First Convenience Bank Is Not Only Not Convenient It Is Worse Than Inconvenient

In late February I blogged my disdain for First Convenience Bank and my realization I'd made a mistake opening an account there.

The issue at that time was my payment from Google that had been issued, but had not shown up in my account.

Eventually it showed up.

I opened the First Convenience account due to not liking how Chase Bank operated, changing the terms of my account with Washington Mutual.

So, before the Google incident, I'd told Big Ed I thought First Convenience would be convenient. So, he opened an account. About a week later he went to deposit a large check. He was told it would take 9 days to clear. The check was drawn on Wells Fargo, so Big Ed decided to forego First Convenience and open a Wells Fargo account.

Big Ed had opened the First Convenience account with just a $10 deposit. After he'd activated the debit card it did not work. The checks from First Convenience never arrived.

So, today Big Ed was in Wal-Mart and decided to get his 10 bucks back. And what does he learn? The debit card that never worked for him had worked for someone else. On the 23rd it was used to attempt to charge $75 and on the 26th it was used to attempt to charge $51.

First Convenience did not let these charges go through because Big Ed had not approved overdraft protection.

But, even though those charges did not go through, First Convenience charged Big Ed's account $2 for each charge attempt. So, his $10 had become $6.

He was given a number to call to get the other $4.

Now, why was Big Ed not notified of these 2 charges on his card? He was in the bank 2 days after the first charge was made on the 23rd, trying to deposit that check. Why was it not mentioned at that time that a $75 charge had been attempted on the account.

How did this happen? Big Ed was never able to use the card. It did not work. But someone else used the card's numbers, a card which had never been used, successfully, by Big Ed, to try and steal $126.

Why would the bank, today, not treat this like a serious matter. Big Ed told the bank guy that it would appear this would have to be an inside the bank problem.

Who do you call in Texas when you have a bank fraud deal like this?

Missing Washington Mutual Due To Chase Bank Incompetence

I miss Washington Mutual. It was real easy to call Washington Mutual. The Washington Mutual ATMs worked real well. Unlike the Chase Bank new-fangled ATM's that vex me with way to many inputs needed.

A couple weeks ago I realized Chase had mailed a new bank card to my old address. This is the 2nd time Chase has replaced my bankcard since Chase took over WaMu.

This time it is switching from MasterCard to Visa.

So, I logged into my secure Chase account and went to their message center to tell Chase they sent the new card to the wrong address.

This began a series of nonsensical responses. The responses had the feeling that I'd reached a Ukrainian support center. I was told such a request could not be honored from an email, that I had to go talk to a Chase banker in person with 2 pieces of I.D.

I replied that that was ridiculous, that it was not a request made via email, that it was made using their supposedly secure online banking website. The reply to that told me that my account had been reviewed and confirmed a card had been sent to me June 28.

To which I replied that I already knew that, the card was sent June 28 to the wrong address. At that point, last Thursday, I decided to call Chase. That turned into the phone tree from hell. I got to the phone tree from hell after entering all the digits on my current card and the PIN. And then it told me my account balance. Which is not what I was calling about.

Eventually I got to an option to talk to a phone banker. After a few minutes a woman with an extremely thick Indian accent, that I had trouble understanding, asked how she could help me. After a lot of effort she understood the problem, said she'd take care of it right then, that I'd have my new card in 2 business days.

That was last Thursday. I still have not received the new card. I did get an email from Chase telling me that a new card had been sent and for me to activate it as soon as possible because my current card goes inoperative on September 15.

I'm assuming I'll muster the energy to visit the Chase Bank phone tree from hell again, sometime before September 15.

Oh, I forgot the most amusing thing about this Chase debacle. I asked the Indian accented phone banker where she was located. I assumed she was going to say India. Instead she told me she was in Irving, Texas. I said that's only a few miles from where I live.

Maybe I could drive to Irving and pick up my missing bank card. Or ride my bike. Or walk.

