Consumer complaint received 2020-07-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MI
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
I applied for an opened a Wells Fargo HomeProjects Credit Card in XX/XX/XXXX to finance a home insulation project, which I'll call Charge1. Charge1 was for {$8600.00}. The terms of the purchase was 0 % interest charged as long as 60 equal monthly payments were made. I set my account to autopay and did not have any issues until last year. The required payment was {$140.00} per month. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I finished a bathroom remodeling project, part of which was financed on my existing HomeProjects card. The bathroom project will be called Charge2, and it was for {$25000.00}. The terms of this charge were 0 % interest if paid in full in 12 months. This charge showed up on my online account on XX/XX/XXXX, and my monthly payment was due on the 4th of every month. I increased my automatic monthly payment so that I would be paying the previous {$140.00} XXXX Charge1 ) in addition to the required {$2100.00} per month for Charge2. Over the next few months, my total payment did vary as I decided to pay of Charge2 in 11 months, just to be safe, as I did not want to accidentally get charged interest. 

In the late winter, I decided to go through my statements more thoroughly to make sure I was still on track with my payments. What I discovered is that while Charge2 posted to my account on XX/XX/XXXX, Wells Fargo took my XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$2100.00} and applied it entirely to Charge1, instead of distributing appropriately between Charge1 and Charge2. I don't know why they did this, and no representative I have spoken with has been able to give me an answer. Because of this, Charge1 had a balance significant ; y lower than what it should have been, while Charge2 was correspondingly higher. All payments after this had been properly applied, {$140.00} to Charge1, and varying amounts to Charge2 as I tried to pay it off earlier than the allowed term of 12 months. This first payment was the only one with a problem. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called Wells Fargo and asked the representative to please take {$1900.00} from Charge1 and apply it to Charge2, as I intended. I wanted to make sure that {$140.00} remained as a payment to Charge1 so as not to break the terms of the 60 equal monthly payments. I was told they couldn't do that, but I would be allowed a refund. Taking a refund would allow me to pay an extra {$1900.00} the following month, all of which, I was told, would be applied to Charge2. In doing so, the balance of Charge1 would increase by {$1900.00}, and the balance of Charge2 would be unchanged. I agreed, and I received a deposit to my bank account on XX/XX/XXXX for {$1900.00}. 

What I discovered on subsequent statements however is that instead of providing me with a refund, the representative created a new charge on my card called REGULAR. I'll refer to this as Charge3. Charge3 is was listed as {$2100.00}, occurring on XX/XX/XXXX, and Charge3 was collecting 28.99 % interest every month. To date, I have incurred interest charges of {$11.00} and {$11.00}, and since nothing has been done to fix my problem, more interest is still accumulating. I have continued to make the appropriate payments for Charge1 and Charge2 during this time. Charge1 has been given the correct amount each month, {$140.00}, so I am still within the terms of that charge. However, Charge2 is not getting the remainder, as this made up Charge3 is taking random amounts of dollars every month. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I again called Wells Fargo. I spoke with another representative at length, explaining my situation, and asking them to resolve this problem. She explained back to me what I said showing that she did understand, and explained that she would forward the case to the Accounting Dept who would fix it. She told me this process would take 30 days. 

I called Wells Fargo once more on XX/XX/XXXX to ask if my problem had been resolved and was told, by another representative, that nothing had been done, and the issue had not been fixed. I was told that she was again contacting Accounting to fix things, and that she would escalate the matter to her supervisor. She said I would receive a call back by the following Monday. 

I did not receive any call back, so on Monday afternoon ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I called Wells Fargo, again. I was transferred to the supervisor who, while helpful, seemed to have no previous knowledge of my complaint. I spent 78 minutes on the phone, most of which was on hold, trying to explain my problem again. I was finally transferred to the " Executive Office '' and was told my case was assigned to an agent who would contact me within 24-48 hours to provide the case number, ask for more details, and provide an estimated date of resolution. 

So, here we are today, XX/XX/XXXX, greater than 48 hours after my last conversation with Wells Fargo and clearly beyond the time frame I was promised a call back. I have never been called by Wells Fargo throughout this entire ordeal. I have always been the one to contact them. 

Including my payment on XX/XX/XXXX, I have to date paid Wells Fargo a total of {$29000.00}. I received a refund on XX/XX/XXXX for {$1900.00}, which leaves a net balance of {$27000.00} paid by me to Wells Fargo. There have been 12 months since that time. Charge1 has required {$140.00} x 12 = {$1700.00}, and the total of Charge2 was {$25000.00}, which added together = {$26000.00}. This means I have paid {$140.00} more than what was required during the past 12 months XXXX XXXX - XXXX = XXXX ). Accordingly, Charge2 should be completely paid and should be off my card, and Charge1 should have a balance of {$5300.00} which I will continue to pay for the remainder of the 60 month term. 

Besides the insane waste of time and effort I have had to deal with for nearly 4 months, my problem is that on my last statement, Charge1 has a balance of {$3600.00}, Charge2 has a balance of {$3400.00}, and Charge3 has a balance of {$490.00}. Charge 3 continues to charge 28.99 % interest as well. 

I am not asking for discounts or compensation or anything like that. All I want is for Wells Fargo to fix their mistake. I have attached my official statements from Wells Fargo that show everything that happened. I will attached screenshots showing the calls I have been on with them. The numbers don't lie. I have paid what was expected. I have fulfilled the terms of both Charge1 and Charge2. I have even paid more than was was required. However Wells Fargo refuses to ensure that my payments are properly allocated to these charges. And beyond that, when I tried to fix this problem myself, instead of a refund they created a new charge that has been charging me interest.

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 monetary relief