How to Speak to a Human Being at Washington Mutual
August 13, 2007
Update: 10/13/2008 I no longer bank with Washington Mutual because their customer service makes Dell at the height of its problems look good and they are utterly impotent to protect their customers from fraud. Click here to read the whole sad sorry tale.
Update 8/23/08: Commenter Matt writes:
I had the same problem with Washington Mutual. After spening about an hour on phone, I finally for through to a representative and they told me the quickest way is to press 1 on the first menu, 6 on the second, and 2 on the third. That should bring you to an actually HUMAN and from there you can be transferred to any department. I hope this helps!
In the meantime, the telephone banker I spoke to told me that customers can get to a human from the main menu by pressing 1 (pause) 1 (pause) 2.
I called Washington Mutual’s 1-800 customer service number today to get the name of my branch so that I can get direct deposit set up. It took me a full 10 minutes to get through their menu to speak to a human. Pressing “0″ didn’t help.
Whenever you have a phone system that obfuscates how to speak to a human, your clients will lose patience with you. That means that when they do finally get to your customer service representatives, they’ll have less patience with them. That puts your customer service people in a bad mood and makes it more likely that they’ll provide shoddy service to the next customer. It’s a vicious cycle.
Putting up more walls in an era where all the good businesses are tearing them down is a terrible idea. I hope Wamu returns the old system.
I work for Group Health Credit Union and like most credit unions service is our number one priority, not just a slogan. You can reach a live person just by pressing 0 when you get our recording. We even state that in our phone greeting.
Big banks can’t provide the service that a credit union does. And, credit unions usually offer better rates and lower fees than banks. Most credit unions are open to anyone in a regional area. Group Health Credit Union is open to anyone in Washington state.
It used to be that when you called WaMu you could just press 0, it must have just changed. Ignore the blogspam from the Credit Union.
Arden: Thanks for leaving that message. I decided that it was a borderline value-add since it’s true that credit unions are generally better at customer service than big banks. Still, you’re being awfully commercial and some bloggers might not be as comfortable with that as I am.
Matt: They did indeed change the system recently. I think they’re using new software, but they need to make the human element more accessible. As for blogspam, I don’t think that Arden was spamming. Being commercial, definitely. But there’s a value-add in there…somewhere.
1, #, #, #
Mike: Welcome! And thanks
Log in to check your account with your account # and access code…
THEN, after it tells you the info and goes to another menu, press zero (not that the voice will offer this option).
I agree, it’s maddening that they make it so hard to reach a person.
I opened up a WAMU checking and credit card account recently, good rates, free checking but getting to a live customer service rep was crazy. I followed your post of 1, 1, 2 and you have to wait two or three times for them to tell you to put in account number but it will then transfer you to a live customer service rep. By the way they are very helpful when you get them live.
I had a similar experience. I was having trouble with my WaMu Debt card and It took me about three hours with various number punching and cursing to get to a human. Finally when I did they were very helpful but they told me that to get to a human from the main menu it was 1 (pause) 1 (pause) 0 (pause), so good luck and gods speed.
I scheduled a transfer last Thursday with a post date of today, June 11, 2008. Well, of course, nothing this morning. I do know, thanks to a WAMU manager, that an outside transfer could take a few days to be fully credited even though I have overdraft protection. No problem, but today, I told the WAMU representative that I needed to purchase gas, which costs a small fortune, and I did not want to get an overdraft charge since I was waiting on the credit to the account. She told me that I would get the charge, if it came in before the credit, but I should check after work. Well, I checked late afternoon, and there was no credit. I checked again tonight (after 11:00PM Central Time Zone) and there was no credit!
I called WAMU (after 11:00 PM), and after the run-around pressing buttons for almost an hour, I spoke with Carl by using the Jack Armstrong method of 1. . . 1 . . .0 . THANKS! He told me that I could still get the overdraft charge since the system was updating (this could continue until 6 AM Pacific Time!). After I spoke with him and shared the poor results of the other calls to the other reps, I said good by.
