Anyone else having troubles with Wells Fargo??

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I am about up to _here_ with them and am tempted to look for a new bank.

They keep making mistakes and charging us fees for things that they shouldn't (charging a $5 a month fee for a savings account - the rule is if it's over $300, no fee - well, this has been over $300 for some time and they keep charging, I keep calling, they keep giving it back) - things like that. But today really irritated me.

I went and deposited my husband's paycheck, as I do every Friday, in the ATM. A message popped up saying that the check would be held until September 14th, and if I wanted to proceed, press yes...if not, hit cancel and the check will come back. Well, we kind of need that money NOW, you know? And it's a normal paycheck for him. I took the check inside of the bank, they had no explanation and had me deposit it with them.

I came back here, checked my balance online and it shows that the ATM deposited the check, then withdrew the entire balance of the check, then another deposit of the check inside at the counter.

Part of me is worried that the funds will not actually clear until September 14th after seeing that message. We're on a very strict budget and I only get paid twice a month, and I flat out do not want to pull from savings to cover bills that are supposed to automatically come out next week.

It's annoying being told at the ATM that the funds will be held almost 2 weeks, for no reason, then having zero troubles depositing it inside. Then coming back and seeing the full amount deposited and then withdrawn immediately. I feel like they're playing with my money at some level.

I'm waiting for them to tell us that we have to pay that debit card fee after their trial period is over, too.

 

[Free4Life11]

That is very strange. I have deposited many checks at the Envelope Free ATM's and never once received that message. Maybe for some reason it could not read the routing/account number off the paper check, so it could not process it until someone manually read it? The whole point of the Envelope Free ATM is that you can deposit checks up to 9 PM and they are credited SAME DAY.

The only issue I have had is going to the ATM after the branch is closed and receiving a message that "Deposits not currently being accepted." But no one can ever explain why that message will randomly appear.

I would be annoyed too regarding the monthly fee...that is very odd and I can't think of any explanation.

 

[Kim&Chris]

So far, I hate Wells Fargo. Wachovia was a breeze to work with, and their website was very user-friendly, but Wells' is horrible.

They've made several mistakes with my debit card account, such as debiting transactions twice.

We're thinking of taking every penny we have in WF and going to TD Bank. Not sure if they're better, but they can't be worse.

 

[Planogirl]

I went to DH's bank just this morning to make a withdrawal at the ATM. I checked the balance and then tried to withdraw but just got a message that my transaction couldn't be completed. Since I am not on his account, I had to drive to another bank and pay a fee to withdraw the money.

My point is that we run into ATM nonsense all the time. I think that those machines get moody.

 

[mpls_mm]

Last year I worked for someone else and was a signer on the Wells fargo account, I thought it would be easy to do my personal banking with them too and opened the kids savings accounts there. Every now and then they would have weird holds pop up on stuff for different reasons. Most times it cleared sooner.
Now the business I worked for started getting busy, I was running tons of credit cards and depositing lots of checks, NONE were ever fraudulent. We just got busy. I went in one day to make a large deposit, and after they took my deposit they said the account was on hold. I asked my banker and he said Wells team decided that a business account with so many deposits and charges (we were buying product and paying phone bills etc) must be investigated. None of our transactions were overseas.
They closed all of my accounts, that means my personal accounts and kids saving accounts under the Patriot Act even though I was signer only on the business account and had no obligation. They said they would MAIL me a check for all of my funds within 30 days but would not honor any personal checks or drafts I had out there.
I never realized a bank can seize your money and then make you wait to mail it under the Patriot Act. The only way I was able to fix this is that 2 VP's at Wells had just made purchases from me and I called them and told them their work thought they were fraudulent and their money had been seized. It was fixed, but I never trusted them again. A bank official explained to me off the record why my account was chosen and it could have been anyone, it wasn't anything we did wrong. I was so happy when I quit that job and got off that account and closed my own accounts down.
On a side note, even after I closed the account, they continued to charge me a monthly fee and late fees on that fee. They said even though my account was closed it could still be debited by them, it was just closed to deposits. I was so angry, I wrote a check right there and said it was worth $70 to never have to do business with them again.

