Wells Fargo: Age Discrimination and Customer Disservice

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   Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

   Q: Why does it take 45 minutes and 3 phone calls to deposit a WELLS FARGO BANK CHECK at Wells Fargo?
   A: Because we're Wells Fargo -- and you're not!
   
   That's pretty much the answer I got when I went into my local Wells Fargo branch to follow up on a deposit my son had made earlier in the afternoon.
   This is not the first time my son has been treated rudely at Wells Fargo.
   Yesterday he had a fairly large deposit. Five figures. Too big to go in the ATM.
   It was written out to him BY WELLS FARGO out of his WELLS FARGO trust fund account.
   It was not a personal check.
   It was a bank check.
   Specifically: A Wells Fargo check being deposited into a Wells Fargo checking account.
   The issuing branch is even within the same state.
   
   So why, then, did it take my son 45 minutes to get the check "approved" to even be deposited?
   Why could he overhear the teller on the phone making comments like, "Yeah, it looks like it's written with a Sharpie" ..among other disparaging things?
   Why, after waiting 45 minutes for his local WF branch to deign to deposit HIS money into HIS account, did he come away from the transaction not even knowing when -- or if -- HIS check would clear?
   Could it be my son is 19 and went into the bank wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts????
   Could it be that someone made a judgment call that a 19-year-old kid couldn't possibly have that kind of money, so the check must be fake??
   
   But wait, it gets better!
   When I went in carrying the check stub (so as to prove the check is bona fide from Wells Fargo, not a forgery), I asked if they could explain why my son was treated like a criminal?
   
   And do you want to know what I was told?
   I was told that customer service is not always consistent and customers at Wells Fargo don't always get a positive experience.
   No apology.
   Just that. As if that explained everything.
   I WISH I WAS KIDDING.
   
   As the smug (all of 25, by my guess) teller escorted me out the door I turned to him and said:
   "You know, this is not the first time my son has had trouble depositing checks in your branch. We have a choice of where to bank. Occupy Wall Street is happening all over the country.
   You've judged my son by his appearance once too many times.
   You obviously don't care to make this right with either him or with me.
   We're closing all our accounts and telling his aunt to move the trust account as well.
   I suggest you go look up the account number on that trust account -- just in case you have to explain to your manager what happened to it."
   
   But of course he won't and his manager won't even bat an eye.
   I mean, we're only talking a couple of mil here.
   Chump change if you're in the 1%.
   
   Moral of the story:
   1. You can't have customer SERVICE without CUSTOMERS!
   2. If you must bank, keep it local. The big guys don't deserve one cent of your business!!!!

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   QuestionMasterposted 12 years ago

   With the right keywords I could see this making a high trafficked hub in the current political climate.

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      Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, I first thought of making it a hub but had to get the Mama Grizzly rant out first (to my hubber homeys).
      Thanks for the suggestion.
      Might as well capitalize on the anti-bank climate!
      Thanks!!!

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         QuestionMasterposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm surprised there haven't been more replies on this thread. I guess religion and politics are more interesting right now than corporate greed.

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            Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            LOL. I probably should have used the term "corporate greed" in the thread title!

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3. 67

   davenmidtownposted 12 years ago

   I had a similar experience once.  I wrote the chairman of the board of directors with the details and why I was closing my accounts.  I received a telephone call from the district manager offering all kinds of apologies and an assurance that "that" kind of behavior would never happen again.   I closed my account anyways and moved to a credit union. At least at the credit union they call me Mr. davenmidtown!

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You and lots of others these days.

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   lavender3957posted 12 years ago

   I was treated with disrespect on a bank account and I pulled my money out and went to a another bank. I don't need the snotty results with my own money in their bank. So much for customer service.

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   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   There used to be a national bank called Security Pacific. They earned first place in the Snotty Teller category. They were absorbed by BofA  many years ago...

