Consumer complaint received 2023-05-10
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: CD (Certificate of Deposit)
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem with fees or penalties

Complaint:
I applied online for a 5-month CD on the Wells Fargo website on XX/XX/2023. The stated offer was that an APY of 4.1 % was being offered to non-existing customers, but that people with an existing relationship with Wells Fargo would be offered the higher APY of 4.25 %. I presumed that since I've had my primary checking account with Wells Fargo for the past 8 years and been in good standing, that this constituted an existing relationship with the bank, so I had expected a 4.25 % APY. This was a lower interest rate than was available at other banks ( per  XXXX XXXX, but I thought 4.25 % was reasonable given the convenience of having the account in the same bank as my checking account. When I tried to apply, the website does not post the actual interest rate they are providing on the website, but rather provides links to load additional webpages that would display that information before signing. I tried several times to access those documents, and they would not load correctly on the website- they could not be viewed. The only way to proceed with opening the account was to click accept, so I did, all the while assuming I was getting the 4.25 % APY rate. Several days later, I received a letter in the mail from Wells Fargo, which confirmed that I had gotten the 4.1 % interest rate instead of the expected 4.25 % interest rate. I called the customer support phone number provided the next day ( XX/XX/2023 ) and they explained that the reason the " relationship rate '' was not provided was that my checking account was classified as " preferred '' and not " prime, '' and that only the latter account was eligible. The only requirement for avoiding a monthly service fee in a prime account is maintaining a combined balance of at least $ XXXX, but since I was opening a CD with $ XXXX, this combined balance would by definition be met ( in addition to the XXXX $ XXXX remaining in my checking account ). I asked why my account was not just made prime so that I could receive the relationship rate and he mentioned that they could in fact do that, but that it could not be done and would need to be done in person at a Wells Fargo branch. He assured me that all I would need to do is switch my checking account overt to a prime account and that they would close the CD for me and re-open it at the new interest rate without any penalty. He also scheduled the appointment with me at my local Wells Fargo branch today ( XX/XX/2023 ). I arrived at the appointment at the Wells Fargo Branch ( at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX ) on time, and after waiting for 5 minutes, was seen by XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX took down all my information and helped convert my checking account to a Prime account. During this process, I was sent via email a link to view documents to review about the fee structure of the checking account. I clicked the link to the documents with my smartphone and just as occurred when I tried to open the CD account online, the documents would not load. I showed XXXX XXXX my phone and the swirling circle demonstrating that the documents were not loading and could not be viewed. She advised that I could just view the documents later on my laptop and sign to accept the new account, which I did. In retrospect, this was an acknowledgement by a Wells Fargo employee that the electronic documents that are required to be viewed by law before signing were not available to be signed and that most reasonable people will move forward and sign and review the documents after the fact ( as I did when trying to open the CD in the first place ). XXXX XXXX then called the CD division to see about opening a new CD at the relationship rate without a penalty. She was told that I would be charged a penalty of over {$400.00} if I closed the CD and reopened a new one, contradicting what I was told on the phone several days earlier. I told XXXX XXXX that I thought I was being mistreated and asked to speak to someone on their escalations team as I wanted to file a complaint. The escalation team said that no one was available to speak with me, but they took down my details ( making me wait 75 minutes while XXXX XXXX entered all the information ) and have someone reach out to me by email in 48 business hours. I will update CFPB if Wells Fargo does respond appropriately and waive the penalty as promised by phone last week, but even the process I was made to go through thus far, wasting 1.5 hours of my time out of a busy work week is unfair, particularly since the dispute stems from an acknowledged problem with their website ( which may well be an intentional effort to mislead customers and cheat them out of money ). As this is likely to trap other potential customers in the future, I thought it was important to bring this to the attention of the CFPB. Your efforts may not help me, but they may help other potential customers in the future. Thank you for looking into this.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief