I just have a question about the customer service of the bank as I am thinking about opening a checking account with Sovereign Bank OR Washington Mutual (relocating to Boston).
Both free checking accounts advertise basically the same things (free checks, no monthly fees, blah) but both banks also have horrid reviews at epinions and my3cents (bank mistakes left them w/ huge overdrafts, closed accounts randomly, etc.)
Which do you savvy FWers suggest?

makeinu said:DPG said:They won't but WaMu will freeze your card.

You have to do 8,333 transactions to get the max $250 per year.

I'll send $20 to the first person who can do this.

I might give it a try. Would you really pay me $20?

Yes.


I can't see WaMu allowing customers to make 24 transactions per day, every day.

FatsWalleter said:MeLikeDeals said:I just have a question about the customer service of the bank as I am thinking about opening a checking account with Sovereign Bank OR Washington Mutual (relocating to Boston).
Both free checking accounts advertise basically the same things (free checks, no monthly fees, blah) but both banks also have horrid reviews at epinions and my3cents (bank mistakes left them w/ huge overdrafts, closed accounts randomly, etc.)
Which do you savvy FWers suggest?

Washington Mutual has no branches near Boston.

What about Citizens or BOA?

Well, Citizens doesn't have free checking (cheapest is 5.95 monthly according to website) and BOA seems to have a lot of fine print as well (min. balance, direct deposit [does hsbc ach push count?], etc.)

Washington Mutual's website doesn't return any branches for Boston, but google maps and yellow pages return a LOT:

Washington Mutual:
101 Federal St # 25, Boston, MA
(617) 757-4100

Washington Mutual
265 Franklin St, Boston, MA
(617) 428-2929

Washington Mutual
29 Commonwealth Ave # 901, Boston, MA
(617) 236-8922

...

didYOUsearch said:what is the hurry to convert the very second this is rolled out?? Why the complainst that all the info isnt on the website yet? This product is BRAND NEW!

BE PATIENT and wait a week or so till all the branches get the info!

This "Hot Deal mentality" of jumping at the first second is what has killed all the truly lucrative financial deals.

Does nobody understand the concept of patience anymore? There is NO advantage in rushing to open this. It isnt a limited time offer.Ditto....this is what happens when the crowd is starved for hot deals in FWF!!

A question I have:

When you have an existing free checking account and convert it to their NEW free checking account, do they have to give you a NEW checking account number or can you use your old checking account number? I have a lot of direct deposits that go into my account using my old account number and it would be a hassle to change them all if I had to be assigned a new account number.

Also, the 3 cents per transaction doesn't look terribly hot. If you have a rewards credit card (like Universal Card Cash Rewards) they give you 1% of all your transactions (5% at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations)...so if your purchase were less than $3 you would get more money back from using your Washington Mutual debit card for the transaction, but if your purchase were more than $3 you would get more money back from using your rewards credit card.

I called them on the phone, and they said they can not convert Free Checking accounts yet. But she did say on April 23, I will automatically be switched. Or I can go into a branch, and open the new account, and they will close the old one. Strange how everyone you talk to has different information.

MrVietnam said:I called Customer Service again to find out if you had to close your old account and open a new account or if you could just convert it over. The representative replied it is basically the same process. To "convert" your account over they close your old one and open the new one, but you are allowed to keep your same account number.


Did you do it at a branch?


Has anyone been converted over the phone?

The website is now updated. It does not mention if existing customers will be automatically converted or not.

How do you get $100 for opening a WaMu free checking account. Do you have the link?

WaMU just upped its product to match what Bank of NY was offering essentially with some added perks. No big news here.

Why? Well what good is no ATM surcharge fee for using someone elses ATM because you still will get hit with fees ranging approx $1.50 or so. So now its not a money maker for WaMU but rather for the ATM you withdraw from instead.

If anyone even has a list of surcharge free atms for use with wamu accounts in NYC I would be very surprised to even see 1 on the list. The only surcharge free ATM was actually WaMU till they started charging surcharges for other customers.

Free checks is useless for me since I havent used a check in years. I do everything online. I want quality online billpayment service, not free checks.

WaMU's product could fill a void with those who use checks and its good to see them up the offering however and this is good news. But it doesn't make me want to go out and switch banks. My bank has a bigger ATM network and ATM's where I use them so I dont pay surcharges with banks. I never have and never will.