WAMU complaint
I worked from home today. I’ve finally caught the cough & cold that everyone else has had for days & days & days now. Only person who doesn’t have it, yet, is Allison. I hope she’s spared altogether.
Anyway, when I was done working from home, I ran out to pick up Shelby’s school work from his teacher, then to the bank & pharmacy.
The bank (Washington Mutual) has been hassling us for ages about Jim depositing his payroll checks into my account. It’s gotten to the point where he first goes to the bank where the check was drawn, cashes the check, then goes to the bank where the checking account is to deposit the cash. He just doesn’t want to be on the account, himself, for various reasons.
Well, today, they hassled *me* about a deposit that I was making of a check, payable to me, into my own account. WTF???
My letter of complaint, for what it’s worth…
I’m afraid that, after today’s visit to your Bartlett, IL branch (corner of Rt 59 and Army Trail Rd), I will begin looking for a new bank to handle my checking account.
I went into the branch at about 3:30p, with a check to deposit. The check was for $4000, payable to me (the account holder) and drawn off of a payroll account (ADP).
The teller started my deposit, then said that, because the deposit was *more than my usual amount*, she would need an override. I thought that was a bit unusual that the teller would have any idea about a matter as private as my *usual deposit amount*. And, it seems even more unusual to me that the need for override would be based on something other than standard dollar amounts, rather than on my private account information.
The teller went to the back room and came out with a man who looked at my check for a bit, then asked me if I was getting a loan from my employer.
What???
I was quite taken aback by that question. I have never been asked about the origin of my deposits at any bank where I have done business, ever in my life. It seems like a complete invasion of a customer’s privacy to be asking any question like that at all. And, I don’t see how that would affect the deposit, either. It is a valid instrument, payable to me, being deposited to my account. What more would he possibly need to know?
And, what if there had been other customers in the open-plan branch? My personal financial transactions are none of their business, either.
I stammered for a minute, then replied that it was a loan from my 401(k) plan. I still feel uncomfortable thinking about that conversation.
After he completed the transaction, I asked him if this was standard policy, to ask customers about the origin of their deposits. He mumbled something about the fact that the check had a *loan agreement* on the back of it (below the endorsement) and that customers could be defrauded by companies that offer loans via check.
I still don’t see how his customer’s personal financial decisions are any of his business. Even if someone was making a bad loan, I don’t feel that it is a bank employee’s job to decide whether to accept the deposit. Doesn’t your bank have a schedule of fees in place to handle bad deposits that your customers might make?
Do you have any sort of customer privacy statement? Is customer privacy important to your company? Are employees trained in regards to customer privacy?
Can’t wait to see the standard backpedaling canned reply that I get from them.
:sigh:
