Comments on: $100 Sign Up Bonus for WaMu Free Checking

By: WaMu Hater

WaMu Hater — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:56:46 +0000

I had the same experience as “Cube” and even went to my loca WaMu / Chase brance and opened another account (2nd account), put another $100 in and was told that I needed to make 5 debit transactions with the debit card. I made the debit transactions on the same day that I got the debit card. Then I waited and no $100. Called the branch as was told that I needed direct deposit too. I found the original coupon and it doesn’t state that. Faxed over the coupon to the branch and they are “researching” the problem. Right now I have opened two accounts, as they have instructed and have yet to get the $100. Total scam. There are probably thousands of people in the same boat, sounds like a class action law suit. Any attorneys reading this??? I have all of my documentation.

By: Cube Escapee

Cube Escapee — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:58:12 +0000

WAMU is a total scam.
I opened an account on 02/28/09 online using a promo code. The particular promo mailing offer I received told me to go to http://www.free.wamu.com/ (which if you go there, the FIRST thing you have to do is fill in the PROMO code, before you can do anything else).
I opened the account and even entered in my card information (from a credit card at another bank) to fund my new WAMU checking immediately.
I did not see any confirmation number (if there even was one).
WAMU emails me about my March09 stmt, says there’s $0 in my acct. I call, they said it takes a while for the card transaction to go through. OK fine.
They email me about my April 09 stmt, says $0 balance. I go into the branch on 04/07/09 and deposit $100 cash. They tell me no problem, the promo is still in effect, I deposited the money within 60 days of opening the acct, no worries.
I wait exactly 12weeks. on 07/07/09 I login to my Wamu acct. No free $100 yet. I use their online email interface to email cust. srvc. They reply that they have no record of me and to go to the branch. I go to the branch AGAIN. Show them my paperwork, etc, but their computers are down. Go figure. He says he’s going to call me back.
He calls me back this afternoon to say NO MONEY without the CONFIRMATION code from when I entered the promo code onto their site. I do not have this. I am very pissed off. I am closing my account. TOTAL SCAM!!! They say they have NO record of me ever using the promo code. HELLO? Its the first bit of info they ASK for on the site. WTF???

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:27:02 +0000

My deposit finally went through after 15 weeks & a ton of frustrating calls to WaMu’s horrific customer service reps. The amount of misinformation & runaround that I encountered dealing with this bank has made me extremely weary of banking with them in the future. I’ll be taking the cash & shutting down the account immediately.
I don’t understand why a bank would try to get new customers but then offer such a bad experience instead of impressing the customer…peace out, WaMu!

By: ALM

ALM — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:42:00 +0000

When I signed up for a Wamu account a couple of months ago, I signed up hastily and didn’t put the full amount that qualifies you for the $100 bonus.

I did nothing else with the account, except for one purchase and one deposit, and I check my account two days ago, and I received a $100 bonus! I checked to see if I actually qualify, but I don’t, so this is interesting.

I’m not complaining!

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:07:35 +0000

For anyone still watching this space for tips on getting your $100: I used the code I got in the mail back in February. I got a similar offer a few weeks before I received this offer, but I didn’t do anything with it since according to the fine print, it required a “monthly direct deposit” which I was unable to make. The offer I received made no mention of direct deposit or use of the debit card, so I figured I’d get the bonus after 12 weeks and with my account in good standing. The 12 weeks went by and nothing happened. I waited another 2 weeks and still nothing. After reading the tips on this blog, I linked my bank account to my paypal account and transfered $1 into my Wamu account, thinking that Wamu’s servers would recognize this as a direct deposit and give me my bonus. Sure enough, 2 days after the $1 deposit, my wamu account was $100 richer. I’m not sure if the bonus was a few weeks late and the bonus arriving 2 days after the direct deposit was a coincidence or if the direct deposit actually worked (my gut says it was the direct deposit). I’m glad that I got my bonus, but if the direct deposit was required I’m also mad that my specific offer made no mention of this requirement. Moral of the story: If you don’t have you bonus yet and don’t mind linking your wamu account to a paypal account, try making a deposit into your wamu account and you might get your $100.

