NORTH PORT, FLORIDA -- In June, 2008, I went to open a CD and was told I had to also have a checking account with them. So I opened one with $100. I never received any statements, except at the end of the year there was a 1090. That didn't worry me, because I don't receive monthly statements from the other banks where I have CD's.
Friday I happened to look in my spam folder and there was an e-mail from Wachovia. I opened it and it said I had $0 in my checking account. They had been taking out $20 a month "service fee" since October. I called their "Customer Service" number Saturday, and after 20 minutes of playing around with their menu I was finally able to talk to a real person. I told him my problem, and he said he had to put me on hold.
Fifteen minutes later, after listening to the most gosh-awful music, he came back and said the man who had written my CD and checking account info had made a mistake. He had forgotten to tie them together. He said I would have my $100 restored at once. I checked back a few minutes later, and there it was. But what would have happened if I hadn't seen the spam?