03 December 2009

Comment of the Day

An addendum, from Rose, on my Sept. 12 post "Why Chase Sucks So Much More Than WaMu":

-Wamu had 24 telephone banking, Chase does not, and when you get someone they are really strange, not entirely lucid, and frighteningly incompetent.
-If your child opened a Wamu school account without a state ID, they won't let your child access the account even if they come with two photo IDs (school and volunteer), a library card, a bank card from their new bank, and a belligerent mother.
-The credit cards they took over went up ten percent.
-They changed online banking so it's actually a hindrance rather than a tool to track spending.
-There are not enough chairs in the lobby to accommodate all of the people waiting to close their accounts.
-They will be exceptionally rude to you then turn around then try to get you to refer friends to open account (they would be more successful if they were having you sign up enemies).
-They removed the children's play area, so you get to hear fussy little monsters while waiting in line.
-The old WAMU employees that seemed somewhat happy now look anguished and apologetic
-Wamu used to support the arts and other causes in Seattle, Chase not only failed to take that part of the business over leaving a lot of organisations already counting on the support in the lurch, but they put on a huge expensive, advertisement campaign that sort of maligned Wamu at the very same time. Wamu wasn't perfect, but they were infinitely more customer friendly, popular, and successful outside of being wrapped up in a bad investment strategy.
I switched to BECU, a great local credit union. None of the other big players seem much better than Chase. BECU has better returns, fewer and lower fees than chase.

1 comment:

FlooshingRezident said...

There you have the difference between Seattle and NYC. Having returned to NYC after living in Seattle for a couple of years, I've found the self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe" missing in action. So sad...