# Robbed by Wells Fargo. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 27, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100 "2012-04-27T03:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/61 "2012-11-21T20:45:53Z")
Once again, why should it be up to the bank to provide a solution to what is your problem? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/62 "2012-11-21T21:07:12Z")
I’ve lost count. How many times has Wells Fargo been pitted? More than any other bank, yet people still do business with them. Credit Unions are so underused by dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/63 "2012-11-21T21:15:43Z")
_Knock wood_ I’ve never had a problem with Wells Fargo and have a checking and savings account as well as a mortgage there. As a matter of fact, every time I had a question about the home buying process whether it involved the mortgage or not, I went and talked to the mortgage representative as the Realtor® was pretty much useless. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/64 "2012-11-21T21:30:23Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Paper ledgers. How quaint. Meanwhile, the rest of us are living in the modern world and are carrying powerful portable computers in our pockets that can query the bank for real-time account balances. How about an intermediate solution? I carry a paper check register with me at all times, and write down not only every check, but also every credit card charge, so that when the bill comes, I have the total amount already set aside to use for payment. Not enough money in the account? Sorry, I can’t use the credit card. But those portable computers must be powerful enough to make these kinds of calculations. I’m sure there’s an app that will allow you to keep a running bank balance. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/65 "2012-11-21T21:44:16Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Paper ledgers. How quaint. Meanwhile, the rest of us are living in the modern world and are carrying powerful portable computers in our pockets that can query the bank for real-time account balances. **Max** is just noting the usefulness of a tool that would allow you to offset that balance to account for one of the rare paper cheques someone might still need to write. and also for the debit card charges that aren’t processed immediately , and electronic payments that take some time to get from the payee to the bank, etc. And setting up such a system will cost the bank money in addition to the complaints when something inevitably goes wrong.And the banks will charge for it But wait- that powerful computer in your pocket? Surely it will allow you to make a list of outstanding checks , debits and electronic payments, won’t it? Maybe even a spreadsheet, so it can give you a total. And you could then use that total to offset the real-time balance provided by the bank. I haven’t used an old-fashioned check register with a running balance in at least 20 years , but it’s just not that hard to write down checks and any other debits that are not immediately deducted. Or to keep a cushion in your checking account so you don’t have to worry about overdrawing the account. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/66 "2012-11-21T21:57:48Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > ``` > I haven't used an old-fashioned check register with a running balance in at least 20 years , but it's just not that hard to write down checks and any other debits that are not immediately deducted. Or to keep a cushion in your checking account so you don't have to worry about overdrawing the account. > > ``` I personally use the last method, and have never, ever, ever kept track of my chequing balance. I am profoundly unconcerned by overdraft fees. But that doesn’t mean that a way to offset the balance reported by an online banking app to account for cheques written but not cashed wouldn’t be a useful thing. Providing useful things to customers is one of the ways a company might increase customer retention. Being assholish towards customers is one of the ways a company might decrease customer retention. Banks aren’t immune from penny-wise pound-foolish practices that might increase per-customer revenue streams at the cost of decreasing the long-term customer base. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/67 "2012-11-21T22:00:41Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’ve lost count. How many times has Wells Fargo been pitted? Not often enough. Hate 'em. Sons 'o Bitches keep buying the smaller banks I prefer to deal with. And it’s not just that they’re fee happy, but they’re sneaky about it. Sneaky as in: here’s a 3 page letter in 6pt font on onionskin paper with a bunch of ho-hum rules and somewhere in there is the bit about “…$5,000 minimum balance to avoid a $25/month ‘service’ fee…” For what? Back in the day, when paper checks were widely used and generally accepted, or further back when computer memory was expensive, or even further back when the branch ledger needed to be printed periodically and reviewed manually I can see why they’d need to be compensated for managing your money for you. But I require the use of a bank person maybe 1 time every other year. The rest of my banking is basically automated, or reliant solely on MY time to access a website and execute a transaction. So yeah, when they buy my bank I close the account now without a word of explanation. But what really pisses me off is when they buy my mortgage. To get away from that I have to refinance. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/68 "2012-11-21T22:50:33Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Seems like it would cost banks little to implement and would be a great help to customers. Then again, they might lose income from overdraft fees from people forgetting about outstanding checks and overdrawing their accounts, so they’ll probably never do it. Still, just a thought. As someone who works in designing online banking services, not so little as you’d expect. That said, it is an idea that has been considered. A retail form of Positive Pay where the user tells the bank what checks they’ve written and that is all taken into account for listing available balances. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn someone is trying it out somewhere but it isn’t as simple an issue as it seems. For one, people get very grumpy when you’re not allowed to take money out, which would happen if your available balance is low because the PTA hasn’t deposited the check you wrote two months ago and you’re willing to gamble they’re not depositing it today. Also, while when asked I bet a lot of people would say they want such a thing I doubt that very many people would actually use it (we see that a lot with budgeting tools, lots of people say they want it then very few actually use it). I’ve personally explored ideas in the past of eliminating checkbooks altogether by allowing you to go into your online bank account for the rare checking writing experience most of us have these days and simply printing a check from your account (and then having it be reflected in your balance, and the fraud benefit of not accepting unknown checks drawing off the account). All that said, I’ve self created essentially what you’ve asked for. My checkbook draws off a free checking account at a bank. The checking account is free so long as I use it for direct deposit. I have a portion of my paycheck deposited into that account so it stays free. I’ve set up a repeating monthly transfer to then move that deposit into another account at the same institution (no lag, real time availability from that account). Whenever I write a check, I use the app on my phone to transfer money back into that account (not any more burdensome than if you were logging in to inform your bank of the check #, payee, and amount) and it can sit there for however long it takes for the check to clear. And if that account gets compromised only a few dollars is generally available to be stolen (unless they get lucky around payday then it is only a couple hundred). ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/69 "2012-11-21T22:52:51Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Why not just use the check register or even a spreadsheet. Why should the bank have to provide a solution to what is your problem? Should they HAVE to? No. But they’re a service industry. Generally service industries try to at least pretend (and as much as we all hate big banks I can say, working for one of the biggest it isn’t as much pretending as people think) to be interested in services that customers and potential customers want and figuring out if there is a business sensible way to deliver on it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/70 "2012-11-22T07:12:43Z")
I got no problem keeping track of my money. Still, would be nice to know the bank agrees with my math. Soothes my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/71 "2012-11-22T17:19:31Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’ve lost count. How many times has Wells Fargo been pitted? More than any other bank, yet people still do business with them. > > Credit Unions are so underused by dopers. I switched from WF to a credit union after getting yanked around about one time too many. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/72 "2012-11-23T12:07:14Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Congratulations on coming to that conclusion after just eight months. As a riposte, you’re on your own there. I think elucidator is one of the board’s most entertaining posters and your dislike for him speaks poorly about you. Actually, disliking him is entirely your prerogative. Making a public statement to that effect really indemnifies your character. > > Or to put it in elucidator speak: don’t need to read his posts, hoss. You’ll get over it. You assume that my join date is when I started reading here? Says a lot about you. Read the rules. He’s off topic more than not. It’s distracting and annoying. I highly doubt I am on my own with this opinion. In the interest of practicing what I preach, I’m done being off topic here. By the way, telling people that your behavior is their problem is a cheap way to justify it. There are rules, he plays with them, the end. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/73 "2012-11-23T17:12:27Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > You assume that my join date is when I started reading here? Says a lot about you. > > Read the rules. He’s off topic more than not. It’s distracting and annoying. I highly doubt I am on my own with this opinion. In the interest of practicing what I preach, I’m done being off topic here. > > By the way, telling people that your behavior is their problem is a cheap way to justify it. There are rules, he plays with them, the end. So put him on ignore. That’s what the feature is for - allowing people to not have to read posters they dislike but who aren’t breaking any rules. Why is your dislike for **luci** even worth a post? ---
**Author:** ![cjs2112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@cjs2112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjs2112)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/74 "2013-07-23T15:38:39Z")
Yeah, they triple screwed me! First they did that same thing to me, siphoning $8 a month from my account because the changed the agreement and all of a sudden I was supposed to keep $1,000 in my account. Second, an inactive credit card I decided to use from wells fargo automatically decided to make a $150 payment from my checking account (that was set up to reject payments if there were insufficient funds) so it charged me $35 for that. What a disgraceful way to treat your customers! I mean soon to be Ex-customers! Yes, I’m in a credit union,but there not as convenient when you travel a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/75 "2013-07-23T16:03:53Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Okay, no one writes checks anymore, right? Well, sort of; we write maybe one or two a month, and we use the debit cards for everything else. But there are some things that you _have_ to write checks for, such as the check we wrote recently to the Department of State to get a passport. And there’s not much point in using the little check register, because you never really know exactly what your balance is to “subtract” from. When we need to know what our bank balance is, we don’t look at the register, we jump into online banking on our cell phones. Last time I saw this, I wasn’t using the online bill pay function of my account but I am now. Anything I used to write a paper check for, I do through WF BillPay. I record all the information, the address I’d be mailing it to, who I’d make it out to, an account number if I have one and the total. I set the date I want it sent and WF tells me the available balance of my account, the total amount of money I’m sending, and the balance once that money is withdrawn. It’s easy-peasy. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/76 "2013-07-23T17:19:11Z")
I am infamous at work for my dislike of big banks as clients. While you have clients you like and ones you dislike, there is something about big banks. They all act the same. Of course, everyone wants to get as much as they can out of us (we being the suppliers) and spend as little as possible to get it…that’s just reasonable. However, big banks take this to the edge of insanity, strap a huge rocket to their back and fire themselves way past it. While some clients when ‘pushing it’ get a little silly…big banks go so far beyond ridiculous it just makes you scratch your head and think “Are these people SANE?!”. They don’t stop pushing either, throwing tantrums and threats left and right. Weirdly enough, they ALL do it and act eerily similar in their behavior. The company I work for actually has a standing policy of putting a 20% ‘difficult client tax’ on any large bank client because they notice that projects for these banks make significantly less money. My father-in-law when he went into biz for himself actually refused to do any work for large banks. Just not worth it he said. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/77 "2013-07-23T17:28:20Z")
Damnit… sucked into another zombies craw. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/78 "2013-07-23T21:13:22Z")
Ah, you Americans and your silly unchartered banks… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/79 "2013-07-23T21:27:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Ah, you Americans and your silly unchartered banks… What are you talking about? The federal [Office of the Comptroller of Currency](http://www.occ.gov/about/what-we-do/mission/index-about.html) is set up just for that. > [@](#): > > … primary mission is to **charter** , regulate, and supervise all national banks and federal savings associations. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100/80 "2013-07-23T22:01:34Z")
Evidently your version of chartering is different, possibly a lot more generous, than ours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robbed-by-wells-fargo/620100.md?page=5)