F*&k You, F&*king Wells Fargo, You Motherf&%ckers!

[tgb]

As you may be able to tell, I'm a little pissed off. Wells Fargo, with whom I've had an account for 20 years, fucked me over not once but twice in the last 30 days. It's a long story, but I'll try to give the Readers Digest (kids, ask your parents) version.

Back in March or April, I applied for, and was approved for, a cash-back WF credit card. They gave me a high limit (5 figures) and I planned to use it to pay in part for a couple of expensive vacations (Cancun this past week and 10 days in Israel in March). Nonetheless, I had been using it, and usually paid the balance every month. If I couldn't do that I paid more than the minimum. Either way I was never late, let alone missed any payment.

This being my slow season I also set it up for overdraft protection on my checking account, and it saved my bacon when it came to the house payment a couple of times.

About a month ago, I received a notice that I had bounced a check, which should never have happened. When I called to find out why, I was told that the account had been closed as a result of fraud, and couldn't be reopened. When I told the customer service agent that I had never reported fraud and all the charges were legitimate, she repeated the same thing.

After about an hour on the phone with customer "service", the credit card department, and the fraud department, we discovered what happened. Some nitwit at WF had input someone else's Social Security number into the record for my card, so I now in effect had two records in the WF system - the only difference between the two being different SS numbers. To further complicate the issue, the real owner of the SS number that was input saw my card on his credit report, and called in to claim fraud (understandably). Everyone told me the same thing, that nothing could be done until my number was corrected, and depending who I talked to I was told that:

1) I just had to bring a picture ID and SS card into a local branch and the branch manager could fix it (not true - I tried that one twice)

2) I would receive a form in the mail that I needed to bring into a local branch and the branch manager could fix it (the form never arrived)

or

3) I had to fill out a W-9 form and fax it in along with my drivers license and SS card - which I did.

On Tuesday the 12th I received a call from the latest of several managers I had been talking to (I had gone as high up the food chain as WF would allow) saying that my SS # had been corrected, but because the card had been closed with a different number attached (again, though no fault of my own), I had to re-apply. I didn't want to since I didn't want the hit to my credit, but I needed the card, so I gritted my teeth and re-applied.

On Sat. the 17th - the day before we were to leave for Cancun - I checked my WF account and there was a new card. Not a physical copy yet, but the account was there with a new number and the balance and limit transferred over. At least I could transfer funds if I had to. With a sigh of relief we packed to leave the next day.

While in Cancun on Tuesday, I transferred a couple of hundred dollars into my checking account just in case I needed it. Later the day after going on line again, I checked my account a second time - to find it had been closed. Yes, WF issued a new account on Saturday and closed it on Tuesday for no apparent reason.

The only thing I could think of was that a transfer made in Mexico raised a red flag and this was a preventative closing, so I wrote the bank telling them that I was in Cancun and the charge was legitimate, and asking them to reopen it.

I got an email back telling me that the account was closed because the SS# didn't match the one on file They said they would look into it and get back to me in a few days.

I eagerly await for them to open this morning.

[KKBlue]

Copy and paste to the Better Business Burrow. I went to them when I had a problem with a Sears product. I got some satisfaction and some monetary compensation.
https://www.bbb.org

[Paingod]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

I always spelled that wrong as a child. My parents made me spell it a couple hundred times in a row and now I never get it wrong.

[tgb]

I'm thinking of going to one of the local consumer affairs reporters with my story, as well as other media. People hate banks already, so I suspect the news people will love to run with this.

[AWS260]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

KKBlue lives in Hobbiton.

[KKBlue]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

KKBlue lives in Hobbiton.

HA! Wow, that was pretty bad. I'll leave it up there (no editing) for kicks and giggles.

[Max Peck]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

KKBlue lives in Hobbiton.

HA! Wow, that was pretty bad. I'll leave it up there (no editing) for kicks and giggles.

Retcon to the rescue: Better Business Burrow is a clever pun relating to the Bureau's legendary willingness to dig into consumer complaints. Once they get on the case, they're as persistent as a gopher in a Bill Murray movie. Or so I've heard...

