Farewell, WaMu

Well, I've been off-and-on in this whole blogging concept for a while now, and I've been wanting to get back into the "on" of it. So here I go.

Last week was interesting because my bank tanked. Washington Mutual, my bank since 2002, has been excellent from an account-holder point of view. Keep in mind that this is only one side of the deal. Meanwhile, there was obviously another side that wasn't working so well. When I joined WaMu, I randomly walked in with the memory of somebody having a good experience with them that I knew back in California. At that time I had been with Redwood Credit Union, who are an excellent option if you live near enough to them.

When I moved to Texas, I switched to BankOne because it was what my now-wife's family used, and one of her aunts worked there. Not long thereafter, I knew I was going to be moving to another bank before long. How? I learned very quickly that they don't like, care about, or wish to benefit their customers.

At the time I was a night-stocker at a grocery store. My shifts ended around 6 or 7 in the morning, and one morning on a payday I collected my check and drove to the bank. Not being open yet, I sat in my car and waited in the parking lot for it to open. This was just after the September 11th attacks. While I waited, a man came out of the bank and asked what I was doing. I told him I was waiting for the bank to open, and he asked why. I told him I was waiting because the bank was closed, and I wished to deposit a check. He told me I could do it at the ATM, and I told him I preferred not to. So he walked back into the bank, and I went back to my reading.

A few minutes later I heard a car pulling into the lot, and then another. I saw in my rear view that it was two local police cars. I pretty much knew they were there to pay me a visit, so I watched the mirrors as they blocked my car in. Upon knocking on my window, I rolled it down and greeted them. They started questioning me, and I answered the same set of questions as I had told the banker. They then started to ask questions about what was in my car, and asked if I had any bombs or tanks or anything in the car. I told them that aside from the box-cutters from work that were in the glove box and the fighter jet in the trunk, I didn't have anything that could be classed as a weapon. After taking down my information, they departed. I went into the bank, told the banker that he had lost my business, and that as soon as all my transactions had cleared I would no longer be banking with them. My fiance had had all sorts of trouble while opening an account recently herself, and I wasn't going to put up with it.

A couple weeks later I walked into a Washington Mutual branch and was immediately treated with the same kind of courtesy, respect, and service I enjoyed in my six years with them. After a few questions and listening to the banker's spiel in the WaMu branch, I held up a penny from my pocket and asked, "So are you saying I could open a no-fee checking account with this penny and you will give me checks, a debit card, and not charge me fees?" The only answer I got was a smile and a yes. I got out a $20 bill and told him to sign me up.

In the years between them, I opened a business account, got married, changed industries, bought and sold a house, and enjoyed worry-free banking. In the same period, BankOne became Chase, the CEO of BankOne became the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, and now on Thursday, JP Morgan Chase became the proud owners of an institution I didn't wish to leave. Now, however, I can't stay. There's no way I will do business with these people. I'm going back to Redwood Credit Union, a financial institution which rarely deals in mortgages at all, and deals with what seems to be a significantly more stable clientele. Unlike when I first moved to Texas, I live in a town now where I can access another credit union, the American Airlines Credit Union and a few others, that will allow me to handle any necessary in-person banking.

I hate to see WaMu fail, but at the same time I'm excited to be going back to RCU. I had kind of considered it before, I just never did. Now I can do it without any risk of regretting leaving WaMu.