Anyone else having troubles with Wells Fargo??

[JB2K]

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.

OP - if funds are that tight, and this is a recurring paycheck, does your hubby's employer offer something called Direct Deposit?

It's been around for a while, and it saves time, gas, trees, and headaches...

As deposit hold times are now standard practice in the banking business (to combat fraud), there's no way I would wait for my employer to cut me a paper check...

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

OP - if funds are that tight, and this is a recurring paycheck, does your hubby's employer offer something called Direct Deposit?

It's been around for a while, and it saves time, gas, trees, and headaches...

As deposit hold times are now standard practice in the banking business (to combat fraud), there's no way I would wait for my employer to cut me a paper check...

Oh, direct deposit! I have never heard of that!! What a keen idea! ::smacks head::

Yeah. I know what that is. And if it was AVAILABLE at my husband's company, which it is not, we would obviously do that. So, there is your answer to that.

Secondly, funds are not that tight, but it is OUR money (and we have a strict budget in place and I do not want to pull funds from savings to pay bills to wait for a paycheck to clear) and we should not have to wait 14 days for any check to clear, especially one that is a payroll one that is drawn on payroll checks.

 

[thomas998]

Wells Fargo was nothing but a pain in my backside when I used them.

I've found the best service and lowest fees tend to come from credit unions... large banks really don't give a rat's backside about little customers and treat them like disposable customers.

Look around for a local credit union, they will also sometimes have checking accounts that actually pay interest... the one we use at the moment is paying 4% interest on money in the checking account as long as you use the account a specific number of times, have direct deposit and do an automate electronic bill payment... since none of those things cost extra to do its a pretty good deal.

You just have to look around where you live.

 

[mpls_mm]

Looks like someone at Wells set up some alerts so they could pop on forums that are bashing Wells Fargo. Instead of social media hijacking they should just offer better service.

 

[bookmama]

You mean btwn the fees and the jacked up bill payments. They closed my sister's account because someone used her mac card and deposited a stolen check for $4800 and they honored it. Then they closed the account without contacting her. She just got a letter demanding she pay the money and the fees.

 

[Swimalie]

You mean btwn the fees and the jacked up bill payments. They closed my sister's account because someone used her mac card and deposited a stolen check for $4800 and they honored it. Then they closed the account without contacting her. She just got a letter demanding she pay the money and the fees.

That's horrible!! BB&T called me about an account with them. I have my mortgage with them already. Maybe I'll go see them.

 

[angierae]

If you deposit into an ATM at my bank (Comerica) the first $100 is available immediately but the rest is held for 3-4 days. If you deposit it at a teller, it is available immediately.

I always assumed this was because people would tell the ATM the check was for a bigger amount to "float" their account - it wouldn't get corrected for a few days and by then they'd be able to deposit more money, or something.

I really have no idea, but it drives me crazy to have to go into the bank when I'm depositing checks. But I don't want them to hold onto my money!

 

[piglet33]

Here's another unhappy Wells customer that came from Wachovia. I really miss that bank. Anyway, after they became Wells, they started charging a $45 yearly fee for me keeping a line of credit open that is linked to my checking account so I won't bounce any checks. Then the worst one was last weekend I got a letter in the mail saying that I made too many withdrawals from my savings account so they charged me a $15 excessive use fee! I have money in our savings that we are using for vacation so whenever I make a purchase for vacation (airline tickets, resort ressie, pay off cruise, etc) I transfer the money from my savings to my checking and use it. Now I guess I can't do that. I am really looking at getting another bank - I just have everything there - two savings, checking, IRA, Visa, Line of Credit and Mortgage, plus my father has his accounts there to make it easier for me since I pay his bills. I am so not happy about any of this. Then I heard about the monthly charge for using the Debit Card.

Maybe I'll check out PNC.

 

[pklein09]

Subbing....my accounts switched back in July. They screwed up my kids accounts....someone set them up as Money Market Accounts that should have a $25,000 minimum balance in them to avoid monthly fees. They were plain vanilla kids' savings accounts at Wachovia and they went to money market accounts at Wells??? When I called the 800 number to ask why they were charing $10/month ($480 per year for all my kids), I was told in a surly tone that there was a minimum and I was told that when I opened them. Huh? I called back to report this person. I was offered an apology and was told that person would be reprimanded.

