The local corner bank was originally Meridian. now after shopping around for different services, I decided at the time that the Meridian Advantage Card was the way for me to go with my checking account. It was one of the first Visa check cards at the time and worked well for my needs. Just about 2 years into my new relationship with Meridian, they were bought by Corestates. New checks, new cards(newer cards had poor magnetic strips, needed replaced almost monthly) and a brand new arena for the Philadelphia Sixers and Flyers. Corestates lasted less then 2 years when they were bought by First Union. Next batch of checks(I still had 4 packs of Meridian checks), new and better Visa, and renaming of the Corestates Center to the First Union(loving referred to as the FU) Center. Three years to the new change to Wachovia and I am just wondering who I will be banking with in 5 years from now.
GMRyujin’s Rule of Banking: Never put your money in a bank that sounds like a small Eastern European republic.
My bank was bought out two weeks after my last order of a four-pack of checks. The Routing number and Account number did not change, and when I asked the new branch manager, she said to just use the old checks with the defunct name until they ran out.
Walk-all-ovaya is a terrible bank. I dealt with them when I was in college and lets just say they seemed to delight in trying to make me pay them as much money as they could for some random fee or another.
Coincidentally enough, one of my best college friends now works for said crooks. (I got over it.) He is about as happy with that corporation as I am. Although I suppose them cutting him a fat check of somebodys money every month helps take the edge off. (I said I got over it. Really.)
Soon enough Bank of America will be taking over Wachovia, just as they did to Fleet. Better hold off on that check re-order. 
I stopped at the drive-thru at a Wachovia bank branch to cash a check given to me by one of their customers. It was only $100 and I figured I’d just cash it rather than deposit it at my bank. Simple, eh?
No. I did what I normally do, endorsed the check and passed it along with my drivers license to the teller. The teller told me she needed two forms of I.D. (sure, no problem) and that I was required to put my thumbprint on the check. Out came the little drawer with a little inkpad so I could make my impression.
WTF? Two forms of I.D. and a
thumbprint? For a $100 check? On top of which I am no doubt being videotaped?
Get fucked, Wachovia.
They’re not alone. I’m the treasurer of our homeowners’ association, and I cut a check to reimburse myself for office expenses (stamps, paper). I went to our bank (SunTrust) to deposit several thousand dollars’ worth of dues checks, and then wanted to cash the check I had written to myself. You guessed it: two form of I.D. and a thumbprint, for a check made out to Early Out, signed by Early Out, and endorsed by Early Out. And all of this immediately after I had deposited a shitload of money in the account. Geniuses. :rolleyes:
I bank with Wilmington trust
The Up side: 100 years and still good old Wilmington trust
The down side: unless you live in Delaware (and I think California), your going to have a hard time banking with them.
I’ve heard from TWO people now that ING Direct is a great online bank. Just my 2 cents
My wife is a teller at “Walk-over-ya” and she told me this story about a customer (who was related to another teller) who came in every week to cash a personal check from her aunt. They eventually stopped asking for the two forms of ID (because they knew her) and it later turned out that the niece was forging the checks all along. So anyone who waited on this chick without checking ID got into trouble.
What it has to do with anything, I don’t know. But I can understand the tellers trying to cover their own asses.
My mother worked for Wachovia for 39 years. (The bank she worked for was bought by Wachovia about 15 or so years ago)
She just retired, and they completely screwed her over. They’ve pretty much been doing that for the past five or six years, though. It seems like they just keep getting worse and worse. I’ve never had a banking problem with them, but the way they treat their corporate employees just sucks.
Oops, forgot to preview. Sorry for not fixing that first paragraph.
She worked for the same place for 39 years, but Wachovia bought them out a while back.
At least y’all can cash checks in the drive through. I went to BankOne to cash a check my mother wrote me, and they required I come inside to do it…they don’t cash checks at the drive through unless you have an account with them. They charged me to cash the check, too.
Its a shame you have such turnover in banking. Fortunately the company I work with can’t be bought or sold and has been in business helping people financially since 1845.
Well, although my wife doesn’t get paid heaps of money, they’re not bad to work for.
They gave her benifits as a part timer (she’s full time now) and they give flex time, family care time, sick time and she gets paid whenever she goes on a school trip with our kids (X amount of hours per yr)
They also give crappy bonuses for signing up direct deposits and online banking.
The way she explained it to me was that First Union really aquired Wachovia but chose that name because they had a better reputation. I would guess that means FU people are still running the show.
I just don’t understand why Wachovia doesn’t adopt a different pronunciation, so that it becomes, “We watch over ya’ money!”
Oh, so no wonder Wachovia is in the toilet, swirling. It is actually First Union under a new mane!
In Gainesville, Wachovia is the one expanding!
Two years ago, I opened my accounts in Bank of America because it had a branch on campus, plus different ATMs around it. Plus, I needed a branch and wasn’t going to look around for another one. And it offered a good deal, no fees to pay unless my balance goes under $500.
Starting this year, the university ended the deal it had with Bank of America, and switched to Wachovia. Now the branch on campus is of Wachovia, and many of the Bank of America ATMs are gone from campus. Also, Wachovia has opened a couple of other branches around town.
I’ll keep my Bank of America, but I’m not happy with the changes.
One thing that all these companies have in common is that they are all being investigated by the SEC for Mutual fund market timing. (either the company itself or one of its subsidiaries or branches). I guess this is just another indicator of what kind of company you are dealing with. Just worried about the next quarter’s results and not keeping an eye on the long term consequences of their actions.
A dumb bitch stole almost $6000 dollars from me a while back by stealing my checks and writing them to herself. Read about it here. Wachovia did not re-imburse me for the last month of the forgeries even though it was in their written policy. This is not my only beef but the most significant.
There will have to be a big case that will bring identity theft into judicial focus. Scary that the Bill Gates/Warrren Buffett affair wasn’t enough for the legislature and banks to get off their fole.