What Happened to the Friendly Local Bank?

My seventy-two year old mother received a call the other day from Chase Bank, previously Washington Mutual. The gentleman tells her that she "forgot" her drivers license at the bank when she cashed a check. She has a checking account and a savings account and a CD at the bank, but doesn't believe in the ATM card, so she has to show a license there even though she has been banking there for years. Prior to Wamu, it used to be Home Federal Bank where she even worked as a loan officer, so she knew some of the people that stayed over with Wamu. It was funny to me that they called and said she forgot her license, when the reality is that the teller "neglected" to return the license to her at the end of their transaction.

So my mother says to me, since I don't have my driver's license with me, will you go and pick it up for me? I updated my mother on current security issues that the bank cannot release her license to me, so I'll be glad to drive her over. She says, "That's crazy, just go and ask for Wanda, the assistant manager, she knows me and she can call me if she needs to. "Mom Banks have changed!" She insisted, so I went. Wanda from Wamu was too busy, as this was the first day of the new Chase software. The teller called my mother at my request and reaffirmed to her that due to security reasons, she can't release the license to me. The new realities!

My 21 year old daughter, had a birthday check my sister gave her drawn against Wamu, now Chase. She goes to cash her check at Chase. I have an account there, so does my husband and my mom. They said to her, because she doesn't have an account there, they withhold $6 from her $60 check. That's 10%! She went over her account at Wells Fargo by two dollars when she bought a pizza, and they charged her $30 for being over by $2. Isn't that a bit outrageous, like highway robbery!

Is there a friendly bank out there? Perhaps, we need to go to credit unions? Please let me know if you love your bank. I have tried - Union, Wamu now Chase, Wachovia now Wells Fargo (too bad); I used to be with First Interstate that Wells Fargo took over a while back and service went down the drain while fees went up and up! Union bank if you link your savings account to your checking as an overdraft protection if they transfer dollars from your own savings, they charge a $7 transaction fee.

I recently opened an account at Bank of America, and I quite like their save the change program where they match up to the first $250. Citibank is good because they don't let you process a debit transaction if it makes you go over. The problem with them is if you do overdraw, they freeze your account even if you made a recent deposit, and they don't call you to tell you. They just bounce your transactions because your account is frozen until you figure it out and call them to unfreeze. It takes 48 hours to unfreeze.

Share you crazy bank stories, and let readers know if there are any that you really like, share a story where they recently provided good service.