I have had an account with the same bank since shortly after I was born. Relatives and well-wishers gave me "baby money" when I was foisted upon the world by my inconsiderate mother, and it was kept in trust for me as a college fund. My parents did a lousy job investing it--they kept all of the money in a bank CD. Nonetheless, the CD was in an account with my name on it, and I've maintained a cross-referenced account with Washington Mutual in one form or another for over 20 years. This made me very surprised to learn that I didn't have an account with the bank.
I was in Long Beach, California and had a couple of checks to deposit. Conveniently, there was a Washington Mutual branch close by on Second Street, so I stopped in on my way back from Starbucks. This would, under normal circumstances, be a painlessly routine transaction. I filled out the familiar deposit slip with my account number, dutifully stood in the long line with my endorsed checks, and handed all of the items to the teller when it was finally my turn. The lines are, I've discovered, usually longer at a bank with free checking.
I was more than a bit surprised to find out that I didn't have an account. "Is this your account number, sir? I can't find it in my computer," said the teller. I double-checked the account number, and it was correct. She still couldn't find it. Somewhat worried, I gave her my other account number. No dice with that one either. The dim bulb of my brain brightened a bit, and I got the idea to try looking up my account with my ATM card. "Card unrecognized," replied the reader. Then, after seeing my non-California drivers license, it dawned on the teller. "Are you from Washington?" she asked.
It would seem as though California branches of Washington Mutual can only handle accounts in California, Texas, and Florida. "Didn't they tell you that when you opened the account?" asked the teller. I pointed out that I've had an account longer than the bank has had any branches in California, so that caution was unlikely. I then decided that I could live with the checks just being cashed, and asked the teller to do so. I was surprised when she said "I'm sorry, sir, I can't do that." (I think that "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that" might have been more appropriate...)
At this point I went from mildly amused to irritated, so I asked to speak to the manager. Beth Gonzales, the manager, was busy with another customer, but eventually she came over. I'd been shuffled off to the side in the meantime, because the tellers needed to take care of the long line. (The lines at Washington Mutual are sure long.) When Beth arrived, I explained the situation, showed her my ATM cards, and asked, "Can you just cash these for me?" Beth told me "No, you can only get cash at the ATM, you can't do anything else. You don't have an account here."
I exploded. "You mean to tell me that I have my account number, I have my ATM card, and if I'm not mistaken I'm standing in a Washington Mutual branch, and you can't even cash a check?!" Beth's response was "Yes, we can cash a check, but only a check drawn on your Washington Mutual account up to $100. You can use the ATM for withdrawals. I can interbranch your deposit, but we don't guarantee it. You don't have an account here."
I tried to deposit the checks in the ATM outside, but the ATM responded with the message:
Sorry, I've found something you can't do here. Would you like to try anything else?
I finally ended up withdrawing cash from the ATM, and then depositing the checks several days later in a Seattle Washington Mutual ATM (after other futile deposit attempts at other California Washington Mutual ATMs).
Mergers and aquisitions, which is the way that Washington Mutual has grown, are supposed to provide greater convenience to customers. All too often, the growing pains create additional headaches.
Although it's probably sadistic of me, I hope that Californians have the same trouble when they try to use Washington Mutual branches here.
Epilogue
As of 5/2002, I no longer have an account with Washington Mutual. They started charging a fee if you deposit a NSF check. Yes, you read that right--if some jerk writes you a bad check, they not only take all the money back out of your account (which is entirely within their right to do), they charge a fee for doing so. I switched to a small credit union, who didn't charge a similar fee until last week. They now charge a fee that is double what Washington Mutual charges.
I think I'm just going to stop accepting checks from anyone as payment. They're ridiculous anyway. Why is it the year 2002, and I still have to send a paper document in the mail somewhere to pay my rent?
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