I regret my decisions a few months ago about Wells Fargo

The BBQ Pit
1

Remember my rant about Wells Fargo from December?

I regret my decision that I kept the one checking account open until now.

In January, I changed my direct deposit account to another bank. Three weeks ago, I called the Wells Fargo customer service line to close out my savings account and credit card over the phone. She asked why I wanted to do so, most likely out of a mandatory “dissatisfied customer” feedback thing, and I explained to her the situation I posted to in the earlier thread. She also was curious why I wanted to keep the checking account open–where I explained that I wouldn’t mind a “rainy day” account I could rathole a few dollars into for emergencies/deployments and whatnot. At that point, she let me know that my credit card is tied to my checking account for overdraft protection, and she managed to convince me that yeah, maybe that wouldn’t hurt to leave open too . . . seeing as how I just paid it off with my income tax refund and wouldn’t have any charges. At this point, the grim reaper grinned.

Yesterday, I got a monthly statement in the mail. My formerly free checking account got whacked a monthly service charge of $6 (which the lady said they would waive from February on . . .), and since I had a zero balance in that account, was overdrafted over the credit card. Yesterday, at 1718 local, the grim reaper chuckled.

So, here’s the letter that’s going off in Monday’s mail:

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Miller Valley Office
Portland OR

Tripler
Great Falls, MT
Account: ABCDEF

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to completely close out all of my accounts with your bank.  I originally opened up an account with you in 1999 on the recommendation of a friend of mine.  Initially, I was extremely pleased with the service of your bank.  I started with a free checking account with ATM debit/credit card, a separate savings account, along with a credit card.  As a member of the US Air Force, I was also pleased with how easily my paychecks were deposited directly on time every pay period.   However, over the past few years, the decline in your service has left me with no choice but to take my money elsewhere.

A litany of negative experiences have driven me to the point of recommending other banks to friends and family—people I once brought to you.  A few particular situations include:

  1. One Saturday at your Albertson’s Market branch in Great Falls, MT, I went in to cash a personal check for the amount of $25. I asked for two rolls of quarters and five “golden” Sacajawea dollar coins. The teller gave me a confused look, and asked me what a “Sacajawea” dollar was. I explained to him what it was, he sighed, and mentioned he didn’t have any on hand. In the same breath, he also complained that “These are my last two rolls. . . What do you need two rolls of quarters for?” leaving me with the impression that I would be troubling him to get up out of his chair and retrieve more from the back after completing my transaction. I explained to him that I use quarters for the coin-operated laundry machines I use. He again interrogated me as to why I needed so many, and what I needed the dollar coins for. At this point, I replied that I wanted to have an extra roll of quarters ‘just in case’ and that I give my little cousins the hard-to-find golden dollars as birthday presents. Begrudgingly, he slapped the two rolls of quarters on the counter, and asked the manager on duty if they had any golden dollars. The manager, with a completely pleasant attitude, explained that they just didn’t have any on hand and offered the silver “Susan B. Anthony” dollar coins. After accepting them, the first teller slapped my ID on the counter and handed me a receipt, without even looking up or speaking to me. At this point I was still in shock at how rude he was, that I just left the location and went on shopping.

    1. My formerly free checking account is now costing me six dollars a month to maintain. As of January, I changed my direct deposit to another bank, and closed out my savings account. I intended to use my Wells Fargo checking account and credit card as a “rainy day” account for emergencies. Just the other day, in a monthly statement, I noticed that I am still being charged six dollars a month amounting to $72 a year, for what seems to be the privilege of doing business with your bank. If it is going to cost me money just to hold an account open, I won’t do it any longer. I cannot imagine what kind of business you must be doing to charge an overhead cost of that magnitude on an account that is basically inactive. In addition to the checking account charges, I was frequently charged three dollars a month on my savings account for transferring money either into or out of the account, amounting to another $36 per year. I cannot and will not directly pay $108 a year just to do business with a bank.
      Enclosed, please find a check to cover the outstanding balance on my credit card in the amount of $29.59. I would like written response that both my credit card and checking account has been closed sent to both my home address at the top of this letter, as well as my deployment address at the bottom of this letter. The degredation of service over the past few years has convinced me that one of your corporate slogans, “Going from Good to Great” is in fact quite the opposite.

