Posted on August 9, 2010 - by Ashley Jackson

Wachovia (Or, Satan’s Personal Banking Service)

How was your Monday, kids? Mine gave me a headache. I had a strawberry Liberte yogurt and a cranberry orange Pure bar for breakfast. And then things went south…

See, I decided to spend my lunch break running errands. So I went to Kerr Drug and dropped off a prescription to pick up later, and then headed to Wachovia to cash a check that I got from my car insurance company because of a settlement wherein they overcharged a bunch of people.

Except the cute teller told me my account was closed on June 24. The account that I’ve had since 2003. The account which, a co-worker later pointed out, I’ve had all of my financial life.

Now, I don’t use this account for much of anything anymore. I got it in when I started college, and the whole reason I picked Wachovia was because I went to college in Winston-Salem, which is lazy with Wachovias. And Krispy Kremes. I used to exclusively for four years, and after I graduated and started working I got an account with ING Direct, an online bank. But since I still needed a brick-and-mortar bank to cash  and write the occasional check, I also kept my Wachovia account.

So I got to stand in the bank gawking while the cute teller tried to figure out why my account was closed–the account to which, by the way, I attempted to transfer $600 last week. Then he called over another teller who checked it out and for some reason could tell me the amount of money I’d tried to transfer, but didn’t know why my account was closed. Eventually, she told me that after an account has been dormant for three months, it is closed.

I asked if they could cash my check, but they said they couldn’t since they didn’t have an account to draw it against. They said if I waited they could call someone (I don’t know who) and perhaps get it cashed, but I asked for it back, thanked them, and left.

I was hot. But a couple of years ago I would’ve made a big scene, so I consider the fact that I left quietly to indicate personal growth on my part. Because really, while I’m angry that they didn’t bother to tell me via e-mail or snailmail that my account was being closed even though I’ve been a long-term customer, I’ve been wanting to leave Wachovia for a while. I called my mom and vented a little, then went back to work, logged into my ING Direct account, and found my $600 had been put back into my account. So all I lost was some time waiting in the bank. I can get someone else to cash my check for me, and I can work around the no-checks issue when I have to pay deposits for my apartment. If this were on Twitter, it would be tagged #firstworldproblems. I’m letting it go…

(But Wachovia, your customer service sucks. If the devil banked, he’d have an account with you.)

I ate lunch–sungold cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, hummus, and gouda.

I wrote love notes to Wachovia on my white board.

I nibbled on some trail mix, and then ate half of this large banana with some almond butter.

I ate a piece of Godiva chocolate.

I don’t find Godiva that impressive, honestly.

Late in the afternoon, I got paged on a 911 call made from the fourth floor of my office building, so I grabbed my first aid kit, dashed upstairs, and discovered that someone had accidentally dialed 911 again. Let’s be careful with our phones, people. Good to know that so many first responders show up when the call goes out, though (our office first responders, not paramedics!). But this was the second time today that my BP and pulse got all jacked up with no place to go. Sigh.

I left work, went back to the pharmacy to pick up my drugs, and then drove to Target to pick up a few things I needed, plus a russet potato for dinner. I was too hungry to finish waiting for it to cook to eat, though, so I ate a piece of smoked salmon.

That’s appetizing, no?

For dinner, I had baked potatoes two ways.

On the left, half of the baked potato mashed with salt and Brummel & Brown. On the right, half of the baked potato mashed with leftover chicken and broccoli curry from last night. I wasn’t sure this combo would work (the potato+curry combo, that is), but it was great.

After dinner, a square of dark chocolate peppermint crunch…

…and now I am going to bed. I don’t feel too hot at the moment and maybe it’ll go away if I’m asleep…