Consumer complaint received 2025-09-13 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
On the morning of Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to deposit a check from my boyfriend for our mortgage payment via mobile deposit. The amount was {$1000.00} ; we both have our own Wells Fargo accounts and have for over XXXX  years. I was already having multiple issues trying to take a photo on the mobile deposit feature due to not a dark enough background, etc, etc, but finally got it to go through at XXXX XXXX. I have never had issues with the deposit not going through immediately to my account since we both have WF accounts, but for some reason it told me that the amount wouldn't be available until XX/XX/XXXX, the next day. Okay, fine, not a huge deal. Then the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, I get an email at XXXX saying " Deposit hold alert '' and that I need to read a message in my account. The message says " We received your recent deposit to your Wells Fargo account and credited that amount to your account. Some or all of these funds will not be available for your immediate use. The reason for the delay and the date your funds will be available are stated below : XXXX date : XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX amount : XXXX. XXXX delayed : XXXX. Hold reason : Insufficient funds at inquiry time. Date funds will be available : XX/XX/XXXX. '' The amount of the check was not available in my account to use and was left as a pending deposit, but the money was taken out of my boyfriend 's account on XX/XX/XXXX immediately after I deposited the check via mobile deposit. I know this because I texted him right after I deposited it and he said it showed as a pending withdrawal on his account and that the money was already taken out. RIGHT AWAY. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, his transaction details say both that the transaction date was on XX/XX/XXXX and the posted date was on XX/XX/XXXX. There were no insufficient funds at the time of withdrawal as the money was withdrawn immediately. There was more money in his account at the time than the {$1000.00} anyways and he received no notices about insufficient funds or a negative balance even though he has that set up because, again, the money was already taken out of his account. So where did it go? Why was it not available in my account?

I called WF 's customer care phone line on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX and was on the phone for over XXXX minutes. The lady I spoke to was the most unhelpful person I have ever dealt with in my life. All she kept doing was patronizing me by repeating the same information the computer was telling her which was that the hold on the check was due to insufficient funds at inquiry time. I went on and on to explain how that makes no sense because the money was taken out of my boyfriend 's account. Where was the {$1000.00}? It wasn't in my boyfriend 's account or mine, so where was WF holding this money? 

She claimed they could do nothing because the hold would be in place over the weekend until Monday when they could " reprocess '' the check. I asked why if it would be reprocessed on Monday but funds would still not be available to me until that Thursday. Had no real answer other than that was the processing time. I explained over and over how much we needed this money asap to be able to pay our mortgage on time and she was unsympathetic and unhelpful over and over again. Speaking like a literal robot reading off of a script. She offered no solutions of how to help get us this money sooner than next Thursday, which is absolutely ridiculous. 7 days hold on a check FROM a WF acct TO a WF acct. Absolutely ridiculous. 

When I asked to speak to someone who could help me further, she said she was the highest person up that I could talk to, but yet she had no control over the hold and could do nothing. Interesting. So, the second level up in command over the phone is the " highest in charge '' and there's nothing you can do? This is who you place in charge of serious issues over your customer care line? My boyfriend asked her if she could look up his account information and see that the check was withdrawn from his account to verify that we were telling the truth and she condescendingly said that " she could check, but it would make no difference. '' I then asked her if I should go into a physical branch and if they would be able to help further and she claimed no, that they would tell me the same exact information. 

So, after wasting XXXX minutes on the phone with this woman, we decided to run to our local branch. Thankfully, we had XXXX open from XXXX since it is Saturday. We explained the whole situation again and the manager of the branch helped us right away. She explained that people over the phone do not usually have the same authorities and can not do certain things. Ordinarily, she said when there is a hold like this, WF associates are supposed to contact the bank that the check originated from, but she confirmed in a laughing tone that obviously, this bank was them. She was able to remove the hold immediately from our account and the check funds were deposited into my account right after. We thanked her profusely and complained to her as well that the person who helped us over the phone was extremely unhelpful and did not offer us any solutions; did not even suggest that we try to go to a local branch and work out the issue. 

The fact that initially, Wells Fargo tried to hold over {$1000.00} from us because of false information ( insufficient funds at inquiry date ) and would not help us out and try to find a solution, shows the level of shadiness this bank processes overall. This is truthfully no reflection on the associate that helped us at the local branch, she was incredibly helpful and didn't question us in anyway. She actually treated us like real customers and had a real human, empathetic response and solution to our situation. So, even though she did help us in-person, it's extremely concerning to see WF using these tactics to hold money from their customers with false accusations of insufficient funds. Taking advantage of the hard working middle-class citizens of America who work paycheck to paycheck to even be able to afford to live in a house that we own and WF exploits that as they generated {$19.00} XXXX in net income in XXXX. 

To say I'm done as a Wells Fargo customer, is an absolute given. The nice woman who helped us physically at the bank even told us that this ability to " remove a hold '', which is what she did for us today, was going to be taken away as a practice for them effective next week. So, going forward, WF is making it even more impossible for their associates to help their customers. If something like this happens to you, starting next week, they will not even give their associates the button option to clear these holds for you. I think WF is using shady practices as they always have and it's only going to get worse. Holding people 's money for 7 days off of clearly some sort of glitch in their system, should be illegal. I honestly regret banking with them this long to this point. I have only stayed out of convenience, but after this, I will surely be looking for services elsewhere.

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