Consumer complaint received 2018-12-31
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX auto insurance services debited my account without my authorization or knowledge. They tricked me by lying about my rate and payments. The agent never said I had to have auto pyts. for a 12 month policy. I questioned what happened to the 10 month policy, he said they no longer had that. Customer service told me the truth when I had them cancel the auto pay. They said the 12 month rate comes with auto pay only and the 10 month was without it. So he lied about everything hoping he wouldn't be caught but he was. I specifically told him I don't do auto pay for insurance co. 's and to paper bill me. The agent continued to lie, then slipped the authorization in the paperwork to start my policy on XX/XX/XXXX having me docu sign. I never got a bill and was ready to call when I saw they'd debited my account. I was livid. I called Wells Fargo to dispute it. Their reason codes didn't match the situation, so they took it upon themselves to redo my reason code, especially when I specifically told them I didn't want my debit card replaced. The next thing I knew I got an email stating my current debit card had been canceled and replaced. I was livid again! They could've called to tell me that but chose instead to be impersonal by sending a vague email! That wasn't the worst. When they did the credit to my account and closed the investigation they credited my account for almost {$300.00}. I couldn't figure out where the amount came from and called them. The rep stated that they reversed out an amount from XXXX that initiated my insurance on a car I have a lien holder on. The remainder was the payment XXXX took without my permission or knowledge. I explained that they'd made an error taking the {$150.00} back from XXXX and needed to send the money back or my policy would be canceled. With a cancellation of more than a month I wouldn't be able to get another policy with another carrier. He said when they get a report of fraud they search the account for any transactions for that same co. and reverse them all out! What?!! I disputed {$130.00} nothing more. If they had an issue they should've called me. Instead they screwed up my account even more than it already was by reversing the transaction which then overdrew my account further and had the nerve to charge me an overdraft fee for their error! The transaction wasn't NSF on XX/XX/XXXX when XXXX took the {$150.00} so WFB shouldn't have charged me for that and they should've monitored it to make sure it didn't create a fee! I called when I got yet another impersonal email stating they charged me for their error and a check I was hoping didn't come through until we resolved this. I called again to try to question that fee, but the rep wasn't willing to hear anything I had to say, kept repeating himself when he wasn't willing to listen then tried to justify the NSF fee, and eventually hung up with no warning while I was still talking! This is the " new '' WFB attitude! It's not my fault their prior president screwed up their co. to the point where the Feds said they are not allowed to grow or do anything until they get their act together. The greedy shareholders and board knew what was going on but never intervened because they were making good $ $! Now the new president is taking it out on and making enemies of current customers, which they need to survive with all of these stupid policy changes and not telling customers about them in advance until something happens. I've disputed debit card transactions before over the years. But the rep who originally took the complaint didn't correctly explain the policy nor knew what she was talking about. Everything we tried to avoid WFB did anyway. She never told me they'd reverse out a transaction that had nothing to do with the one in dispute. I wasn't correctly informed of their procedure at all! But later was surprised with all of the emails which I have attached. The guy who reversed the {$150.00} never said anything about me being charged an NSF for their error! They never reversed the NSF they charged me on the {$130.00} either! My account was over drawn {$40.00} until the {$35.00} NSF hit which took it to {$75.00} over drawn prior to XXXX processing that illegal transaction. So if WFB had properly fixed this quickly then my account would've been only over drawn $ 70+ which I could've cleared and likely deposited to clear the check that I'd already mailed prior to that happening, and was too late to do anything about. Now my account is $ 251+ over drawn due to that check and WFB making an error on the {$150.00} and not reversing the NSF fees. They double dipped on debiting that {$150.00} which cleared more than a month ago. They never reversed that amount out of my account with the investigation but did so when they reversed their mistake. All they had to do was adjust the credit or reverse the entire credit then re-post the {$130.00} + the {$70.00} in NSF fees. Since they never reversed the NSF fee charged on the {$130.00} they owe me {$70.00} and to rectify that {$150.00} error they made. I refuse to make any deposits to that account until they fix the XXXX they screwed up. When they do, I'll clear what I know is my part, then will close the account. I'll be down to 2 accounts after that with them and will close the safe deposit box as soon as I find a replacement box. The credit card will be paid off and closed as well. I want nothing to do with this horrible bank going forward. The people on the phone lines are morons and very argumentative. That's how they were years ago too which is why I wasn't a customer with them. I'm beginning to understand why they are so hated by the public. The foolish things they do, then don't hire intelligent people to listen or fix the problems is unforgivable. I'm not the average consumer so I know where to go to complain. I'm sick of the problems with them. I've found another bank and have transferred my direct deposit and any other business I do to the other bank. Between WFB, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX and credit unions, I've never seen worse financial institutions! I believe the days of the large banks is just about come to a pass. If your customers can't trust you and the service level is below poor quality your chances of survival are slim. That's why all of the other banks out there are listening and watching, taking notes and creating different customer experiences by listening.

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