Consumer complaint received 2024-09-26
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (CA)

On XX/XX/year>, I attempted a bank transfer of {$3000.00} from my XXXX XXXX account to my Wells Fargo checking account. XXXX XXXX offered two transfer options : an instantaneous transfer with an associated fee and a free three-day transfer. I chose the free three-day transfer. 

After XXXX days, the funds had not posted to my Wells Fargo account. I contacted Wells Fargo, who informed me that they would initiate an investigation and look into the issue. Meanwhile, I noticed that the funds had been deducted from my XXXX XXXX account so I also contacted XXXX XXXX. ( XXXX XXXX uses XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXk as their banking partner ). XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXXk confirmed that the {$3000.00} had been deducted from my XXXX XXXX account and sent to Wells Fargo. 

I reached out to Wells Fargo again and after a long conversation, we were able to determine that : There was an attempted transfer of {$3000.00} from XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX 
However, XXXX XXXX  sent the money to my old checking account which had been closed weeks earlier. ( Account ending in XXXX ) Wells Fargo had changed my bank account numbers a few weeks prior to the attempted transfer because of some unrelated fraudulent activity in my account. 
At that time, Wells Fargo informed me on the phone and in a letter that there would be no need for me to contact any entities making deposits into my XXXX account and that such deposits would automatically be routed to my new account ending in XXXX. 
When XXXX XXXX attempted the transfer, the funds were directed to my old account number ( XXXX ) but never made it into my new account ending in XXXX. 


It has now been almost 10 months and well over XXXX phone hours with these entities and the {$3000.00} has still not been located by either XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX or Wells Fargo XXXX I have filed at least 20 different disputes/requests for investigation or complaints with bite entities and they all have been denied. I have provided all documentation that they have asked for including copies of all of my bank statements and several summaries of the events. Each time I call I have to spend hours on the phone repeating the same story to several different front line workers until I can speak to someone who could potentially help me. However, each time they just say that they will open another dispute and then they wait 2 days and deny it again without doing any research. 

It cant be this difficult to trace a financial transaction between two banks yet neither party can locate my money. I am extremely frustrated because it is clear that one or both of these entities is responsible for the funds going missing and yet neither of them are willing to even help me track it down. There must be record of and way of locating the funds but they each say they dont have it and blame the other bank. 

A few weeks ago I filed a complaint with the CFPB against XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX That complaint was referred to the Federal Reserve. And the outcome of that complaint was that XXXX XXXX sent me the same letter that had been sending me for months saying that they do not have the money and that they sent it to Wells Fargo. The Federal Reserve seems to have signed off on this as sufficient to close the case since they never contacted me or provided any other information about the case other than that to say the matter was closed. This is extremely disappointing since there has still been no effort to actually locate my money. 

I am now submitting this complaint directed at Wells Fargo since it seems that the Federal reserve believes that XXXX XXXX  does not have my money, so therefore Wells Fargo must. 

Can you please investigate and help me locate this money? 

Here is some additional information that you may find useful : After my first contact with XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) I was informed that they sent the funds to Wells Fargo ( WF ) and that I would XXXX to resolve the matter with them. XXXX then tried to do a claw back of the funds and when they did so, they were informed by WF that such a process could not be done because the account that they had sent the funds to was closed. ( ie, the XXXX account ) When I reach out to WF, they informed me that they could see that there was an attempted deposit into my XXXX account but that since that account had been closed, they sent the money back to XXXX via a separate transaction on XX/XX/XXXX and provided a separate trace ID number for that transaction. 

After another long and unproductive phone call with XXXX, I filed a dispute on XX/XX/XXXX, case number XXXX, which was denied with a form letter which stated : There were no notes attached to this correspondence or anywhere else for that matter. I of course called the number provided to request copies of any supporting documentation used in making the decision. After another hour long phone call I was finally able to speak to someone who understood what I was even talking about. I made the request and was assured that I would be receiving the documentation. I provided email address and mailing address. I still have never received anything. 

I have continued to call and have filed numerous additional disputes and continue to receive the same form letter. Each time there are no notes attached so I call and go through the same thing again : an hour long call and no supporting documentation ever gets sent. Subsequent disputes include case XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX ). All of these disputes were denied with the same form letter. 

During my many phone calls with XXXX, they kept using the phrase system error and kept saying that their researchers have concluded that there has been no " system error on their end. They always end their inquiry after their attempted claw back of the funds and have ignored the information ( including a separate trace ID number ) that was provided to them by me and by WF about the separate transaction when WF returned the funds to XXXX. 

Again, I provided XXXX XXXX with all necessary documentation, including Wells Fargos letter with the trace ID number and my bank statements showing no deposits of {$3000.00}. Despite this, XXXX XXXX repeatedly failed to investigate the separate transaction. 

I facilitated multiple three-way calls with myself and representatives from XXXX and XXXX all on the line at the same time. I have even spoken to representatives from their executive offices who continued to obfuscate and provide irrelevant responses and have ultimately failed to resolve the issue. Several high-level corporate executive supervisors with whom I have spoken take all of my information, file another case and assure me that they would personally look into the matter and personally call me back and resolve the issue. Not one of them has ever followed up as promised. 

Each time I call I am told that the the calls are being recorded for quality assurance so hopefully all of these recording are available. I have kept a log of many of the dates and names of representatives that I have spoken with if that XXXX be helpful to you. 

Having {$3000.00} missing for the past 10 months has caused me significant emotional and financial stress and hardship. I have incurred overdraft fees, late fees and other penalties as result of this situation, in addition to the anxiety and frustration in dealing with these huge corporations who clearly are not concerned with my loss. 

I request the CFPBs assistance in resolving this matter and ensuring that the involved parties properly investigate and address the issue. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information.