Consumer complaint received 2015-11-06
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: DC
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Making/receiving payments, sending money

Complaint:
I wrote a check for {$4200.00}. The date I wrote on the check was XXXX XXXX, 2015. At this date I would have had sufficient funds in my account. Wells Fargo allowed this check to be cashed on XXXX XXXX. This caused my account to be over withdrawn by {$800.00}. Had the check been cashed XXXX XXXX, my account would NOT be over-withdrawn. I made XXXX purchases the same day the check was cashed and these were subjected to {$35.00} overdraft fees. None of these purchases were more than {$20.00}. Wells Fargo reimbursed me in full for XXXX {$35.00} charge but will only reimburse me {$17.00} for each of the other XXXX {$35.00} fees. Wells Fargo should have bounced the check and not allowed my account to have been over withdrawn by {$800.00}. I should only be paying for XXXX returned item fee, which according to my research is {$35.00}. I spoke to a teller on the phone. She stated that when a customer has insufficient funds, sometimes this check is allowed to be cashed and sometimes it bounces. According to this teller, this decision is not made manually, but by a computer. Wells Fargo is not transparent about this particular algorithm, and they need to be. This is an issue of fair banking. If I were someone at WF and had to design an algorithm that decided whether the check should be cashed and the customer subjected to multiple over draft fees versus a check should bounce, it is obvious that the former would be preferable in my case. In the case of the former, Wells Fargo has opportunities to subject small purchases ( such as my XXXX purchases ALL under {$20.00} ) to multiple {$35.00} over draft fees before the customer realizes his/her account is over withdrawn. Of course Wells Fargo has an incentive NOT to bounce my check! This is what they should have done. Looking at my bank account, it is obvious I am not a wealthy customer and it is obvious I make many small transactions throughout the day. As far as I see, I am an ideal customer for charging multiple {$35.00} overdraft fees, as opposed to a single returned item fee. I do n't know if the WF algorithm that chooses " cash '' or " bounce '' factored these variables into their decision, but I and all Wells Fargo customers deserve to know so we can make informed decisions about our spending and informed decisions about who we chose as our bank. 

I would also like to mention that Wells Fargo did not send me notification of insufficient funds until XXXX XXXX at XXXX. According to a teller I spoke with on the phone, if I had noticed my account was over withdrawn immediately and made a deposit into my account of {$800.00} by XXXX XXXX at XXXX, I would not been subject to the {$35.00} fees. That I would receive an email from Wells Fargo nearly XXXX hours after this time further highlights their strategy to prevent customers from salvaging their financial errors. A screen shot of this email as well as a screenshot of my check are attachments on this complaint. 

Wells Fargo needs to pay me {$17.00} X XXXX for the remaining fees.

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