By: Reginald Cruz

Reginald Cruz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:06:51 +0000

hi there, about the 100$ bonus deposit.

the promo depends on what state and how you opened the account. [online,phone or branch]

in addition, its either you make 5 debit card transactions or set up a direct deposit,minimum deposit should meet $100 before the 60th day of accnt opening,AVOID getting OVERDRAFT CHARGES or any RETURN CHECK CHARGES. [stay on the positive mark!] your opening deposit should be funded by a NEW MONEY.. meaning opening deposit should not be taken from one of your accounts in WAMU or any of its affiliates. [just simply put in those pennies from your pocket!]

there are several cases when $100 bonus will be deposited to your account:

after you’ve set up and receive your direct dep,
you’ll get the bonus 10 business day after that.

once you 5 debit card purchases post, 10 business days from that,$100 will be in your account.

etc…

i have all the information about this bonus on my email, you can shoot me a mail anytime for questions.

reginald.cruz@rocketmail.com

By: Joan Plastino

Joan Plastino — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:49:54 +0000

I opened a checking account with WAMU because of the promotional offer on January 22nd and still the $100 has not been deposited. The branch manager offered no explanation, no reason for delay – just a piece of paper that states the status is pending fulfillment. Thanks for all your shared experience. I will inform if I get it this month before I close the account.

By: KM

KM — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:20:29 +0000

I have the same issue with the $100. I opened the account on February 12th and patiently waited my 12 weeks. Guess what? No $100. So I called WAMU and they transferred me to their “promotions” department. The promotions department wanted the promo code again. Argh. So I go through every scrap of paper in my room and thankfully found it. The woman on the phone validates my code and says I will have the money in one week max. Two weeks have passed and still no deposit. So I call Chase. They have no clue what I am talking about and tell me to go to my branch. Knowing my branch would probably do the same, I decided to take a chance today and call WAMU back. I had the MOST AWESOME PERSON EVER helping me today. He saw where, according to all of their systems, the $100 went into my account last week as promised.Then he pulled up my account at Chase and saw the $100 was never deposited. So he went right to his manager and gave him this info. The manager personally called me today and said they would get to the bottom of it in 2 days. I have some faith restored. I will post back when/if I see the money.

By: Cap

Cap — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:05:35 +0000

Hmmmm.. I never realized this was an issue until I start noticing all these comments on the bonus not being honored. Ryan’s dead on that this was a specific WaMu/Chase co-branding offer.. so I dont see how using “That was Wamu’s promo” as an excuse. I’m going to check various threads online to see if its a common trend.. maybe send it over to Consumerist.

Just FYI: I never got my bonus either but I completely forgot about it since they never followed up. Guess I have a Chase checking account or something now. heh.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:54:00 +0000

wow, that is such a sham. But it’s also a lie on their part. The promo material I received is branded WaMu/Chase, and the entire spin is how they’re becoming Chase. They have to honor this – it’s in their fine print. Time to alert consumerist.com or what?

By: BonBon

BonBon — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:37:52 +0000

I am having the exact same problem! Chase told me today that because they have bought out WAMU, they most likely will not be honoring the promotion. I tell her, “Well, I would assume that 12 weeks ago when I opened my account, WAMU knew they would be gone and decided to do a promotion anyway. How is this fair to the consumer”? All she could tell me over and over what that there was nothing she could do about it, call WAMU. I’ve gone back and forth between the two and they both want to just pass the buck! I left WAMU about 8 years ago because they SUCK!!! I swore I’d never go back, but did for this promotion. Who can’t use an extra $100.00 right now? I am so pissed off at them, I don’t even care about the money anymore. I am NOT going to the branch to have it out with some lame customer service person who will just continue to ask for my confirmation number. LAME!

By: Joey

Joey — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:17:01 +0000

@Brent,
I’m in the exact situation as you. It’s been over 12 weeks & no bonus $100 deposit has been made. I’ve sent countless messages through their website with the same response – call to speak to a rep OR email us. Which I am already doing. The customer service I’ve received is horribly unacceptable. My call was escalated to a manager today who said they’re behind on the bonus deposits because of a “server error” that is affecting all February promotions. RIGHT. They’re violating their own fine print…When (IF) the deposit ever goes through, I’m withdrawing the total balance and closing the account. I’ve been with WF & ING for many years now & have no desire to bank with Chase from this point onward. It’s been such a waste of time trying to chase this down. I should have thrown away the offer because this is not worth my time.

By: Brent

Brent — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:29:40 +0000

I too am having an enormously difficult time trying to obtain my $100 bonus. After this experience, I’ve decided to close my WaMu account and open an account at a local Credit Union. Here’s my experience: February 13th, 2009: received WaMu $100 promotion in the mail. Fine print states: “open a new WaMu Free Checking account with a $100 minimum deposit of new money within 60 days of account opening. Bonus will be automatically deposited into your new account within 12 weeks after the $100 minimum deposit is made.” February 14th, 2009: I open my online Free Checking account by going to free.wamu.com and entering the promotion code. February 20th: I deposit $150 completing the terms of the offer. Exactly 12 weeks pass. May 15th, 2009: check my online account and lo and behold no $100 direct deposit into my account. Call WaMu by going to the website gethuman.com so that I can talk to a real live human rather than the automated message. Finally get to talk to a person after on hold for several minutes. Person tells me to go to a WaMu branch. I go to the WaMu branch location and they tell me they cannot find my record without a confirmation number? Where am I supposed to get a confirmation number. I then go to another WaMu location. They are able to find my account and verify that yes I have completed all of the required steps to receive the $100 bonus but that I needed to call WaMu and verify with the confirmation number they provide me. Customer service person tells me that it should show up in my account next week which is longer than 12 weeks. I will check next week and update with my results. From my experience I would strongly advise against putting your money into WaMu / Chase.

