Consumer complaint received 2017-01-20
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NE
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problems caused by my funds being low

Complaint:
Hello, I am writing to report what I believe to be a misleading, non-transparent practice by Wells Fargo regarding their overdraft protection services. The short summary is that I disenrolled from their overdraft protection several years ago, meaning that any payment submitted for greater than my balance should have been rejected ( and were ). After zeroing my account out last month, I was charged a {$35.00} overdraft fee for a {$10.00} debit card payment from XXXX, the only bill that I had forgotten to move over to my new bank. 

When I complained at the branch I was told that " recurring ACH payments '' were still subject to overdraft protection and the {$35.00} charge. When I asked them how this was possible when it was n't an ACH transaction but a debit card transaction they said that it was any recurring " pre-authorized '' transaction. However their own transaction on their site shows an authorization date of Saturday XXXX/XXXX/17 which paid out Monday XXXX/XXXX/17, resulting in a {$35.00} overdraft fee on XXXX, taking my account to a negative balance of {$45.00}. To my knowledge I was never given any sort of disclaimer that there are exceptions to my intentionally removing overdraft protection. I requested that it be removed several years ago over the phone when it was revealed that when presented with multiple payments in a day, they had been charging larger transaction first, in order to take the balance below zero, then charging smaller payments after to result in the maximum number of {$35.00} overdraft charges. I do n't recall the year but it was widely publicized. 

I have attached screenshots of my online transaction history, showing my balance was down to zero and that the payment was authorized on the Saturday before the Monday that it went through. I 've also attached a screenshot of my most recent statement ( statement date XXXX, which includes the transaction in question ) showing the blank checkboxes showing I am not enrolled in any sort of overdraft protection. There is even some " small print '' at the bottom but includes no verbiage about " recurring '' or " pre-authorized '' payments not being covered. I have also included a download of my transaction history directly from the Wells Fargo website if that is helpful for you in any way. 

Before submitting this complaint, I went to the branch at XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX where I spoke with personal banker XXXX XXXX. She informed me of their policy about " recurring ACHs '' still being subject to overdraft. When I informed her this was not possible since it was a debit card transaction, not an ACH, she told me it was " pre-authorized '' so still subject to overdraft. When I asked to escalate she said they could offer me a refund of {$8.00} based on some sort of metrics on my account that she looked up on her computer. I asked if I could escalate further as I wanted the full {$35.00} fee refunded. She said she would have to check with her manager and if they allowed a larger credit I would see it on my account within 2 days, which did not happen so I assume my request was declined. I have paid the negative balance to bring the account to zero since the overdraft notice email I received said they would take me to collections if not paid ( but did not give a timeframe ). I would rather not deal with that, so I paid it, but I am still protesting the fee, not only for myself but for anyone else who has intentionally XXXX overdraft protection, or not enrolled in the first place. I believe this internal policy is misleading and not transparent and my hope is that my complaint will result in not only the refund of my fee but a discontinuation of the policy and refund of any other similar fees charged to other clients. 
Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if there is any more information I can provide. 
XXXX XXXX.

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