Consumer complaint received 2021-04-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Unable to open an account

Complaint:
Re : Wells Fargo Branch : XXXX - XXXX, NC Date of visit : XX/XX/XXXX Banker : XXXX XXXX week, my grandfather met with his Wells Fargo banker to add me to an account at the XXXX, NJ branch. I am a NC resident and could not be present for the transaction. His banker printed account change forms, attached a notarized document witnessing my grandfathers request for change of ownership and sent them overnight mail to me for signatures to take place at an NC branch. I made an appointment to meet with a banker at the XXXX XXXX NC branch location. I met with XXXX who took my paperwork and reviewed it for what I thought would be processing. She printed a summary of my visit which accounted for updating personal information only. I provided a new address, telephone number and employment status for my existing profile relationship with Wells Fargo. 
She began the process for making account changes, but informed me the system kept prompting her for my grandfathers signature and would not allow her to bypass. She explained she did not know how to bypass the hard stop and would instead send the paperwork to her back office for completion of the account ownership change She suggested might I have time she could get her manger to take care of it instead. I agreed to wait as I still had time to spare. She immediately instead picked up the phone for banker support and requested their assistance instead. I am not sure if she ever made a real live call at all. She informed me they instructed her to give the paperwork back to me and have me forward it back to my grandfather for processing with his banker. I asked her why she hadnt given me a printout of my visit additionally including that I was there primarily to be added to an account. She replied that she wouldnt be able to print that since she would not be the one adding me to the account. Collecting and updating my personal was not indicative of my appointment that day. At my request she gave, e copies of all forms originals and copies I previously asked for. However, I noticed she had not copied nor had she notarized the change of ownership forms herself as verification of my signatures in her branch. I asked her why she hadnt notarized the documents. She replied, Oh well I can do that right now. After she notarized the documents, all of which she confirmed were completed accurately, she additionally gave me copies of the notarized documents. She created two one for each account. 
I left the branch that day and with what was an expectancy to have my name added, but instead I left feeling like she did not want to serve me in assisting to facilitate this transaction at all. She asked me why I was being added to the account. I told her my grandfather wants me to have access on his behalf. I further explained he had recently fell ill and now lives with a XXXX  I have worked for some of the biggest banks and am well aware of elder fraud precautions at the banker and application levels. I am aware of flags and protocols in place to protect the bank and its customers. However, the treatment I incurred at your branch was nothing close to decent customer service. She was more interested in collecting my personal information and wanting me to know that she had than servicing why I was there to begin with. Looking back on my transaction with her she deviated from getting her manager to offer immediate help on an interaction she spent about 20 short minutes of her time at most. She almost sent me out of the branch without notarizing any documents at all. Even at own her apprehension, she never called the branch in NJ to confirm the documents initiated from the banker or branch. Instead she treated me like I was not entitled to be there at all. 
I spoke with her to make the appointment before our visit to begin with. I arrived at the branch on Friday XX/XX/XXXX only to find an appointment only sign outside of the door to see a banker. I told her I would be coming in with forms to be added to an existing account and wanted to know how much time I needed to allocate to the appointment. She was not helpful on that at all in the beginning. She told me she didnt know because she didnt know what kind of forms I had. I told her that they were whatever documents your branch prints to change account ownership. She insisted she would not be able to know without seeing the forms. Fairly so, I accepted her answer after asking Finally, how much time it typically takes her to make account ownership changes. She replied to expect to be there for about 45 minutes. She was also briefed at the time of that call  the forms were from an out of state branch which is what I believe made her reluctant to answer. 

