Consumer complaint received 2025-09-04 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Cashing a check
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
This complaint is about Wells Fargo. 

I cashed my paycheck on XX/XX/year>. Knowing it was a holiday weekend, I understood the check would not go through until XXXX. However, on XXXX, the funds from my check were not dispersed. I called someone and they said to wait XXXX hours. On XXXX, I received a email saying my funds were on hold. I called noon on XXXX and the first representative said that this was due to " maker had recently returned checks '' I did not understand what this meant and repeatedly asked the representative to define what this meant. She said " I only have the script. '' I then asked, " So you don't know the terminology of the information you're providing? '' She continued to say " I can only say what is on the script. ' It took asking her about close to 10 times to finally understand that she meant to say that my check had bounced because my employer had insufficient funds. However, I work for a school district and county government. This made no sense. I called them and they began researching into it. My district confirmed that the check I cashed did not bounce because Wells had taken the money from it already. I called Wells back again. This time a new representative said that the check I cashed was good, but that the maker ( aka my school district ) had been flagged for having a number of bounced checks from the account with which I was paid out from. However, I confirmed with both the district AND XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX accounting that this was false information- there was no evidence of any returned checks to these employers for as far back as they could go. When I called Wells again, I was told that my employer must be lying since it could be to save face. This is remarkably rude and stupid. I demanded to speak to a supervisor, but the person kept trying to discourage me saying that the supervisor was just going to say the same thing. I finally got through to a supervisor who was kind in saying that the same thing had wrongfully happened to him and how hard it had been on him. However, he said that I am forced to wait XXXX  days for the check to be processed due to this hold. I told him that this is unacceptable- I have housing that can be rightfully taken from me if I do not pay by the XXXX, I pay for medicine that is suicide-preventative, and need my paycheck for basics like gas to get to work. I explained that waiting until XX/XX/XXXX puts my life in serious jeopardy. He continued to say there was nothing to do but wait. I requested that I talk to another supervisor. This person- named XXXX said that there was nothing else that can be done. I requested that I be given documentation of evidence of why the account was on hold. She said it was already sent- this is false. She was referring to an automatic alert that was sent the morning of XXXX in which it just said 'recently returned checks ' as the reason, but I clarified I wanted to know evidence of why that label was written. It doesn't seem legal that they can just claim random exceptions without evidence. She told me there was no evidence she could see of. She told me to wait another 10 days and that there was no one else to speak to do anything. I said well that makes this illegal and in violation of regulation CC. Only then did she suddenly say I could talk to someone at executive operations, but that there is no one on site to connect to and that I have to wait for them to call me. I requested that she put this in writing her reasoning for not sharing evidence but she refused and said that someone else could do that later. She said that someone from the executive office would get back to me in XXXX business days. I hung up extremely angry with no answers. On XXXX at XXXX XXXX, I received a call from someone at the executive office. They said that they also don't see any evidence because they are " not on the backend '' When I requested to speak with someone on the back end, she said none of them work. I requested to speak to a XXXX or supervisor and she said they do not have any in that office. She said I needed to wait XXXX  days to see if Wells was holding my funds due to false or incorrect information. I said that means I am still in life threatening jeopardy if I can not pay for my medication. She said that that is unfortunate but that I have to wait. I then said again that I believe this is in violation of the law and she started to listen and said she might be able to get it done in the next XXXX days. But this means my housing is still at risk. She said there was nothing more she could do and hung up. 

My life is in serious danger. I received a paycheck for working hard at school this month, I cashed it the way I always do, my employer correctly wrote it/ does not have outstanding checks, and yet I am being punished? This goes beyond inconvenient. If something happens to me, it is on Wells Fargo and their horrible system. I will absolutely be leaving their services after this and I think they should be investigated, because I have confirmed from my employer that Wells has access to the funds, and yet Wells is not releasing it. I believe that they are doing this to random customer to slow down how money moves throughout their business. XXXX representatives who I spoke with all said the same thing happened to them and how scary it was but that " it just happens sometimes '' I think Wells is doing something wildly illegal and must be investigated.

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 non-monetary relief