The credit to my account came just before midnight! I don’t need the added stress from the bank! After this horrible experience, I will use my credit union as my primary source!!!!!!!
What a horrible experience - out of the 3 banks we use, this is by far the worst. None of the 1-1-0 or 1-#-# or other combinations worked, and ends up by telling you to “call again”.
Well, I did call again and after trying no less than half a dozen combinations I gave up and now will have to go to a branch.
WAMU, for all of their “friendly” and “no-fuss” commercials, do a really horrible job here. They need to change their system as soon as possible.
Choose Open New Account and you will get someone ASAP. Just did it
Please try your call again, or visit us at wamu.com……………………………… Good Bye
I finally spoke to a “live” representative by press the option to open up a new CD. The woman I spoke to told me that the phone system is under construction right now and to bare with them. I told her about the Blog, and asked her to pass the info on to her manager. She said that they do not have a way to go straight to a representative.
I had the same problem with Washington Mutual. After spening about an hour on phone, I finally for through to a representative and they told me the quickest way is to press 1 on the first menu, 6 on the second, and 2 on the third. That should bring you to an actually HUMAN and from there you can be transferred to any department. I hope this helps!
Thank you Matt!! I nearly lost my sanity trying to reach a human being. Your combo worked on the first try.
thanks matt. that combo still worked!
Press 4 then 2 then 1
Do this:
Corporate Switchboard: 206.461.2000 - This is an automated voice message system. Please press “0″ to speak with an operator.
The lady quickly transfered me to a live person.
I’m switching to a credit union once my chargeback goes through.
Matt, your combo worked!!! thanks!
Matt’s combo worked; Press “1″ during first menu, Press “6″ during the second menu, and Press “2″ on the third, and final (phew!) menu.
Hope they don’t change it up again!
Thanks Emm! I kept trying all last night without any luck! This morning after reading your post, it worked in less than 10 sec!!! Thank you!!
To Matt, July 14, it worked. Thank You.
Just as I was about to smash my computer against the wall and pretend it was the head of the idiot who set up the WAMU automated system, I stopped and viewed your suggestion….and hey, it worked! Thanks for saving my computer.
i found that the easiest way to speak with someone is to call a branch location and they will direct your call
Still works
Press “1″ during first menu, Press “6″ during the second menu, and Press “2″ on the third, and final (phew!) menu.
FRUSTRATING!!! After getting automatically disconnected from WAMU because I didn’t press the right buttons, (after three long phone calls on three different tries) I did a search online where I found this website. THANK YOU! After pressing the combo you gave it worked on the first try. I let them know I was unhappy about not being able to get to a real live person without trying to pull my hair out. I was waiting for an apolgy or SOMETHING, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, foreign WAMU rep. says “I’m sorry about that Ma’am…what can I help you with today?” I’m moving soon, and when I do? NO MORE WAMU!
Matt said: “they told me the quickest way is to press 1 on the first menu, 6 on the second, and 2 on the third.”
This still works as of 10-21-2008.
I am absolutely FLOORED by how hard it is to speak to someone at WAMU. I have wasted probably 2 to 3 hours just trying to get through.
They think they’ve got a failsafe when you are randomly given the option to “Enter your account number and the last four of your social”. That should work. Guess what. It rejects that for me as well.
WAMU actually *RESETS* your telephone access code every 3 months or so, if you don’t call in. so even if you’ve picked one, they CHANGE IT!!! And when you do call in, you end up in an infuriating cycle of trying to get past the access code prompt with no success.
I even tried the 1, 6, 2 suggestion and that just forwards you to the nice ladies in the Philippines who say “Sirrrrrrrrrrrrr” over and over but know very little about how to actually assist, given they’re on the other side of the planet….
yes, wamu customer service is beyond pathetic. they deserve to fail.
another option is to call the number for international (outside US) service located on the back of your card. the 800 number on your card is worthless.
the international operator will forward you to the right place… but you will still be on hold indefinitel- if its too long you will eventually be kicked back to the entry level menu of the 1-800 phone service. long story short- get used to no service or change banks.
