I download all of my transactions for my checking account into Quicken daily. I downloaded them this morning only to find that I had an unauthorized transaction for $2415.00 from one Carla Smith. Who the heck is Carla Smith, I asked myself. So, naturally, I call my bank and go through the normal procedures, fill out the ACH(Automated Clearing House) Dispute Form and talk with a dispute representative. She tells me this type of dispute can take 3-5 business days. 3-5 business days from now looks like, at the earliest, next Wednesday (July 4th holiday is Tuesday).Well, that didn't sit very well with me so I asked if there was anything we can do to expedite this. She gives me her direct fax number so I can fax the form over to her directly. Within 5 minutes she's given the form to the processing rep assigned to my case and I'm given my money back.

Thanks Sheila, and thank you Wachovia. That's what I call customer service.


Anyone ever had fraud on their accounts before? Should I close the account/debit cards and reopen? What's the best thing to do to keep this from happening again? I haven't given the number out to anyone and I can't remember using the debit card online anytime recently either. Check that, actually, the last time I used it online was to renew my Driver's License, which was last week. I certainly hope the DMV hasn't been hacked. Maybe there's a website that has my information that has been compromised or something? I dunno.

I'm just glad that Wachovia cares about their customers.

Weird. Since First Union took over, I've found Wachovia's customer service to be getting worse and worse.

I once had a box of checks stolen. Initially, we just had all the numbered checks in that box cancelled, but the idiot CSR sent us new checks with the same numbers, so we ended up cancelling the account and opening a new one.

No fraud (thankfully), but I have disputed two charges before. Both times I filled out an online dispute form, and a few hours later the money was back in my account. Usually about 4 or 5 days later, I'll get a report in e-mail and mailed to me about the incident, and that the final result was in my favor. The credit union I use (DCU) has a policy of refunding the disputed money immediatly. If the customer was wrong, the money is then taken back out later if a solution cannot be reached.