 

[vicki_c]

I feel just like Kim&Chris! I posted a few days ago asking about SECU (MD credit union) - I'm going to switch our accounts to there I think.

I was initially irritated with Wells Fargo's bill payment policies and the dates they took the money out of your account.

Then in some states, they are starting this charge for having a debit card (not my state so far).

Then, they paid my water bill late. The utility reversed the late charge but I did speak with the bank on it - they can't explain it and said it should have gotten there on time - they send a paper check apparently for that.

This week, out of the blue, I had a online payment rejected from a payee. In fairness, there was some kind of an error in my account information with them (they had changed their PO box #), but from what I learned that change was made months and months ago and they still kept accepting my payments through Wachovia. But with Wells Fargo, it was rejected, and I got charged a late fee from the vendor. Unfortunately, not much recourse for me on that one since there was an error in the information that I set up on the payee.

So I've about had it with them already as well.

 

[elwise1966]

I finally gave up on Wells Fargo earlier this year. I was with them for about 6 years and had few problems until last year.
Deposits started being credited late while checks seemed to fly through the system with lightning speed. I finally had enough and switched to the local credit union where my car loan is (was now...I made the final payment last month).

 

[Marymom]

We have not been happy with Wells Fargo banking. We keep my spending money in checking and our mortgage money in savings. We chose WF because our mortgage is with them and we thought it would be easy to pay our payments directly. We cannot make an "extra" principal balance online so we have to physically walk in the bank once a month. They have double debited my account and told me it would take over 7 business days to get credited. (it took only one day though) I, too, am now getting the 5.00 charge debited and credited to my savings account.

The true kicker was that I purchased euros to be delivered to the bank branch for my european cruise. I went there twice and was told they did not have the package and come back the next day. I finally told them (in tears) that they needed to find out where the package was because I was freaking out! They finally found it in the bank manager's office. No apologies.

The sad thing is that we have our retirement accounts with Wells Fargo Advisors (used to be AG Edwards and then Wachovia) I love our financial advisor but when he retires, I'm thinking it might be time to move all our accounts. If Wells Fargo Bank can't keep me happy with the everyday spending money why should I intrust them with my life savings?

 

[Swimalie]

I'm one of the many former Wachovia customers. I'm shocked that it will take 12 days for the check to be fully deposited. I transfer money between my local bank and ING a lot and it only takes 5 days to clear. Ugh. The more I read, the more I dislike Wells Fargo.

 

[disny_luvr]

Another WF dissatisfied customer. My parents opened an account for me with them (well I think it was Dauphin Deposit, then Corestates, then Wachovia) back in 1984; I was four. We never had a problem with them until they became WF. I was having fees charged to my account for no reason; I would call and they'd credit my account back. I had things debited twice from my account, bills were being paid late, etc, etc, etc. This summer before we went on vacation, I went to the bank and made a withdrawal for $300. The bank teller accidentally entered the information incorrectly and when I checked my account online later that night, $600 was withdrawn from my account, eventhough I only had $300. I immediately called the 1-800 number and the customer service lady I spoke with was rude and not very helpful. To make matters worse we were leaving the next morning for vacation. It took over two weeks to get things straightened out and for us to get the $300 credited back to our account. I was so angry about how things were handled and how long it took that DH and I pulled out all our money and went to another bank. I have to admit, it was a hassle at first to change our direct deposits, bill pays, etc. but I am so happy we did. We bank with PNC now and could not be happier.