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6. 96

   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   I tried to cash a Wells Fargo check for around $10,000 once at a Wells Fargo branch, but was told that they had been robbed a few days before and didn't have that much cash in the bank.  Offered to SELL me a cashiers check instead.
   
   I then requested they close my sons bank account - it had maybe 5 cents in it and I got a statement each month while he was in Afghanistan.  Produced the Power of Attorney the Army lawyers had filled out for him, all notarized and legal in 50 states.  Was told that because it wasn't notarized in our state they couldn't honor it to close a 5 cent account that had seen no activity for 2 years.  Fine - I left and they continued sending statements for another 2 years +. 
   
   Interesting bank.

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      Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry, wilderness, but your story trumps mine.
      I'll probably cry when I stop RFLMAO.
      
      Your son (and you) would do much better with USAA.
      Their banking policies are service-family friendly:).

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   marriedwithdebtposted 12 years ago

   Maybe I'm missing something...So you have access to a couple million dollars and you are pretending you aren't the one percent?
   
   I'll trade you my poor person problems for your rich person problems.

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      Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Not exactly.
      It's not my money. I don't have access to it at all.
      It was left to my son.
      His father died in 2009.
      
      My point was what seems like a boatload of money to us (and IS) is apparently not enough for WF to be nice to a customer over.
      That is because the 1% are sooooo lofty.

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   Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

   I timed my visit very carefully. Branch closes at 6pm and I arrived at 5:50.
   Only 1 other customer in the place besides me.
   But I did wait close to 10 minutes to be served at the teller window -- even though there were 4 bankers sitting at their desks.
   And one guy schmoozing the customer in front of me in line -- talking about sports.
   
   By the time I was finally waited on I was pretty steamed up.
   I tried to control my anger but when the teller gave me the line about why we can't expect good service ... I lost it.
   
   I admit it, I used the *f* word.
   So the teller said "I have to ask you to not to use profanity."
   I said, "Why not?"
   He said "It's not professional."
   I said, "Hunh? Not PROFESSIONAL?? I'm not here as a professional. I'm here as a mother and an unhappy customer."

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This might perk you up.
      
      http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/economi … ummary.htm

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   GoGreenTipsposted 12 years ago

   Your son should try USAA, its a credit union of sorts for military members and those that have served. Great customer service. I left my bank of twenty years after a similar occurrence as yours.

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    paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

    And a sublink for your new favorite pics.
    
    http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/economi … y-graphics

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    Dawn Conklinposted 12 years ago

    I would never ever on my worst day choose Wells Fargo as a bank.  No offense to people who have chosen the bank but in my personal opinion they are the most horrifying place to do business.  I never had a bank account but an auto loan with them.  It was so horrifying that I ended up telling them that I told them to come repo the car.  What happened to me was crazy and happens to many people who have loans with them.  They ruined my credit and after paying my car payments for 18 months, I owed the same amount of money to them as the purchase price of the vehicle when I first bought it. 
    My lawyer is investigating and filing consumer fraud after what they pulled. 
    There are actually lawyers all over taking on cases with people that had the same problem across the US.  Very shady company and I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.

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    paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

    
    
    The pics on the domain link are freely given away by the author.
    
    So let's see some hubs maybe?

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13. 78

    Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

    Yes, hub-worthy topic. Thanks all for the capsule content (links, photos, etc).
    
    I would never, ever get a loan with WF. I am basically a creature of habit.WF branches and especially ATMs are EVERYWHERE in California.
    Not a good reason to stick with them all this time, I know.
    
    We are USAA members and have a lot of our financial life tied up with them.
    The problem with USAA is it's so damned hard to make DEPOSITS.
    I've been very happy with their insurance products.
    My mortgage is through them but serviced by GMAC. Each one points fingers at the other when I ask about PLEASE refinancing.
    Other than that, yea. USAA is good.
    BTW, cops are impressed when they pull you over and you flash a USAA proof of insurance

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