- Report: #106905
Complaint Review: Advantage Plus Washington Mutual - Oklahoma City Oklahoma
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Advantage Plus Washington Mutual
6608 Northside Avenue Oklahoma City, 73116 Oklahoma, U.S.A.
Phone:
866-890-2766
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Advantage Plus - Washington Mutual ripoff Credit Card scam Oklahoma City Oklahoma
My girlfriend and I were conned by this company offering a low interest Credit Card for $339. My girlfriend was suspicious after she got off the phone with them and immediately tried to call them back at the 866 number provided. She got a Voice Mail box and left a message. After trying the number again a few minutes later she got a message that the Voice Mail box was full.
This was not a very comforting feeling so she called Washington Mutual to issue a stop payment. Not knowing how to best protect herself and her money she informed WAMU about the issue/potential scam and proceeded to issue a stop payment for the Amount and against Advantage Plus. She was informed by WAMU that the stop payment would protect her money from any transactions from the company.
We thought all was well and her money was ok.
Well, this was not the case. The call happened on July 19 the stop payment was issued the same day and on August 18 there was a deduction from her account in the amount of $339.15. She went to WAMU to ask how come the stop payment didn't work and she was informed that she would have to file a dispute claim to have it investigated. She filed the dispute in the bank and was told it would take 10 days for investigation. After 10 days she checked back with WAMU and they stated that they had not received the dispute. So the bank filed a dispute electronically. She was told to check back the next day. She checked back the next day and again they stated that they had not received the dispute. She went back to WAMU and this time watched the fax get sent and received confirmation that the dispute/fraud department received the fax.
Luckily we did not have to wait 10 more days but in two days time we are notified that WAMU can do nothing and we need to take the situation up with Advantage Plus. I am floored by this. Their reason is that we authorized the transaction by giving the account information to them. While this is true, we did give Advantage Plus the account information we went to WAMU and informed them of the issue and issued a stop payment to try to protect her money. At that point we informed WAMU that we did not want this company to have access to her money.
After the fact WAMUs stance is this... We issued a stop payment for an ACH in the amount of $339 by Advantage Plus and what took place was a "draft" for $339.15. There is nothing that WAMU is going to do to help us and the issue needs to to be taken up with Advantage Plus. I asked to talk to a supervisor in the Fraud department. I got a person from the fraud department Kim R., she basically states the same. It was a paper draft and not an ACH. The ACH would have been stopped but the paper draft could not be stopped. She states that we gave them the information so it was authorized.
I find this hard to believe since there is record of a stop payment being made against the company for an amount of $339. WAMU states that the amount taken out was $339.15 (not $339) and not via ACH so the stop payment does nothing. I asked to speak to a Supervisor and I am told that there are none available. I asked for Kim's supervisors name (Shelia R.) and I asked for a number where I could reach a manager and am told to call the 1800 number. I asked which 1800 number and am told the same one I just called in on. I asked if the fraud department has a 1800 number and I am given one albeit the number rings to an MCI Conference center. (I might have written the number down wrong.)
Frustrated I call back to the WAMU 1800 number and again explain the situation and just want to talk to a supervisor in the Fraud department. Eventually I get to speak to a manager (not in the Fraud department) and get to explain the situation again. He reviews the notes and basically tell me the same (in a much nicer way) that WAMU can do nothing about this and I probably need to take legal action against Advantage Plus. I asked for some details about the transaction and he is not able to provide the info over the phone but he is going to have the information sent to the address on the account. I ask to speak to his Supervisor and he asks me to hold. He comes back and states that there are none available but he can have one call me back in. 1 Business day wait, its Friday so I will see if I get a call next week.
At this point I am more angry with WAMU than I am with Advantage Plus. I now see that I should have requested the account be suspended. Once the company had the information it seems like suspending the account would be the only way we could have stopped the money from being deducted from the account. Is WAMU not interested in protecting my girlfriends money. From my point of view this was an unauthorized transaction. Had we not gone to WAMU to stop the transaction I could understand their point of view but we made an attempt to stop the transaction.
After getting nowhere with WAMU I looked for other options and have some good news.
After searching this site for Advantage Plus I saw a post from Jeremy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. (http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff106728.htm)
he was able to get some resolution out of the whole mess by calling
Amerinet,Inc.
800-800-0467
16807B US Hwy 19 North
Clearwater, FL 33764
this company is genuinely helpful. They required the phone number and name that Advantage Plus was given. The date and the amount of the transaction and were able to find the transaction in their database. Apparently they handled this transaction between Advantage Plus and the WAMU account. After verification Amerinet has stated that they will be refunding the amount of the transaction.
I would imagine that Advantage Plus could possibly use other companies to handle the transaction of money between them and your bank accounts. I will have to wait and see but I am thinking that the information that WAMU is sending regarding the transaction will have Amerinets information in there. If you fell victim to this scam you might be able to get resolution by calling Amerinet. Or if my hunch is correct getting the information of the company that process the transactions like Amerinet and contacting them. Good luck.
I'm curious should WAMU been able to help me in this matter or are they correct in stating that the issue is between me and Advantage Plus? I would be interested in other opinions.
Thanks.
Scott
Anaheim, California
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Washington Mutual
This was not a very comforting feeling so she called Washington Mutual to issue a stop payment. Not knowing how to best protect herself and her money she informed WAMU about the issue/potential scam and proceeded to issue a stop payment for the Amount and against Advantage Plus. She was informed by WAMU that the stop payment would protect her money from any transactions from the company.
We thought all was well and her money was ok.
