Consumer complaint received 2021-01-12
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
I am writing on behalf of an employee of mine, who I will call " XXXX XX/XX/XXXX''. XXXX XX/XX/XXXX is a XXXX speaker with limited English skills. 

Before I begin this complaint, I want to make the statement that XXXXXX/XX/XXXX is an dedicated employee who works extremely hard for every dollar that he earns. Every, single, dollar that he earns is needed and necessary. Therefore, this filing is more than a complaint in theory it has serious repercussions for his livelihood. 

It was recently brought to XXXX XX/XX/XXXX attention that he was being auto-billed a monthly fee of {$83.00} from his Wells Fargo checking account by XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

There are two causes for concern : 1. XXXX never signed up for an insurance policy with XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
2. XXXX never authorized XXXX XXXX XXXX to auto-bill his Wells Fargo checking account. 

Unfortunately, for XXXX, he did not notice this recurring withdrawal on his account until his most recent statement. As XXXX does not own a personal computer, he was unable to access his banking online to identify when these fraudulent charges to his account originally began. 

On XX/XX/2020, XXXX visited the XX/XX/XXXX branch of Wells Fargo bank in XXXX XXXX in person to file a complaint and to stop the charges. A banker named XXXX XXXX confirmed that the recurring charges had been taking place for the entire year, but Mr. XXXX told XXXX XX/XX/XXXX that he only had access to one year 's records and couldn't research how long the charges had been occurring on the account prior to XXXX 2020. 

Mr. XXXX issued an official Stop Payment Order on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX account for which he then charged Mr. XX/XX/XXXX Wells Fargo account a {$31.00} for requesting an unauthorized transaction claim. Mr. XXXX then said he send Mr.XX/XX/XXXX complaint to the Wellls Fargo Claims Department. The Claims Department denied the claim because it was not reported " In a timely manner. '' Nor would Wells Fargo reach out out to XXXX XXXX XXXX directly to solve the issue of the fraudulent charges. 

As noted in the beginning of this claim, XXXX 'XX/XX/XXXX English is limited. Therefore, calling XXXX Customer Service for assistance became an issue ; however, I was able to call on his behalf. I waited on hold for over an hour. When I finally managed to speak with a service representative from XXXX I explained the situation and also mentioned XXXX had limited English and would like some assistance. The response from the XXXX representative was that no one in customer service spoke XXXX and before I could continue asking any further questions the XXXX representative hung up on me. 

As a result of this failed call, we were unable to get any further information regarding MrXXXX XX/XX/XXXX supposed insurance policy with XXXX XXXX XXXX. It is impossible to verify an account for which one has no details nor proof of contract. 

How can XXXX XX/XX/XXXX argue against charges that he has no access to? Why wouldn't Wells Fargo feel it important to protect one of their customers?

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