The Chase/Wamu Bank Fiasco

The kids sit near the side door and watch the construction.

As you may know Saide and I decided to put a second floor on our home.  We have bank accounts with Chase/Wamu so when it came time to get a home loan my first thought was to use them.  We went to the WAMU located on 312 Forest Ave, Paramus, NJ to apply for a home loan in July 2009.  We are fortunate that we are in a good place financially.  We paid off the mortgage about a year ago so we own our property, we have a dual income household, and no debt.  Perfect home loan candidate, right?Well we started working with Angelo Bartolomeo (201-519-9675) in July.  My husband spoke to him at the end of August and was told that the loan was in underwriting but things were moving along nicely.  On September 11th, I called to follow-up and I was told Angelo was on vacation and would be back after 9/17.  The person who answered said they would follow-up regarding my loan and get back to me.  I then called back again on 9/21 after a full week of not hearing from anyone.  Rosa answered and again I was told that Angelo was on vacation.  When I challenged this because I was told he would be back by 9/17, Rosa promised someone would call me right back.  An hour later, she called back and told me Angelo  Barolomeo had left the company.  She told me to contact Sallie Cusano at 845-242-2090.  I then called Sallie on 9/21, 9/22, 9/23, and 9/24.  On 9/22 I called the local branch back and told them that Sallie was not returning my phone calls.  Rosa told me to contact Ryan Gallagher (201-934-1436) because he worked for Sallie.  I then called Ryan on 9/22, 9/23, and 9/24.  Finally, I called the branch and Rosa answers (dear Rosa).  I asked to speak to a manager.  I was told Fiorella was busy with someone else but that they promised someone would call me back about my loan.  That day I received two voicemails.  The first was from Ryan at 11:57am saying he had gotten my messages and that he was looking into the status of my loan.  He said he did not have access to Angelo’s files and he had to go the long way to get any information.   He said he would ”reach back” to me.  The second from Sallie at 12:05pm saying she was returning my phone.  So after hearing that Ryan is looking into it, I wait.  On Monday, September 28th (three days later) I call them back to find out the status.  Again no one returns my phone calls.  So on 9/29, I try to call again and this time I leave a message asking if I should be speaking to another bank because I’m obviously not a valued Chase/Wamu customer since no one returns my phone calls.  I finally get Sallie on the phone and she tells me that the loan was denied in August and I should have received a denial letter.  I told her we never received a denial letter and she said a copy would be re-sent.  She also said we would receive a partial application fee refund.  After speaking to Sallie, Ryan calls me back and basically told me I should try working with one of the smaller banks and there’s nothing that Chase can do for me.  I tell him that I never received our denial letter and to please make sure that we are sent a copy. 

So here I am on November 2nd  and I have not received the denial letter or the refund for the application fee.  In fact, I’ve written several letters to Chase customer services and I have yet to receive a reply.  I also left Ryan a voicemail on Tuesday and of course he did not call back.  I also sent him an email and I did receive a nasty reply in which he said I should speak to Sallie about my refund and letter.  No surprise that Sallie has yet to return my phone call.
 
This fiasco has had a severe implications on our family- we were naive and believed that we were ideal loan candidates so we began the construction on 9/14.  Because the home is under construction there isn’t a bank in the country that will give us a loan.  I’m not blaming the bank for my stupidity here.  I admit we were wrong for having started construction without finalizing the loan.  What I am mad about is the complete lack of customer service.

What has happened to the thing called customer service, Chase?  Why did it take almost a month to find out we had been denied?  If someone would have returned our phone calls in early September we could have avoided this situation by seeking additional loan options.  Could they not have had the decency to return my phone calls?At this point Saide and I have found a financial alternative to our situation (although not ideal).  What do I hope to gain from sharing this?  Well I hope I can prevent someone from working with Chase/Wamu Bank since they completely lack professionalism and customer service.  I’d also like to get my money back.

So feel free to share my story or feel free to give Sallie a call (845-242-2090) and ask for my refund