Why I Loathe Wells Fargo

The BBQ Pit
1

So this month we are refinancing our loan to a lower rate. We’ve been with Wells Fargo Mortgage (and with the way mortgage loans work, perhaps our loan will be resold to them sometime in the future), but we have always been on time with our payments. From us that have had no hassles, no bounced checks, no partial payments, or the like. Since we are refinancing, our September payment will be handled and nullified with the payoff amount coming from our new lender (And let me tell you, it’s been a nice thing to sock that mortgage payment away into savings this month!).

But since the beginning of the week, starting on the 18th, we have been getting phone calls from Wells Fargo twice or three times a day at odd times when we haven’t been home. All they have done is leave an automated phone message telling us to call some 1-800 number. I did so, and was told that that number was inaccessible from my area. Great. Nice thinking folks. Call me incessantly and then provide no way for me to get back to you.

So this morning I happen to be working from home and picked up when they called. I note that the Caller ID is “Unknown Name” which I usually don’t pick up. It just screams telemarketer. Hey, if people can’t tell me who they are, why should I talk with them? But this time I have a customer service representative from Wells Fargo (who was polite and capable), but who starts in on where my September payment is and when I plan on sending it in. You know, it’s not like I am a deadbeat customer with a bad track record here. It’s not like am over thirty days late. It’s not like I am trying to skip out on the fifteen days past due late charge. Why does corporate policy demand that you treat me, a customer with no bad history, like someone who is trying to get away with something?

Wells Fargo has always been a bad experience for me. I went to pay my bill online and they are charging me $8.00 for the privilege of saving them money and time. A whole freaking $8.00 so you can electronically withdraw a specified amount from my credit union. Some bargain.

Sadly, this is a case of being forced to use a company I do not like. Short of refinancing and hoping that my loan gets sold to a different bank (doing that), or living in a tent in the local park and therefore not having a mortgage at all, I am left to the whims and asinine policy of a faceless corporation to whom my loan was sold. It makes me very frustrated.

Okay, so this is a lame rant. So I have spent more time typing this out than it took to deal with the phone call. But I guess it is just the cry of one more person in the unwashed masses speaking out against the corporate forces that move us about at their caprice and fancy.

2

I had a Wells Fargo mortgage and had a terrible experience as well - can’t say how glad I am to be rid of them.

I, also, got several phone calls from clue-less morons. The first guy tried to talk me out of leaving the Wells Fargo family because they were such a great group of folks. Plus he told me that I would be assessed a penalty for buying out the mortgage early, something the person selling me the mortgage specifically told me would not happen. So I argued with clueless moron about this for a while. A few minutes later he asked me why I didn’t just re-finance with Wells Fargo as then I wouldn’t have to pay the fee. I told him that I wasn’t re-financing, I was selling the house. Turns out the original person was right, there was no fee for discharging the mortgage if you were selling the property.

From then on - as soon as I got a call from them I’d interrupt the Clueless Moron as soon as he started his Wells Fargo speal and tell them I wasn’t refinancing, I was selling. They’d promise to change the paperwork and then I’d get another call a day later.

3

The people who bought our house were going through WF for their mortgage. Everything was fine, house appraised fine, then 3 days before closing WF decides the house did not appraise b/c half the square footage was a walk-out basement (all the houses on the street were built like this–built into a very steep hill. No one else had a problem with this. So, right before closing our buyers had to find a new mortgage company and deal with all of that, which must have been incredibly inconvenient for them. They were furious at that company.

4

Normally I bank with Citizens because my mother is an employee and I get special accounts and rates but they haven’t extended their spiderweb out to the West coast so I’m stuck with WF or BoA and chose WF simply for proximity to my home and the fact that there’s an ATM close to my office since I work 5 paces away from the WF building.

The number of calls I receive from them is stunning. Really. I don’t get hugely put out about telemarketing but they are really, really pushing my bloody limit. I am so fed up that I keep the bare minimum in funds in that account and I continue to give all my business to Citizens (I transfered all my savings out there). I’m sure people have problems with Citizens but I get exceptional service out of them :).

