Consumer complaint received 2021-02-01
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Non-sufficient funds and associated fees

Complaint:
I set up a conference call with Wells Fargo on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX and Wells Fargo decided not to attend. Below is the email response from Wells Fargo CANCELLING BECAUSE NONE OF THE ITEMS I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ARE RELATED TO THE SBA LOAN BEING DELINQUENT... 

___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ BEGINNING OF EMAIL Mr. XXXX, I am writing to confirm our receipt of your conference call invite to discuss your SBA loan number ending in XXXX along with a myriad of issues unrelated to the SBA Loan. As expressed in our letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we desire to reach an amicable solution to this matter and are open to any reasonable proposition that you would bring forth, however, with all due respect, we do not believe it to be productive to discuss your loan with the dozens of parties you have invited to such call, many of which we do not know the identity of, and we are respectfully declining such request. We would like to have a call with you, any necessary business partners and attorneys for the borrowing entities, and our attorneys. As stated in our last correspondence, I welcome you to contact me for such a productive conversation. Pursuant to your request, however, attached please find the requested Third Party Authorization. 



Please note that we are giving you the opportunity to discuss a proposed course of action in good faith, however, as stated in our XX/XX/XXXX letter, we do not consider your proposed solutions contained in your conference call invite to be reasonable propositions. We also do not intend to discuss issues unrelated to the SBA Loan, and we would respectfully request that our discussions be limited to the SBA Loan and your efforts to make payment thereof. 



XXXX XXXX Vice President Team Lead XXXX XXXX XXXX Idaho Office XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, ID XXXX END OF EMAIL ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ So Wells Fargo only wants to talk about the SBA loan being delinquent but not the Wells Fargo contributing factors that caused me to be delinquent and they are telling me which 3rd parties I can and can not invite. Below is my response to their lackluster, arrogant, and ignorant reason for not wanting to attend the conference call... 

___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ BEGINNING OF EMAIL Don/Carissa/EBryant, I disagree with you about all of the " OTHER '' issues being unrelated to the SBA loan and not including the other invitees on the call ( some of them have Wells Fargo bank accounts )... I hope you are kidding me.

I will take the liberty of using more of my free time that I will never get bank thanks to Wells Fargo 's arrogance, ignorance, recklessness, failure to act in good faith, apparent racism by your CEO which is a reflection on Wells Fargo and yes I can go on. 

You want to talk about the money I owe you but instead let 's talk about the money you owe me? 

But here are some facts that you are well aware of that are directly correlated to the loan being delinquent...

1 ) FRAUDS - I was impacted by the fraud and the collateral damages. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

2 ) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - XXXX, you asked for my financial statements when your SBA department approved 6 SBA loan deferments but no working capital ; and when you received my financial statements, the predatory loans were listed on them and it was very clear that I was paying predatory interest rates. And you acknowledged this in one of our phone calls that I made the high-interest payments of {$800.00} per day while still making payments of {$15000.00} per month. But I could no longer afford to make these payments because very few businesses can afford to pay predatory loans back and survive. But my point is your SBA Dept. approved of the loans or let 's just call it a " technical approval '' for your hired gun lawyer on the email chain... Technical Approval means Wells Fargo just turned its head the other way and said nothing or did nothing while knowing this is poor risk mitigation as an SBA lender and a steward of the SBA program. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

3 ) STEERING ME TO PREDATORY LENDERS - I spoke with XXXX XXXX, my business banker, and he told me on the phone and by email, I should check out these other lenders which were XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX lenders aka predatory lenders. I sent a copy of the email to XXXX and as expected, she did not reply. I never heard of this group of predatory lenders... I called several of them and they told me how their program works with the high-interest charges ( some of the rates were 30 % over a 3-6 month period - you and your team are bankers so you can do the math on effective annualized interest rates and can see that these payments are ridiculous and not sustainable. Under no circumstances should a bank be allowed to put tax-payer dollars at risk with these kinds of loans and then to have Wells Fargo technically approve them. This is insane that Wells Fargo is allowed to operate this way. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

