Washington Mutual Can Suck It.

I use Washington Mutual's online system to pay my bills.

I don't know how other banks' bill pay systems work, but Washington Mutual sends paper checks. Not electronic fund transfer (EFT), but paper checks.

I am pretty diligent about paying my bills as soon as I get them. When I travel, I overpay a month in advance so that I don't have to worry about missing a bill.

I don't carry a balance on any of my credit cards.

So, needless to say, when I get TWO bills that state that I didn't pay last month, I am pretty pissed. First of all, there's now a $39 late payment charge, and that's in addition to the the large percent of each purchase that incurrs interest whenever you're late. So, on each of two cards, I had about $70 worth of fees. FEES!!!

I look at my history, and the payment of one of my cards had been posted, and the other had not. Now, I couldn't prove that I actually submitted payment for the other one, but I distinctly remember doing so... especially since when I'm done paying a bill, I itemize it and put it into a spreadsheet.

So, the woman at Washington Mutual has me on hold for about 1/2 hour. And tells me that there will be an investigation of the payment that was posted, but that there was nothing she could do about the other one.

I told her I was sure I had paid it, and that this was not the first time I had submitted a payment to find it had not been posted.

Then she asks, "Did you print a confirmation for your records?"

WHAT?

WTF?

Did she really mean to suggest that I use a paperless, online system, but that I should PRINT A FUCKING CONFIRMATION FOR EACH BILL I PAY? I let her have it.

If Washington Mutual thinks that I should print a record for every bill I pay, then there's something wrong with their system. And by the way, there is. Don't use their online bill pay. It sometimes takes two weeks for their paper check to get to where it's going. Especially if it's some kind of clearing house.

So, in order to save the $.40 postage, I'm now paying $70 in late fees.

Thanks, Washington Mutual. You can suck it.