Consumer complaint received 2024-02-13
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (AK)

STATEMENT OF FACTS Background : From XXXX XX/XX/XXXX until XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I was employed by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX position as a Technical Services Advisor in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX  XXXX In this position I instructed XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX personnel on the XXXX XXXX sales contract. 

Initial Banking Event : The Money is Wired On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I was informed by an email from XXXX XXXX XXXX that I was selected to not be not renewed on the next contract and was informed by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  I would be purchased a ticket to leave XXXX XXXX on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, which was 16 days after my notice of non-renewal. 
As there are many tasks necessary to depart XXXX in that short of time, I made the decision to wire money from my XXXX XXXX account with XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) back to my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX Monday, XXXX XXXX, I went to XXXX and filled out the form to send XXXX XXXX ( {$14000.00} USD ) to XXXX XXXX ( See Document XXXX XXXX  ). 

Second Banking Event : The Cancellation of Transaction On I believe it was XXXX XXXX, I was called at about noon by an XXXX representative in XXXX who sounded confused and panicked that there was some kind of problem with the money being sent to my account in the XXXX but he could not explain to me what the problem was. I immediately drove to the XXXX branch where I usually bank, and there spoke to XXXX XXXX ( See documents Banks Cards 1 and 2 and asked what the problem was sending the money back to XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX told me he didnt know what the problem and had no way of finding out what it was or any way to tell me when or even if the money the money could be sent before I was scheduled to leave XXXX XXXX and in my opinion he did not seem to fully understand how international bank transfers worked. While at the bank, I spoke with the bank manager and another XXXX employee at the time ( as did XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, my supervisor at XXXX ) and while the bank manager seemed confident in how the system worked and he made a few phone calls, it was my opinion at the time that there was no one who could give me any reasonable answer as to when, or even if, the {$14000.00} was going to reach my credit union.

As I was leaving in only a few days, I made the decision just to cancel the entire transaction and have the money returned to my XXXX account. I made this decision due to my increasing alarm at the somewhat bewildered XXXX staff members I was interacting with who had complete control of my {$14000.00}. While at the bank I was told at some point the money would be returned to my account before my XXXX XXXX date of XXXX and not to worry. 

My XXXX XXXXBased Efforts to Track Location of the {$14000.00} USD I continued to track the money over the next few days, but no bank employee I spoke to at the XXXX branches I visited ( by this point I had made about XXXX or XXXX visits to the banks ) could figure out where the money was. By this point, I had less than a week before leaving. It should also be noted that over the week, I made multiple calls to the XXXX Customer Service number as well as various XXXX employees, all who could give no actual accounting of where the money is. 
And so, my sponsor, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX involved, who have been consistently very helpful, had XXXX XXXX, a XXXX  employee, come with me to the branch and we began interacting with XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, branch banker, in trying to figure out ( 1. ) Who had the money and ( 2. ) When the money would be returned to my account. XXXX XXXX visited the bank several times over the next three days and were told a variety of accounts of the situation. 
In the end, despite repeatedly being told the money was to be returned by XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, it became apparent it was not arriving before my XXXX XXXX date, which presents a whole series of problems as is playing itself out now. After a few more visits to the bank, and several consultations, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX came up with the idea that they would secure the {$14000.00} on its eventual arrival and then send it to me using XXXX XXXX. This was accomplished with XXXX XXXX XXXX  employees directing us to perform a whole series of activities to produce a document that satisfied them. These requirements included two trips to the United States XXXX in XXXX where the XXXX XXXX had to witness and sign documents, as well as two other visits to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for other requirements such as affixing a stamp to the document. ( See document Affidavit XXXX and XXXX ) Eventually, however, all XXXX  requirements that they required of me to get my money back from them were met to their satisfaction and I exited XXXX XXXX on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX staff assuring me they would release the money to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX once they decided to give it back to me. I had left all banking information as well as my bank card, bank details, passwords etc. with XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, my supervisor at XXXX. As a side note, I fully trust XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX XXXX and both XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX in this issue. 

Attempts to Track Money After Arrival in the XXXX After arrival in XXXX, XXXX, I began attempting to further track the location of the money. Since I have never received any correspondence from XXXX about this issue by phone, email or on my XXXX  account page, I began calling both XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) and spoke to them three times. I was told by their representative that as the money was never actually sent to them by Wells Fargo ( the Intermediary bank for overseas transactions that XXXX XXXX XXXX evidently uses ) that they would have no record of it. Hence, I was told by XXXX XXXX XXXX that I must contact Wells Fargo, which I did. 
On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX, I spoke with a XXXX XXXX customer service representative at Wells Fargo Bank who basically told me there was no way they could trace whether his company had received the {$14000.00} as I did not have the transaction number. It should be remembered that I do have the XXXX  Transfer receipt and I was trying to give XXXX the numbers, but he kept asking for a number on the document I could not give him as it is in XXXX. XXXX would connect me to the XXXX XXXX Department directly, but instead he would only put me on hold and tell me what they said. Despite me giving XXXX the date, the amount, my account number as well as the other numbers on the paper ( See document XXXX Transfer ) he simply kept telling me in a more emphatic tone that Wells Fargo had no way of telling me if they actually had my {$14000.00} or not. He then told me my only option was to have XXXX XXXX XXXX file a case against XXXX XXXX XXXX  to make them account for where the money I sent was. And it should be kept in mind that according to XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX ( as well as the XXXX XXXX document ), that it is Wells Fargo, XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, California XXXX who has my money. 
After this sort of treatment and the careless and thoughtless manner in which I have been treated in simply trying to find out where my {$14000.00} is I called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and there spoke to XXXX. She has been most helpful and even sympathetic to my situation, which has given me some hope that I can get my money back, something I was having some doubts about after dealing with all three banks above. 

Conclusions and Thoughts To be honest, I do not have any idea on how to proceed in this matter. 
I am at a complete loss as to what to do when I send a substantial amount of money to a series of banks and they either have misplaced it, do not understand the correct method to handle/send it/return it or ( as I am beginning to suspect ) are deliberately trying to confuse me with who actually has it to the point that they can eventually keep the money. 
Any help you can give me in this would be greatly appreciated. 

With regards, XXXX XXXX -- -END ---