5

Ahh have you experienced the emails from hell? WF sends you an 3 emails to tell you to make your payment, you make it. 2 days later, they send you 3 more emails saying your payment is due. 7 days later, yup, 3 more emails.

So, in one month I made 3 payments out of sheer exhaustion (kids, mother with terminal cancer, work, and a non-existent memory), the next month (after realizing my mistake) work out with WF that I will have the payments credited over the next 2 months. Screaming about the excessive emails worked.

For 2 months I received at least 20 calls a month from them (got the number was inaccessible too). Each time I had to explain everything, give the person’s name who authorized it, her number, all that jazz. I actually had one person say that the lady who worked it out no longer worked there and any deal she worked out ended with her termination and to pay up. O.o Like I wouldn’t call her direct line to confirm.

WF acquired my loan. I still get upwards of 9 emails a month from them demanding payment. I pray they’ll sell my loan.

6

I’ll be contrarian here… We had a mortgage with Prudential, which got eaten by NorWest (or perhaps they just sold their mortgage portfolio), which got eaten by/sold to Wells Fargo and for the most part, it’s been painless. We’ve refinanced through them, and we’ve also sold one house / bought another using them. No real problems.

We did have one annoyance: When we did the last refi, they suggested we consider something called, IIRC, the “Asset Manager” account (where as you pay down your mortgage, the paid-down bit becomes available as a line of credit). Or at least, a standard home equity LOC. Didn’t like the idea of being able to spend all our equity that easily so we opted for a standard HELOC. OK, fine. But they wanted to assess a 500 dollar fee when closing on that - even though closing was part of the whole refi closing. Um, no, especially since there was also an annual maintenance fee involved. I called someone and said “We won’t go forward with the HELOC unless you waive the fee”. That person was supposed to check with another person and get back to me. They never did. So we said no thanks… and 3 months later set up the HELOC with our credit union, at a better rate and zero closing costs.

But Wells Fargo hasn’t given up on trying to get our HELOC business. Once or twice a year we’ll get an envelope from them, labelled “Important information about your mortgage!!!”. Ack - can’t just toss those, what if they’re about our primary mortgage??? Grrrr.

7

Another Wells Fargo-hater here. I pay my mortgage in cash in person because I don’t like to do it online and I save a check and I save a stamp and I know that it gets posted immediately. Every month I go into the branch, they have 3 or 4 fat employees standing behind the counter talking to each other while I stand behind the “wait until called forward” sign staring at them. They NEVER look up at me to say, “be right with you” or anything like that. I’ve even had them finish conversations and then one will pick up a phone while the other looks down at her paperwork. Do they hate me or something? I’ve never been anything but polite. I’m just there to give them a wad of cash, all my paperwork is filled out perfectly, no questions, problems or difficulties, but it takes me no less than 20 minutes every time. I thought maybe my closest branch was a fluke, but I’ve tried other branches with duplicate results. I don’t understand how a company can survive with this kind of customer service?

8

I guess I’m the oddball. Wells Fargo bought our mortgage before we even closed, and we haven’t had a single issue with 'em. We get a statement in the mail from them once a month, nothing more. I go to the branch in a nearby supermarket, which is staffed with nice, competent folks, pay in cash (with a little extra to the principal) before the penalty date, and that’s about it.

Of course, sometimes when I go in to pay, I get to hear the kind of stuff they have to deal with all day, like the little blonde college freshman girl this month who was trying to get them to issue her a credit card, but send the bill to her parents. Must be nice. Also, must be hard to listen to without suffering eye-rolling injuries.

9

Wells Fargo. . . twitch Oh man, I friggin’ hate Wells Fargo (‘loathe’ doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings towards them).

I’ve had countless problems with Wells Fargo over the years- everything from rude customer service reps to them holding my pay check deposit for a week (even though the check was written off of an account within the very same branch).

