Recently active topics in Washington Mutual tagged with gallactically incompetent customer service

I opened a free checking account at Washington Mutual and all I can say is that you get what you pay for. I used the online bill pay service to pay my rent which is due on the 5th of the month. On the 29th I went online and checked the appropriate boxes to have a check sent to my landlord, received a confirmation number and was told it would arrive no later than the 4th. The money came out of my account immediately on the 29th.

On the 6th I was contacted by my landlord (while I was on vacation) and told that the check had not yet come so I immediately called the 1-800 WAMU “customer service” number. After pushing 2, pushing 3, pushing 5, pushing 1, pushing 0, holding for 15 minutes I finally was in contact with a girl from India who could not understand me and could only read from a script. After 10 painful minutes of trying to find out where the promised check was, I was put on hold AGAIN and transferred to a guy in Texas who told me to wait a few more days. So after more than an hour on the phone, nothing happened. Meanwhile I am incurring late fees and was told that WAMU would pay these.

This went on for at least an hour every day until the 16th when I finally put a stop payment on the check and was told that the money should be back in my account within 5-7 business days! They took my money out of the account in moments yet somehow cannot put it back in for a week? I was able to finally pay rent on the 21st by taking time from work and driving a money order across town (because I do not trust their checks at this point). Then began the arduous process of getting WAMU to pay the $90 in late fees owed to my landlord.

When I returned from vacation I went into my local branch where the branch manager had to get on the phone, push 2, push 3, push 0, put on hold for 15 minutes etc etc etc. After an hour of watching this “manager” go through what I had daily for the past 2 weeks, I told them just to call me when they found out which form I needed to fill out or whatever.
To date, Washington Mutual has said they are not responsible for my late fees. The injustice is what makes me so crazy. Crazy enough to post this complaint on every site that will take it, and I tell all of my friends and associates to NEVER use Washington Mutual. YOU are dishonest and clueless about where our money is. If I displayed this level of incompetence at my job, I would be perpetually unemployed.