Fuck Wells Fargo

[BiBottomBoy]

So, my debit card was getting old and the strip was wearing out - to the point where it would only work about half the time and even then shopkeepers would have to swipe it a bunch of time.

I called my bank on Tuesday and asked them if they could send me a new card and that it would take five to 10 days to get here. I asked them if my current card would still work until then and they assured me they wouldn't cancel my existing card until I activated my new card.

Today I went to an ATM to take out the rent - and the ATM ate my card because it was cancelled!

I called up Wells Fargo and explained that I don't have credit cards and my debit card is my only way of doing anything and asked if they could FedEx a new card. Nope, they said, I just have to wait until the new card they sent on Tuesday eventually gets here.

Luckily I can borrow money from my business partner until the card shows up - but what if I didn't have that option? I'd be fucking left to starve.

Banks suck.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Oh my I didn't know wells Fargo debit card works in France. Why would you do that when you have to pay fees? Can't you just set up a French bank account so you can go to a bank in emergency?

[BiBottomBoy]

Years ago I was living in France and married. At the time we had a joint bank account. When the marriage blew up she went back to America but kept her debit card. I went into the bank and asked them to cancel her debit card because we were getting divorced. They refused to do so until the divorce was final - which in New Jersey takes two years. For a couple months every time I put money into that account she would withdraw it in America later that day - essentially stealing money from me, since she wasn't putting any money into that account.

So, I stopped putting money into that account. Eventually the monthly fees put me into the negative. I told them that I'd cover the fees but only if they would cancel her card. They refused again. Two months later I got a registered letter telling me I was banned from banking in France due to unpaid bank fees.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Ugh you went through one of those bad marriages...I'm sorry for your trouble.

[BiBottomBoy]

Shit happens. If she hadn't left there are a lot of beautiful people that would never have been in my life or my bed.

[lookin]

Very odd, a Wells Fargo ATM also ate my card last week. All I wanted was a couple hundred bucks of the thousand I had in there, and it flashed this big banner wanting me to OK future overdrafts at thirty bucks a pop. As the last thing I need is somebody else lending me money at a big fat fee, I told them 'no'. Next thing I know, the machine is munching on my plastic, and wouldn't give it back.

I went inside the branch and got them to retrieve my card from the machine, hand it over, and come outside with me while I started all over again to get my two hundred bucks. It worked this time, but no thanks to the Wells Fargo computer that had orchestrated all this folderol.

Anyway, the point of this screed is that your physical card may still be at your local branch, and you might - emphasis on 'might' - be able to get them to hand it over and reactivate it. If it's already on its way to credit card heaven then you will, as you say, just have to wait for the new one. Good thing you have a business partner who is flush.

Bonne chance!

[BiBottomBoy]

I asked Wells Fargo if I could go into the bank that took my card and get it back. They said that wasn't possible because when the ATM ate my card it automatically reported the card as "lost" and when a card is reported lost there is no way for them to reactivate it.

I have money in my account and wasn't trying for an overdraft or anything. Wells Fargo insists it was the French bank's fuck up, though I guess I'll never know. They claim their policy is never to deactivate an existing card until I've activated a new card. I just hope my new card comes as soon as possible.

[lookin]

I asked Wells Fargo if I could go into the bank that took my card and get it back. They said that wasn't possible because when the ATM ate my card it automatically reported the card as "lost" and when a card is reported lost there is no way for them to reactivate it.

I think they're double-talking you. When I got home later that day, I had an email from Wells Fargo telling me that I had left my card at the ATM and could drop by the branch to pick it up. No report of "lost", no deactivation, just the machine eating it because I didn't want to sign up for automatic overdraft protection.

Of course, I had already got my card back by then, and knew that it was working.

Sometimes I think these 'customer service' reps just say the first thing that pops into their heads, so they can get you off the phone. When they don't help me, I ask for a supervisor. I also ask them to stay on the line until the supervisor answers. Two can play at that game.

I don't like being a butt, but, having been in a number of jobs where my livelihood depended on making customers happy, I do not take kindly to the word 'can't'. I'm always polite, but I think of 'can't' as just the first step on the way to 'can'.

[BiBottomBoy]

Except it wasn't a Wells Fargo branch ATM that ate my card. They did say that if it had been a Wells Fargo machine I would have been able to get my card back and it would not have been deactivated.

It was the other bank telling Wells Fargo that the card had been reported "lost" that caused the deactivation.

[lookin]

Ah, well, that's very different.

[Guest hitoallusa]

I think you will have no trouble doing that. You are such a delightful person. I do wonder what your profession is though

[

quote name=lookin' timestamp='1325172067' post='47938]

I don't like being a butt, but, having been in a number of jobs where my livelihood depended on making customers happy,

[Guest CharliePS]

1) Is this a checking account?

2) Is there a Wells Fargo Bank that you can go to?

If the answer is yes to both, why not just go into the bank and write a desk check for cash?

