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Welcome to www.WellsFargoWarning.com!  I created this site to tell the story of my experience with Wells Fargo Bank, and to invite all of you to submit your own stories which I will also post to this site.  Information on how you can do that is at the bottom of this page.  But most importantly, this site should give you an idea of how you could expect to be treated by Wells Fargo in the unfortunate event that a problem should arise.

If you’re like me, then you’re sick and tired of being cheated, bullied, and lied to by large organizations like Wells Fargo and are not going to stand around and do nothing about it.  It’s time to send them a clear message and affect them where it counts, their “bottom line”, because that’s obviously the only thing they care about.  They don’t care about you or me or even what’s right or wrong.  Together we can force Wells Fargo to get their act together and begin respecting their customers.  Working together on this we can make a difference, but rest assured I have no intention of letting up until Wells Fargo changes their behavior toward customers and starts behaving ethically!  In the meantime, I urge you to close your accounts at Wells Fargo and take your hard earned money elswhere.

With that said, let me begin by introducing myself and giving you some background about my situation….

I am a father of two beautiful children, ages 8 and 6, with whom I love to spend as much time as possible.  Unfortunately I am currently going through a divorce and my ex-wife has primary custody of our children.  Like all good fathers, I take care of my children and pay child support. I am current on all my child support obligations, but the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) doesn’t see it that way.  They claim I’m over $3,000 behind in child support when in fact I am currently 3 months ahead on my payments.  Whether due to bureaucracy, inadequate staffing or simply the arrogance of the DCSS, several of my monthly payments have not been properly credited.  A court hearing scheduled for October ought to straighten all this out.

So I bet you're asking yourself at this point, “What does this all have to do with Wells Fargo??”

Here's how.  In late July, my parents received a letter from Wells Fargo stating that their savings account is being levied in the amount of $1,896.00 by the DCSS for past due child support.  In addition, Wells Fargo took an additional $100 for themselves calling it a “Legal Order Processing Fee”, bringing the total to almost $2K.  It turns out my parents had added my brother and me as account holders in case something should happen to them.  So DCSS levied the account, and instructed Wells Fargo to forward the funds to them after 10 days, which would have been on August 5, 2010.  When my parents received this letter from Wells Fargo they immediately contacted the DCSS to explain that this account and all funds in it belong to them, not myself nor my brother.  Surprisingly, DCSS was very cooperative and asked my parents to fax several bank statements, deposits, cancelled checks, and so on in order to prove it was their account.  After verifying the information DCSS agreed that the funds indeed belong to my parents, and on August 2, 2010, the DCSS faxed Wells Fargo instructing them to return the funds to my parents since the levy was withdrawn.

Pretty clear cut huh?  It should have ended there, but the story continues….

On August 2, 2010, my father, who is as gentle, kind, polite and pleasant a person as you will ever meet, tried to call Wells Fargo's "Levy Processing Department" as was signed at the bottom of the letter.  He had a very difficult time trying to reach this department as there was no phone number on the letter and no one in the Wells Fargo organization had heard of them. As it turns out, there is no such department. Finally he was given the number (480) 724-2000 which is to Wells Fargo’s Legal Department.  He wanted to confirm that they received the instructions to return the money.  After being on hold for over 45 minutes, someone picked up the line, said “hello” and then hung up the phone.  My father called back and after another 40 minute hold, he finally spoke to a lady named “Fatima” who confirmed that they received the order to stop the levy and would return the money to his account.

After several days with no sign of the money, my father called once more and again spent 40-45 minutes on hold before finally speaking to a gentleman named “Alex”.  Alex was extremely rude and belligerent toward my father, told him something to the effect of “we mailed you a check on August 3rd and you’ll just have to wait!”  and then immediately hung up the phone.  A couple more days, still no funds and no check.  At this point, my mother called the legal department and, true to form, spent over two hours in total on hold including the times someone would pick up the phone, say “hello” and then immediately hang up.  Finally she spoke to Alex who again was extremely rude and hung up the phone.  My father then called back, and this time spoke to “Fatima” again.  Fatima told him that if he doesn’t receive the check within 10 days to call back, and Wells Fargo will stop payment on the check and deposit the money back into his account.

10 days passed and still no check. He called back and this time spoke to a “Meagan”  Meagan was just as bad if not worse than Alex.  She rudely told him, “We don’t have your money.  Once we mail a check, it’s not our problem anymore.”  He politely explained to her that Wells Fargo has the money, and that issuing a check in itself is not payment, especially when the check was never received nor cashed.  Megan then rudely exclaimed, “Well, you’ll have to wait 30 days.”  He asked her why he should have to wait 30 days when they can just simply stop payment on the check (if such a check existed) and deposit the money into his account.  Meagan then replied, “30 DAYS!” and hung up the phone on him.

