Consumer complaint received 2023-05-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I called up to pay off a bill on a maxed out credit card Wells Fargo and bring it up to speed. I am in the middle of divorcing, I requested that my ex-wife be removed as an authorized user and not be able to charge the account at all before I paid off the account -- as it was not a joint account, this is a reasonable request that every Wells employee agrees is reasonable. 

I was given conflicting information by multiple people at Wells Fargo and sent around a phone tree that disconnected me more than once. Finally, after getting to a Customer Service Representative, I was told my ex-wife was removed as an authorized User from the account. I was also told that in order for me not to be considered responsible for any purchases made by my ex-wife, Wells Fargo would need me to report the card lost or stolen. 
Nobody at Wells Fargo would confirm in that whole process, if making a payment would make my credit card re-activate. 

I double checked on the call what happened to interest and fees while I waited for a new card and was informed they would not be charged. I was surprised with the answer but it was clear. 

I also lodge a complaint about being bounced around and given conflicting information. The Wells Fargo Executive Office, without contacting me, investigates the complaint and closes it as resolved ( which as will be seen shortly, is manifestly incorrect ). 

Fast forward 8 days. I call Wells Fargo as a new card has not been received. I was told that the card had been cancelled at that time, despite nobody reaching out to me and my last contact was that this was the only way to resolve my account. This resulted in another case being created by the Executive Office to investigate. 
At this point it is realized that Wells Fargo sent me mail for 3 months that I never received due to divorce and nobody ever mentioned to me that my account had been moved totally to collections. Wells Fargo stated this was key information that I needed to receive and was shocked I had not received it at all nor that anybody had mentioned it to me on all of my earlier calls. 

The investigator on the second case pulled down the information from my ex-wife, supposedly removed, called her multiple times ( thus giving away the information that Wells Fargo is trying to reach me, which is my confidential information ). This demonstrates that 1 ) Wells had not fully removed the former authorized user despite receiving the instructions and telling me that was done. and 2 ) demonstrated that the person in charge of the case was not investigating the case itself. This case was escalated to the persons ' boss named XXXX, who I advised that the person given the case was not capable. He stated that she would be investigating it anyways and to give Wells 10 days. He also said he would call me back before Friday XX/XX/XXXX, the 10th business day. 

That did not occur Today is XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX called me back. On our first call I had to direct him to listen to the call where I was told a new card would be received and that interest and fees would be waived until it was. He said he could send the call. But immediately said he could not do so until they concluded the conversation when I asked to have it sent. He admitted that the original investigator had not handled my case properly. He also refused to have a conversation about resolving my account, despite agreeing with the flow of information I received. Wells Fargo apparently thinks that giving incorrect information to a client, promising them that fees and interest are waived until a card is received, cancelling that card, is perfectly acceptable -- notably they reviewed this call at the Executive offices and said it was appropriate the first time and the current review, despite going past the deadline given to me, refuses to discuss how to resolve my account. 

I do not appreciate Wells Fargo investigating their own managerial mistakes while giving me manifestly false information. Wells Fargo has most recently denied even discussing resolving my account with me on the last recorded call so that they can investigate whether their own managerial processes were followed ( note : this has nothing to do with me, as we are not disputing the information I was given, the order of events, or that the information was reviewed ). 

Please help.

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 explanation