[BiBottomBoy]

There are no Wells Fargo branches in Europe.

[Guest CharliePS]

There are no Wells Fargo branches in Europe.

See my previous comments about the problems with living abroad.

When I lived in eastern Europe many years ago, I was always paid in cash, which actually was rather convenient. I had to explain to the locals what a personal checking account was and how it worked. That earned me a visit from a local banker, who wanted to know more about such an interesting concept.

[TampaYankee]

There are no Wells Fargo branches in Europe.

Very good news for Europeans. Any customer who hasn't cancelled their WF account is begging for a screwing. They've already had their way with thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of customers.

[Guest CharliePS]

Very good news for Europeans. Any customer who hasn't cancelled their WF account is begging for a screwing. They've already had their way with thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of customers.

The real question is, where does one go then? WF and BofA have swallowed up most of the alternatives, including Wachovia, where I already kept an alternative account. I keep a separate account at Union Bank of CA, but one wonders if it will disappear in a merger, too.

For the record, I have several WF accounts and have never had a problem with them; customer service at my local branches has been excellent.

[TampaYankee]

The real question is, where does one go then? WF and BofA have swallowed up most of the alternatives, including Wachovia, where I already kept an alternative account. I keep a separate account at Union Bank of CA, but one wonders if it will disappear in a merger, too.

For the record, I have several WF accounts and have never had a problem with them; customer service at my local branches has been excellent.

They had a scam where they were 'ordering' credit charge acct debits in order to maximize overdraft fees. They applied larger charges first, out of order, to achieve overdraft status so they could then slap all of the other charges on top of that, each with its own over charge fee. It was not against law but it was certainly an unconscionable business practice, one they discontinued once the word got out. Shows you where their heart lies.

Years ago, my state bank was gobbled up by a national bank which started all sorts of ridiculous charges like charging me to see my acct balance at their ATM. I dropped them for another state bank faster than lightening flashes. That bank got gobbled up too but so far they have not been too unreasonable. They did institute new charges recently but because of my long record with them those charges were waived. I also joined a local credit union and now have my mortgage with them as well as other accounts. And I still have a credit union acct I joined more than forty years ago when I was a teacher.

I just have a hard time living with people and business shitting on me or other customers not any different from me.

[lookin]

Not to be too much of a Pollyanna, but there have been a couple of small consumer victories in the past year or so:

• ● When Bank of America decided to charge five bucks a month for a debit card a few months ago, the consumer outcry was pretty vocal. Partly, I think, because the Occupy Wall Street movement was just hotting up and partly because so many ATM cards had transformed themselves into debit cards without much fanfare. I figured Wells Fargo wouldn't be far behind, so I lined up a local credit union and was prepared to switch my accounts there within hours of getting my notice. Fortunately, it never came, not for Bank of America customers and not for Wells Fargo customers. I figure they'll try some other way of getting an extra five bucks out of me, but I'm ready to walk the minute they do, and I'm sure I won't be alone.

• ● The second thing I'm happy about is the prominent box that started appearing on the front of my credit card bill starting a year or so ago. In addition to the minimum payment, it now tells me that it will take me fifteen years to pay off my balance if I only pay the minimum. (!) It also tells me that I'll pay about as much in interest as the amount I owe. Anyone can see that's a bad deal. Plus there's an option to pay the balance off in three years, and save lots of interest. It's pretty obvious why the banks did not want to make this information as visible as it is today, and why they complain about the high cost of regulation. Clearly, the programming required to put this information in simple language on page one of my bill did not cost more than a few hundred dollars. What they were complaining about, in my opinion, is the lost opportunity to pull in ludicrous amounts of interest from their customers by keeping the information less available to influence consumer decisions.

The demise of the debit card fee came directly from consumers banding together and just saying 'no'. The more transparent reporting of true interest expense came directly from the Credit Card Act of 2009, with most of the provisions taking effect in 2010. It took a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress to get it done. For those who complain about President Obama, the Democrats, and/or over-regulation, I'll point to this one small example of something good happening on behalf of the U. S. consumer.

[RA1]

What they actually tried to do was shift the debit card fees from the retail outlet to the consumer and that caused a backlash. I see nothing to brag about for either the banks or the Democrats in this case.

Best regards,

RA1

[BiBottomBoy]

For the record I had a Wachovia account for years - it just turned into a Wells Fargo account last year as if by magic.

Wachovia was awesome.

[lookin]

What they actually tried to do was shift the debit card fees from the retail outlet to the consumer and that caused a backlash. I see nothing to brag about for either the banks or the Democrats in this case.

If it will cheer you up, I promise to keep kiting writing checks.

[BigK]

Ah, well, that's very different.

Ahhhhhhhhh...Gilda Radner. Miss her.

[BiBottomBoy]

How much longer do you think checks will still exist?

Several Europeon countries have already gotten rid of checks and others are planning to do so next year. I'm guessing that in another two or three years checks won't exist in America either.