4 ) STILL ONGOING SELF-INVESTIGATION - by now you know the history with this one. How can an investigation into my tiny company take almost 2 years WITH NOT SENSE OF URGENCY knowing you are destroying my company because I can not operate business since no other lender is willing to work with me ( to provide working capital ) until the investigation is finalized!!!!! And then I had 13 ( I sent XXXX this email ) employees who got tired of waiting and QUIT. So in effect, Wells Fargo used unconscionable conduct and undue influence to technically take over my business operations which did nothing but force us to shut down until the Pandemic gave us a new lifeline. Imagine that - Wells Fargo is so arrogant and ignorant that they don't invite me or ask me to participate in a still-ongoing investigation THAT I AM APART OF... you can not make this up and then Wells Fargo has the nerve to pick and choose which complaints they want to respond to and lie/exaggerate on other complaints. This is an insult to my intelligence - just imagine the unmitigated gall to think I would not say something and then to invite your hired gun lawyer on this email as if Wells Fargo has a position on this matter and others you can support - what the XXXX is wrong with Wells Fargo? You have to be kidding me to insult me like this. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

5 ) TELL ME I AM STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCRUED INTEREST and OTHER EXPENSES during the 2-year SELF-INVESTIGATION with at least 23 delay letters letting me know you need more time to complete your investigation while forcing me into a technical default because no one would provide working capital to me while the investigation is going on and then when I finally line up Opportunity Zone lenders and investors ( see 6 below ) who could have saved the day with access to working capital, you take 7 months to get back to me!!!!! and you expect me to pay the SBA loan payments with interest and pay property taxes and federal / state taxes you had me on lockdown. ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME? I DID NOT HOLD YOUR HANDS AND MADE YOU TAKE 2 YEARS TO COMPLETE AN INVESTIGATION THAT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN 1 MONTH. SO XXXX NO I AM NOT PAYING 2 YEARS OF ANYTHING WHEN WELLS FARGO ENGAGES IN A SELF-INVESTIGATION. WHAT THE XXXX DO YOU THINK THIS IS AND WHO I THE XXXX DO YOU THINK I AM? PLEASE WAKE UP, THE FRAUD IS SUPPOSED TO BE OVER I THOUGHT. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6 ) BORROWER 's CONSENT FORM - this one is easy...

6.1 ) where is the borrower 's consent form on file from 3 prior ( before Wells Fargo decided to start demanding I sign one ) conference calls? I am sure you have them on file if you suddenly started demanding that I sign one, at least one would think!!!!... I have been asking for this for over a year now and Wells Fargo has avoided my request. How can this be explained? SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.2 ) one of the XXXX XXXX lenders visited my plant and was totally impressed with my operations and his only concern " Wells Fargo has a history of not doing anything to help ( not the exact words but you get the drift ) ''. So they waited and waited and waited and nothing until about 7 months later with the poorly crafted playbook excuse about I did not sign a borrower 's consent form!!!!... this was an insult to my intelligence as a human being, as a XXXX person, as a family person ( with kids just like you and your hired gun lawyer - what possible logical excuse can I give them for why I am being treated this way ), as an employer with employees looking for leadership from me and I can go on. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.3 ) then you, XXXX, asked me, someone realized Wells Fargo screwed up, to go back to see if the XXXX XXXX Lenders and Investors were still intested and of course after waiting 7 months for a reply from Wells Fargo they ran out of funds. What the XXXX do you think was going to happen. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.4 ) Then Wells Fargo has the nerve to find a clause in my SBA agreements " on file '' that says they can hire a 3rd party lawyer to come after me!!!!!!!!!!! another insult to my intelligence... after more than 1 year, you can not find a " borrower 's consent form " on file '' but you IMMEDIATELY found " on file '' the clause allowing you to hire a lawyer to come after me. Do you think I am an XXXX or is it because I am XXXX or both that you did not think I would catch this and many other inconsistencies? take your pick because it does not make a difference. And at this point, I have done all of this without a lawyer. Yes it was an insult to my intelligence. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.5 ) So I missed out on $ XXXX $ XXXX in working capital. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.6 ) Then in the last conference call we had, Wells Fargo suddenly requires I sign a Borrower 's Consent form for all of the invitees as if that would correct the wrongs. And then to make matters worse, you turned down my customer 's offer to personally, out of their own pocket, offer working capital if Wells Fargo would match it!!!!! and you said no. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