A month ago it was their arbitrary hitting of my ‘overdraft protection’ that got me pissed. I am a college student, you see. I, like most college students, have a credit card that I am trying to pay off. That card is very close to being maxed out and the only thing I keep it open for is overdraft protection. Yet, Wells Fargo thought it would be a good idea to transfer $100 off of my credit card into my checking account, in accordance with this whole over draft thing. Unfortunately for them, my checking account had over $1000 in it each time. Unfortunately for me, they tried to ding me with all kinds of fees for what they admitted was THEIR mistake. The girl on the phone even said (early on), “I don’t know why it did this, so I’m not going to reverse the fee.” :mad: Oh, this happened three times in a matter of two weeks.

But Monday was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I ordered a new check card because my old one looked like it had been ridden more than Paris Hilton. I activated the new card on Sunday night and was armed with it Monday, in a feeble attempt to pay my cable bill online. But boom- rejected. I reenter my info and try again- rejected. I call the cable company, assuming something is wrong with their site-- nope, rejected. I finally break and decide to call Wells Fargo.

After waiting 10 minutes to speak to a rep, I explained my situation and was put on hold for an additional 10 minutes. The girl comes back on, says my card is reset, and hangs up. I try the card again- no dice. I call back for another 10 minute wait, explain it to another rep, he tells me he doesn’t understand the error code it’s generating, and puts me on hold for 15 minutes (no, seriously. I actually timed it). “Your card is reset, try it while I’m on the phone,” he says. So I try.

Nope. Rejected. He then informs me that it can’t possibly be Wells Fargo’s error and that I should contact the cable company because their website is clearly wonky. I am not happy with this answer. I go to the restaurant downstairs and have them run my card- no dice. I call Wells Fargo back.

This time I tell them I wont get off the phone until it’s fixed. The guy puts me on hold for 20 (!!!) minutes this go around, only to come back and say, “Ok. I reset your card.” I explain that it was reset the two other times. He tells me he PERSONALLY called the ATM department and it’s fixed. I sigh. Thinking it might be for the best, I have the following exchange with him, in order to garner a bit of information:

Me: “Ok. Can I have your name, please?”
Rep: “Fermin.”
Me: “Thanks, Fermin. Do you have a last name or ID number I can reference you to?”
Rep: “Um. . . when you call back, you wont talk to the same person.”
Me: “Right, Fermin. But I’d like to have a document of this, as I have a sinking suspicion that my problem isn’t going to be rectified. What’s your last name or ID number, please?”
Rep: “We don’t have ID numbers. But I’m the only Fermin here.”
Me: “. . . the only one in Wells Fargo, eh?”
Rep: “Yes, ma’am.”
Me: “So, you’re telling me that one of the largest banks in the nation- one that likely employs thousands. . . if not TENS of thousands of workers- only has one employee by the name of Fermin?”
Rep: “Yup.”

Eventually he gave up his extension to me– but I called back and it wasn’t the right one. Anywho, not 15 minutes later, I was signed up with Bank of America for a shiny new account. They even gave me $60 just for signing up! :slight_smile:

10

I’ve had three people recommend WF to me for a reverse mortgage on Mom’s house. I haven’t bitten yet because they keep clogging the mailbox with brochures upon brochures. It’s made me wonder why they’re pushing so hard for my business.

11

I dodged a bullet with WF about two years ago. We were attempting to purchase a rental property, and found a mobile home on a nice-sized lot near a river channel. Good condition, beautiful view, fenced in lot.

Now, the reason we had considered mobile homes as rental properties was because WF had told us they would give us a loan on it. I found one, I e-mailed them, then they said, “We don’t do investment loans on mobile homes.”

:eek:

I had the flipping e-mail that stated they did, and when I forwarded it to them, all I got was a :shrug: and “That was an error. We don’t do investment loans on mobile homes.”

I cursed, gritted my teeth, and began scrambling for another bank. Then, I get an e-mail from WF saying that “Congratulations! My loan is approved!”

Problem was, it was for a completely different address that I’d never heard of.

I sent them a scathing e-mail, telling them I would never do business with them again. I got a “Sorry for the confusion,” but I’m glad now we didn’t do business with them.

As it turned out, the appraisal didn’t come through on that property (which was completely bogus, and I gave that mortgage company an earful, they never even drove by the property, just did a book search) and we ended up buying a condo.