Consumer complaint received 2016-01-29
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
To whom it may concern, I have been a loyal customer at Wells Fargo since XX/XX/XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I deposited a personal check from my wife 's account in the amount of {$1200.00}. The receipt provided stated that {$400.00} would be released immediately and the remainder on XX/XX/XXXX. With that information in mind I proceeded to write out checks. When I checked my account on XX/XX/XXXX not only was the money not available, my account was negative which is a first for me. Instead of contacting me, the XXXX, NY branch withdrew the funds which put us in a panic. I contacted the customer service department who told me that there was a signature irregularity. Being that my wife was a XXXX for XXXX years I immediately contacted her. She in turn contacted her Credit Union which informed her that they were never contacted regarding a signature verification. With that in mind we called customer service back and asked to speak to a supervisor. The representative connected us to XXXX XXXX whom I believe works out of the Minnesota call center. She did not see any notes about a signature discrepancy and could not understand why there was a hard hold on this check. She then connected us to the corporate office and we spoke to XXXX. Unfortunately I do not recall her last name. She assured me that this issue would be taken care of immediately and that she would get back to me first thing in the morning which would have been today. I never heard back from her and when trying to reach her I was unable. 

In the meantime my wife logged into her online banking account and noticed that check # XXXX in the amount of XXXX already cleared her account. While thinking about placing a stop payment on this check she was now unable to. 

Knowing the check cleared her account we decided to go into the XXXX, NY branch which is located on XXXX XXXX ( zip XXXX ) which is where we deposited the check to begin with. We talked to the branch manager XXXX. He also could not understand why the check was n't released. We showed him a copy of the check clearing my wife 's account. He called several individuals XXXX being the deposit operations department and the other being his district manager. None of these parties were willing to assist us. We then spoke to a XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX who stated they were from the executive office. Both talked down to us and when I asked why my check was being held his answer was " I 'm sorry I ca n't help you '' this was said to me several times. At one point XXXX XXXX from the executive branch said that the Branch Manager ( XXXX ) had the authority to clear this. When contacted, XXXX said that only the corporate-executive branch has that authority. 

Wells Fargo has displayed immoral and unethical practices in this matter. I regret that the matter had to go to this extreme. It is really sad when a corporation of this size and stature resorts to such illegal actions. 
Thank you!

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation