Consumer complaint received 2018-01-23
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: UT
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: CD (Certificate of Deposit)
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits or withdrawals

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, My Grandma and my aunt ( which is my grandma 's power of attorney ) went to get a couple CD 's ( certificate of deposits ) from my grandma 's safety deposit box in the XXXX Wells Fargo branch, where her and her husband have banked for over 50 years. She pulled three certificates from the box and went to check with a bank teller to see if they were still valid. They said 'YES, they are still valid and you can cash them at any bank location.I currently hold this certificate in my hands. 

My grandma send me my certificate knowing that I could cash it. I visited a local Wells Fargo branch here in Utah : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Utah XXXX. I spoke with a XXXX and a XXXX XXXX. His number is XXXX. They told me they could n't find any record of this certificate that I have. We called Wells Fargo Unclaimed Property ( at XXXX ) and they did n't have any information. We then called Iowa XXXX XXXX ( at XXXX ) and they did n't have any information either. I left the bank with no forward information from that point. 

The situation that is difficult is the certificate was bought in XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. Wells Fargo bought out XXXX three months after the certificate of deposit was purchased. We were never issued a new certificate but we were 'given ' a new certificate number on my grandpa 's XXXX tax forms. 

3. 
I then contacted the XXXX Wells Fargo branch and spoke with : XXXX XXXX XXXX Personal Banker XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX I sent a photo of the certificate to him via email and he said he would look into it. He sent me this email on XX/XX/XXXX : 'As I  mentioned over the phone, I sincerely appreciate your patience while I work to provide you and your family with a resolution regarding your savings certificates. I have received word back from the Wells Fargo department that has been researching these certificates. Unfortunately, they were unable to uncover any additional information regarding these certificates. It appears as though the only documentation that they had ever existed is essentially the physical certificates themselves. As Wells Fargo follows record retention regulations, we do not have record of the initial purchase of these certificates - nor the current value of them. This is precisely why I am reaching out to another department to assist in verifying the current value of these certificates, in order to provide you with a resolution. This will take additional time, as this is a very unique and complex inquiry. Once again, I appreciate your patience in this matter, and I assure you that I will continue to work diligently to provide you and your family with a resolution as soon as I possibly can. Thank you so much for your time. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX Personal Banker Registered II Retail Banking Wells Fargo | XXXX XXXX XXXX | XXXX, IA XXXX XXXX XXXX Tel XXXX | Fax XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX ' -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4. I then replied with this email on XX/XX/XXXX : 'Dear XXXX , From your response below, you are telling me exactly the same thing you told me and my aunt ten days ago, that you do not have to keep records beyond seven years and therefore you have no record of this savings certificate and therefore you cant cash it. Well I do have record of itthe original savings certificate which I presented to Wells Fargo. So, in essence, you are telling me that I can invest my hard earned money into some type of investment with Wells Fargo and seven years later, Wells Fargo can throw their records away and keep my money even though I still hold the original savings certificate? That seems not only criminal, but also highly ridiculous since people invest money long term every day. 

As for this being a very unique and complex inquiryI beg to differ. If you spend a few seconds on the internet, you can find other people who have experienced this same issue with Wells Fargo ( i.e., XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX savings certificate for {$18000.00} issued XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX grandson of XXXX XXXX savings certificate for {$32000.00} issued in XX/XX/XXXX ) in which Wells Fargo told them the same thingshall I go on? Additionally, my grandparents, are also dealing with you on this very same issue for two other savings certificates that they purchased along with mine from the XXXX, Iowa branch in which these savings certificates remained in their safety deposit box until a few days ago. 

Since my grandmother and my aunt verified that this certificate was valid with two bankers at the Wells Fargo XXXX, Iowa branch before mailing it to me and were then given the current value of the certificate and were told I would be able to cash this at any bank in Utah if they mailed it to me, it seems highly suspicious that nobody at Wells Fargo is now able to verify the value of this when it had a value less than 30 days ago. 

My grandfather purchased my savings certificate and my sisters savings certificate along with other investments from other financial institutions from insurance money he received when my mother was XXXX in a car accident when I was XXXX years old. All of the other financial institutions have honored investments that were over seven years old and had record of those investmentsnot sure why Wells Fargo doesnt! 

I am highly disappointed, as I was led to believe you were going to have this resolved in 10 days. This has left me in a very difficult situation financially, as I was depending on having that money the day I received the certificate from my grandmother. 

Can you please provide me with the name of the department and/or person within Wells Fargo, along with their contact information, who is now trying to resolve this problem? Also, can you tell me how long I should expect to have to wait before getting a resolution to this? 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5. 
I got no response from him until XX/XX/XXXX when he called me to tell me that the only thing they found was that it had been cashed out. He could not tell my by whom and when. He said, 'I do not have that information. ' You can imagine my frustration of the situation I am in. I am HOLDING the certificate in my hands and he is telling me that it has been cashed out when you NEED the actual certificate itself to do so. I then replied to him on XX/XX/XXXX : 'XXXX , I am replying to you though email. 

I am frustrated because you are saying that this CD is cashed when I personally hold my certificate in my hands when it is needed to do so. It says on the back of the certificate itself that it needs to be presented to be cashed. 

Please provide me with the information of the department that you said you got this information from so I can get the " cashed date '' from them and proof of endorsement. 

If I need to file a complaint with this department, who should I send it to? 

XXXX XXXX ' -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - I got no response from him. 

6. I spoke with a XXXX XXXX from the XXXX Wells Fargo Branch. 
XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX She explained the same results. Saying 'There are a lot of people working on this issue and I ca n't tell you which department to send you to. We ca n't do any futher action until I receive a hand written note from you explaining what you want to happen. ' 7. 
I then called Wells Fargo Customer Care at XXXX and spoke with a XXXX XXXX. He gave me a case number of # XXXX. He took a couple days to look into it but came with the same answer -- they could n't find any record of it and it was past the 7 years that they can hold date/information. 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - I am now at this point where I can contact the FDIC because the certificate is insured. I will mention that as I am trying to get MY certificate resolved, my XXXX year old grandmother has one and my sister hold one as well. All issued by XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. The FDIC/OCC did n't accomplish anything. The bank just sent a letter back saying the excact same thing. 

I would like to CASH the certificate of deposit and get the money that is deserved in relation to the interest rate of the certificate. My grandparents KNOW and have papers showing that they 've paid the yearly fees to keep it in the bank and they KNOW they have n't cashed it. 

I would like for the bank to stop sending me around in circles and NOT finding a solution to the problem.

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