Consumer complaint received 2023-08-06
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
I have/had a checking account with Wells Fargo Bank , `` WF. '' I received an e-mail from WF stating they were going to inactivate my Bill pay due to no activity. I figured OK, as I set up this account for an emergency fund account and was not using Bill Pay.

WF 's stated intention migrated to, " we have inactivated your account and call the XXXX for additional details. I called and spoke to 4 different people at 4 different times. WF sent me a survey and I documented the fact that WF had unilaterally closed my checking account and had failed to return MY {$600.00} in the account. After submitting the survey online I later checked my checking account status online and it went from {$600.00} to {$0.00} balance with no further explanation as to where my funds went to. 

The initial person I spoke to told me WF will mail me a check to my po box , as I live in the Country and do not have a physical mailbox at my home. Upon hanging up with the initial person I noticed I had a new e-mail from WF. It stated I had to do several things to close my account and get MY money returned to me. The e-mail directly contradicted what the initial person told me was going to occur.

I called WF back and was told WF does not send cashier 's checks to po box es. The initial plan was to send me a cashier 's check for the amount of money I had in the account. The 2nd person wanted to help me and ultimately asked if I had another bank I use. I told her, " yes '' and she told me the account was " linked '' to the WF account. She then told me I can simply transfer the funds to my other account and thereby close the WF account. It sounded like the easiest way to close the WF account, as WF does not mail a cashier 's check to a po box and I told the WF rep that if WF mails it to my home the cashier 's check will be returned to WF by the Post Office. I was then told that WF has to close the account to re-activate the account. The rep told me she would make sure that occurred and I would then be able to transfer my money to the other bank I use.

I went online Saturday evening and WF 's online banking site stated my account was closed. More importantly it indicated that my account now had a balance of {$0.00}. I called WF again and was told WF " would likely mail a cashier 's check to me. '' I explained in detail the po box versus mailing to my physical address dilemma. That rep then told me that WF will mail me a cashier 's check to my po box , which directly contradicted what the last rep explained to me. The rep began lying to me in an obvious attempt to get me off of the phone and therefore out of his life. I asked for a Supervisor numerous times as it became painfully obvious to me and the WF rep that lying to me was not going to work.

I was placed on hold and waited 15 minutes to speak to a Supervisor. I explained the entire debacle Wells Fargo had unilaterally created and asked where my {$600.00} had gone to. I was placed on hold numerous times by the Supervisor and ultimately told that WF will mail me a cashier 's check to my po box . I told the Supervisor that WF will not mail the cashier 's check to my po box . She then checked my assertion to her by looking up WF 's policy on the mailing of cashier 's checks to customer 's. She returned and read me WF 's policy on cashier 's check which stated they will not mail a cashier 's check to a po box . I again told the Supervisor if they mail a cashier 's check to my physical address it will be returned. I then asked a simple question. What happened to the plan to re-activate my account and simply allow me to make an electronic transfer from WF to my other linked account. She responded that she did not know what happened and told me she needed to submit some form. The Supervisor did not know what to do or what WF had done with my money.

At the end of the day, WF has unilaterally denied me the access and therefore the use of MY money by their silly actions. It is abundantly clear that NONE of the WF personnel I spoke to has any idea where MY money has gone to. I have lost 2 hours of my life attempting to resolve the problem WF created but can not do so because NOBODY at WF has any idea what is going on with MY money or how to resolve this problem WF created.

It seems to me that what WF has done here is illegal. In effect they have taken MY money without ANY valid reason and basically left me in limbo as to how I can get MY money returned to me. The WF culture apparently believes they can do as they please with customer 's money with impunity. This is abundantly clear by the actions WF has taken to date.

My next step is to consult with a lawyer as I have invested hours of my time and know nothing more than when WF unilaterally closed my account with no answers to me. THIS IS EGREGIOUS and I would think that ANY person with any amount of their money in an FDIC insured account would have a problem with WF 's business practices. If WF ignores me or provides some ridiculous answer to me I am going to retain a lawyer.

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