Consumer complaint received 2025-10-28 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Unexpected increase in interest rate
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a complaint against Wells Fargo regarding a deferred interest promotion ( 12-month no interest if paid in full ) associated with my jewelry purchase financed through Wells Fargo Retail Services .

Throughout the entire loan period, Wells Fargo consistently communicated via physical mail only all monthly statements and correspondence were delivered by postal mail, and I never consented to paperless or electronic delivery.

In the recent statement mail delivered, I discovered that deferred interest was charged on my account as of XX/XX/scrub>XXXX XXXX XXXX  without any advanced notice, even though I had consistently made on-time payments and had planned to complete the balance in full by my next due on XX/XX/year> After reviewing this matter, I learned that one week before the promotional period was set to expire, Wells Fargo suddenly sent a single notification email informing me that the promotion would end on XX/XX/year>, instead of continuing communication through the previously established mailing channel. However, this email was automatically filtered into my spam folder, and as a result, I did not see it. 

More importantly, Wells Fargo has never used email as a communication channel for this account. All statements and correspondence throughout the entire term have been consistently delivered via physical mail, not email. I have never enrolled in paperless statements or consented to electronic communications. Thus, it was entirely unreasonable for me to expect such a critical notice to be delivered through an unused communication channel. Moreover, it can be translated as an intentional action to earn profit from finance charge using one-side notification that could unclear and ineffective notice to the target customer. 

I contacted Wells Fargo and explained that : I had not received any prior notice through the normal ( mailed ) communication channel. 
I had never opted in to receive electronic notices for this account. 
I was not given a fair opportunity to pay off the balance before the promotional end date. 
Despite these facts, Wells Fargo denied my request for an interest reversal, stating that their policy considers email notification, regardless of prior communication history. 

This practice appears deceptive and intentionally designed to cause consumers to miss the promotional deadline, allowing Wells Fargo to retroactively charge large amounts of interest. By abruptly switching from mailed statements to a single email notice, sent only one week before expiration, the bank effectively ensured that many consumers would not receive timely notice of the required payoff date.

I believe this violates the Truth in Lending Act and Fair Credit Billing Act principles, which require creditors to provide clear, conspicuous, and consistent disclosures using the communication channel that the consumer customarily relies upon.

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