Consumer complaint received 2024-10-30
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (TX)

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his was my experience so far dealing with the claim department from Wells Fargo Bank. I had expired debit card from Wells Fargo Bank. I never received the replacement card from the bank when my old card expired. On XX/XX/year>, the account activities notifications showed that the supposed to be my replacement debit card was used in an ATM withdrawals of {$300.00}, {$300.00}, {$140.00} and purchased fuel of {$8.00} in a gas station plus {$19.00} of account service fees.

I reported the unauthorized withdrawals and purchase to Wells Fargo immediately. I explained my findings and waited for their investigation, then I saw my claim was removed 10 days later. I received message said that We've determined that an error did not occur. I called the customer support to find out what happened. I was told it was denied because they found out the mailing address was correct. No one can give me any other reasonable answer. I explained that I never received it and the card can be lost and stolen in many possible ways even with a correct mailing address.

I was told to wait 10 additional business days for another response while they refused to issue temporary credit. Customer support either repeated the same answers or hanged up on me when they had no answers for my question after hours of waiting and transferring from one department to another. My problem was never resolved in 10 business days like the company promised. I have no access to my fund in this process.

The claims department said they would reconsider my claim after the original claim. I spoke with the escalation team member with more details about this claim. I repeatedly asked them if my answers addressed their concerns. 

On XX/XX/year>, my claim got rejected again for the same reason even after I submitted all the additional information. My claim was closed again without any notification of the decision. All the employees used the excuse saying that it was the decision from higher up corporation that they had no control over. They refused to discuss any further.

As for the written response, they said the transactions were made with my card and Personal Identification Number ( PIN ). My card was a new and replacement card that was never received by me, I had no way to know the number on card and the PIN was no set up by me. They had difficulty to tell how the card was even activated in the first place. I should be protected by XXXX liability protection guarantee from the bank and Regulation E whether the PIN was used or not if the transactions were indeed unauthorized.

I filed a police report and gave the information to the bank. I asked the bank to work with the police to find out the person who did this with the surveillance camera footage. They said that they did not have the footage because the ATM was not from their bank. From my understanding from the police, the bank could request the footage from the ATM and the surrounding area on my behalf. I think the footage is the best proof that the transactions were unauthorized. The footage would most likely show some random suspects used my card at the ATM. They would have to pay the claim in this situation. I have reason to believe the bank refused to use this evidence so they could make me pay the bill and decline my request for reimbursement of the disputed transactions.

I visited a number of my local branches for help. Most of employees refused and said they did deal with claims in local branches. Only one lady was nice enough to make a phone call on my behalf. The person on the other end of phone said my two chances were up so my claim would not be reconsidered again. I was also told by phone call that the card can only be activated on phone by my phone number. The person said the claim were denied because the card was activated by my phone number but with no real evidence. My phone was with me and locked with password all the time. My phone call record can proof that I never made such call. I can confirm that was not true when I can successfully activate the new card that I received last week using a different phone number on XX/XX/year>. I don't have the PIN this time again of course. It can be activated by just the card number plus the PIN or last 4-digit SSN. My new card is now activated but it did not ask me to set the PIN. This turned out was just another excuse made by them to reject my claim.

I felt sorry for employees dealing with this situation. They are just here to stand by the unreasonable decisions made by the claim department. No matter how unreasonable their decisions are, almost every response from the employees is There are nothing we can do. All of their concerns can be easily explained by me but the bank just refuse to accept.

My main complaint would be that Wells Fargo Bank failed to protect my property and refused to issue the refunds to my account. It was unfortunate that things like these happened. My account should be protected by the XXXX guarantee and Regulation E.

I have been with Wells Fargo Bank for 10+ years. Most of my unpleasant experience can easily be avoided if the bank trusted its customer and approved the claim in the first place. How can I continue doing business with the bank without the feeling of safety? I am willing to talk to the bank about their concerns and I will not give up until I get the refund. I hope that someone can read this and my claim dispute can be resolved one day.