Consumer complaint received 2023-08-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NE
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Non-sufficient funds and associated fees

Complaint:
I am writing to inform you of a situation regarding XXXX of my banking institutions and some practices they have which I feel are deceptive and/or fraudulent. Neither bank is posting the fees and minimums for the types of Checking and Savings Accounts that I have/had as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I discovered I had been charged monthly service fees on my Wells Fargo Savings Account for the past 3 months. I thought I was well within the minimums and deposit requirements for this account however, what I found out was that because my account is so old, Wells Fargo no longer posts the Fees and minimums for their Money Market Savings Accounts. When I look on their website and download the fee and minimum schedule, they only list XXXX accounts, a Way2Save Account and a Platinum Savings Account. I assumed I had a Way2Save Account or that the fees and minimums were the same. Additionally in XXXX I was a victim of their account opening scandal where I was told I needed to open a seperate Way2Save Savings Account as overdraft protection since neither my checking or saving accounts. This account was closed when I found out that I was lied too. I assumed my Money Market fees were similar to this account, however, they were not. The minimum for the Way2Save was {$300.00}. I found out from contacting Wells Fargo that my Money Market Account was {$2500.00} or it can be waived with a {$75.00} recurring monthly deposit from my checking account. This is closer to the fees associated with the Platinum Account. 

After finding out I had been charged these fees, I called XXXX XXXX and looked online to find out the fees for my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Account and Money Market Savings Account. They also did not have these posted as both accounts had been grandfathered in. The XXXX XXXX  Representative I spoke with over the phone was also not able to provide me with the fees and minimums schedule for these accounts. She switched my Savings Account to XXXX of their newer versions saying it was a better account, but she thought the Silver Checking was better than their current options. I'm currently trying to take advantage of the higher Treasury Bill returns and have been keeping as little as required in my checking and savings accounts. 

Later XXXX also charged me a fee after I had spoken with the Representative, I had to call and get it reversed. I later found out they should not have charged me any fees because fees were waived as long as I had a credit card account with XXXX which I had had since opening the account. Wells Fargo also reimbursed me {$22.00} or {$7.00} for each {$10.00} I was charged. 

In summary, I feel not posting minimums is a deceptive practice and that banks should be required to clearly and concisely provide this information to their customers. I had my accounts set up so that I could keep minimal amounts in them, specifically for times like this when there are better investment avenues. Also, banks should not be able to randomly charge fees when they are not supposed too. It is infuriating how much power the banks have over the people of the XXXX. The banks should serve the people, not the other way around. 

In summary, I want to make you aware of this issue and hope that the regulations can be improved or enforced to require banks to provide fees and minimum information for all account types in use. 

Thank you for your time. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX XXXX, PE XXXX XXXX

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