By the end of the visit, I asked her to additionally give me copies of the notarized documents she signed on that day. She replied yes. Well when I got home, I found to her to have given me both the originals and the copies. I called Wells Fargo customer service to find out what the procedures were to be added to an account with one party in another state. The rep was not able to confirm branch procedures and told me he only knew how to make changes to online banking accounts. The package was sent back to my grandfather. He met with his banker on Friday XX/XX/XXXX. His banker was not able to complete the transaction because apparently there was a flag placed on my employment profile and he was unable to bypass it. My grandfather was in the branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX, still recovering from XXXX XXXX in XXXX for XXXX hours trying to add me to an account that someone prevented him from doing by flagging my existing accounts and information. Why would that be done? What gives anyone the right to flag me as a customer. My grandfather could not understand what the hold up for these account changes were. He asked me if I had done anything that would make the bank reluctant. All in the same week, I opened an account all for the purpose of seeing if Wells was going to deny me from having an account due to this flag on my employment profile. The only reason I as much as bank with them at all is due to convenience. My daughter was in college and Wells just happens to have branches all over. My youngest enters college in the fall and I will need the same convenience. Not only did whoever flagged my profile cause a riff and bring me into question with my grandfather, but it tied up the banker for four hour that could have been spent productively assisting customer opening accounts and making money for the bank. In all actuality, this so-called protocol to prevent me from being added to the account has costed the bank overall. I broke down in tears several times today with what felt to the biggest knot on my throat at the thought of this entire encounter with your bank. I felt like dogs XXXX on the side of the sidewalk. That is how it felt being in your branch. To top it all off, I called your bank the day of and after my appointment to ask about the procedure to get it all done and they told me based on what I shared they would be filing a formal complaint and having someone from the bank customer advocacy team call me back. Well, here is the icing on the cake for todays return call to XXXX at your XXXX off. She was introduced as a case XXXX and asked how she can help me. I started off by telling her that in addition to my existing complaint, my grandfather was at his branch real time and having a hard time again adding me to his account. She heard me out, but clarified she only calling me as it pertained to existing complaint. She went on to say she had already reviewed the notes within the case and found that I went into the branch unauthorized to add my name to someone elses account. She continued on to say, See because I cant just decide to go into a branch and have my name added to someones account without legal documents. I asked her why she would say that when I had change of ownership forms and notarized requests from a Wells Fargo branch. She proceeded to explain there were no documents loaded for her to see what was brought in. So not only did XXXX, the XXXX banker, not use all of her resources to resolve and/or get the right information, she also never uploaded documents she notarized for imaging? Is it not necessary for the bank to retain records for a certain amount of years? I asked XXXX if there were any documents uploaded supporting the reason for my visit at the XXXX branch. She replied that the documentation was never uploaded because it was not sufficient to authorize a change of ownership. She also said she didnt have access to imaged documents that would be found insufficient. XXXX who I expected to be a customer banking advocate was clearly a banking advocate instead. Not only did she assume or pass judgement about me allegedly walking into a Wells Fargo to change an account ownership as unauthorized, she was out of line, not wanting to hear me out so that she had all the facts to draw a new conclusion. These teams XXXX put in place for what they call customer advocates, are really just banking advocates who work on behalf of finding the XXXX XXXX away from accountability. How about XXXX mishandled me and there was a far better way to deal with me if even if she was rightfully within legitimate means of being suspicious about my visit. XXXX could have said I understand you were there to be added to an account, and here is what should have happened. She told me point blank that I came there unauthorized. I dont do anything in life knowingly unauthorized. I definitely wont start at changing banking account ownership. How about XXXX needing to have asked more questions more than how can I help you. For XXXX sakes, she called me. I was returning her call. She was not interested in helping me. She just needed my verbal complaint to form her convoluted conclusion of how to yet again help to facilitate how Wells Fargo will NOT be accountable unto changing how they handle customers. They find a loop to slip themselves through every time. They are corner cutters and allow employees to access backend dos systems to look up the information of other employees. 
This week I got a survey to complete. This whole ordeal Is exhausting. My grandfather inquired about my credit today. He was suspicious my credit prevented the account from being changed. Wells Fargo doesnt understand the milk spill of mess they caused today because he does not understand why he was not able to complete these changes today all due to a flag on my profile. When I think of XXXX continuously reminding me that my personal information was being updated when in fact she was flagging it from what I reported to n/a sings harassment to me. She or no one in the branch had any just cause for doing so. They want my grandfather to return yet again in the middle of COVID to get this done on Saturday XX/XX/XXXX. I told him not to return. I wants as much to do with Wells Fargo as I would want dog XXXX in my hair. However, I have to keep these accounts all for the purpose of being conveniently accessible for my children financially in the event of emergency. I feel like I was treated less than I deserved to be whether it was because I am XXXX XXXX, my clothes were too casual for the appointment, or some other unsupported reason why I couldnt be treated like the customers who may have said XXXX was awesome. Further to have what was told would be a customer advocate team member return my call only to hear her accuse me of trying to add my name to someone elses account goes beyond accusatory. Its discriminatory because she had no basis so say that to me on what she claimed to be a recorded line. She asked zero questions to make such a conclusion and accusation. Wells Fargo should consider renaming their customer advocacy team members to banking advocates, because she was clearly cleaning up what went wrong and doing what Wells does best. They shift the heat elsewhere to get it off of themselves. She is hired to advocate for the bank not customers. She otherwise is just as discriminatory if her role is truly to advocate for the customer. This situation, an escape of accountability on their end, is nonetheless like their response to me in writing about a ten day hold they had on a rejected mobile deposit which tied up all of the already pre-existing funds in my daughters account in XXXX. Their response to me was that it had been available all along. Meanwhile the screenshots I have with dates and holds were ignored in the complaint.

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