Not wanting to spend hours on the phone again, my father decided to go to the Wells Fargo branch located on White Lane & Gosford hoping to get matters resolved.  He spoke to “Monica”, an Assistant Vice President at that branch.  Monica called the legal department to try and resolve the problem.  She spent over 30 minutes on hold (while my father waited) before finally being connected with “Alex”.  Alex picked up the phone, said “hello” then hung up the phone.  She called back and spent another 30 minutes on hold before getting Alex again.  By this time she was quite upset herself.  Alex was again rude towards her.  At one point she expressed her own frustrations of being on hold for over 30 minutes and his response was “No, it’s only been 25!”  How arrogant, huh?  She asked Alex to stop payment on the check and deposit the money into my father's account per the original agreement.  He told her he’d get back to her.

After a few more days and still no check, my father stopped by the same branch and left a message for Monica to follow up and get back to him; he received no response.  Next day he sent her a fax, but still no response.  At that point he returned to the branch and spoke to “Monica” as well as “Susan”,  the branch manager.  They explained to him that they did all they could and could provide no further assistance as they themselves were getting no cooperation from the people in the legal department.  They gave him the phone number to the Wells Fargo Executive Offices and the team that handles customer resolutions.

Being upset about the whole situation and the distress it had caused my parents, I decided to get involved.  Although my parents did not blame me one bit and understood that this happened through no fault of my own, I felt a moral obligation to take on this battle.  At their age they really don’t need the stress and, after all, it was my name that got them into this mess in the first place.

So I entered the ring…

On August 18, 2010, I called Wells Fargo Executive Offices at (800) 869-3557 or (800) 511-2265 and spoke to “Nancy V” on the executive team, who supposedly works in the offices of the CEO.  I must say that Nancy was more polite than the other folks we encountered at Wells Fargo.  She assured me she would resolve the matter expeditiously, and promised she would call me back the next morning.  She called me back on the morning of August 19.  She said she spoke to the legal department, and they asked her to send them an email which she told me she had done.  She also told me that she would be in touch with me throughout the day.  When I hadn’t heard from her by 4:30 that afternoon, I called back and left a message.  Approximately another 30-45 minutes went by, and I still had not heard from her.  Wanting to make sure to get status before she left for the day, I called again.  Again I was told she was not available.  I then asked for the head of that office, and was put through to “Mary Jo” who is the Executive Supervisor.  Mary Jo was familiar with the situation, and told me that Nancy was actually on the other line with the head manager in the legal department and that if I could just hold a minute, Nancy was flagging her over to give her a message for me.  I held, and Mary Jo got back on the line to tell me that if I sent her a fax signed by all four account holders authorizing Wells Fargo to deposit the money back into the savings account then it would get done.  First thing the next morning I sent her the fax she requested.  The whole day passed without contact from anyone.  At about 5:00pm on Friday, August 20, 2010, I called and asked for Mary Jo or Nancy.  I was told that Mary Jo had gone home for the day and that “Nancy is not available.”  I told the lady I would hold.  She said, “You can’t hold,” and hung up the phone.  I called back, and this time another person answered.  I asked for Nancy, and she asked my name; I told her, and after 20 seconds she returned to say, “Nancy’s not available.”  I explained that I would call back until Nancy would speak with me.  Again I was put on hold, but this time Nancy picked up and told me she was on the phone with the legal department, and now they want all four persons listed on the account to appear in person at the same time at a Wells Fargo Branch in order to receive “the check”.

As you might imagine, I was furious at this point, and felt we were treated like circus animals being asked to jump through hoops.  I told Nancy what she could do with her new circus trick so here we are today with no check, no funds returned and absolutely no cooperation from Wells Fargo.  Do these people have any ethics or morals??

Summary:

• Wells Fargo claims they mailed a check on 8/3/2010

• No check was received

• Wells Fargo states that if the check is not received within 10 days, they will stop payment and make a direct deposit.

• 10 days come and go, no check (and no deposit)

• Wells Fargo states that once a check is issued, they wash their hands of it regardless of whether that check is ever actually received. (They confirmed that check was not cashed)

• Wells Fargo states that we have to wait 30 days before they will stop payment or even look into the matter.

• Well Fargo requests a fax signed by all account holders to authorize direct deposit (fax sent).

• Wells Fargo then says all four persons listed on account must appear at the same time in person (nearly impossible due to our different schedules).

It seems that Wells Fargo is doing everything in their power to make it as difficult as possible in an attempt to delay or avoid returning the money.  If this isn't stealing, I don't know what is!

I don’t for one minute believe Wells Fargo ever mailed a check in the first place.  In my opinion, based on this experience and the experiences of others with Wells Fargo, they are one of the most, if not the most, dishonest and shady banking organizations of our time.  Not even at the top level in their Executive Offices will you get satisfactory treatment or resolution to your complaint.

For those of you who have had problems with Wells Fargo Bank, you know exactly what I’m saying. For those who haven’t “YET”, do you really want to stick around till you do??

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