Consumer complaint received 2025-08-19 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card — Can't use card to make purchases
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MT

Complaint narrative:
I procured a XXXX XXXX general use Credit card through Wells Fargo and activated the card on XX/XX/XXXX. I have excellent credit ( over XXXX ) and have NO debt at all. I chose to use the new card to pre-pay for some hotel rooms I had booked on XX/XX/XXXX through XXXX. ( I have XXXX XXXX of hotels booked and reserved those reservations with a different card and booked them early because of the deep discounts offered by booking so far ahead. My trip is from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. ) I used the card with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to pay for XXXX of my hotel reservations and the charge was denied. I thought it was a mistake so I tried immediately to use it again. It was denied a second time. I then called Wells Fargo and asked them why the card was denied. They stated they thought the charge was fraudulent so they denied the charge. Then then told me they changed my settings an APPROVED the card to be used at XXXX. I returned to the website and tried to use the card and it was denied for a THIRD time. I recalled Wells Fargo and they said the previous person didn't reset the card correctly so they put me on with another department ( the XXXX dept ) and the new agent stated they approved the card ( for the second time ). I then returned to the website and chose to try to pay for a different ( and cheaper ) hotel than the one I had tried the previous 3 times... just to be sure that the card was working. The card worked for this 'second ' hotel. So I returned to pay for the original hotel, my forth attempt, and the card was denied. Again, I figured that there MUST have been some sort of transmission error ( because the previous payment went through ). The card was denied again - the XXXX time. I called Wells Fargo back again ( my third call ) and they said they had only approved the card for XXXX charge, not multiple charges. So they then told me they reset it to work again for all charges. I returned to the website yet again and tried to use the card, again for a different hotel than the hotel that had continued to be denied ( I have multiple hotels booked with XXXX for this long trip ). The card worked so I felt assured that I could try to pay for that original hotel ( my XXXX attempt ). AGAIN, the card was denied. But this time, I got a message from XXXX stating that the card was denied again because they had CANCELLED my reservation due to " IRREGULAR CREDIT CARD ACTIVITY ''. 

I then called XXXX and I explained the issue with Wells Fargo and asked if they could reset my previous reservation. They said they couldn't honor my previous booking but I could rebook the hotel as a new reservation. But to rebook the reservation, for the exact same room type, the current charge was approximately {$350.00} more than my original reservation. 

So I called Wells Fargo again and asked them to cover the difference for the new reservation- since I lost the original reservation due to Wells Fargo mistakes. They said they don't do this but I could file a complaint, which I did. They told me to expect a call back within XXXX hours. All of this occurred on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received calls back and have called them approximately XXXX more times. I didn't keep records on the number of times I called ( but if necessary, I could get that information off of my cell phone ). Each time I called, I was told I needed to call a different department or I was connected with a different department. It was all very confusing. Several times, I was connected with the wrong department and several times, it was clear that the previous agents hadn't written my complaint down correctly, and several times the agent I was referred to stated they read my report and can't help me but when I asked them some questions about that, it was clear they actually HAD NOT adequately read my complaint. Each time I re-explained my complaint, the agents acted supportive, making vague statements about getting this resolved favorably. 

XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I finally got a call from a Wells Fargo agent that did not initially understand the scope of the Wells Fargo mistakes but when he understood, he stated that this issue clearly needs to be resolved and he felt positive about me getting a favorable resolution. He gave me his name and direct phone number for his office. He stated that he would make a NEW case number and that someone would get back to me within XXXX hours and that if, by chance, I didn't hear from someone, I could call him directly. I waited XXXX hours and tried to call him back directly ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). The number he gave me was a NON-WORKING number ( a number I had repeated back to him to insure I got it written down correctly ). So I called the main number for the complaint department and the agent I spoke to stated this person was away from his desk but she would leave a message for him to call me asap. In the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, I had not heard back from him so I called the Complaint Line again. Again the agent stated he was away from his desk but they would leave a message to call me asap as he would be back promptly. I waited a few hours and did not hear back so I called the Complaint Line again. This time, the agent told me that my CASE was closed and the names on the closure documents was this fellow I had spoken with on XX/XX/XXXX and another person. So this new agent said there is nothing she could do for me and there is no further for me to go. I asked to file another complaint. She allowed me to do this but did state that this complaint will be considered 'new ' and it would be XXXX to XXXX XXXX before I hear from anyone. 

My complaint with you is about the unprofessional and dismissive treatment I received from Wells Fargo, that included a lot of incompetency. As a result of these practices, I no longer have a reservation at the hotel I wanted to stay at in XXXX ( I won't rebook it at the higher rate because it's now out of my budget... and the price for the hotel goes up each day as it gets closer to my planned arrival date. For example, today the price for the same room was over {$400.00} ). 

I am just a regular person. I am not a big business or an individual with deep pockets who would be a desired customer for Wells Fargo. What I am asking for is CLEARLY for Wells Fargo to take responsibility for how their incompetency led a small customer like me to be put in a position to pay significantly more for a hotel reservation. I am the victim/recipient of their incompetency. I do not have any copies of anything Wells Fargo wrote down about my phone calls, but I do believe they have records of the amount of times I called and the general information about why I called. Also, when I spoke with XXXX, they have a time stamped record of EVERY time the credit card was denied ( that are synchronized with the times I called Wells Fargo ) but I do not have copies of these records. I could try to get those if it would be helpful. 
I know this document is long but the details are important because they clearly demonstrate how Wells Fargo dismissed, misled and mishandled my situation. I will pay off the balance on my XXXX XXXX and then cancel the card. And I will never engage in any business with Wells Fargo again. What is sad about this is that, their loss of my business will NOT impact them at all. I, as a simple customer, don't matter so there is no incentive for them to resolve these small budget issues with me. I have no power with them and they're not in the business of caring XXXXfor the regular person '.

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