I’ve never had an issue with my bank. Since college, I’ve used the same establishment and not one problem with them. We were simpatico, buddies, amigos. Then, the worst happened. They merged with the devil.
OK, that may sound a bit extreme. When I signed up for my account with Wachovia, it was more of a desperation; I was going away to school and I needed a bank that my parents and I could both have access to. One that had ample chains and ATM locations. Wachovia was it. Over the years, I stuck with my bank. I had been told time and again how I probably should switch to a local bank or even a credit union, especially when I started in the military. I hadn’t had any issues with Wachovia, so why change? With it being a national bank, there was always a chance of a big change in the horizon, or even worse, a merger. Well, after 10 years of bliss, it finally happened. Wachovia became Wells Fargo and Heaven became hell.
There was problem after problem: direct deposit paychecks were suddenly not deposited, overdraft fees given when there was plenty of money in the account, and all of a sudden, the bank tellers were not up to par. I just couldn’t understand what was happening. The service I had become accustomed to was gone and I was ready to jump ship. We should have done it right then and there. But, life happened and we didn’t. Now we deeply regret it.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. A company that I did work for sent me my payment in check form. The check was from a credit union, and I took it straight to Wells Fargo to have it inspected and deposited. The cashier gave me the thumbs up and deposited the check into our account. After 5 days of the money not showing up, and me suspecting that something was fishy with the check AND the bank, I had a policeman come over and talk to us about the possibility of Fraud. It turns out that the account the check was from had been closed for a while and that the “company” was a hoax. They had gotten free work out of me and the check had tell-tale signs that tellers are trained to recognize as fraudulent. Not customers, tellers. When the officer showed me the intricate details that gave it away, I asked how I was supposed to figure that out. I was told I wasn’t; that was a teller’s job. According to him, the bank MUST talk to us about the situation if we make a report, since their name would be seen in the report and they would be questioned about it all.
After the report was made, and after I had called repeatedly to get the check out of our account, Wells Fargo had decided that the check was a fraud(oh really?) and that the money that was supposed to be deposited into our account would now be taken FROM our account, leaving us 1900 dollars poorer. OH REALLY?! Oh, and one more thing: they would be closing the account in full. “Due to the nature of the recent activity on the account, we will be closing it indefinitely.” Hmm. Also? They refuse to speak to me on the phone about the situation, even though an actual report had been made and was now making it’s rounds through the FBI’s fraud department.
We are in a standstill with the bank as of this moment. Because they are a national chain, they seem to think they can jerk us around. But what they don’t realize is that I am serious about our personal finance. 1900 dollars will not just disappear into a bank that makes billions when I don’t. I should thank them though. After all of the headache, we finally moved our finances…..to a credit union.
Have you ever had a battle with the bank over a discrepancy? Did they fix it?
Hi Amiyrah,
I was going to suggest a Credit Union, but that’s how your blog ended…Good for you, wise choice!!
Thanks Gary!
Yes, we finally went Credit Union like we should have in the first place. And we’ll never look back. I plan on writing about our experience with our credit union later in the week.
Oh my God, Amiyrah, you are not kidding…Wells Fargo sucks so bad!!! My best friend closed her account just last week and moved everything over to PNC, which is my bank also. WF started this new thing where if you don’t get your paycheck directly deposited into your account, there is now a fee to cash it. It’s only $7, but ya know what? Seven bucks is seven bucks, and the company she works for doesn’t offer direct deposit so basically she’s screwed. I guess they think people should be honored that they are being allowed to keep their money in Wells Fargo’s bank. What a joke. I guess they never heard of the word “competition”. Screw them. I’m happy with PNC, but I also hear good things about TD. From what I understand, they have the best hours in the business, and it’s very easy to cash checks there. Anyway, please keep us posted on what happens with your WF dilemma. I hope more people decide to close their accounts there…they blow!
I had a situation when Capital One bough out my bank…I got a $2 rebate check in my maiden name and went to deposit it. This was never a problem before because my maiden name had been on file. Not only did the cashier refuse to deposit it, she accused me of fruad! I had been banking there for over ten years and I was suddenly going to comit fraud over $2?
I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you get your money back soon.
I am very sorry that you had that horrific experience. I don’t think the bank is responsible for guaranteeing payment to you of a check drawn on another bank or credit union, so I doubt you will get the money. What I am shocked at is that they had the audacity to close your account-like YOU did something wrong. I work in the high net worth finance industry and I can tell you that since WF hit the east coast there have been nothing but problems. They just don’t get how we expect to be treated.
I hope that you will sometime in the future share the name of the company so that some other honest, hard working person does not have to go through this experience.
We have Wells Fargo and hate them. My husband keeps saying we are going to switch,.but its such a pain!!
We have Wells Fargo, we hate them! We really need to switch!
I don’t think they explained it very well….they can only take the money out of your account if they put it there in the first place. For example, if you had a $5,000 balance in your account, then deposited the 1900 your new balance is 6900. They will reverse the 1900 deposit leaving you back at your original 5000. They’re not really ( or should not be) taking your money from your account.
Anon,
nope, they are literally holding us responsible and are making us pay for their mistake. They even had the nerve to call earlier in the week and ask when we plan on paying. Needless to say, I had a few words for them, and the number to the JAG at my base. They really do suck.
I got a job as a teller at Wells Fargo the summer after college when they first converted and I can tell you from first hand exp. that this company is abysmal. They treat their customers like criminals and employees like robots. At first it was an “us vs them” type of deal because everyday is so hostile but I have seen so many egregious instances of injustice on the customer’s part that I know it truly is wrong.
Anon,
thank you for your comment. I just think its sad how a merger can turn something so great into something so ridiculous. I just can’t understand why they would treat their customers, and even their employees, in such a way.
What a nightmare! The numbers don’t add up. The only way they have a right to collect from you is if you utilized those funds ($1900)in which case you used the banks money and they want it back. Otherwise, they need to go back to basic math class.
Your situation should have been resolved at a branch-what nonsense.
Late to the discussion here. But awesome writing, Amiyrah! Should I admit I worked for Wells Fargo in college over two summers in SF? Probably not!
And add Bank of America to the list of evil-pure evil! Won’t go into details but they had fees of $373 from my son’s CLOSED account & no notice to him. (Very long story that took a year from beginning to end.) His balance was then $19 (over a medical insurance credit), and they still haven’t given it back.
I’ve been with a credit union for 1 1/2 years. Love them. They love me. Every time I come in, all the tellers know me by name. I know the branch manager. He laughs at my stories. They’re all friendly and professional and no nightmares! It’s not rocket science, BoA, WF, Citibank, HSBC (< money laundering for terror, just closed online savings acct. with them this morning). The list is too long to include more names...