Consumer complaint received 2023-03-21
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
1 ) Discrimination by bank staff towards my daughter and I ( bank manager and tellers are all women XXXX XXXX ; the two gentlemen appear XXXX ) 2 ) Holding funds without partial release for no valid reason ; 3 ) Refusing to assist in resolving the bank hold, even after receiving valid documentation ; On the XXXX of XXXX we made a deposit via the ATM for a check from XXXX XXXX. It was a refund for damages to our transmission that another XXXX dealership had to correct. The ATM stated the funds would not clear until the XXXX, the following Tuesday. However, when we checked our account, none of the funds had been released and my daughter received an email that the funds would be held until the XXXX of XXXX without an explanation. 

Thinking that the bank might be concerned the check was fraudulent, we walked to the bank with the check stub and the XXXX waybill showing the check was valid. However, the teller made one excuse after another why she couldn't help us : " It's a XXXX account, you deposited it at the ATM, the check was made out to me instead of my daughter ( even though I'm on the account ), the amount is too high to release..? '' I then asked to speak to the manager. She walked away, returned, and said the manager was out to lunch ( XXXX ) and asked us to wait. She came back to us and said the manager would be back in 45 minutes, did we want to leave our name and number?. We had already been at the bank about 25 minutes ( waiting in line, speaking to the teller ). 

We opted to leave and went to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The bank manager there informed us that typical holds are 3-5 days and that the bank teller could have called XXXX XXXX XXXX to verify the funds and the account. 

I researched online and found that Wells Fargo 's standard business process is to release up to {$220.00}, then wait 3-5 days for the check to clear. Sometimes, in rare instances, up to 10 days. The account was opened in 2019 ; had payroll auto-deposits for almost a year- it's well established. She had also recently opened a savings account. 

We went back the next day to speak to the manager. When we walked in we received a " Welcome! We'll be with you shortly '' from a man at a desk helping a customer. Another young man, also at a desk, got up and said he'd get the manager, but the teller we had spoken to the day before stopped him mid-stride. My daughter told me she heard her tell him, " she knows ... ''. 

We could see the manager speaking to someone behind a glass partition. Even after the man said " let me get out of your hair... third floor..? ", the manager followed him around the corner, out of sight. We waited a couple more minutes until it became clear that she was intentionally avoiding us. We left, heading back to XXXX XXXX XXXX to open new accounts with my daughter 's payroll funds that had auto-deposited. 

I filed a complaint with the OCC ( Dept of Treasury ) thinking that they could affect the situation. I was disappointed to find out that the OCC passed it to Wells Fargo to investigate themselves. So much so, that on the XXXX of XXXX, the day after the funds cleared, we returned to withdraw funds to put in the XXXX XXXX accounts. Thankfully, there was a new teller there. Giving her the benefit of doubt, I explained that the previous week I had never felt as discriminated against as I had then, and asked her to help my daughter with her transaction. I went and sat in the waiting area with my dog XXXX ( wearing her vest to carry the funds ). 

The teller who had been rude previously went and got the manager who came to speak to me. She said that I had to be " nice '' to the tellers and that I was making " defamatory claims ''. I said, let me get my phone so I can record this ... She walked away, stating that I could not record her. In Georgia, we have the first person recording law - I can record any conversation of which I am involved. I also made it clear that I had already filed a complaint with the OCC.

My daughter completed her transaction. I asked about the teller and she said " she was sweet '' and that her name is XXXX ( phonetics XXXX  ). I was relieved. The irony is that we are XXXX. We know and understand the history of XXXX in America moreso than any other groups because our ancestors were sold into slavery in the XXXX before XXXX were imported. Then the " great starvation '' by the XXXX  gov't - food sources and livestock were taken, at gun point, leaving little for the XXXX folk to eat. Millions died and millions more left for the Americas, XXXX and XXXX. There is a strong chance that the staff working at Wells Fargo have XXXX ancestry as well. This is why I taught my children to not be prejudiced - that person might be a relative! 

Thankfully, our car is now repaired and when it comes time to close the account, we can drive to a different location and not be subjected to the outright blatant discrimination we experienced at that branch ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX, GA ).

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