6.7 ) WHERE IS THE BORROWER 'S CONSENT FORM ON FILE THAT I SIGNED AUTHORIZING WELLS FARGO TO TALK ABOUT MY BUSINESS WITH THESE XXXX OTHER PRIOR 3RD PARTIES? I MUST HAVE ASKED FOR THIS ABOUT 20 TIMES.

7 ) REVENUE TREND - my revenue was trending upwards, I was picking up new accounts, hiring new employees and then when the fraud hit there was a direct correlation with the drop in revenue primarily tied to Wells Fargo suddenly turning the back on me as if they never met me. And the drop continued and some of it was related to the SELF-Investigation I had no control over ( discussed in item 4 above ). SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

8 ) COMMITTEE OF HIGH-LEVEL EXECUTIVES MEETING DAILY SINCE XX/XX/XXXX TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS ON SOCIETAL INEQUALITIES FACING XXXX EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMER - this one is definitely related to my SBA loan because clearly I was not and I still am not being treated fairly. I want to inform or advise this committee on my unfortunate reckless experiences with Wells Fargo so they can hopefully remedy the situation and make sure it does not happen to another small business and especially a black-owned business. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

9 ) FIX MY CREDIT - my credit was great until the fraud. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

10 ) OTHER INVITEE 'S FOR THE CONFERENCE CALL - these are a combination of other minority-owned companies and budding entrepreneurs who see the opportunity of a 100 % black-owned sportswear manufacturing company and the last time I checked, we are the only black-owned sportswear manufacturing company that now has the capabilities to manufacture PPE surgical gowns. So just like Wells Fargo has an army of resources they can afford to call to battle, I have the same right to do the same thing. And many of these invitees are customers who want to see me back in business - ask XXXX about the XXXX 's and XXXX 's totaling over {>= $1,000,000} and most of it is PPE related and she ignored every single email. So these invitees are potential customers, strategic partners and employees, end prospective employees all of whom are in shock about how Wells Fargo is treating me for something that I had no control over. Many of the invitees know just as much about this case as your hired gun lawyer and some know even more because they have personally experienced similar treatment but on a smaller scale. I have no idea what you are afraid of by me inviting others who can help me get back on track? What are you afraid of? SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY and WILL HELP ME GET BACK ON TRACK AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA. 
11 ) JOE BIDEN 's EXECUTIVE ORDER TO BUY AMERICAN - we are a made in America manufacturer so I want to talk about why Wells Fargo can not support Joe Biden 's Buy America plan especially considering he wants to target companies like mind that are located in below the federal poverty level communities with people of XXXX living there. So I want to hear it from Wells Fargo why they would not be interested in providing working capital to Platinum Sportswear when you clearly screwed me over and now you have another opportunity ( after screwing me over with the Opportunity Zone lenders and investors ) to look like the bank you want to be. And let us not forget we are located in an XXXX XXXX and a XXXX - which means we automatically get set aside funds to do business with the federal government.

