Consumer complaint received 2019-03-28
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: OR
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Debt settlement
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2019 my credit was upgraded to excellent. After failing to successfully renegotiate my high interest credit card rate with Wells Fargo I opted to use a zero % interest balance transfer offer from the XXXX XXXX. I initiated this transfer on XXXX XXXX. I was instructed to make my payments on XXXX XXXX as usual to protect my payment history. The balance transfer could take up to two weeks. I made a payment to Wells Fargo onXX/XX/XXXX of {$130.00} leaving my balance at {$600.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX my XXXX XXXX was charged {$730.00} for my personal loan payoff. This resulted in an overpayment XXXX. 
When I checked my Wellsfargo account the transfer was not showing up on line, so I waited a few days. On XX/XX/XXXX I called customer service to see what the problem was. I was told the payment couldnt be found. Next I called XXXX and reconfirmed that the payment had gone through and then called Wells Fargo back. They found the payment and I was told I would receive a check for the overpayment in 7-10 days. 
Later that night I checked my account on line and discovered that all of the records of my personal loan had been deleted from my online banking link. I had no account number and no payment history. The only way to show the overpayment was through my other bank records. I visited my local branch on XX/XX/XXXX to sort it out. A bank associate contacted the loan department and again told me I would receive a check in 7-10 days. As a XXXX veteran on a fixed income I was counting on the refund showing up on time as its late arrival would effect my quality of life. 
On XXXX XXXX I again visited my local Wells Fargo branch, to find out where my check was. The representative again contacted the loan department who could not give me any information as to when the check was mailed. I found it very suspicious that a XXXX dollar bank with state of the art computer technology couldn't keep track of their mail. At this time I informed Wells Fargo of my intent to file a complaint with the Consumer financial protection bureau. I was also told at this time that the wait time was actually 7-10 business days and I should wait a couple more days. 
On XX/XX/XXXX having still not received the much needed refund check I again visited a local Wells Fargo branch. The associate contacted the loan department for the third time. At this time was told for the fourth time that the check was in the mail. Miraculously at this time the loan department was now able to provide mailing information. Is this because I threatened to file a complaint? 
Given Wells Fargos history of greed and corrupt behavior I suspect this was yet another shameless attempt by the banking industry to fleece consumers. The minute my personal loan was overpaid a check should have been generated by a computer and mailed immediately. Not only was this refund not issued in a timely fashion its seems that there was an attempt to abscond the refund. At no time did my account show the over payment or was I notified of such. Deleting my account and payment history so quickly and with out notification was suspicious. It left me without pertinent personal payment records. In closing I would like to say that as a XXXX XXXX If I knew what my government let the Banking Industry an other big businesses get away with I wouldnt have served.

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