 

[buzz2400]

I was a die hard wachovia fan but here's what happened to me when they changed to wells fargo: I went to deposit my check, teller tells me that i have to get a card from wells fargo in order to do any banking. I said I didn't want one since I mostly just deposit checks and I didn't want to have another card in my purse. She insisted, I will say I did say a nasty word out of fustration. well the guy who stands around and does nothing comes over and tells me if I don't like it I could take my banking elsewhere. Well guess what, I did. I went to peoples bank, opened an account and LOVE IT. My mother still goes to Wells Fargo and my father's business account is there but I am going to switch that as well.

There are so many new banks that want your business and will treat you so much better. Take the plunge and switch banks.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I called Wells Fargo to verify that the check will indeed clear tomorrow. She said to make sure that ANY check clears within 24 hours, you need to CASH it first, then deposit the cash for it to be immediate.

I was scratching my head at that one. I mean, yes, that makes sense...cash the check for cash. But then to do another transaction to ensure that the cash goes into my checking account...

She then said that the check is "cleared for funds" tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I said that if I use the ATM it's available at midnight - apparently not so when using a teller. And I've never heard of them holding the funds until 8 a.m., either.

Boo. Unhappy with them.

 

[Cindy B]

So far, I hate Wells Fargo. Wachovia was a breeze to work with, and their website was very user-friendly, but Wells' is horrible.

They've made several mistakes with my debit card account, such as debiting transactions twice.

We're thinking of taking every penny we have in WF and going to TD Bank. Not sure if they're better, but they can't be worse.

Thinking of doing the exact same thing. We've been with them since Corestates and now Wells Fargo is just awful.

 

[JB2K]

If you're bank-shopping, I have found PNC to be very user-friendly (plus, isn't there one on like every street corner in New Jersey?). And, no fees...

 

[karice2]

We are in the middle of the transition from Wachovia to Wells Fargo. All of your stories are making me really nervous. At one point I only had a credit union. It looks like I may be going back to that.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We are in the middle of the transition from Wachovia to Wells Fargo. All of your stories are making me really nervous. At one point I only had a credit union. It looks like I may be going back to that.

Me too. I was waiting until the switch happened to make a decision. This thread isn't helping. I always used SC Fed Cred Union and loved it. Got married and DH was with Wachovia. Since I no longer work, we stuck with his account and just added me to it. Wachovia has been fine thus far. However, switching over to WF now and we may need to pull our money. I won't deal with the crap. We are about to move to TN on Oct 1. What is a good bank out that way?

 

[GingerJay]

So far, I hate Wells Fargo. Wachovia was a breeze to work with, and their website was very user-friendly, but Wells' is horrible.

They've made several mistakes with my debit card account, such as debiting transactions twice.

We're thinking of taking every penny we have in WF and going to TD Bank. Not sure if they're better, but they can't be worse.

No good with TD Bank, either. We have our commercial account there and they're horrible. AND you can never get a real person when you need one.

 

[vicki_c]

We are in the middle of the transition from Wachovia to Wells Fargo. All of your stories are making me really nervous. At one point I only had a credit union. It looks like I may be going back to that.

Maybe we can get a group (of 2!) discount at SECU! I think I'm going to stop there next week on my day off. It's such a pain to switch banks though - direct deposit, timing the money for the mortgage payment, etc. I just don't have an extra month's salary to put in the new bank (or not easily anyway) while you wrap up all the old stuff with the other bank. Not looking forward to that - I haven't switched banks for 7 years.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

Glad we don't use them.

 

[Kitzka]

I know most of you on here are anti Wells Fargo but DH and I had Wachovia for YEARS. And they were horrible. We finally closed that account and switched to commerce (now TD bank). It may depend on your local branches. We have a wells Fargo branch literally 45 seconds from my house. I hate that branch. They can never do anything right. No one is ever there , they are understaffed, they mess up deposits etc etc. But if I go to the branch in the next town over they are a pleasure an absolute pleasure to deal with.

We primarily do our everyday banking with TD who we also love love love. Our mortgage, daughteer's checking, saving and our saving s are with wells. And wew love them.
Lara