Citi-Mets Stadium Naming Scandal & The Federal $20 Billion Bailout

Last summer, when I was in Tacoma, I started questioning the sanity of just about everyone I had contact with. I got back here to Texas and all seemed sane again. But then about a month later I started to think that the world was going insane.

It's not so much the supposed ever-spreading economic meltdown, it's the things being done to supposedly stop the meltdown. Like yesterday the government came to the rescue of Citigroup to the tune of $20 billion.

Citigroup has cut over 53,000 jobs. While paying the New York Mets $400 million over 20 years for the naming rights for the Mets stadium.

Why would this not be one of the first things you cut back when things get tight? Here in Texas the Rangers played in The Ballpark in Arlington when I first moved here. Then a business that got in trouble long before the current troubles, paid to have the Ranger's home called Ameriquest Field. I forgot how much Ameriquest paid for this honor. But whatever it was, they quit paying and so now the place where the Rangers play is back being called The Ballpark in Arlington.

The first time I was in Houston I saw where the Houston baseball team plays. The name of the team escapes me, but the ballpark was Enron Field. Enron disappeared during an earlier meltdown. We sure have a lot of meltdowns. Enron Field is now Minute Maid Park.

So, it is not unheard of for a failing business to get out of the ballpark naming thing. I don't believe either Enron or Ameriquest were given taxpayer's money to bail them out. It seems reasonable to me that Citigroup should not be spending money on such a thing after getting a Federal bailout.

On another note, except for my bank, Washington Mutual, failing, I've had no personal contact with this supposed economic meltdown. If it weren't for reading that bad things were happening, with worse to come, I would think everything was hunky dory. Gas prices are about a third of what they were a short time ago. I go in Wal-Mart and the store is packed with what looks like happy people with carts full of goods. By 5pm every weekday the freeway that goes by where I live is backed up with a traffic jam. I go to a park and see a lot of happy people having fun. I know a lot of people with new flat panel TVs. Every McDonald's I drive by is busy. Last night they were lined up 20 deep at my local Super Wal-Mart's McDonald's.

This just doesn't look like the Great Depression to me. It's perplexing.

Washington Mutual Meltdown Continues

Washington Mutual continues to cause me problems. If you've been following my pain, on the 19th of last month checks were deposited. I received a letter October 2 from Washington Mutual advising me that the funds deposited the 19th were available the 23rd.

The day after the 23rd WaMu bounced a check, saying there were insufficient funds to cover it. My local branch saw this was in error and that they would take care of any costs incurred.

Yesterday, October 4, I got another letter from WaMu, this one dated September 29 and telling me that they'd returned yet one more check, this one for $350.00, returned on the 26th, 3 days after their previous letter that told me the deposited funds were available.

In the latest letter WaMu makes this gem of a statement, "At the time we created this notice (which is later than when these transactions were processed) your available balance was $2,298.05. You must immediately make a deposit to cover any negative balance."

How can they do this to people? I'm not alone. There is a website called Washington Mutual Sucks. In the past month that websites number of visitors has soared. I wonder why?

One Woman's Take on the Financial Meltdown and WaMu

My WaMu situation seems to have improved today. A WaMu-ite in California at WaMu's Problem Resolution Center keeps leaving voice mails. I keep missing her calls. She keeps missing my return calls. In the meantime I listened to this fine older lady below lament about WaMu and the current mess the financial system is in.......

WaMu Washington Mutual Aggravation: Part IV

I think I understand why some people decide to rob a bank. As in this morning brought fresh HELL from Washington Mutual.

You may remember me mentioning 2 checks from the State of Texas were deposited on September 19, a few days before WaMu's meltdown.

I'd already endured one round of WaMu not crediting the account deposited and a check written on it. That one was no big deal.

This morning I found 2 letters from WaMu in the mailbox. Keep in mind it is now October 2, thirteen days after the deposit was made.

The first letter was written, according to the date at the top of the letter, on September 20, the day after the deposit was made. I got the letter today, October 2. This letter says...

"We are contacting you today to let you know that a hold has been placed on your account to allow time to collect the amount of the check(s) you deposited into your account.