[LawBeefaroni]

I'm thinking of going to one of the local consumer affairs reporters with my story, as well as other media. People hate banks already, so I suspect the news people will love to run with this.

From where you're standing, sure. But from actually making a compelling story probably not. WF would spin it from the perspective of the guy whose SSN got attached to your card. Who wants to hear "Bank saves client that otherwise would have been screwed over a typo."

Best solution: switch banks. You're record at WF is screwed and they might never fix it.

[Jeff V]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

I always spelled that wrong as a child. My parents made me spell it a couple hundred times in a row and now I never get it wrong.

Burro. Because "Better Business Ass" doesn't have the alliterative catch.

[Odin]

Best solution: switch banks. You're record at WF is screwed and they might never fix it.

Agreed - you are eternally f&*ked with the WF motherf&%ckers(sic). Move to a new bank.

[tgb]

I just talked to yet another manager at the credit card division. He said that my SS# has indeed been corrected, and he doesn't see any reason for the account with the new number to have been closed, other than WF just wanting to fuck with me.

He's going to the administrative department for answers (he says) but that could take 3 more business days.

Problem with my switching banks is that the company I work for banks there as well, and since they think this is 1955, their idea of "electronic deposit" is to deposit a physical check into my account when they are there for their own banking. If I switch, it will mean having to get paychecks in the mail again, which is a whole new source of chaos and frustration.

[paulbaxter]

It was very kind of them to punish you for their mistake.

[LawBeefaroni]

I just talked to yet another manager at the credit card division. He said that my SS# has indeed been corrected, and he doesn't see any reason for the account with the new number to have been closed, other than WF just wanting to fuck with me.

He's going to the administrative department for answers (he says) but that could take 3 more business days.

Problem with my switching banks is that the company I work for banks there as well, and since they think this is 1955, their idea of "electronic deposit" is to deposit a physical check into my account when they are there for their own banking. If I switch, it will mean having to get paychecks in the mail again, which is a whole new source of chaos and frustration.

So keep it open but transfer your balance to another account as soon as your direct deposit comes in.

IOW, do the lion's share of your banking elsewhere. I have a few commercial accounts for convenience (direct deposit, bill pay, ATM access, etc). I keep an adequate balance in there, nothing more.

[tgb]

Law, that's what I'm thinking of doing.

[KKBlue]

Or so I've heard...

You are very kind. You guys are sweet. Even got some love from Jeff
Yeah, I fumble up my words a lot. Will admit, I've become better since joining. Only 2 or 3 flubs a year now compared with one every other post, ha!

[Scuzz]

If this isn't taken care of I would switch banks, very loudly, and I would let everyone you have contacted at WF know why. We bank at WF and whenever I have had a credit card question come up we have received a phone call or text prior to any action on the card. I have dealt with other banks (business accounts) and that's how they have acted as well. Someone at WF is really screwing up and I would bet you aren't the only one they have screwed over.

[em2nought]

I almost object whenever I get a senior citizen teller at a bank, they(usually) just can't handle computers. I'm afraid they'll really botch things, especially because they(usually) assume the attitude of "I know better" even when I tell them this is the way I've done this for the last two years.

Banks only exist in order to get bailed out eventually, that's the new business model. No brains required.

[Isgrimnur]

So go to a credit union.

[LawBeefaroni]

I almost object whenever I get a senior citizen teller at a bank, they(usually) just can't handle computers. I'm afraid they'll really botch things, especially because they(usually) assume the attitude of "I know better" even when I tell them this is the way I've done this for the last two years.

It's slightly ironic, someone who uses bank tellers on a regular basis complaining that bank tellers aren't computer wizzes.

Last time I went to a teller was to get a roll of $1 coins. I asked what kind they were and she said, "One dollar ones, duh." She literally said that.

[Montag]

Tip on the credit cards - If you are going to travel to someplace out of the ordinary, you can call the customer service ahead of time informing them of it. I had a vacation in Venezuela and wanted the protection of using a credit card. I gave advance notice, and had no issues.

