Consumer complaint received 2024-03-01 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I received an automated phone call presumably from Wells Fargo Fraud from XXXX that there was suspected fraudulent activity on my Wells Fargo debit card. I said to the automated call to decline the purchase, and a callback number to call at XXXX. I spoke with the person who identified himself as XXXX XXXX who gave me his direct number in case we got disconnected. We spoke about the transactions, and the call dropped during the course of the conversation. 

I received a text message from ( XXXX ) XXXX stating This is XXXX XXXX  call me back at this number. I was assured that my card had been deactivated and could follow up within 48 hours. When I called the number back on Wednesday to follow up, there was no answer at the number. A screenshot of the text was made The 2 transactions in question were both made online to XXXX XXXX, both in the exact same amount of {$2200.00} through their online services. Wells Fargo told me to try and contact the merchant, which I did. XXXX XXXX told me that they could not give me any information on the transactions without filing a police report and having the transactions subpoenaed. 



Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX I called Wells Fargo customer service where I was transferred through numerous departments until I finally found someone to speak with. The person I spoke with said the information was not from Wells Fargo, including the name XXXX XXXX, and they opened claim number XXXX for fraudulent activity. The card was immediately deactivated and I was told to destroy the card. The card was put through a cross cut shredder, and then thrown in the home trash bag. I live in a rural area where we have no trash service, and all our trash is burned in a burn barrel. 

I was told that when the two transactions were made, the card number had been entered multiple times incorrectly before it went through. It was not a chip read, swipe, or tap and pay for the transactions which showed on my account detail that Card # entered by Customer/Merchant . 

The transaction dispute should be resolved within 10 days. 

XX/XX/XXXX Ive not heard anything from Wells Fargo. I called Customer Service ( XXXX ) for an update, and was told that the claim had been declined and should file a police report. Visa had approved the charges via ACH and that was all Wells Fargo could do as it was verified by Visa. 

XX/XX/XXXX A report was made ( report # XXXX ) with the XXXX XXXX Sheriffs Office. The information was taken by Deputy XXXX XXXX who came to my residence for the report. He told me the report would be available for pickup the next day. 

XX/XX/XXXX I picked up the police report and went to my local Wells Fargo branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX and went through the details. I gave him the police report. He copied it and several other pieces of documentation and sent it to the Fraud Department. He made a number of phone calls with different people and told them that I had been verified via my drivers license, and also by PIN number on my new card that I had received in the mail. Upon leaving, XXXX XXXX gave me his business card to speak to him about any issues. 

Monday, XX/XX/XXXX Ive not heard anything from Wells Fargo, so I called my local Wells Fargo branch at ( XXXX ) XXXX to speak with XXXX XXXX. The banks phone number led me through a number of IVR choices where no one ever answered the call. The call rolled over to Wells Fargo Customer Service. I tried a number of times, but the same thing happened. I finally talked with the main Customer Service and explained the issue, and went through a number of people, but the final decision was made that the claim had been declined and there was nothing further that could be done. 

Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX I went to my local XXXX XXXX store and spoke with the store manager and explained the situation. He looked at the police report and began a search for the transactions. He said that he needed the card number that the charges had been made on ( the card that was destroyed ). I did not have the card number since it had been destroyed. He said with the card number, he could look the transactions, and determine if the purchase had been delivered to a XXXX XXXX location or to an address. He also stated that since it was charged twice for the same amount, it was possible that since the card number had been entered a number of times, their online system could have processed it twice. 

Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center dated XX/XX/XXXX. It stated that their research concluded that the purchase was authorized and that a processing error did not occur. Please consider the claim closed. 

Monday. XX/XX/XXXX I went to my local Wells Fargo branch and spoke with the branch manager, XXXX XXXX. I had to go through the entire situation with him, bringing to him all the evidence that I have collected to date. I managed to get my stolen debit card number from him. He made several phone calls, and one person he spoke to told him to look up information in their XXXX (? ) system, but he could not access it. Eventually he finally came back to me saying this was all he could do. He was just a middle man. Somewhere on one of the calls, he asked if I could file an appeal to the decision. A complaint with the Wells Fargo decision was about the only next step. I am supposed to receive a complaint notification from Wells Fargo about the entire investigation both by mail and email. 

I visited my local XXXX XXXX store once again, and explained the information to them with the updated information I had gotten from the bank. They were not able to look up the information based on my phone number or email address. They suggested that I call their online fraud center. I called and spoke with them, and they could not find out anything about the fraudulent transactions and said that any further investigation should have been done by Wells Fargo. I can not access the information from XXXX XXXX without a subpoena from the court. Wells Fargo refuses to do anything more. 

Any documents including the subpoena or anything else should be sent to : XXXX XXXX Legal Dept. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I called the XXXX XXXX Sheriffs Department about the report I had been given to see if there was anything more that I could do with them. The lady I spoke with said my next step should be to contact the XXXX XXXX Courthouse at XXXX. When I called and explained the situation, I was told I could file with them on a Small Claims for {$170.00}. Interestingly enough, the woman I spoke with said she had been a banker and what Wells Fargo told me that they had done all they could, she said No. They have more avenues they could pursue. If they had not contacted the merchant and gone through all the steps that I had already gone through, they havent done their job. 

Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail from Wells Fargo Enterprise Complaints Management Office dated and postmarked XX/XX/XXXX. The subject was We received your concerns, and have a Wells Fargo Case Number : .It basically says they will do more research and should have a response within 10 days or if they need more time to research, they would contact me. The contact number provided is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

Enterprise Complaints Management Office XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a secure email from XXXX. I called Wells Fargo Customer Service to verify that it was indeed sent by Wells Fargo and not a scam. They verified it as legitimate. Their investigation stood by their initial claim as denied and have closed the case. 

The contact information provided was : XXXX Monday Friday XXXX to XXXX XXXX. 

It was signed by : XXXX XXXX Escalations Representative Enterprise Complaints Management Office XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX Called the Wells Fargo claims number. 

Did you contact XXXX XXXX? Answer : No. 

Why did the charge of {$2200.00} that was made twice on the same day from the same merchant not trigger a red flag? Answer : A call was made to my phone with an authorization code to approve the transactions. I never received such a call. 

The claim is still denied. They did nothing further than what was originally done by Wells Fargo in their original decision to deny the claim. 


Friday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX, stating that Wells Fargo stands by its claim that there was no bank or merchant error. How could they know anything about the merchant without the subpoena to know about the actual transactions? 

I talked with several lawyers and was referred me to XXXX XXXX by a lawyer at phone number XXXX to help find the correct lawyer to represent me for the situation. The first Tuesday of each month they will give legal advice on a case. 

Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXX and spoke with them about Wells Fargos decision on the claim. Wells Fargo stated that they had been in touch with the merchant ( XXXX XXXX ) and determined there was no fraud. XXXX XXXX told me that even if Wells Fargo had contacted them about the transactions, they too, like me, would have to have had a subpoena before they could disclose any information. I do not believe Wells Fargo has done their due diligence in trying to get this matter resolved. 


Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX Called Wells Fargo Share your feedback number at XXXX because Your feedback matters in hopes that someone would actually read the whole case and see if they will take care of their customers the way their website says it does. Understandably, the lady did not have access to all the information, and would submit my complaint again to have someone review it. 

The complaint number is # XXXX No written correspondence will be available. Someone from Wells Fargo might review it again and let me know their findings. She told me that if I filed a lawsuit, it would have to be against XXXX XXXX. That makes no sense in the fact that if I did not have the funds available in my bank account, the transactions would have been declined automatically by XXXX XXXX. 

Somebody somewhere is not doing their job. 

Thursday XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from Wells Fargo Enterprise Complaints Management Office again regarding case # XXXX that they will take a look at the missing funds within 10 days. The address is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Phone number is XXXX Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with an attorney at the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX This is a Breach of Depositor Agreement Can sue for court costs, attorneys fees, punitive damages Called Wells Fargo Complaints Management office XXXX Resolution should be by XX/XX/XXXX or earlier Updated case # XXXX Associated with case # XXXX Thursday. XX/XX/XXXX I received a text and email from my XXXX Visa credit card about a suspicious transaction and they had declined it for {$590.00}. I called them at their customer service number and we determined it was fraudulent. The card was immediately deactivated and a new one is on the way. Why could Wells Fargo not be suspicious of 2 amounts of the same amount to the same merchant on the same day? Both incidents were on XXXX.

I also researched debit card information on account liability. I found a PDF document and downloaded it from the website XXXX XXXX XXXX //www.wellsfargo.comXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The file name was fetch.pdf On page 16 of the document, it begins talking about Zero Liability Protection. Page 21 shows the limits of fees based on reporting activity of the transactions. 



Monday, XX/XX/XXXX Called Wells Fargo Complaints Management office XXXX Informed them of the Zero Liability Protection clause. 

Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX Received an email from Wells Fargo denying the claim again. 
Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with the XXXX XXXX again about what type of attorney I need. It is a Contract attorney. There is also a XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX that can give a referral. If not, contact the XXXX XXXX and speak to a XXXX attorney who may be able to recommend someone in XXXX. 

The issue may be resolved by simply sending them a letter.

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