Washington Mutual, WAMU, JP Morgan Chase, Chase WAMU discontinued my secured card, misinformed it's patrons and then reopened my account to charge me again! Gilroy California

I would just like to address an issue that I have been livid with anger about all day. I recieved a letter in the mail mid-December stating that my Washington Mutual Secured Mastercard was to be discontinued due to the JP Morgan Chase merger. The letter states:

""Washington Mutual (WaMu) has decided to discontinue the Secured MasterCard credit card program. As you may be aware, WaMu is now part of JPMorgan Chase.

As a result, both your Secured MasterCard credit card account and your Secured Card Savings Account will be closed, effective January 12th, 2009.

The money in your Secured Card Savings Account will be used to pay the amount you owe on your secured credit card account. We will send you a check for any remaining money in your Secured Card Savings Account If there is not enough money in your Secured Card Savings Account to pay the amount you owe, you must pay us any remaining debt on your credit card account under the terms of your Account Agreement.

If you have paid an annual fee for your account and your current year has not expired, we will credit your account as reimbursement for the unused portion of your account year."

Upon recieving this letter, I was neither surprised nor upset. I figured that I would recieve my check in the mail and be on my way. January passed and I did not recieve a statement prior to the 23rd as I usually did with this account, and thus assumed that whatever transactions had been left over would be subtracted from the savings I had used to secure the card.

I went into WAMU yesterday to close my checking account with WAMU for other reasons than I am writing to you and asked the cashier to check on my CC balance just to ensure that everything was transitioning smoothly. I was a bit concerned because I had not heard from WAMU since that letter and was still waiting (though patiently) for my check to arrive. The cashier gave me a frown and informed me that there was a $60 balance on my closed credit card account. She had then informed me that what the letter hadn't mentioned was that I was supposed to keep paying my balance until I recieved my check in the mail, and then they would send me yet another check to cover the $60 and change that was owed. I was quite puzzled and returned home, to review the statement and pay online.

Convieniently, a paper statement greeted me when I returned home and what I saw made me feel an anger like no other. According to the statement, I was charged a "late payment fee" (which was logged into my account on January 22nd, 1 day before my account would have been due for payment) and an "over the limit" fee, though my account should have been already closed.

After speaking to a rep from my local WAMU it seems as though many patrons have come in with the same problem. What would you suggest for this particular problem? I have contacted Wamu, who has said that the balance is my responsiblity even though these fees had accrued due to the discontinuation of my card BY Wamu. The fees are both $39 each, which means I am now paying $78 in fees that never should have ended up on a closed card.

And I'm still waiting for that refund. If it ever comes.

Caroline
Bay Area, California
U.S.A.