Consumer complaint received 2016-11-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit line increase/decrease

Complaint:
WELLS FARGO OPENED ANOTHER ILLEGAL ACCOUNT. Account number unknown. 
On XX/XX/2016, I went to Wells Fargo on XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Florida to ask for a bill consolidation loan. I was looking to pay off a high interest credit card by adding to my existing loan. I offered to have my paycheck direct deposited so that the payment could be automatically withdrawn each month. The clerk, without looking at my income documents, told me that my request could not be honored, no reasons given. Instead, she offered me another loan at the same high interest rate I was trying to pay off, that was declined. She then offered a credit card through Wells Fargo with a 0 % interest. She said she could not say if they could give me the {$10000.00} I needed to pay off the high interest credit card until I actually applied for their credit card. She submitted the application for the card, then told me I would qualify for only {$2000.00}. I told her immediately that the amount would not help me and that I did not want their credit card. She would not cancel the card application and I was told that I would have to wait for the credit card to arrive, then to cancel it. She sent the credit card to an inappropriate address and I never received it. *Weeks later, I found through a statement on line that the credit card had been activated against my wishes, and {$1600.00} was transferred to the credit card at XXXX that I was trying to pay off with the requested bill consolidation loan I originally sought. There were fees attached to the transfer that were also charged to me. *I contacted the manager at the XXXX WF location, but she failed to call back. I went to the XXXX XXXX. location of Wells Fargo in XXXX, Florida. XXXX refused to refund my money, Wells Fargo said they were unable to do anything about it. After many visits, the two month mark on the Wells Fargo credit card was coming up and they were going to report my unpaid balance to the credit bureau. I could not take on another payment without the XXXX card being paid off, so I had no choice but to extend the loan I already had with Wells Fargo to pay off the Wells Fargo credit card. I had to do that to eliminate the additional credit card bill and to protect my credit rating. *This action prevented me from getting the bill consolidation I was looking for from anywhere, as that extended loan tapped out the credit I had available. My payments went up for the Wells Fargo loan. This had the opposite affect on my overall payments as I was seeking originally to lower them. *Adding the money to my existing loan left me with no borrowing power, it raised my payments and it took away the financial nest egg I had, as the amount I had to borrow from Wells Fargo to pay off the Wells Fargo credit card but that loan at its maximum. XXXX XXXX XXXX eliminate the fees and late charges associated with the credit card, but my situation was still affected adversely as described. I am a XXXX on a fixed income, so now I can not attempt a bill consolidation loan elsewhere and am stuck paying more than I started with, which is all benefiting Wells Fargo. *I feel the only way this can be rectified is by allowing me to extend my credit on my existing loan, so that I can fully pay off the high interest XXXX credit card. Again, I offer my paycheck to be direct deposited so that my monthly payment on the loan can be automatically deducted. *Please add my situation to your list of wrongfully opened accounts, as this has caused me a great deal of XXXX and XXXX because my financial situation is now worse than before I went to Wells Fargo on XX/XX/XXXX. *The reference number for the payment made against the credit card is XXXX. Everything that transpired over the months I tried to rectify this situation should be on the computer files of Wells Fargo.

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