[em2nought]

I almost object whenever I get a senior citizen teller at a bank, they(usually) just can't handle computers. I'm afraid they'll really botch things, especially because they(usually) assume the attitude of "I know better" even when I tell them this is the way I've done this for the last two years.

It's slightly ironic, someone who uses bank tellers on a regular basis complaining that bank tellers aren't computer wizzes.

Just trying to keep folks employed so they don't feel the need to vote for the socialist.

[Moliere]

Wells Fargo Is Trying to Bury Another Massive Scandal

Wells Fargo became a poster child for corporations that abuse their own customers last year when it got fined for ginning up roughly 2 million (maybe even more) fake accounts to meet high sales goals. The bank has since tried to block customer lawsuits over that misconduct, using fine print buried in contracts known as the forced arbitration clauses, which force customers to go not before judges but a secretive non-judicial process to get relief.

It turns out Wells Fargo has a long history of using arbitration to evade legal scrutiny. In fact, for the past six years, Wells has tried to use arbitration to block a class-action suit that every other major bank in America long ago settled. This has not only delayed restitution for regular customers, but revealed exactly why Elizabeth Warren's brainchild Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved to eliminate class-action bans through arbitration clauses earlier this month: It hands big banks a license to steal with impunity.

The case centers on something called debit card reordering. Let's say you have $100 in your bank account, and you make three purchases, costing $20, $30, and $110. Under Wells Fargo account guidelines, the bank can charge you a $35 overdraft fee for taking out more than you have in your account. But by reordering the transactions from highest to lowest, putting the $110 charge first, the bank could charge three separate overdraft fees, one for each attempt to draw insufficient funds. Simply by altering the transaction order, Wells Fargo could make an additional $70.

[tgb]

Wells Fargo Is Trying to Bury Another Massive Scandal

Wells Fargo became a poster child for corporations that abuse their own customers last year when it got fined for ginning up roughly 2 million (maybe even more) fake accounts to meet high sales goals. The bank has since tried to block customer lawsuits over that misconduct, using fine print buried in contracts known as the forced arbitration clauses, which force customers to go not before judges but a secretive non-judicial process to get relief.

It turns out Wells Fargo has a long history of using arbitration to evade legal scrutiny. In fact, for the past six years, Wells has tried to use arbitration to block a class-action suit that every other major bank in America long ago settled. This has not only delayed restitution for regular customers, but revealed exactly why Elizabeth Warren's brainchild Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved to eliminate class-action bans through arbitration clauses earlier this month: It hands big banks a license to steal with impunity.

The case centers on something called debit card reordering. Let's say you have $100 in your bank account, and you make three purchases, costing $20, $30, and $110. Under Wells Fargo account guidelines, the bank can charge you a $35 overdraft fee for taking out more than you have in your account. But by reordering the transactions from highest to lowest, putting the $110 charge first, the bank could charge three separate overdraft fees, one for each attempt to draw insufficient funds. Simply by altering the transaction order, Wells Fargo could make an additional $70.

They've pulled that shit on me, too.

[rshetts2]

Ive had a bank "re-order" my transaction by putting debit charges ahead of deposits, in spite of the fact that I made the deposit, with the intention of covering those debits, before I made the debits. I got hit with 2 overcharge fees for that one, although I did fight it and got the overcharge fees reimbursed. The same bank pulled a similar stunt about 6 months later. I fought that one and then promptly closed all of my accounts and refinanced my car loan with them through a credit union. The bank? Wells Muthafukin Fargo. Ill never do business with them again.

[Default]

Better Business Burrow

Bureau?

KKBlue lives in Hobbiton.

HA! Wow, that was pretty bad. I'll leave it up there (no editing) for kicks and giggles.

Retcon to the rescue: Better Business Burrow is a clever pun relating to the Bureau's legendary willingness to dig into consumer complaints. Once they get on the case, they're as persistent as a gopher in a Bill Murray movie. Or so I've heard...

I've met KKB in RL. She does have the cutest foot braids.

