Poor old Washington Mutual. Of course initially, when WaMu took over Home Savings way back when, I was thinking, "Poor old Home Savings", but that was just angst. WaMu turned out to be OK after all.

Everyone at the branches was nice, they treated their customers with courtesy and appreciation, unlike their new owner (I won't mention any names, but their initials are C.H.A.S.E.).

No charge for using your WaMu debit card at non-WaMu ATM's. They did not have a Visa card, which at first was annoying, but that's OK. They issued you a nice MasterCard if you wanted one, and with that card you could check your monthly FICO score online for FREE, and there were a few other nice perks as well. (Then along comes the letter from the new owner immediately canceling the free monthly FICO scores).

I miss their funny commercials. Remember the young couple having breakfast, with the woman thinking of WaMu and imagining she's wearing a helmet and sitting in a racing car, screaming and speeding down the Bonneville Salt Flats? The man turns, gets her attention and says to her as he hands her a cup of coffee, "Honey, why don't you take the de-caff"?

Well, you never really appreciate something until it's gone. We'll always remember you WaMu.

Oh, and WaMu, I'm sorry I didn't use your MasterCard very much.

Last edited 4 months ago by Doug