12 ) PANDEMIC - the country is in a crisis and people are dying from Covid-19 and Wells Fargo is conducting business as usual. How in the XXXX can you and your hired gun lawyer sleep at night? I have asked for help to expand and grow the business as a PPE manufacturer and we did that on our own by teaching ourselves how to manufacture PPE surgical gowns... .and Wells Fargo doubles down on stupidity and arrogance and still refuses to help. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

13 ) PROPERTY TAXES, STATE TAXES, AND FEDERAL TAXES - I am delinquent for all of the reasons above and many more. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

14 ) REVENUE STRATEGIES TO GET BACK ON TRACK IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO RE-START PAYING THE MONTHLY SBA LOAN : 14.1 ) REAL ESTATE COLLATERAL - clearly no one will provide working capital unless they have collateral and guess who is sitting on the collateral? Arrogant Wells Fargo. So in the conference call, I want Wells Fargo to explain to me and everyone else on the call how can any company get access to working capital needed to front the money to fund their operations in order to begin to generate revenue so that they can begin making payments on their obligations. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA. 
14.2 ) CUSTOMERS - many of my customers are still with me and similar to the {$5.00} XXXX in XXXX 's and XXXX 's that were ignored by XXXX, these customers are critical to generating revenue. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

14.3 ) STRATEGIC PARTNERS and MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES ON THE CONFERENCE CALL INVITATION - these groups have new revenue opportunities that they will bring to the table with XXXX XXXX. SO YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA.

15 ) WELLS FARGO TURNS AWAY AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FROM THE XXXX - YES THIS IS CONNECTED TO MY SBA DELINQUENCY AND IS ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AGENDA. 
15 ) AND MANY MANY MORE - If we need more than one conference call to discuss how all of these issues are directly correlated to the delinquency of my SBA loan, then let 's do it.

Recently, I read an article that former president Donald Trump owes Wells Fargo over {$1.00} XXXX dollars and I am sure there are other crooks Wells Fargo has no problem doing business with. So my point is don't nickel and dime me for bad loans you have to or may have write-off - just take it out of your reserves. My loan is not a bad loan - everything was going great until the frauds, collateral damages, arrogance, and ignorance of Wells Fargo, racists comments by your 3rd CEO in 3 years ( wait a minute... 3 CEO 's in 3 years and you want to paint a picture that my company has issues that Wells Fargo created!!! unbelievable ), recklessness, unwillingness to stop harming me and my business, failure to act in good faith and you know I can go on. 


So the above issues are tied to my SBA loan being delinquent and therefore should be on the conference call agenda. Despite Wells Fargo screwing me over and over again, I have proven that I have everything a business needs to be successful... 
a ) I sent XXXX 's and XXXX 's in excess of {$5.00} XXXX to XXXX and she ignored them, b ) I was able to re-invent the business to manufacture PPE surgical gowns, c ) I sent letters of intent to business with me from my top customers to XXXX and she ignored them, d ) I have equipment and employees, e ) I lined up working capital with opportunity zone lenders and investors and XXXX takes 7 months to get back to me and the rest is history, f ) and I can go on and on but the bottom line is my business was strong and still is and I would love to see you point out one weakness directly tied to me that would give you doubt about Platinum Sportswear. If Wells Fargo was not in the picture, we would still be in business and growing.

If it was not for the pandemic, you would have liquidated my business by now. The pandemic interrupted Wells Fargo 's profit before people strategy - it is just that simple. Wells Fargo drove the bus already and just look at what and where it got me!!!

Talk to me and respect me just like you do with your white customers. Don't insult my intelligence as noted above.

THE OVERRIDING QUESTION IS... HOW CAN I MAKE PAYMENTS TO ANYONE WITHOUT WORKING CAPITAL NEEDED TO GENERATE REVENUE IN ORDER TO MAKE PAYMENTS. SO THE ORIENTATION OF THE CONFERENCE CALL SHOULD BE HOW CAN WELLS FARGO HELP ME WITH WORKING CAPITAL THAT CAN BE USED TO GENERATE REVENUE TO BEGIN REPAYING THE SBA LOAN!

The " Myriad of issues '' ( as you describe them in your email below ) is related to the SBA loan and has to be part of the discussion and anyone who wants to participate in the conference call with me should not be a problem because they want to know how they can help ; a 5-year-old can see that. Please stop insulting my intelligence.

LET ME KNOW IF THE CALL IS STILL ON - I want to start working on the borrower 's consent forms for each invitee and get them to you ASAP.

END OF EMAIL ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

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