Wells Fargo customers, beware

[Zoemakes5]

Was checking my balance online yesterday w/WF. I saw an entry "banker phone fee 7/20" w/a $2.00 debit from our acct. I called in and was told that WF's "phone system was very advanced and expensive" and that when you call in and talk with a banker, at the end of the call the banker "determines if the call was something you could do when online" and if they determine it was, then they will assess a $2.00 fee per call!
When I started asking questions, like when this was implemented, why there was no "warning" on the voice system when you chose to talk with a banker, what happened if you didn't have internet access at all or the time you were talking to the banker (like you were on vacation or something), and I was told "well in those circumstances, you need to tell the banker and then they'll not charge you at the end of the call." And mind you, at no time to they tell you during the call "oh, just wanted to let you know that this call will be charged." I'm absolutely furious about this. We've banked with WF (previously Norwest here in MN) and have NEVER had this issue and there was never any notification of any sort of change.
They did remove the 7/20 charge since I was in San Diego at a hotel when I accessed it, but I am still furious!
Thought this group in particular might want to know as it's one of those "hidden cost" kind of things.

 

[lynetteSC]

that is totallllllly crudddddy! it would be bad even if they told you ... but not to even tell you! UGH - how frustrating!

 

[DianeV]

Another thing they do is if you want to make a payment by phone (cant make online payments if you dont also have a checking/savings account with them to transfer from) it costs $5 if you do it with the automated system and $10 if you have the privilege of a real live person taking the information.

We have a personal loan with them and when its paid will not use them again

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Of course you will have to see if they charged you for your complaining call.

 

[blueeyez]

I had the same charge happen to me. I ordered 4 boxes of checks and didn't receive them after like a month. So I called to see what happened to them. I couldn't believe they charged me. They did take it off. I spoke to the receptionist at my local WF bank and she said to call their local number. Not the 1-800 number and you shouldn't have that problem. Now with the other fees, We also have our mortgage with them mind you. I wanted to make a payment over the phone and they were going to charge me $10. I said you're just transferring it from one account to the other. It's not like I'm using different banks. So I just drove to the bank and made my payment at the drive thru.

 

[curlyjbs]

not a laughing matter but.......................

has anyone seen that bank commercial on TV??? This is one instance where art definetely imitates life!!!

 

[jekajekalynn]

Thats like what happened at the bank we use, Charterone (which seems like it gets taken over by a bigger bank company every year ) .

Anyways, one day at work I had to call my banks 800 number to see if my check had been direct deposted yet, and their system was down. Well, I ended up having to call 3 times before the system was fixed. Later that week I saw a dollar charge to our account from the bank, and when I called and asked, they had the nerve to try to charge me for calling them more than once for a 48 hour period even though it was THEIR fault since their system was down!!! Needless to say they took the charge away after I conversed with them for a few minutes.

 

[disneygals]

So let's see, the rep answering the phone makes $6 an hour, takes 20 calls an hour, the bank makes $34 an hour. Quite a good scam.

 

[gothmommie]

I wonder how that is even remotely legal - probably because they sent out a new rate and disclosure agreement to customers at one point, even still I would think that they would have to warn the caller in order to be on the up and up.. if they didn't do that I would imagine that some lawyer could have a field day with them....

Very shady - they lost my potential future business.

 

[CherCrazy]

They are a shady bank all the way around. I work in the real estate industry where they have made the news for their illegal padding of fees. For example, if your documents have to be fedexed out and the fedex fee is $25, then Wells Fargo was charging their clients $50 for the same service.

 

[got2travel]

I've had Wells for years and this has been a long standing policy for certain account types. It is not a new charge. Just remember that whenever you talk to a live person, just tell them it could not have been handled via the automated phone line or online and have them waive the fee.

 

[pirateparrot]

I suggest joining a credit union if you are eligible. The fees are a lot lower and the service is generally better.

 

[hiwaygal]

Another thing they do is if you want to make a payment by phone (cant make online payments if you dont also have a checking/savings account with them to transfer from) it costs $5 if you do it with the automated system and $10 if you have the privilege of a real live person taking the information.

We have a personal loan with them and when its paid will not use them again

I'm wondering if someone can clarify this 'cause I have WF for my mortgage and a home equity loan, and my checking account is through a different bank, but I regularly pay my mortgage on-line (don't get anything via snail-mail about this for at least 3 years now). I figured if I wanted to go through the "hassle" setting up the equity line for on-line payments, I could, but just haven't done it.

 

[DianeV]

All I know is when we did talk to them on the phone they did acknowledge that we couldnt make an online payment unless we had a Wells Fargo account to transfer it from - do you by chance do the automatic payment? I mean where its set up to automatically pay your bill every month? Maybe that is a different setup and they can do it?

 

[hiwaygal]

This is the log in page where I pay my mortgage:

https://ebpp-2.wellsfargo.com/WHM/index.jhtml

I don't remember all the details, but on my bills it said I could pay them online so I set up the account. Now all I get from them for my mortgage is an email with a link to that site. I don't think I have to enter any information anymore (routing number and account number), I think it's linked to my regular checking account, but the checking account is with another bank.

I have found out that I can't necessarily get directly from the main Wells Fargo site to the bill pay site. Maybe it depends on which link you pick

 

[DianeV]

Maybe it has to do with your having a mortgage from them..we only have a personal loan

 

[Friendly Frog]

So much for customer service.

 

[disneymom3]

Oh for goodness sake!!! I cannot believe what they try to get away with. Personally, my favorite policy of theirs is how they process their transactions. First they debit your account before they credit it each day. So, DH has automatic deposit, but I can't actually access that money on Fridays, because if I for instance make my house payment (which is with WF) it will clear before the deposit and i will be overdrawn. Then, they also clear the biggest check or withdrawal first and then work their way down in value. So,yeah, the first time we had direct deposit at this bank (our old one did credits first and then debits) the account was overdrawn and then every single other charge or check that hit that day also got an overdraft fee! OUCH!! I did get them to reverse the charges but sheesh! That was a major wake up call.

Now, DH works for a competing national bank, and their little set up is that in order to have your checks direct depositted, you have to have an account with their bank. That just cracks me up! We do get interest, free checks and some other perks, but come on--you have to blackmail people into having their account with their employer??? Oh, banks, can't live without em but boy are they annoying!!