So, there you have it. I am done with this company. I would call them up and demand this six dollars back, but I’m leaving tomorrow and am too damn busy today running errands.

Wells Fargo, blow me.

Tripler
Happily impressed with my other, Texas based bank.

2

Seems that a lot of people are pissed off with their banks lately. I have a thread about it in the BBQ Pit. And so does Niblet-Head.

I think what it comes down to is that we are held for ransom, so to speak. It’s almost impossible to survive these days, without a bank account. Sure, we could pay our rent cash (forget about it with a mortgage though). We could pay our bills cash. And everything else (although it would be a major pain in the ass). But where do we get that cash from? Cheques! And how do we cash those cheques? At the branch and bank of the payor, but not too easily, (as expressed in my thread). Some companies, like my old employer, demand a voided cheque for Direct Deposit ~ no alternatives. And if you’re on Social Assistance, you need a chequing account to be paid. But what about homeless people who can’t get the account, because they don’t have a home address? Funnily enough, I’ve heard stories of people not being able to open bank accounts if they didn’t have a job. Talk about vicious circle.

So it comes down to the lesser of evils. That’s how we choose our banks. Just like how we choose our governments. It’s whomever will be fucking us over the least, and whose promises seem most suitable.

Good luck with your new account.

3

So why are you leaving this part out of your proposed letter? :smiley:

4

I’m having some Wells Fargo issues myself. My car is financed through them and about once a day for the past week I’ve got an automated message requested me to call them.

So, like a good loanee, I call them.

They have no record of my account.

:confused:

But, they’re calling me. Obviously, they got my phone number from somewhere, right? I called back the number left on my voicemail…

This has happened 3 times last week.

Three fucking times.

Yeah, they’re always really apologetic and nice about it, but still. It’s getting slightly annoying now.

5

OK, I guess it’s my responsibility to take care of the officers. So let me help you out here. Ready?

Credit. Union.

You’re welcome, sir. Let me know if I can help you out with something else. :smiley:

6

Yeah yeah, I heard ya in my first thread. :smiley:

I hear the one downtown is offering a 2.75% auto loan. Sounds like I oughta refinance when I get back.

Tripler
Think of all the beer money I could save!

7

Damn, the Air Farce beat me to it. :wink:

One additional bonus with credit unions, is that their ATM withdrawls are often free if done via another credit union machine, vice a bank machine.

8

That’s “degradation,” by the way.

9

I can personally recommend Navy Federal Credit Union. I have also had good luck with USAA’s bank dealing with two separate car loans. And with their insurance. I’ll never switch. Screw commercial banks.

10

Hey thanks. I just ran back to the “outgoing” box for my apartment, pulled the letter and changed it. And I also changed:



. . . “Going from Good to Great” is in fact quite the opposite.

to



. . .“Going from Good to Great” is in fact, quite to the opposite of the situation.

I swear, I should have you people proofread my nasty-grams. :smiley:

Tripler
Feel free to add any more comments you’d like me to include. Deadline’s 9:PM Montana time.

11

Whoa! Sorry about that.

12

I would change "I would like written response that both my credit card and checking account has been closed sent to both … " in two places:

  1. responses
  2. have been closed
13

Ooh, another good one. I changed it to “a written response” and changed “has” to “have”.

You guys want me to include other horror stories? The envelope is still open . . . :smiley:

Tripler
Gawd, if I could hire you people for professional proofreading help . . .

14

I’m an out-of-work copy editor, so actually, you can! Are there any other corporations that you want to send stern letters to?

15

Oh good Lord, there are a few. Northwest Airlines stands out in my mind in particular.