From your deposit, $2,300.00 has been delayed.

On 09/23/08, $2,300.00 from this deposit will be available.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

We're always here for you."

Please note the line in bold & underlined above, saying on 9/23 the funds would be available.

So, like I said there were two letters from WaMu this morning. The second letter is dated September 25, 2008.

"You've had one (or more) non-sufficient funds (NSF) transaction that couldn't be covered by the available balance on your account at the time it was processed."

I'm not gonna bother typing the rest of it. The letter goes on to itemize the overdraft fee charges and then says, "The fees charged here total $0.00."

A chart below that details the check #, the amount, the action (returned), the fee ($0.00) and the date 9/24/08. One day after the other letter said the funds would be fully in the account.

So. I called my local WaMu branch. They told me to bring in the letters and they'd look into whether they'd made a mistake. In the meantime I called the party to whom the bounced check had been written, explaining the situation, she told me just to get a certified check and add $25 to cover the fee her bank will charge her.

I go to WaMu. The manager looks at the letters and the account, says they clearly made a mistake, makes me out a certified check. And tells me to get a copy of what is charged to the account of the party who WaMu bounced the check on and WaMu would reimburse me.

I'm thinking, how does that reimburse me? How do I get back the time this has taken? The gas I burned driving to WaMu. If WaMu can so casually throw about fees, why can't I? Like maybe $100 fee for wrongly claiming their were insufficient funds to cover a check that had been presented for payment.

I'm still not sure this nightmare is over. The party who I wrote the check to said she'd not heard from her bank, Wells Fargo, that a check had been returned NSF. I half except Wells Fargo to re-submit the check and for WaMu to then pay it, that it was a computer paperwork error that generated the second letter I got today.

But, the WaMu manager looked at the account and told me there was no other bad activity going on.

I don't trust them. Why didn't I bail on this bank way back when I first started reading about their problems? Oh, I remember, up til this month, I've never had a problem with them.

Washington Mutual Deserved to Die

Well, by this morning WaMu had credited their erroneous fee that I whined about yesterday. But their customer service person, Eric, never called back to explain what caused their mistake, which he said he would, after he looked into it an talked to his manager.

Do I get to charge WaMu a fee for wasting my time?

I hadn't paid any attention to Big Ed's WaMu nightmare that occurred when I was up in WaMu's home state of Washington. And might I add, I'm embarrassed now that WaMu is associated with Seattle and my former state. Washington businesses, from Starbucks to Costco to Nordstroms are known for their great customer service. I don't know what happened to WaMu.

WaMu arrived in Texas about the same time I did. Maybe it was Texas that ruined them.

So, at the end of July Big Ed opened a WaMu account, making an initial deposit of $1000 with a check from a Fortune 500 company. Big Ed was given the usual counter checks to use til his new debit card and checks arrived.

But, Wal-Mart and other wouldn't take the WaMu checks. 12 days after opening the account Big Ed wanted to get cash, he was near the WaMu bank where he'd opened the account. So, he went there. They wouldn't give him any of his money. They told him it would be available the next day.

Then his new checks and debit card finally arrived. With the wrong address on them. So, now it was another wait to get the corrected card and checks.

So, I Googled "Customer Complaints about WaMu" and found a flood of them. Many within just the past week or so, with complaints like mine. What WaMu has done to others makes my little problem with them, or even Big Ed's look like nothing.

Go here and read what WaMu has done to some of its customers lately.

Washington Mutual Aggravation, Part II

I called Washington Mutual this morning. Once again, like I said yesterday, their account verification system is haywire. After a couple tries it gave me a hit #2 option to access a live banker.

I did so and got an Indian, I think, by Indian I don't mean Native American.

I explained the problem with them assessing a fee on a returned check that should not have been returned. I had to repeat myself multiple times due to each time the live Indian banker missed the drift.

Eventually he put me on hold. When he came back on he told me he was transferring me to his assistant manager, Eric.