By: wamu-schwamu

wamu-schwamu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:42:05 +0000

Stay away from WAMU if at all possible. This is maybe the worst bank I have ever dealt with. I received the promotion in the mail and it sounded like an awesome deal. So I went online, opened my new account, entered the promo code and figured I was good to go. 3 months pass, I try logging into my account but can’t remember the password. I have the system generate a password and wait for it to arrive in my email. I wait, and wait, and wait…no pass word. I go back to the WAMU site and ask again to have a password emailed to me. TAA DA!!! I instantly receive a new password in my mailbox. I try logging into the account again, it says password invalid, account locked, call WAMU. WTF??? So I call WAMU and while I’m on the phone a SECOND password arrives in my email. I was locked out of my account because I was trying to access the account with the first password which the system had nullified. So customer service unlocks my account and I’m good to go again. I access my account and anticipate what should now be a $200 balance but ….it’s…still…only…$100. Huh??? Where’s the cash bonus? Where’s the $100 match? I call Wamu again, this time it puts me through an automated system “press 1 for English” etc. I go through the entire menu system and never once does it say “press zero to talk to customer service”. I press zero anyway..”sorry, I did not understand that command”. I’m perplexed, how do I get a real live person on the phone? I email WAMU and wait some more. A day later I get the answer I’ve been looking for. It seems you can’t get a customer service rep by pressing zero until AFTER you’ve entered your telephone access code (which you don’t have until you set it up). Done and done. Ring, ring…”Hello, thank you for calling WAMU”. I explain my situation about how I expected a price match but how none is showing. I’m told I need to bring the promo card I received to my nearest bank branch. “Oh, the card I received 4 months ago? That card? The one which I PROBABLY saved but maybe not? That’s the card, right? I tell WAMU it’s not convenient to run down to my local branch and maybe I don’t even have the card. “Oh, well if you can remember the promo code from the card I can help you over the phone”. Now, suddenly they are capable of helping me over the phone if I happen to have the memory of an elephant. I tell them they are off to a very bad start as I am a new customer and have never had so many problems with a bank. They were not willing to honor their promo deal unless I had the card which was mailed to me 4 months prior. Do you smell fraud? I think I do. This is not the type of place you want holding your money.

By: Wamuiscrap

Wamuiscrap — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:25:45 +0000

Wamu will not pay many of these bonuses without constant followup. They will lose info, charge fees, and close accounts, and customer service will not help, mostly does not even seem to know how… Sad bank that should have folded. No offense to posters but Just say no to this crap!

By: Jon Tara

Jon Tara — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:49:46 +0000

I got a different promotion in a mass-mailing (along with supermarket flyers, etc.) This is is “Get $100 when you open a WaMu Free Checking Account and set up direct deposit.

The promo code on this doesn’t work either. It appears the promo-code thingie is just completely broken.

It kinda bugs me that they would spend the bucks on what looks like a pretty good-sized advertising campaign and then completely blow the on-line application. There’s a WaMu right down the street, but, still – I’ll eventually drag myself there – maybe.

By: steve diaz

steve diaz — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:59:57 +0000

I HAVE BANKED WITH WASHINGTON MUTUAL FOR OVER 10 YEARS NOW.OF COURSE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH BANKING AT TIMES.HOWEVER WHEN THIS HAPPENED WITH ME THEY TREATED ME VERY POLITELY AND SOLVED THE PROBLEM.THAT ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR CHECK WOULD BE NICE IN MY ACCOUNT.TALK TO YOU SOON, YOU HAVE MY NUMBER ON FILE. SAN DIEGO CA.THANK YOU VERY MUCH

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:06:11 +0000

I posted above last month. Got my $100 bonus today.

By: Don Crawford

Don Crawford — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:44:05 +0000

It’s funky marketing and other questionable practices that already had me convinced not to deal with these amateurs, and guess what…they’ve gone the way of similar losers.

By: benito alejandro angeles

benito alejandro angeles — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:06:45 +0000

benito will i wood like too open wamu free ckecking account and receive a $100 bonus also see if i can get a chase card will ii rerecive in the mail latter from wamu bank it say come what freeaccover14/000 wamu&chase atm free checking free wamu debit master card withpay pass free atm cash withdrawals anywhere so if some one can please help me please Thank you