Consumer complaint received 2021-02-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Cashing a check

Complaint:
I feel that I was profiled as a criminal in the XXXX XXXX branch of Wells Fargo Bank at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, California and also discriminated against by branch manager  XXXX XXXX who after refusing to cash a check for me ( that was from someone that had written it from a Wells Fargo checking account ) accessed an account with Wells Fargo that I am joint on with my mother without my permission. He had no right to ask the teller to check the account after refusing to cash the check for me and returning My ID and credit card, which he either copied or wrote down the information, which to me proves to me that he not only was treating me as a criminal as I told them that they were doing, but actually thought that I was. Since he refused to complete the transaction for which I came into the branch for, why did he find it necessary to write down/copy my personal information from my ID and credit card and also have the teller check the account? I was leaving, so he had no right to do this and to me this is an abuse of power/authority of his position with the bank. I was XXXX and still am ) very upset about how I was treated and am concerned about what he is going to do with my personal information that he obtained from my ID and credit card and from illegally accessing my mom 's checking account that I am joint on, so I called the XXXX number for Wells Fargo customer service to file a complaint and have the representative check to see if she could see that the account was accessed and she could see that it was, but she said that nothing was done to it financially, but I found out today when I called the number above given to me yesterday, that he added notes to the account and I feel that he did this because I told him that I was filing a complaint. I feel that the representative, XXXX, was defending his behavior and I feel that although I filed a complaint with Wells Fargo that it will not be dealt with fairly, since any employee working for Wells Fargo would most likely be on the side of the company that they work for. I am very, very upset about this incident, but want to add that after being refused service at this branch, treated as someone that was committing a crime and being asked to leave the premises by the manager, XXXX XXXX, that gladly provided me with his business card in order for me to make a complaint and have the branch contact information, that I went into another branch in the city of XXXX XXXX and was not treated like a crimanl and had no problems cashing the check! I am trying to find any appropriate agencies that can look into this branch manager and investigate my complaint. Here are more details as to what occurred : I took a check in to cash inside the XXXX XXXX branch in XXXX XXXX yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, XX/XX/2021 and after presenting the check to the teller to be cashed, I presented my ID ( my driver 's license ) and asked if I needed to give my fingerprint since I was wearing nitrile gloves and was told no because due to covid, they weren't doing that any more, but she needed a secondary ID, preferably a credit card, so I gave her one of my credit cards from XXXX XXXX. Things seemed fine and there wasn't an issue until she looked at the check and accessed the account it was drawn on. After looking at the check, she pointed out one of the numbers in the date and asked me what it was and I said an XXXX. The date was written as " XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ''. Many people write the date first, then the month and then the year. I personally write the month, the day and then the year. I thought it was odd that she was asking me what it was, since I wasn't the one who had written the check, but I answered any way. She then asked me if XXXX wrote me checks often, and I said " no '', which I also thought was odd. Why would she need to know how often someone wrote a check to me? This is when I started becoming uncomfortable. She then had the branch manager come over because she couldn't find what she called " the check image ''. I asked how they could find the image for the check when I just brought it in, which they didn't answer. The manager said he had to call XXXX XXXX the person who had written the check ) and I said I would call him, because he wouldn't answer the phone for an unrecognized number and the manager said that no he would call him and didn't want me to call him. So he called XXXX and like I said, he didn't answer. So I said I would call him and he agreed, so I left my ID and credit card with the check and went outside and got inside my vehicle so that I could remove my mask and gloves and not contaminate my phone and called XXXX and he answered and I told him that I was at the branch trying to cash the check that he had written to me and the branch manager had tried to call him and he told me that he didn't answer because he didn't recognize the number, so I told him that I would go back inside and have the manager call him again. I put my mask and gloves back on and went back inside the branch and told the manager that I let him ( XXXX XXXX know that he ( the manager ) would be calling him and the manager asked me if I had told him that he would be asking him numerous questions and I said no and that I had told him that I was trying to cash the check and the branch manager needed to talk to him. He again told me that he would be asking him multiple questions as verification. At this point, I became very defensive, because to me, he clearly thought I was a criminal or that both XXXX and I both were and I had no idea why. He looked angry and annoyed and went to call XXXX again and I mentioned that I was joint on an account there and then he seemed more annoyed, because I was cashing a check as a " non-customer '' instead of as a customer. I didn't like how I was being treated as a non-customer or as a customer! I told him I did not want to put the check that I wanted to cash into that account because it was my mom 's account and even though I'm joint on it, I didn't want to put it in that account. I keep my personal business separate from my mom 's checking account that I'm joint on and I'm on the account because I write checks for her. I do not want an account with Wells Fargo due to past experiences with how I've been treated at a branch in XXXX and at one time at this branch in the past. I do not receive the poor customer service like this at the banks and credit unions that I choose to do business with. So instead of calling XXXX back, he refused to cash the check as a non-customer and took my ID and credit card and was copying the information. I didn't feel comfortable with him doing this. I did get my ID and credit card back after he did this along with the check I was trying to cash that he told me he wouldn't cash and as I was walking away he asked the teller if she checked the account that I'm joint on and that really upset me. He had no right to be accessing that account unless he was trying to find out more information on me since as I felt, he thought I was a criminal and committing a crime. Other customers heard what was going on and people must've thought that I was trying to cash a fake check or something and it was embarrassing and also stressful, because I'm very concerned about contracting XXXX and wasted my time going into this branch and not being helped. I was not treated well and was disrespected and I had no respect for him either, especially when he arrogantly gave me his business card when I wanted to make a complaint. There was no one to complain to, because he was the branch manager. After I left this branch, I drove to another branch, also in XXXX XXXX, and had no problems whatsoever cashing the check! The teller at the other branch I went to did not treat me like a criminal like the other teller and branch manager did! The service manager, whose name is XXXX, found the check image that the other branch was looking for and didn't even need to call XXXX! The check was cashed and I was treated like a customer ( or non-customer ) should be treated! I will never go inside the other branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX again and I know that not all Wells Fargo branches are " bad '', but this experience with XXXX XXXX and the one that I had at a branch in XXXX were so upsetting that it makes me never want to deal with Wells Fargo, but unfortunately for me, my mom wants to keep the account she has with Wells Fargo, because she has her social security check going into this account and so I am a customer of Wells Fargo for her only as the joint owner on the checking account that her social security check goes into, but I told her we needed to do her other banking mainly at other financial institutions, which is what we have been doing. XXXX told me that the manager didn't even leave a message when he called him and just hung up! He said he's been a Wells Fargo customer for over 40 years and he was also upset to hear how I was treated at the XXXX XXXX branch. To me, this should not have happened. What if I didn't even know XXXX personally? As a non-customer without an account with Wells Fargo or as a customer with an account there, why shouldn't it have been as simple as it was at the other XXXX XXXX branch on XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX?! Branch Managers like XXXX XXXX are the reason that I don't want to have more accounts than the one that I'm joint on with Wells Fargo. It's unsettling to me that there is so much inconsistency between the Wells Fargo branches, which I haven't experienced with other financial institutions and that a branch manager can feel that they can treat a person like a criminal ( even a criminal shouldn't be treated the way that I was treated! ) and access an account that I did not give him permission to access.

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