Consumer complaint received 2019-03-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NV
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I believe that WELLS FARGO committed fraud on my Visa XXXX XXXX Account via keeping a bank credited dispute transaction fee on my account for a prolonged period of time thereby falsely inflating my negative credit balance. In other words, this fraudulent practice made me believe that I had more monies on my account than I actually did since WELLS FARGO failed to removed the disputed credited transactions from my account in a timely manner, and made me think that the credited transactions were in fact permanent, when they were in fact temporary. It was not until months later that said WELLS FARGO removed the bank credited temporary balances from my account after I made additional purchases with my WELLS FARGO XXXX XXXX  VISA CARD. 

Please Review Supplemental Data as Follows From Wells Fargo : A : XXXX We are currently investigating your dispute. This review could take up to 60 days to complete.

In the meantime, weve temporarily credited your account ( this can take 48 hours to show on your account ) for the amount of the disputed transaction. 

If the merchant agrees that you are owed a refund, the temporary credit becomes permanent, and well close your dispute. 

If the merchant disagrees with our request, well contact you with more details on what happens next.

A notation may appear on your next billing statement advising you that the amount of your dispute is not required for payment. This notice will be removed after the statement period closes, unless you have another dispute open or under review. Waiting until the statement closes ensures that you will not be charged any finance charges or fees on the disputed transaction while under investigation. 

B : XXXX We are currently investigating your dispute. This review could take up to 60 days to complete. 

In the meantime, weve temporarily credited your account ( this can take 48 hours to show on your account ) for the amount of the disputed transaction. 

If the merchant agrees that you are owed a refund, the temporary credit becomes permanent, and well close your dispute. 

If the merchant disagrees with our request, well contact you with more details on what happens next. 

A notation may appear on your next billing statement advising you that the amount of your dispute is not required for payment. This notice will be removed after the statement period closes, unless you have another dispute open or under review. Waiting until the statement closes ensures that you will not be charged any finance charges or fees on the disputed transaction while under investigation. 

C : XXXX 2018 We contacted the merchant 24 days ago about your dispute. 

We have no news yet, but the merchant has a total of 45 days to get back to us. 

Well let you know as soon as we hear from the merchant. 

You do not need to take any action at this time. We just wanted to assure you that your dispute is still in process. Thank you for your patience. 

D : XXXX.2018 We are pleased to let you know that the temporary credit we posted to your account for XXXX on XX/XX/2018 is now permanent. 

Your dispute is now closed. 
A dispute final close letter will be sent through the US postal service. 

XXXX : XXXX18 We are pleased to let you know that the temporary credit we posted to your account for XXXX on XX/XX/2018 is now permanent. 

Your dispute is now closed. 
A dispute final close letter will be sent through the US postal service.

// END OF WELLS FARGO DATA// SUMMARY As one can see, from this date forward, WELLS FARGO should have immediately removed the temporary credit that they issued to me months ago. instead, they kept the credit that they issued me along with the merchants credit to fraudulently inflate my negative credit card balance. After a few months, when I finally made a few purchases, they then removed the temporary credit immediately showing that I in fact owed them, when in fact they should have removed the temporary BANK ISSUED CREDIT months ago prior to my making any purchases which was in fact months later. This practice of over inflating my negative balance is in fact fraud due to the lack of BANKING & CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING AS PER 18 U.S. Code 1344.

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