I got to explain the problem again. Eric sounded as if he might have been an American in America. Eric eventually concluded the 2nd $12 fee was a mistake and he'd credit it back. I once more asked why the check was returned to the WaMu account on which it was drawn, with that account having plenty of money to cover the check. Eric said it did appear that that should not have happened. But that he couldn't verify it without seeing the other account.

Since I had that other account's verification info Eric agreed he could look at it. He did so and saw that 2 checks had been deposited on the 19th. But that he'd have to talk to his manager to figure out why the check drawn on that account was returned on the 25th, which, maybe coincidentally, was the day WaMu was taken over by the Feds.

Eric said he'd call me when he had an answer. So far, no call, and no crediting back to the 2nd account of the erroneous fee.

I hate banks and offshore customer support centers.

Washington Mutual Aggravation

When Washington Mutual, affectionately known as WaMu, went under last week we were assured this would cause no problems for existing account holders.

I beg to differ.

I have 2 WaMu accounts. On September 19 two large checks from the State of Texas were deposited.

A small check for only $100 was drawn on the first account and deposited into the 2nd account, that being the account I use for things like PayPal that I don't want to keep a lot of money in.

Today, September 29, I got a letter from WaMu telling me that I'd been assessed a $12 "Returned Deposit Item Fee" due to there being insufficient funds in the 1st account, that being the one in which a large deposit had been made 2 Friday's ago.

I then looked at my account online to learn I've been assessed a 2nd $12 fee which has been deducted as well as the original $100 check, which had been credited, but has now been debited from the 2nd account.

So, the other account, which has plenty of $ in it to cover the $100 check, has not had an overdraft fee or notice generated. So WaMu is charging the 2nd account a total of $24 dollars, claiming, even on the second attempt to run the check through, that there were still insufficient funds. Even though I could see, online, that there were.

Since it's all my money, I still have the $100. It just never left the 1st account. But I'm out the $24 in the second account. Which I'm fairly certain will be returned when I call and complain tomorrow.

The WaMu meltdown occurred right when this problem reared its ugly head. I suspect there is a connection.

When I opened the letter from WaMu I thought I'd just call them, since any other time there's been a problem they quickly fix it. Well. You call the toll-free number and get greeted with a cheery voice welcoming you to WaMu, now a proud part of Chase Bank. I was then asked to enter either my account number or the number on my debit card.

I tried the debit card first. Entered that, though it strained my eyes. Then I was asked to enter the last 4 digits of my S.S. card. Did so, to be told they didn't match. I was then asked to try again. Did so. Same result. Tried again, this time switching to the account number. Same result.

It was starting to annoy me, so I kept at it, a total of 7 times before I gave up. There is no way I incorrectly entered the numbers 7 times. Any other time I've called WaMu I instantly get through.

I've got the direct local number of my local WaMu guy. It was past banking hours. He'll get a call in the morning. I hope it doesn't make me cranky. If it does I guess I'll be joining all those other people who have withdrawn a total of multi $billions from WaMu, which is what hastened the meltdown and the Federal takeover.

Washington Mutual Survivor

My nerves are on edge. This morning I found in my inbox 5 emails sent just after midnight from a former acquaintance. I'm concerned she may be in the throes of some sort of meltdown. I've seen this happen before.

But what's really got my nerves on edge is the non-stop financial meltdown. No, I'm not talking about my personal non-stop financial meltdown, I'm talking about that other one to which they can't seem to agree on a solution in Washington, D.C., with a big meltdown at the White House yesterday.

Then to open the morning paper to read that my bank was seized by the Feds overnight in the biggest bank collapse in U.S. history, well, it just makes me nervous.

I'm guessing the new WaMu branch being built near me is likely not going to be opened.

This morning's woeful article about the WaMu collapse in the Seattle P-I said the collapse was precipitated by $16.7 billion in deposits being pulled since September 15.

I'm thinking maybe I should go pull 1 or 2 of my billions out of WaMu and put them somewhere safer. Though, supposedly the money is currently safe. But what if the warned about Financial Pearl Harbor happens? Will any money be safe if that happens, that isn't tucked under your mattress?