I did something yesterday, which to my knowledge I have never done before. I withdrew money from my bank account and left my ATM card in the machine. Unfortunately I was about thirty miles from home and did not realize my card was missing until I returned to my part of town. I immediately visited the local Washington Mutual branch, as it was their North Hollywood branch where I hoped my card was waiting.
Well it was and it wasn’t.
I do not bank with WAMU but frequent their ATM’s because my credit union does not charge fees for withdrawals from WAMU branches.
The manager of the North Hollywood branch was contacted. According to her in banker speak my card was indeed captured. However, upon capture it was immediately put to sleep (shredded) apparently they have a policy that all non-WAMU cards are destroyed upon capture.
Needless to say I was flabbergasted. Upon returning home I immediately visited the WAMU site and sent the following E-Mail.
My account is with the Los Angeles Federal Credit Union. However, since the main branch is located in Glendale and I live in San Dimas I am a frequent user of WAMU ATM's. The no transaction fee for withdrawals is a big plus for me.
Yesterday I was in North Hollywood and I withdrew money from your ATM on the corner of Riverside and Lankershim in North Hollywood. Upon completing my transaction, I for the first time ever, forgot my ATM card in a machine.
I failed to realize this until I returned to San Dimas later that afternoon and I immediately went to the San Dimas branch on Via Verde. The branch manager was extremely cooperative, called the North Hollywood branch and spoke to the manager their.
The branch had recovered my card but had immediately shredded it. Should a customer not at the very least have a grace period until the end of the business day to claim their lost card? This is a great inconvenience to me and I am sure to many other customers. Could someone please explain this policy to me?
Now upon reading this E-Mail is it not immediately clear that my account is with another company and not WAMU? Well apparently not so clear because this is the E-Mail I received from some non-thinking underpaid cubical dwelling customer service brain stem.
Thanks for contacting Washington Mutual.
Generally, when an ATM card is received by a Washington Mutual Financial center, they will hold on to the card for 24 hours. If no one claims the card, it is then shredded. I apologize that you were not able to get your card back, however, it is a security step some financial centers may take immediately.
To order a Visa* Check Card, Debit, you may do one of the following:
- If you have not changed your address within the most recent 30 days, you may:
* Log on to your accounts at wamu.com and select "My Message Center" under "Account Services."
-- Click "Send a Message," then select "Checking, Money Market and
Savings" from the available categories.
-- Click "Next" and complete the form, asking us to order you a new card including the card type (Visa* Check Card, Debit MasterCard* or ATM Card) and your current mailing address. Once received, we generally reply within twenty-four hours confirming the actions we've taken.
* Call us at the toll-free number listed below.
- If you have changed your address within the past 30 days, please visit a Washington Mutual financial center.
If your card was lost or stolen, please send a secure message, or call us as soon as possible at the toll-free number listed below so we may cancel your card.
Note: To ensure your account information is kept strictly confidential, we cannot order a Visa* Check Card within 30 days of an address change.
Instead, please visit a financial center.
Nowhere in their email does the brain stem mention the police for non-WAMU customers. Although I find it rather harsh that even WAMU customers have only a twenty-four window to claim their cards. I may be wrong but if they are WAMU customers is there not someone in the branch who can run the card, find the contact information and call the customer.
Of course not unlike most so called “caring” conglomerates they claim this is for the protection of the customer. Not believing this I went to an expert on banking matters.
My mother.
She was a branch manager and vice-president with B of A for a number of years. No sooner did I explain the situation before she answered my unasked question. She said that is bullshit. They shred the cards because it is cheaper than following the required procedures of locking each found card in a double custody cabinet and maintaining a log of each cards final outcome. Bottom line is that it saves money and most banks are guilty of card shredding these days.
5 years ago