[Moliere]

Wells Fargo Owes Customers Millions After Overcharging on Auto Insurance

Wells Fargo will spend $80 million to address improper charges of more than a half million of the bank’s auto-loan customers between 2012 and 2016, according to a press release from the bank. Of the $80 million, $64 million will be in cash repayments while the remainder will be account adjustments. The problems stem from the banks use of collateral protection insurance policies (CPI), which enrolled many customers in unnecessary insurance plans with the bank and its partners. The charges led to financial hardship for many of the wrongly enrolled customers.

According to The New York Times, an internal report from 2016 showed that the excessive insurance charges affected more than 800,000 customers, resulting in 274,000 account delinquencies and 25,000 vehicle repossessions. Natalie M. Brown, a vice president in the bank’s consumer-lending communications department, says that the total number of affected customers cited by The Times is from a preliminary report that overestimated the share of policies that were ultimately deemed inappropriate. The final tally, she says, is closer to 570,000. Another spokesperson said that the number of repossessions was closer to 20,000. The bank declined to provide the report to The Atlantic.

[KDH]

...

... 24 hours later, ANOTHER massive Wells Fargo fraud scandal

It's been a whole day since we learned about another example of systematic, widespread fraud by America's largest bank Wells Fargo (ripping off small merchants with credit card fees), so it's definitely time to learn about another one: scamming mortgage borrowers out of $43/month for an unrequested and pointless "home warranty service" from American Home Shield, a billion-dollar scam-factory that considers you a customer if you throw away its junk-mail instead of ticking the "no" box and sending it back.

$43/month gets you pretty much nothing: people who tried to actually use their AHS insurance found it impossible to get them to actually do anything in exchange for this money.

Here's a quick Wells Fargo fraud scorecard: stealing thousand of cars with fraudulent repos; defrauding mortgage borrowers; blackballing whistelblowers; creating 2,000,000+ fraudulent accounts, and stealing millions with fraudulent fees and penalties.

Starting at least in 2009, Wells Fargo and AHS entered into a marketing and payment processing agreement. Wells allowed AHS to solicit their mortgage customers to buy home warranty service, through phone calls, junk mail, and inserts in monthly mortgage statements. Wells would then collect the monthly payments for AHS as an additional charge to the mortgage.

According to one borrower from Newark, New Jersey, AHS claimed its junk mail constituted a “binding contract” that automatically finalized if borrowers didn’t reply to turn it down. “No signature, no affirmation and YET it is considered a BINDING CONTRACT??” the borrower wrote.

previous articles linked in the above article will be linked upon my receipt of your agreement to remit a $43 fee ... see article 4491b, paragraph 2

[Daehawk]

How are they still in business?

[Chaz]

Lobbyists and too big to fail?

[Sepiche]

Way to go Janet Yellen!

The Federal Reserve levied an unprecedented penalty against Wells Fargo on Friday, blocking its ability to grow larger and pressuring the mega bank to replace four board members following widespread consumer abuses.

The consent decree, which has been in the works for months, marks the first time that the Federal Reserve has placed limits on a bank’s assets. Wells Fargo will not be allowed to grow its $1.95 trillion in assets until the Fed approves its remediation plan. The bank will still be able to take deposits from customers and make loans, but cannot engage in any corporate mergers or other major transactions until the Fed is satisfied the bank has reformed itself sufficiently.

...

“We cannot tolerate pervasive and persistent misconduct at any bank and the consumers harmed by Wells Fargo expect that robust and comprehensive reforms will be put in place to make certain that the abuses do not occur again,” Chair Janet L. Yellen said in a statement.

[Kraken]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

[GreenGoo]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

I was going to say that this would be reversed, but why reverse it when you can simply minimize it to nothing? Plus they get to say they were suitably punished and the Fed has certified that they are all better now.

[El Guapo]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

My impression is that the Fed nominee isn't a hack by any means, it's just that it's stupid that Yellen wasn't renominated when she's super qualified and widely respected.

[Kraken]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

My impression is that the Fed nominee isn't a hack by any means, it's just that it's stupid that Yellen wasn't renominated when she's super qualified and widely respected.

