tough luck" there is nothing we can do. They had no reason for the increase, and just kept telling us they were sorry. Sorry is right! We're going to pay off the balance and cancel our account.
They are not going to make a single penny more off of us!
Citi did the same thing to me. I had a card with them for almost ten years at 9% and they just informed me that they were raising it to 19.9%. I have good credit (over 700) and have zero balance on all cards except one (less than 2k.) I haven't been late on any revolving line of credit EVER. I called them and they told me it was across the board and wasn't just me. I canceled the card, and don't mind if it hurts my score. My car is paid for, and I don't plan any large purchases any time soon. They can kiss by butt as far as I'm concerned.
After our 'wonderful' (NOT) experience with customer service, we have moved all our accounts. We still have our mortgage there, and it will probably stay because we have a great rate - but we paid off our credit card balance are not going to use our credit card much at all from here on out, and basically I'm done with dealing with them. I am really so upset, still, over the whole interest rate hike thing. I think the thing that bugs me the most is that we are really good customers. We have a long history with them, several investment accts, checking, savings, our mortgage and the credit card. We pushed lots of money through that bank. We always pay on time, we have plenty of money in all our accounts, no reason to 'dump on us'. I don't have any complaints with the branch & our accts that we had there, we simply decided to move on.
Well, yes, sometimes that's what we need to do. That's what I did. I'm just sorry that WaMu's customer service deteriorated to the point it did, and that it was the biggest banking failure in U.S. history. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd still be with them as a banking customer. By the way, I'm starting to see those WaMu commercials where this guy is opening an account with WaMu and says, "I love this bank." For a while, WaMu was laying low until the fallout from the Chase acquisition blew over.
Maybe it's just our branch, but our WaMu is great. We have several accounts in various banks, but our main business accounts are all at WaMu. They bend over backwards for us, send us thank you cards every now and then, know us by name--and we don't have a great deal of money in any account there. I was concerned the customer service would go down with Chase, but it hasn't.
Maybe it's just our branch, but our WaMu is great. We have several accounts in various banks, but our main business accounts are all at WaMu. They bend over backwards for us, send us thank you cards every now and then, know us by name--and we don't have a great deal of money in any account there. I was concerned the customer service would go down with Chase, but it hasn't.
I should clarify my last post. The customer service issues I had with WaMu weren't with the people in my local branch--as a matter of fact, the rare occasions I had to interact with a teller were all wonderful experiences. Rather, I was quite dismayed when I had to call the 800 customer service number only to discover that my calls were being handled by a call center in the Philippines. The people I dealt with at the overseas call center weren't very helpful nor courteous, so that's when I decided to pull my accounts from WaMu (after being a 20+ -year customer) and do my banking with a local credit union. I'm happy to learn that your experiences with WaMu have been positive, even with the merger with Chase. I guess this could be a case of "YMMV" (Your Mileage May Vary).
I'm a current Chase customer, and I have never had any problem with them (got both credit and debit cards with them). In fact my local banker is very friendly and polite....
Bank Of America (BofA) though, is a different story.... They bought LaSalle bank here in Chicago, and I'm not very happy with them. Their online system is messy, and it only accepts electronic credit card payments from BofA checking accounts!
It's a PIA to pay my BoFA credit card because I have to do an ACH from my main checking account to the BoFA checking account I had to open precisely for this.
The only reason why I keep this credit card is because closing it would hurt my credit score, and also because it has this feature that allows you to create a 'virtual cc number' which I use to buy from online merchants that might not be very well known (to protect from fraud)
I have been a WAMU customer for many years and was pretty satisfied but since the takeover I have also seen a deterioration of their services. Starting March 1st, they also won't display the FICO score anymore. The credit card website will be unavailable from March 4th to March 8th. Yes, you read correctly, for 5 (!!!) days. Unbelievable. What's next ?
So I am thinking of thinking to another bank, what are your experiences with other banks in California ?
Chase just got me. I recieved my card from them with the checks so I assumed all was good. Anyway, a week later I was at the doctors office and they do not accept credit cards and I had left my checkbook at home so I used one of Chase's checks. Long story short, the very next day I got a letter from Chase that my account was cancelled due to inactivit. Thats fine. I have no problem with that. I called the dr's office to let them know but they had already deposited the Chase check. Well, I got a bill Saturday from Chase showing a balance of $ 39.00 due for a bounced check fee. Come on! Give me a freaking break already.
I recieved letters from chase and citi both bosting my rate by nearly 5 points. You should have recieved a letter advising you of the increase and the reason(if there is one) and the option to "opt out", wich basicly means they will cancel the card and you will get to pay back what you owe them, under the old terms.
Nice of all these bankers to get a bailout and ream us all some more with higher rates, isnt it?
ALL big banks suck, they suck the life out of the American economy then demand taxpayer bailouts while they continue to party down and hand out billions in bonuses.
For the individual wage earner, find a Credit Union you can join, or use small hometown banks. I have zero use for these for profit greedy corporations, and have zero dollars with them. I belong to two credit unions and have every banking service I could want or need, and pay zero in fees.
I had a really bad experience with Chase when they acquired the retail banking business of Bank of New York. For a number of reasons, I had to close my account with them and transfer the funds to another bank. First of all they made it really hard for me to close my accounts. Then, when they did close them, they messed up the transfer so that they forgot to take out the wire transfer fee. They then charged me for being overdrawn when it was their fault. Finally, to add insult to injury, they sent a collection agency after me without ever having the courtesy to contact me and suggest a way to clear the arrear.
Chase are a bunch of incompetent fools with no notion whatsoever of customer service. Right now I bank with Wells Fargo and I am very happy with the customer service I am getting.
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For a while, WaMu was laying low until the fallout from the Chase acquisition blew over.
