The other day I received a notice from my bank - Washington Mutual - that five debits had not cleared my account and therefore I was charged $30 per transaction for the overdraw - a total of $150. I discovered the problem when I was glancing at my accounts for another reason, before I got a notice from the bank.
I made a mistake. I have two checking accounts there and each has a debit card. Somehow the card I normally use had gotten shoved down in my wallet and the other one, which I normally do not use, was staring out at me. I used the wrong card for those transactions and therefore overdrew that account.
I wrote to the bank to ask
1) why don't they let me know the day the overdraw occurs, and
2) how about reversing some of those charges.
They wrote back. Sorry can't reverse the charges. For my convenience they did overdraw the account rather than bounce the checks.
I wrote back. What about my first question? And why are your fees so ridiculously high?
The answer: WaMu does offer the option of sending alerts. The message went on to describe how to set it up to get alerts. Fees are always being reviewed to be competitive with the industry.
Of course I already get alerts. Just not in time. And fees being set to be competitive? How about setting them to draw customers or keep the ones you have? The messages clearly were standardized. I guess the person answering picks out a couple of key words and sends the appropriate response.
In other words, I got no satisfaction. My daughter Elaine mentioned that she is looking into getting a credit union account instead because of the ridiculous fees and the delays in clearing checks whenever she and her husband deposit a large check.
I am now in the midst of choosing a credit union myself. What I hope to find is one that offers the options I find most valuable - free billpay, for example - as well as better rates for savings and lower fees for everything. My first step was to go to bankrate.com.
Bankrate.com offers a page: Six ways to find a credit union. For me, the big find on this page was CUNA: The Credit Union National Association.
On this site I found a page that helps one find a credit union. Because I am not employed right now and do not belong to any organizations (other than animal rights and eco types) or to any church, I simply entered my city, county, and state. Five matches turned up. I am now set to evaluate those matches.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
What about Patelco? They're one of the biggest, but their service is pretty good and there are plenty of branches in California.
Patelco was not on the list of credit unions available in my area. I do need to have a place I can get to easily.
Post a Comment