From what I've read he's a respected economist who is competent for the job. From what I know of Trump, he must also be loyal to have gotten the job. Trump is on record as favoring punishment for Wells Fargo, but we all know how much credibility anything that he says deserves, how much he relishes pissing off liberals, and how much Republicans love bankers. So...we shall see. I will bet that the next time this thread is rezzed, it will be to report that WF is back to business as usual after some meaningless changes.

I hope I'm wrong. Gonna miss Yellen though. She deserves a lot of credit for today's strong economy.

[El Guapo]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

My impression is that the Fed nominee isn't a hack by any means, it's just that it's stupid that Yellen wasn't renominated when she's super qualified and widely respected.

From what I've read he's a respected economist who is competent for the job. From what I know of Trump, he must also be loyal to have gotten the job. Trump is on record as favoring punishment for Wells Fargo, but we all know how much credibility anything that he says deserves, how much he relishes pissing off liberals, and how much Republicans love bankers. So...we shall see. I will bet that the next time this thread is rezzed, it will be to report that WF is back to business as usual after some meaningless changes.

I hope I'm wrong. Gonna miss Yellen though. She deserves a lot of credit for today's strong economy.

Sort of. I think Trump cares about loyalty, but Trump is also bad at a lot of things, so perhaps because of that a lot of his appointees aren't universally flunkees. Mattis is fine. The SEC chair is fine. Wray - one where you would really expect Trump to focus on picking a flunky - seems to not be a Trump hack. Heck, he appointed Rosenstein too.

Not to say that you're wrong, just that the Fed appointee *could* be fine.

[Biyobi]

Now that the Fed is run by a Trumpster you can bet it will rubber-stamp whatever the bank comes up with.

My impression is that the Fed nominee isn't a hack by any means, it's just that it's stupid that Yellen wasn't renominated when she's super qualified and widely respected.

From what I've read he's a respected economist who is competent for the job. From what I know of Trump, he must also be loyal to have gotten the job. Trump is on record as favoring punishment for Wells Fargo, but we all know how much credibility anything that he says deserves, how much he relishes pissing off liberals, and how much Republicans love bankers. So...we shall see. I will bet that the next time this thread is rezzed, it will be to report that WF is back to business as usual after some meaningless changes.

I hope I'm wrong. Gonna miss Yellen though. She deserves a lot of credit for today's strong economy.

Wells Fargo has to be one of the banks that have denied Trump loans in the past so I'll bet he's on board for retribution.

[Daehawk]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wells ... 2018-02-03

Wells Fargo says impact from Fed sanctions may reach $400 million

[morlac]

Drop in the bucket and it will teach them nothing. Should have been 4 billion.


Wells Fargo WFC, -1.36% is replacing four board members and won’t be able to grow beyond the $1.95 trillion in assets it held at the end of 2017, after agreeing to a consent order with the Federal Reserve on Friday.

The bank says this year’s profit will be reduced by $300 million to $400 million by the steps it’ll have to take, after earning $22.2 billion in 2017. Wells Fargo hasn’t decided precisely how to operate within the asset cap, but says it may reduce its portfolio of what it called commercial non-operational deposits, financial institution deposits and trading assets.

[Moliere]

Wells Fargo CEO got a $4.6 million pay raise last year

Wells Fargo said Wednesday that the location of this year’s annual meeting will be the Des Moines Marriott Downtown, according to the company’s proxy statement, which also revealed that CEO Tim Sloan received a $4.6 million pay increase in 2017.

Sloan pocketed total compensation last year of $17.6 million, up $4.6 million from his pay in 2016, when he became CEO with annual pay of $13 million. Of his 2017 compensation, $15 million came in the form of a long-term performance award, and Wells noted in the proxy that 86 percent of the CEO’s pay is at risk, based on meeting incentive and performance goals.

The bank has long played a cat-and-mouse game when it comes to telling shareholders where the annual meeting will be each year since Wells began traveling beyond its hometown of San Francisco for the annual gathering. The last time the annual meeting was held in San Francisco was in 2012, when throngs of protesters turned the event into more of a circus, if going to the circus entailed crossing police lines and stepping over protesters chained together.

[GreenGoo]

I lol every time I see the thread title.