Consumer complaint received 2025-02-11 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Fees charged for closing account
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
I am a XXXX XXXX who had an account with Wells Fargo for over 10 years. Over these 10 years they advertised consistently that they are XXXX and offer military benefits. During this time, myself and other personnel have noticed this is not accurate as we experienced multiple issues. After getting married and using my husbands XXXX account and finding that I did not experience any of these issues with XXXX, I decided to close my credit and line of credit account with WF, only keeping a small checking account open for me to use if I need it on military bases. However in XXXX of XXXX, I realized that these " military advantages '' were non-existent and they actually indicated XXXX behavior when I was seeking help from them. In light of this behavior and discussing with other XXXX XXXX who noticed similar issues and closed their account, I also decided to close my account sometime in XX/XX/year>. When I closed the account via phone, the representative specifically told me there were no additional charges being incurred, I specifically asked twice if there was a balance or anything additional I needed to pay and I was told no. I then XXXX to the XXXX XXXX in a XXXX XXXX for 11 months with no ability to turn on phone data, receive phone calls or see my mail. I only had email which WF had my email and still never emailed me anything. I then return home to multiple phone calls telling me that I owe a balance on this closed account. 

I then contacted WF. They advised me of the amount, I agreed to pay the balance but ONLY if I received a digital receipt stating that I had paid the balance and the account no long had any fees incurred. I did this because I had been lied to the first time I called. The collections department explained they can only mail this and it might take 10 days, I felt this took too long considering this department was clearly dishonest, so the employee named XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ) told me the customer service department can email or text me a receipt of this payment. They transferred me to customer service automated phone service that then hung up on me. So I called the WF collections department back and was advised they can't help with the receipt and transferred me back to the WF customer service. WF customer service told me they can't look up my information even though I was willing to provide my name, social security # and DOB. They told me I need to go back to the WF collections and get my account number ( I did not recall this number as I have not used this account for more than a year and did not hold onto these documents because the account was supposed to be closed ) This seemed highly inefficient at this point that a WF customer service employee only has one way of looking up information on a customer via account number. I was transferred back to the WF collections department by customer service citing that I need to get my account number from the collections department and then call them back. I was transferred back to the WF collections department and at that time, I gave my information again, at which point the employee named XXXX ( employee ID : XXXX ) started the phone call by reviewing my information and saying that I have a balance of {$530.00} on my account. At this point I was completely baffled, I explained to her that I just made a payment 30 mins ago to this account and was told the account was cleared, I was only asking for a receipt and the fact that no one was willing to provide me with a digital receipt was weird. XXXX then said she would put me on hold and search for the amount, she then said she did not see any proof of payment and that she would need to transfer me to customer service for them to create a " claim '' ( which made no sense to me, a company practicing shady methods can not investigate themselves as they won't ever find themselves at fault ). I then pressed her and asked to speak with a manager, legal or would otherwise file a complaint with the better business bureau at which time, she said she would find someone to help her find it. After 15 mins, she found the payment and stated again she could not provide a receipt and would transfer me back to customer service. I was transferred to the automated customer service phone and was then hung up on, again. 

I'm filing this complaint because Wells Fargo has time and time again demonstrated shady practices and I'm concerned that this money will be taken from my account and then 1 year later, they will come back to me, citing that they never received the payment and that I still owe. This organization is NOT veteran or military friendly as it well known amongst my unit and base not to use Wells Fargo and to use XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX or XXXX instead. I am sick of this organization taking advantage of XXXX XXXX and am willing to raise this issue to the highest level in order for this to not continue to occur. It is sinister that they would damage my credit for 11 months when I am completely unable to contact them by phone due to the austere environment that I was unfortunately located in. It is a complete slap in the face to a service member, to have this held against them and have this credit damage after I did my due diligence to resolve the issue prior to me leaving, but then after having spent 1 year away from my husband and XXXX XXXX XXXX child in order to serve our country, this is what I come back to. This is not a XXXX friendly company, any XXXX friendly company will understand the nuances and difficult circumstances of being XXXX, there should be some grace given to us with the difficult position we are put in.

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 explanation