Consumer complaint received 2016-09-13
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: ID
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Other bank product/service
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
XX/XX/2008 I was in the XXXX XXXX, WA branch of Wells Fargo Bank, where I sat down with a bank employee, XXXX XXXX, to discuss linking my checking account ( existing ) to a savings account ( proposed ), preparatory for an extended stay in XXXX. The idea was to have limited funds at any one moment in the checking as protection against " express robberies '', wherein one is taken at gunpoint and made to max out a daily withdrawal at an ATM, common in XXXX at the time. As I was to live exclusively from the ATM on this trip, it was essential that the checking account be replenished at intervals from the savings account, which could not be accessed by any means from that country. All this was made crystal clear. 
Unbeknownst to me, XXXX XXXX somehow translated my request for a savings account into an application for a credit card, which would replenish the said checking account. At no time did I want, discuss, apply for, consent, or sign for such a credit card. I had no idea what he did. 
At some point in time, in XXXX, the checking account was no longer replenished from the credit card because no payments were being made on said card of course, because I had no knowledge of its existence nor would there have been a way to even do that safely from XXXX. In fact, the issuance date for the card was, as I recall, one day after my passport indicates I crossed the border, making it an absolute impossibility to possess such a card. 
On the return trip part of the time coming home I had an American rider I picked up from whom I was able to get enough money to pay for fuel. But for this, I would have been stranded with no funds at all for motorway and gas. 
Upon my return to the States I found bills from WF with late charges indicated way overdue. 
I took the time and expense to make the XXXX mile XXXX drive to XXXX to sit down with XXXX XXXX and ask him what was going on and asked that he show me the application for the card and my signature, none of which existed, and when he reviewed the transaction made months before, just shrugged and said he did n't know what was going on. I did n't believe it for one minute and now I know why. 
Wells Fargo continued to harass me for months afterward, how many months I can not recall. I finally had enough and called them, explained it all as I have to you, and assured them in no uncertain terms that they would never receive any payment from me regardless of the nature of threats of collection. 
I do no recall how many times I spoke to a WF rep, it was a few, and the last time I simply said I would never, ever pay, that I knew they were unable to force payment, and that that would be the last word from me. She simply said, OK, we 'll cancel it. And that was it. 
Fast forward 4 years : One of the reps at the local branch of WF, in XXXX XXXX, where I still had a checking account, asked me to sit down and proceeded to outline all the benefits of having a savings account. I was cautious and uninterested, but she assured me of the advantages of such, including a free credit report. I essentially said OK, just to obtain the credit report out of curiosity mostly as I do n't care what my credit score is. I never borrow money. 
Over the next few months I made several withdrawals from that account, and one day I got a letter indicating that I had violated some obscure Federal code or regulation regarding how frequently I could do so. I returned to the bank for an explanation, which was weak at best, and I confronted her with the fact that she had never disclosed to me such limitations. I simply asked her " Whose money is it? '' She responded " It 's yours ''. I closed the account immediately.

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