Consumer complaint received 2018-05-02
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Can't close your account

Complaint:
I am concerned Wells Fargo is still " manipulating '' accounts and associated fees. In late XX/XX/XXXX, I closed and transferred out an annuity that was held in a Wells Brokerage Account which resulted in a " XXXX ''  balance in the Brokerage Account. I was not notified that by closing the Brokerage Account, there might be a charge on my other checking accounts -- which included a Checking Account ( where my Social Security monthly check is auto deposited for approx {$2400.00}, I do multiple ATM and bill pay transactions, etc. ) and a Savings Account with around {$3000.00} in it and a Trust Savings account with a few thousand and an older checking and savings account I no longer was using. 

Since I have been a customer of Wells for nearly 15 years, I was surprised in XX/XX/XXXXthat I was all of a suddent being charged a $ XXXX monthly fee. So wanting an explanation -- I went to the XXXX, CA Wells Fargo Branch. The Banker who assisted me noted that due to closing the Brokerage account I was now being charged the {$30.00}, but because I have my social security check being direct deposited, I should receive free checking. He made some changes and also, at my request, closed out the " not being used '' checking and savings account. And gave me a credit back for the {$30.00}. I have two issues with this experience .... 

First, I believe Wells 's computer systems should have known that I received a Direct Deposit and just because I closed the brokerage account, they should not have begun charging me. I would expect their systems to have the logic to start charging my checking account because I closed the brokerage account, but I would also expect their systems to also have the logic to say -- '' Oh, let 's see if there are any factors -- like a direct Social Security deposit ( which has been happening for over two years ) are in place and over ride the {$30.00} charge -- without me having to point it out. 

In fact, I have worked at XXXX as an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and am very aware of what their capabilities can be. But, I suspect that Wells may be hoping that for many of us leading busy lives -- we might not notice a fee coming through our account -- because it another account had closed. On this issue, the Banker did give me a credit after I asked for it. 

My second issue, however, is that at the same time, I also asked the Banker to close two accounts associated with my main account that I was no longer using ( checking and a savings ). While sitting there, I watched him use his computer and he said they were closed. However a few weeks later, I did notice that those two accounts were still showing up in my on-line screen with a {$.00} balance.

I assumed that Wells must only quarterly do a " cleanup '' of closed accounts and didn't think much of it until I this week when I noticed that due to a {$10.00} servicing fee, the " closed '' savings account now had a - {$9.00} balance. When I called customer service today to have this straightened out, she noted that the two accounts, in fact, had  not been closed. And because it was the bank 's fault, she offered me a {$5.00} credit -- leaving an overdrawn amount on the savings account and not allowing it to be closed. I told her I wasn't going to pay XXXX to close an account that should have been closed before. She said that unfortunately it requires a supervisor to give a credit larger than {$5.00} and her internal system showed that all supervisors where busy and their cues were getting longer, so I would have to call back. 

I am concerned that due to recent bad publicity for Wells Fargo, they are losing a lot of accounts -- so they, in fact, are not closing accounts in a timely manner and letting them stay on the books. Potentially so they can go through quarterly processing where they are potentially applying credits before attempting to close an account -- and the credit keeps it from closing. But, even with that, I should not have been charged on any of my accounts because I have my social security direct deposit being made and nothing should have triggered a {$10.00} charge. Again, as an XXXX XXXX -- who has worked at many XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I understand how their systems work -- and don't understand where the processing logic broke down. 
The net is that I feel that Wells may be " slow rolling '' closing of accounts hoping that many busy people, like me, won't notice that accounts are not closed and/or that fees are being added to accounts where a request to close them happened months ago. This is bringing in fees and resulting in a " lower '' lost customer account reporting number. 

Plus, by allowing only " supervisors '' to do credits greater than {$5.00}, that probably keeps a lot of these accounts open because I am sure that statistically the number of people who remember to call back for a {$10.00} credit and to get an account closed is probably small.

Again, as an XXXX XXXX XXXX, I am aware of the vast amount of processing data that Wells has and that they should have the ability to properly handle this type of transaction in an automated way and not require a customer to visit a branch, monitor that they did what they said they did, call back into customer service for another adjustment and then have to call back again to get the additional {$4.00} back

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 monetary relief