Consumer complaint received 2026-04-22 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, at approximately XXXX, I went to Wells Fargo Bank XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX Florida XXXX. I was helped initially by a young Caucasian female, but was also helped by employee " Vlad '' whom I questioned about me getting ready to deposit a {$68000.00} - U.S. Treasury, Government written and backed check and the availability of the funds. I clearly asked BEFORE I deposited the check, and the availability of my funds. I was told {$2500.00} would be released immediately ( which it was ) and the rest would be released " tomorrow ''. I wanted to know this information upfront before depositing the check so I would clearly be able to make an informed decision on the deposit or to take the check to another bank or check cashing system. The policy clearly states that they must inform you upfront, and they did, however they changed it after I deposited my check, and after hours. This is deceptive practices, because I had other options, not just Wells Fargo. I made the deposit based on verbal information from the teller, however, they decided to keep my check locked up and earn interest for XX/XX/XXXX days before releasing my funds. Everyone is well aware that a Government check is going to clear. I know that banks are connected to the Government software where the check is " checked '' in front of the customer for validity. That was done in my case as well. My Identity was checked with several forms of ID that I produced, so no problem there. On XX/XX/year>, at approximately XXXX, I spoke to branch XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and he informed me that a "XX/XX/XXXX " FLAG '' had been placed on the check. He advised me that he had only seen this done 2 times in his entire career, and I would not be getting the funds after the date of the XXXX ( XXXX ) due to a fraud issue with the check and the Government account that the check was written from. I then drove XXXX minutes to the Government XXXX that actually wrote the check ( U.S.D.A. ) A Supervisor at the USDA in turn checked the check and found nothing wrong with the check. So, XXXX XXXX told me a lie. XXXX XXXX XXXX told me a Lie. I was deceived from the start, and a supervisor doubled down on that deception. If this is a standard policy to place a hold on the check, why verbally tell the customer it will be released the next day? Why would a supervisor tell a customer the Government has flagged the check. Where is this INTEGRITY that Wells Fargo prides itself on. This is pretty pathetic, and deceptive practices to hold a Government check that is verified from day XXXX. If Wells Fargo was so worried about not getting their funds from the Government, why did they initially release {$2500.00}, then {$4000.00} to my account. That amount of money was not in my account as collateral. So that assumption that they were trying to protect me is BS. I was actually told the full amount would be released the next day, but I only needed {$20000.00} the next day, and I could wait on the rest if I actually had too.

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