As for local branch staff, they're not well versed on Wells products. DougWellsFargo, was there any training in your products? If there was, it was very poor training.

I used to have an interest bearing checking account, which seems to have disappeared. Of course, what is $0.10 a month? Doesn't even make a phone call anymore.

I'm also annoyed that my auto bill pay (i.e. car note, utilities) are withdrawn up to 7 days before they're actually scheduled to be paid. If I wanted them paid 7 days earlier, I would have set it up that way. My car note used to be pulled on the 16th of the month, 1 day after DHs paycheck is direct deposited. If I didn't change those auto pay dates to a week later, I'd be overdrawn because the paycheck isn't there. Very annoying and, I feel, unnecessary.

And, yes, I'm shopping for a new bank.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

Then I think you should acknowledge that you use a complicated algorithm to decide if accounts are suspicious instead of actually physically reviewing them and talking to the parties involved.

People should know that Wells has the ability and exercises it to shut down accounts they deem suspicious, in my case it was my employers account that had too many deposits and too many bills paid (for a business account, gasp)
and as a result all of my PERSONAL accounts were closed and the funds mailed. I had no access to money for 3 weeks, of course Wells grandly accepted all deposits but honored no checks during this time.

In case people wonder, the algorithm Wells Fargo uses will help you peg accounts that make a lot of deposits and withdrawals paired with the length an account has been open, along with fees paid etc so you can close less profitable accounts. Then you get to provide that information to the Feds so you can pat yourself on the back and say Wells closed 25 suspicious accounts this month to keep the auditors off your case. It saves Wells the trouble of actually having to find the people who are harming others by money laundering, fraud etc.

It also means that innocent people get caught up while many guilty people go free and get to bank their merry way along.

Wells irretrievably damaged my reputation locally when they pegged my employer as a money launderer and closed my personal accounts at my local branch where everyone knows me for "suspicious" activities and deprived me access to my funds and my kids savings accounts for almost a month.

This story literally made me feel sick to my stomach. When did this happen to you?

 

[disny_luvr]

Here's another unhappy Wells customer that came from Wachovia. I really miss that bank. Anyway, after they became Wells, they started charging a $45 yearly fee for me keeping a line of credit open that is linked to my checking account so I won't bounce any checks. Then the worst one was last weekend I got a letter in the mail saying that I made too many withdrawals from my savings account so they charged me a $15 excessive use fee! I have money in our savings that we are using for vacation so whenever I make a purchase for vacation (airline tickets, resort ressie, pay off cruise, etc) I transfer the money from my savings to my checking and use it. Now I guess I can't do that. I am really looking at getting another bank - I just have everything there - two savings, checking, IRA, Visa, Line of Credit and Mortgage, plus my father has his accounts there to make it easier for me since I pay his bills. I am so not happy about any of this. Then I heard about the monthly charge for using the Debit Card.




Maybe I'll check out PNC.

Yes, check into PNC. We switched to PNC from Wells in July and we couldn't be happier.

 

[mpls_mm]

This story literally made me feel sick to my stomach. When did this happen to you?

2 years ago. When I called around to other banks to present this scenario found out that any bank has the right to shut down your account. it's under the Patriot Act, but few rarely do. Now we have 2 accounts and use smaller banks and get to know our bankers personally. I call when I have big checks or am traveling or do anything I think looks weird to a bank.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I have had problems with WF ( but no bank is perfect) I cant tell you they have always been quick to correct any mistakes .

I have 2 of my mortgages with them and my credit card ( yep I only have one) they handle my investment account and 2 checking and savings accounts for me . I trust them and maybe because I have so many accounts with them they move a little faster to fix things
You could do worse and bank with BOA .... I would never bank with BOA ! I had a 2nd Mortgage with them for a pool and I paid it off TWICE ! They had a clause in the loan that said if we ever defaulted on a account with them they would tack it on the 2nd mortgage ( it was a old loan they cant do it anymore Thank God ) . My Ex Husband defaulted on a credit card and a bank account with his wife . Yep he was on the old loan so I had to pay off his bad accounts to get the clear title to the house .

 

[tefrench]

Just an encouragement to use your local banks. Our local bank is great. They didn't need a government bailout, because they have good financial practices to begin with. Very friendly, no problems with them. And, importantly, they don't issue stock so they can't be bought out by another bank.

In college, I used a credit union, and also liked it.