Well, this was not the case. The call happened on July 19 the stop payment was issued the same day and on August 18 there was a deduction from her account in the amount of $339.15. She went to WAMU to ask how come the stop payment didn't work and she was informed that she would have to file a dispute claim to have it investigated. She filed the dispute in the bank and was told it would take 10 days for investigation. After 10 days she checked back with WAMU and they stated that they had not received the dispute. So the bank filed a dispute electronically. She was told to check back the next day. She checked back the next day and again they stated that they had not received the dispute. She went back to WAMU and this time watched the fax get sent and received confirmation that the dispute/fraud department received the fax.
Luckily we did not have to wait 10 more days but in two days time we are notified that WAMU can do nothing and we need to take the situation up with Advantage Plus. I am floored by this. Their reason is that we authorized the transaction by giving the account information to them. While this is true, we did give Advantage Plus the account information we went to WAMU and informed them of the issue and issued a stop payment to try to protect her money. At that point we informed WAMU that we did not want this company to have access to her money.
After the fact WAMUs stance is this... We issued a stop payment for an ACH in the amount of $339 by Advantage Plus and what took place was a "draft" for $339.15. There is nothing that WAMU is going to do to help us and the issue needs to to be taken up with Advantage Plus. I asked to talk to a supervisor in the Fraud department. I got a person from the fraud department Kim R., she basically states the same. It was a paper draft and not an ACH. The ACH would have been stopped but the paper draft could not be stopped. She states that we gave them the information so it was authorized.
I find this hard to believe since there is record of a stop payment being made against the company for an amount of $339. WAMU states that the amount taken out was $339.15 (not $339) and not via ACH so the stop payment does nothing. I asked to speak to a Supervisor and I am told that there are none available. I asked for Kim's supervisors name (Shelia R.) and I asked for a number where I could reach a manager and am told to call the 1800 number. I asked which 1800 number and am told the same one I just called in on. I asked if the fraud department has a 1800 number and I am given one albeit the number rings to an MCI Conference center. (I might have written the number down wrong.)
Frustrated I call back to the WAMU 1800 number and again explain the situation and just want to talk to a supervisor in the Fraud department. Eventually I get to speak to a manager (not in the Fraud department) and get to explain the situation again. He reviews the notes and basically tell me the same (in a much nicer way) that WAMU can do nothing about this and I probably need to take legal action against Advantage Plus. I asked for some details about the transaction and he is not able to provide the info over the phone but he is going to have the information sent to the address on the account. I ask to speak to his Supervisor and he asks me to hold. He comes back and states that there are none available but he can have one call me back in. 1 Business day wait, its Friday so I will see if I get a call next week.
At this point I am more angry with WAMU than I am with Advantage Plus. I now see that I should have requested the account be suspended. Once the company had the information it seems like suspending the account would be the only way we could have stopped the money from being deducted from the account. Is WAMU not interested in protecting my girlfriends money. From my point of view this was an unauthorized transaction. Had we not gone to WAMU to stop the transaction I could understand their point of view but we made an attempt to stop the transaction.
After getting nowhere with WAMU I looked for other options and have some good news.
After searching this site for Advantage Plus I saw a post from Jeremy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. (http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff106728.htm)
he was able to get some resolution out of the whole mess by calling
Amerinet,Inc.
800-800-0467
16807B US Hwy 19 North
Clearwater, FL 33764
this company is genuinely helpful. They required the phone number and name that Advantage Plus was given. The date and the amount of the transaction and were able to find the transaction in their database. Apparently they handled this transaction between Advantage Plus and the WAMU account. After verification Amerinet has stated that they will be refunding the amount of the transaction.
I would imagine that Advantage Plus could possibly use other companies to handle the transaction of money between them and your bank accounts. I will have to wait and see but I am thinking that the information that WAMU is sending regarding the transaction will have Amerinets information in there. If you fell victim to this scam you might be able to get resolution by calling Amerinet. Or if my hunch is correct getting the information of the company that process the transactions like Amerinet and contacting them. Good luck.
I'm curious should WAMU been able to help me in this matter or are they correct in stating that the issue is between me and Advantage Plus? I would be interested in other opinions.
Thanks.
Scott
Anaheim, California
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Washington Mutual
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Justin
Bozeman,Montana,
U.S.A.
On The Inside
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, October 08, 2004
Scott, I understand your frustration and believe me, I have seen plenty of other people in your same situation. I was with WaMu for nearly five years, starting as a teller and working my way up to branch manager. Unfortunately the information you received about the stop pay is correct. The bank truly does have little control over the stop payment of a paper draft if an ACH stop pay is originated. The reason for this is a difference in Federal clearing houses. Paper drafts for you area all go to a centralized clearing house to debit your account, while ACH (automated clearing house) transactions clear directly through the bank. This is frustrating not only for the customer, but also for the bank employees. Stop pays on paper checks must be for the exact amount written to be effective. The reason for this is because they are handled by a third party at the clearing house. They do not have information regarding your conversations with WaMu, or notes on your account. In the future, if something like this happens again, I suggest speaking directly with the branch manager, or assistant manager since they are the ones who deal with the operations of the branch. They can then give you enough cash from your account to hold you over for a few days and but a hard hold on your account so no transactions will clear. This may cause problems for other companies you have written checks to, but this is really your only option unless you know the exact amount of the transaction and put an ACH stop and paper check stop on the funds. I agree 100% that WaMu needs a better structure at its 1800 number. They have been working on it for quite some time and it is hard to speak with a supervisor, even if you work for the bank. I hope this gives you a little insight into how it all works and what to do in the future.
