Back in December I switched from Chevy Chase Bank to Wachovia because their service and fees (in my estimation, at least) starting to get a decidely "big bank" feel.

I had a couple of accounts with direct debit, most importantly my home payments with American Home Mortgage (formerly Columbia National). I talked to my loan officer Brian McDermott during some discussion about a possible refinancing and told him that I would be closing the account they had on file and needed to replace it with another.

He gave me a service number to call but said they would be very busy with end of year issues and recommended sending an e-mail to service@americanhm.com with my issue. On January 22, 2005 I fired off a message saying:

I have recently changed banks and would like to update my checking information for online payments. If this can't be done in the next nine days, please send me the address to send payments from my own online bill-pay so that I can get it in on time. My loan number is ______.

On January 28, 2005, I closed my Chevy Chase Bank account.

On January 29, 2005, I realized that I was not going to be able to electronically pay my mortgage and had yet to receive a message from Customer Service. I searched the American Home Mortgage web site for where I should send my payments. Having been on electronic payments for at least two years, I haven't received any additional ticket books with the payment slips and the mailing address. Once I realized, this I fired off a message to Brian saying, "I never received a reply to this message. I really want to get my payment in on time but I have no idea where to have it mailed. Please help!"

On January 31, 2005 I called up Customer Service and after a transfer from their general service line to the "post-closing" service department, I got the Post Office Box number and address for the payments associated with my loan number. She mentioned that there was a pay-by-phone option, but the fee for that was $10. I told her quite franky, I'd prefer to put that $10 to principal and save $56 in interest, but I wanted to pay my bill on time like every other month.

She gave me the address of the office on Columbia Gateway Drive as a delivery address for a live check (before 2:30pm), and gave me a fax number that she assumed I could send a request to change my account to and a promised call back in the next 24 hours. I was impressed by the rep's demeanor, but not her ability to actually fix my problems and update my records. Considering that a week ago I was able to update the checking account information on my student loans in about 30 seconds online and do a direct debit a minute later, I know it can be done.

I'm a little upset that I don't get an e-mail response for 8 days about getting the mailing address, couldn't reach the post-closing office on the weekends when I have time to deal with this, have to drive to Columbia to drop off my check tomorrow, and get a half-answer about how to change my electronic billpay that may or may not be resolved before next month.

I have a feeling that my concerns will be resolved in the next few days, but the experience of changing my bank has been rather unpleasant so far where AHM is involved. I don't feel like I'm asking too much, but I leave that up to the reader.

No Comments | #5175

Unless noted, all content on epistolary.org is © Copyright 1999-2008 to Rob Carlson with all rights reserved. All information is verified when possible, cited as appropriate and applied in the real world at your own risk. Send all feedback to rob@vees.net.