Here lies the great WaMu
The largest savings and loan you ever knew
Low mortgages for all who want them, they teased
Until poor WaMu the government seized
Alas, the housing market wouldn’t keep pace
Now Whoo hoo! is no more
They gave up the Chase
RIP indeed. It makes me sad, being from the Pacific NW (and currently living in Seattle) WaMu was always the shining example of what a bank could be. Fun people, good rates, great reputation…….what happened?
You should check out this blog for more opinions on WaMu AND the latest post is a hoot http://itsaccrualworld.wordpress.com
As a WaMu customer, I’m bummed. I thought they ran a great personal checking-and-savings practice — it was the loans business that got them in over their heads. It makes me wonder whether the Peter Principle applies to corporations as well, and that they all grow to the level of their incompetence. (Starbucks, anyone?) The continuous pressure on publicly-traded companies to grow, grow, grow means that they sometimes expand beyond the expertise of their management and their ability to recruit new talent. It also goes to show that we marketing folks can do the best we can — and I loved WaMu’s marketing — but if the business fundamentals are dysfunctional, all we’re can do is putting lipstick on, um, a lemming.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m a WaMu customer, as well.
One of my favorite taglines was “More human interest,” and I thought they delivered on it in their branches.
Not a big fan of Chase.
We’ll see where it goes from here.
I walked into my WaMu branch to make a deposit and all was business as usual. As I stood in the surprisingly short teller line, I looked around at the decor, the brochures, posters, forms, banners, signs, etc. And my first thought was, “All that design work down the drain. All those brochures tossed in the recycling bin.” And my next thought was, “I wonder if JPMorganChase will have coffee and cookies every day for their customers.”
WaMu spend a ton on their collateral and their environmental graphics. Their online banking web site was easy to navigate and utilize.
Can JPMorganChase live up to that? How much is going to change for us lowly depositors?
Unfortunately, customer-friendly WaMu got top-heavy, as Freddy N. has already noted, and things that are top heavy lose their balance easily and inevitably.
Remember the Rodeo Grandmas? I loved them.
Whoo Hoo, boohoo, hoo boy.
Whoohoops.
BTW, nice syntax on my part in my earlier post. “All we’re can do is putting…” Nice, Freddy! My distress over WaMu’s demise is affecting my ability to process, um, uh, what’s the word? Oh yeah, thoughts.