Consumer complaint received 2016-03-25
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Credit card
Issue: Delinquent account

Complaint:
Approximately 12 years ago I opened a credit card with Wells Fargo ( WF ). At the time, and until I became aware of this situation, the card did not have a charge. Approximately 7 years ago I attempted, and believed I had successfully, closed ALL accounts/cards/services with WF. Two years ago ( 10 years after opening the card ), I applied for a loan and found out I had a {$20.00} payment overdue on the WF card. At the time, I had {$90.00} of rewards on the card. I spoke with the credit reporting agency that notifies customers of their late payments who stated that, for accounts under a {$25.00} late fee, they make no attempts at contacting the customer. My fee was approximately {$21.00}. WF later stated they could not apply my {$90.00} in rewards to the {$20.00} fee without my approval. Instead, WF reported me to a credit bureau. The address on file was my old address which was never updated because I had been told my card was closed. My email remained the same. WF continued to send me statements, even after my card was closed, and still have even to this day after MANY requests to have them stop. Non of these emails contained the late payment because it was not money I actually spent on the card, just a fee. Thus, I never became aware of the fee via email. Of note, the emails require a 'customer ' to sign into an account to view the activity. However, if you have closed your account, the 'customer ' in unable to do so, thus, eliminating the possibility for the 'customer ' to gather a full understanding of the email contents. 

Two years ago, I spoke with WF and the managing supervisor assured me they would reverse the report. WF has yet to do. WF will not release my {$90.00} in rewards because they say the account is closed. This {$21.00} payment 90 days past due is the only defect in my credit record. WF deceived me into believing : ( 1 ) ALL accounts were closed when I initially tried to close everything ; ( 2 ) the card was free without notifying me of the new card cost, approximately 6 years after I had last used the card ; ( 3 ) the emails being sent were not a result of an open account, rather an electronic bank glitch that continued to send emails. WF stated I could not change this setting because it was an automatic setting that could n't be changed unless I reopened the account. 

The struggle with WF has been going on for approximately 7 years regarding closing all of my accounts. I am still unsure as to whether my account is actually closed as I still receive emails to this day. I have no way of checking on the card because my account is closed. WF states they will not correct the problem because there was not a bank error. WF has made many errors including not actually closing my accounts when requested, not allowing non-active customers access to credit card information, coordinating collections efforts that do not call or email customers with a balance of under {$25.00} in the event their physical address is outdated, not correcting the issue when promised, not halting statement emails, not providing a customer their reward points, and by not notifying a customer of the increased fee. 

Essentially, WF has created a system in which an inactive customer has no way to follow-up on a 'closed ' card and make any necessary changes to receive the necessary information regarding any mistakes or misunderstandings. 

The actions WF has taken in remedying this situation have been extremely negligent and have not been fixed. I had previously closed my complaint with the BCFP because WF had assured me the problem would be corrected. I am reopening the issue because WF has failed to do so and have email correspondence supporting my assertions.

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 non-monetary relief