Thanks Matt.. the combo worked wonders!
I personally like that it is difficult to get a human… there is an adavantage in waiting time to people that can use “the google”.
Yes, I had the very same difficulties in trying to speak to someone, howeve dialing 1 is the way to go; it worked for me - thank god, I was about to pull my hair out!!!
Thank you so much Matt!!
Matt, you rock. Pressing 1-6-2 as you advised got me a person. Then of course the person had no idea what he was talking about so I asked for a manager who was able to efficiently solve my issue. Thanks Matt! Oh yeah, and in my case they were charging me a service charge for an account I had closed 1+ years earlier.
Thanks!
Another 1-6-2 success story!
1-6-2 worked. Wamu sucks.
I have lost hours of my life and brain cells to the mindless drones at WaMu. When the were failing, my wife and I closed our personal accounts. They are now charging service charges on closed accounts and threatening to report us to credit agencies. Thankfully I still have a commercial account with enough money in it that they actually did what I asked. I will be closing out the commercial account, but I will get in writing from them that all accounts are closed and we are cleared from them. WaMu does not deserve any customers, they deserve to fail, they should be ashamed of being so horrible, but then that would require them to have some brain power, and they don’t.
YOU GUYS ROCK…I nearly broke my phone trying to reach the damn customer service line. Luckily your combo worked so i could immediately call and cancel the f***** account. it’s not even worth banking with them!!
1-6-2 option worked AWESOME, and watch out for the new savings fee they have if you don’t keep at least $350 in the account. I hate WAMU and hope they go under.
thanks for the tip (1-6-2)
I asked the service rep and was told that they are restoring the “0″ option because of all the complaints - so great work guys and gals!!!
Thanks Todd!
I can’t believe the 1-6-2 trick still works.
Wow! That really works. I was going through every possible option (including pressing “0″ when entering a new menu). I was getting SO frustrated because all I had to do was give Wamu a notice that I’ll be traveling out of the country and that just wasn’t an option anywhere. Finally Googled how to talk to someone. Found this. Followed the instructions and BAM! Was talking to someone with no wait. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
When you call:
800-788-7000
Press 4 then 2 then 1
when the menu starts and you will get a human right away.
(It worked for me. I’m tired of this bank though so I’m closing my account with them)
Thank God for this information!!! I spent 30 minutes on various occasions trying to reach these m*rons and finally got thru last month to close my account because I just hate them so much for their lousy customer service. Unfortunately I just got my latest statement - they did NOT close my account!! They charged another month’s service fee!!! I am on hold with them now, I am definitely filing a complaint with the Banking Committee when I get done. I work for a legislator and know exactly who to contact. It’s not that much money but multiply my experience by a million customers and there’s your bailout money up in flames. OK, the rep just told me they won’t give me my service charge back because I have no proof I tried to close the account last month. I almost broke my phone just now. I HATE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I received a promo code in the mail back in Dec 2008 - “open account by 1/24/09 with 100 dollars, and get back 100″ (in 12 weeks). I opened it online and entered all relevant information. I have been patient and let the 12 weeks come and go. Still no 100 dollar bonus. Today - after about an hour trying to figure out how to contact a human being, I am told that they don’t know about the promo code.
Like Margo above, I am told I have no proof (since I am unable to recite the promo code to them).
I can’t wait until Chase fully takes them over, including that annoying website.
The only thing I did like about Wamu is that outbound online transfers had no fee.
1, 6, 2 … magic, thanks soo much! Worked today 5/2/09
1,6,2 Still works perfect as of 5/21/09.
Thanks for saving me time.
I just tried the 1, 6, 2 thing and it didn’t work. There is no option to push 6 on the second option. I hate this bank. This is ridiculous.
I just tried Matt’s formula. Totally works. Thanks Matt!