Consumer complaint received 2026-07-20 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I damaged my Wells Fargo debit card and ordered a new card. They stated they mailed it on XX/XX/XXXX and on XX/XX/XXXX I went to use my existing debit card and it was declined due to being expired. I called Wells Fargo and asked them what issue was and they told me I needed to use my new card. I informed him that I did not receive my new card yet. He said it was activated today and that was XX/XX/XXXX. I told them I did not activate it. At this time the gentleman asked if we could set my card up on XXXX XXXX so that I could still make purchases. So that is what the representative at Wells Fargo did. At that time, they ordered me a new card and cancelled the existing one. After using my XXXX XXXX, I noticed my balance didn't look right. I reviewed my transaction history and noticed there was a charge at a XXXX XXXX station in XXXX XXXX California on XX/XX/XXXX for {$170.00}. I immediately called Wells Fargo back inform them that I did not authorize that charge. I also informed them that I believe my mail was stolen out of my mailbox. At this point we then installed a locking mailbox. Wells Fargo provided me with a provisional credit of {$170.00}. After their investigation I received a letter that said they were not honoring my claim because there were similar transactions and locations on my normal card usage and there were undisputed transactions on the card. ( I reviewed my statement and there were no other charges that weren't made by me. ) I called them back and requested that they reopen the case and do another investigation because their information did not make sense. I told them there could not have been similar transactions or locations because I've never been to XXXX XXXX and I've never made a purchase in XXXX XXXX and that I also couldn't possibly put {$170.00} of gas in my car, as my car takes about {$45.00} in gas to fill it up. The representative reopened the case and said that they would do another investigation. A few days later I called back and asked to speak to a Supervisor and explained the entire story to that person from beginning to end. She kept me on hold for about XXXX minutes coming back every XXXX minutes telling me that she was working with her colleague to do some investigating on the case. She finally came back on the phone and said I'm really glad you called back to follow up because we know who did this because they were still trying to make purchases online after you cut the card off and they were declined. We will continue to investigate this and send you a letter in the mail of our findings. A week later I get another letter in the mail not honoring my claim. Again the letter stated that there were similar transactions and locations on my normal card usage, that there were undisputed transactions on the card and the third one saying that the address given to the merchant was my home address. Well from there information on the bank statement it shows that the person put the card in the machine and when they put the card in the machine they have to put the ZIP code so of course they have my ZIP code they stole my mail out of my mailbox. At this point I did not call to dispute again. They said they were going to charge my account on the XXXX of XXXX. I was very irritated about this and I have not paid the charge to my account. I believe their investigation was lazy. A real investigation would have found your identity or a video of the person using my card at the gas station because it wasn't me. I then made a formal report with the XXXX XXXX Inspection for Mail Theft, Reference number : XXXX on XX/XX/year>, and then also made a report with the XXXX XXXX XXXX Sheriff 's Department, Incident report # XXXX on XX/XX/year>. Wells Fargo needs to do a very thorough investigation and needs to find out if there is a video or photo of the person using my card at that gas pump. You can not just determine that my claim is not valid due to similar locations and card usage when there are no similar locations or card usage. A similar card usage would be that I would spend {$170.00} or so in the gas station when I get gas and that's not even possible. Thank you.

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 monetary relief