Consumer complaint received 2016-10-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
My late wife and I had a checking and savings account with Wachovia Bank. When the bank was bought out by Wells Fargo Bank we were concerned. We went to the bank to close out our accounts but the manager sat down with us and assured us that everything would be fine and that there would not be any problems. For the first XXXX three months everything did seem fine. I got the mail from the mail box one day and I noticed a letter from Wells Fargo Bank addressed to my wife. I did not think anything about it at first but then another letter came addressed to my wife a few weeks later. She said something to me about the letters and that they were actually saving account statements. I asked her what she meant because we had a joint checking and savings accounts, we always did have joint accounts from the time we were first married. She said she did not understand why her name was on the account and my name was no longer on the savings account. We went to the bank the very next day to speak to the manager but were told that he was not available. The assistant manager was available and she sat down with us to work everything out. After explaining everything to her she was in disbelief. She called on the phone to the offices in North Carolina where she said all of the offices were that were handling the merger. After speaking to them for a few minutes she came back to us and said that there must have been a mistake and were we sure that we had not had the other spouses name removed from the account. I asked the assistant manager, was that even possible. It would seem to me that we would both have to be present at the bank and sign papers to close the joint account and then reopen a account in my wife 's name. She seamed confused and made copies of everything and said she would investigate all of this and get back to us. I called back a couple of weeks later and was told that she was no longer at that branch and could she have someone else assist us. We went back to Wells Fargo Bank again and repeated everything again. My wife had not been feeling well and did not want to accompany me to the bank that day but she did anyway and stayed in the car. I was told by the assistant manager that they would not speak to me about the account because my name was not on the account. I walked to the car and got her and we XXXX went into the bank. We were told that this story was not possible and made to believe that it was all a fabrication. I became angry and told them to close out the accounts in a very loud voice so that everyone in the bank could hear me. I was told to keep my voice down by the lady assisting us and security came and escorted us to a back office. We were told that they would check into our claims and get back to us. Long story short my wife was diagnosed with XXXX and subsequently passed away several months later. I returned to the Wells Fargo Bank one day after receiving a bank statement for the savings account with my wife 's name on it. I asked to speak with a manager to try and resolve all of this mess but I was promptly told that there was nothing that they could do not until my wife 's will had been probated. It has been six years now since all of this began and I have still not gotten anything resolved. Even my own attorney 's thought that I was being absurd. They kept saying " This sort of thing does not happen, there are laws that prohibit things like this from happening and besides that the bank examiners would have caught it and put a stop to it before now ''. Yeah right, look at XXXX XXXX that went on for years! At least I feel a little vindicated now!

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