And I’m not one of those “gimme everything because I’m a customer and I demand it” kinda guys. I understand some things cost money, but not when you promise something and fail to deliver.

Tripler
I may hire you in the near future when I want to run for public office. I’m jottin’ yer name down.

16

I still say that you should lead with “Wells Fargo, blow me.” It gets their attention, and sets the tone for everything that follows. What a perfect “topic sentence!”

17

I second both recommendations. I’ve also been very happy with NFCU and USAA.

18

USAA’s who I’m going with now. Granted, the truck loan I got is a little steep on the percentage, they offer me no-hassle Internet “bill-pay”, free checking, a free savings account without monthly fees, and a variety of other free odds and ends. They cater to my needs, and being as how they gave me a $37k loan over the phone in 20 minutes, I’ll keep my money where the service is. I have loyalty to those who treat me well.

And, they don’t gouge me when I accidentally overdraw by a literal $0.10 with my debit card on the 14th of any given month.

But I’m not sure I can qualify with the NFCU. I was a Marine Corps ‘poolie’ at one point [sub]MEPS and everything![/sub], but ended up Air Force.

Tripler
My money speaks. And with it, I have spoken.

19

I don’t know exactly how qualifying with NFCU works – my mom’s husband got on with them at some point when he was living overseas, and he might have been able to get on with them because of some special circustances seeing as he was Air Force himself way back when – but I thought I’d mention them anyway.

USAA has been GREAT to me. Og willing I won’t be looking for another car loan for a few years (knocking wood furiously) but when I do I’ll go to them first. I’d probably switch to them now if I hadn’t had the in with NFCU.

20

About 10 years ago, Wells Fargo sent me a credit card offer with a 3.9% introductory rate on balance transfers that was supposedly good for 1 year.

The second month into my year, I was billed at 19% interest, called customer service and got them to straighten this out. BTW, the interest rate quoted in the original for the 13th month and beyond was 9.9%. Where did 19 come from? Nobody at WF’s customer service dept. knew, either.

The 4th month, it happened again.

Ditto, the 6th month.

I paid off the card, cut it up, and enclosed tit in a letter that accused WF of trying to put one over on those who don’t carefully read their bills.

Four vears ago, my bank was merged with WF. As I had just received a large re-order of checks for the account, I decided to stay with the new regime, but to watch them very closely.

There are now about half as many Wells Fargo ATMs convenient to me than there were Norwest ATMs 4 years ago.

One of my nominally-adult stepkids didn’t have a bank account unil recently. At tax refund time, he’d sign the refund checks on the back, give them to his mom and me, and one of us would cash them at the bank for him so he could save the fees charged at the check casher place he normally uses.
Norwest never made an issue of this, but Wells Fargo refused to let us cash these checks or even to deposit them and wait a few days before withdrawing their amounts. No explanation–just, "It’s against policy,"from the teller. When the branch manager was summoned,he told me that “the government” “never” allowed us to do what we did for years at that very bank under the old owners.

We wound up going to the check casher’s where a $3 fee was paid to cash both checks. These people never even questioned all the scratched-out endorsements and Wells Fargo account numbers on the backs of the checks.

BTW, the check casher place has technology you NEVER see in a bank. All of their customers are photographed the first time they do business with them and all of their branches’ computers have these images stored along with full records of all transactions. When a customer walks into any branch his/her image is sent from the security camera to the computer, which automatically brings up the customer’s photo and file. As someone who had checks stolen from me, made out to “cash” and honored at his home bank branch, I heartily endorse any bank’s “invading my privacy” to see to it that someone who looks nothing like me gets nothing from my account. And I like the idea of being greeted by my first name as though I was a valued customer by any teller at any location and not being hassled for any form of ID.

WF hassles the honest customer for ID but somehow the bogus check-passers slip by. Is the federal TSA at our airports being run by Wells Fargo? It sometimes seems so.