Consumer complaint received 2023-09-19
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
To whom it may concern, When I woke up Monday, XX/XX/2023, I saw a notification on my phone from the Wells Fargo app that there was an attempted charge of {$1.00} on my Wells Fargo debit card at a XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA, at XXXX, and I should sign on to activate the card. I thought that was odd, because I hadn't even picked up my new debit card from the mail box or activated it. Given my current card was active until XX/XX/2023, I was not in a rush to do so, and my mailbox is a bit of a ways away from my house. Anyway, the attempted charge was only {$1.00}, and it was denied, so I ignored it while I got busy with work. 

Later in the day at XXXX I received another notification on my phone from the Wells Fargo app that there was another attempt to charge {$1.00} on my Wells Fargo debit card at a XXXX XXXX station in XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX That was when I got worried so I ran to the mailbox to see if indeed my card had been stolen, and at the same time called the Wells Fargo customer service line to report that someone was attempting to make charges on my unactivated card. When I got to the mailbox, I confirmed that all of my mail ( at least XXXX weeks uncollected ) was missing, including the mail for my new Wells Fargo debit card. 

When I was on the phone with the Wells Fargo fraud customer service representative, which started at XXXX, she immediately cancelled my card and requested a replacement and filed a claim for me ( # XXXX ). My XXXX was also deactivated at XXXX. She said that there was an {$80.00} charge at XXXX, and then a {$40.00} charge at XXXX XXXX that they will be looking into. I told her that was odd, because if the alerts I received on my phone said the card was not activated and the charges were declined, how in the world would they have gone through!? She was also dumbfounded and did not have an answer for me, but assured me that it would be looked into and refunded back. The call ended around XXXX. 

Later that day at XXXX, the card thief attempted again to charge {$15.00} at a XXXX XXXX station in XXXX XXXX XXXX This time it was properly and truly declined, because by then I had already called Wells Fargo and the customer service representative had cancelled my card and ordered a replacement. 

Today on Sunday, XX/XX/2023, I thought it was odd I hadn't heard back from Wells Fargo yet, and the charges were still on my account, so I called Wells Fargo to inquire. They said that their investigation found that the transactions for the {$120.00} were authorized and not processed in error, so they have closed the claim. I asked what my next steps could be, because clearly their findings are not accurate, and they said nothing can be done. I asked them how this could be determined, and they mentioned something about my phone number had not changed in 30 days, and that was what they used to determine it was not fraud, but they could not provide me with any further details due to something -- I forget what she said, maybe confidentiality? 

I think this is absolutely ridiculous. Why in the world would I knowingly use an unactivated card XXXX separate times throughout the day, while still receiving notifications on my phone that the card is clearly not activated? Also, I have been a loyal Wells Fargo customer for XXXX years, if not more. I have never had a single issue with my account, there has never been fraud, nothing has ever been lost or stolen. Also, if you look at my XXXX years of having this debit card, never have I once used it to make any sort of purchase -- not food, gas, anything. All the transactions have been at the ATM to withdraw money, deposit checks, and that is it. Any other transactions are done on my credit cards. Also, I now have an XXXX  car, so I definitely would not need to get gas at the gas station. So for me to suddenly charge an unactivated card for 3 times, and try to use them at a gas station and XXXX XXXX is highly unlikely. I don't know what they used to determine this was not fraud, but clearly it was not enough.

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