Complaint Review: WASHINGTON MUTUAL - Seattle Washington

Wow, thanks for that advise on 'Fraud Reporting to Banks'. I'm gonna do that right away!

I have a few suggestion on how to go about being proactive in getting your money back. I know it can be extremely frustrating, especially if you are dealing with a 1-800# . 1) close the card that was used at atm 2) if it was a non Washington mutual bank in order to get footage the tapes of who used it will have to have subpoenas to gain that information. 3) to get the subpoenas you need to file a police report which usually just requires a phone call to your local precinct. 4)take that info, the police report #, and go into your local Washington mutual and sit with an employee in the branch. Be insistent because usually these sort of situations are out sourced but can be expedited by staff employees. All claims are typically investigated but you do need to be proactive in your efforts as well. i had the same thing happen to me and worked with a nice employee that was very helpful. I didn't get the money back immediately but i was helped.

Rober in Wallingford was correct on both your PIN and the BBB. The reason Washington Mutual will not credit your money back is that you did not safeguard your PIN. They may not have specifically came out and said it, but unless the person has your PIN there is no way they can withdraw the money. Another issue may be how many hours transpired between the wallet being "taken" and the money withdrawn. Your husband should have noticed that his wallet was missing BEFORE he left the party. If the money was taken while he was at the party or within a short time you may have been okay on this reason. But if the money was not taken for several hours(long after he should have noticed his wallet missing) they also may be able to claim that he had time to report it stolen and prevent the loss. This is not just WaMu but any bank would have denied you for the same reason(s). By the way there are NO secret compartments in wallets, you might as well have put your PIN number on the front of the card with a permanent marker. The only thing you can do now is file a police report. At that time if the police think they have a case they can petition a judge to sign a court order to have WaMu release the surveillance tapes. At that time they can be seen and find out who took your money. WaMu will still not be responsible but it may be possible to go after the person(s) criminally and civilly.

It is unfortunate this happened and they used the PIN. PIN based transactions are not covered by Visa or Mastercard by their liability policy. If they had used it on the credit side it would have been covered immediately by the credit cards 0 liability policies. Thats why when debit cards are issues it is usually made clear never to have PIN numbers anywhere near your debit card. I am sorry but unfortunately the best you can do is have the people arrested and have them found guilty and request compensation for what they stold. This will mean court and lawyer costs which in turn mean you will probably break even. It sucks and I am sorry this happened.

They couldn't withdraw without knowing the PIN is what Robert is getting at. That's why you are thus far being denied. Doesn't matter who is on a surveillance (sp?)tape.

Hello Commentor, thanks for your feedback. Here's how it happened, to make a long story short: Me & my husband were at a friends house on 2/10/08 and around 10:00 pm, a dispute broke out and a swarm of about 10-15 guys were trying to break up the dispute (Including my husband). Sometime during the course of this chaos, my husband's wallet was either pick pocketed or fell out and someone happened to pick it up and take it with them. Me and my husband's debit card were in his wallet and the pin #'s were in a secret compartment in the wallet as well. (I had my debit card in my pocket earlier that day and instead of risking losing it, I put everything in his wallet.) But when I spoke to the supposed "Fraud Dept", they did not state anything about the claim being denied because of the pin, they simply stated that since the funds were taken from a bank that I have been to before, it was being denied. Otherwise implying that I was the one that did it. What's interesting is that they are not in the least bit concerned as to who is on the surveillance tape when these monies were withdrawn.

They won't do anything for you. My guess is that the bank is denying your claim because you didn't safeguard the PIN for the debit card per your account agreement. They money must have been taken over the corse of several days. Most banks have a daily limit on debit transactions. Was the theft reported to the police or the bank immediately? Was it a random theft or do you know the person that stole them. And how did they get the PIN? If you wish to file a complaint file with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.