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National City Bank decided to send me a new ATM card two years after I had closed the account. They did send it to my new address. I called them about it, and the CSR wanted my account number, which I didn’t have. I gave her the number on the card, and she still couldn’t bring up any information. Evidently I was still in the system, and the system decided I needed a new ATM card, even though I now had no account.

Scary.

Hi Adam, My bank, Bank of America, two weeks ago shut down my card which I use for everything and have many recuring payments, without notifying me. I found out when trying to pay for a food shopping trip with my wife. Fortunately she had hers with her. The excuse they gave was that two people from different sides of the country tried to use my card. I check my account every day and didn’t notice any discrepancies ever. It took a week to get a new one and some frustration to get all the recuring transactions changed to the new card. I wonder if there’s a different reason for the change. Like maybe someone hacked the bank’s accounts. You have a great blog.

Good point about the possible cover-up. My wife’s card is used in a very similiar manner to mine and it’s tied to the same account. Yet she’s not getting a new card (I asked Wells Fargo about this too). You’d think if the fraud depeartment felt they needed to send a card to me, they’d need to send a card to her as well.

That’s exactly what happened to me. I got a message one day saying that my card was going to be cancelled because of security issues and that I would get a new one in 5-7 days. I called wondering what the problem was, and it turns out that my hosting company had been hacked and credit cards had been stolen. When they reported it, my bank just cancelled all accounts as a precaution. I suppose at least they told me what the problem was instead of covering it up, although they wouldn’t release the company that had been hacked, I was just able to figure it out based on what I had used the card for.

I just activated my new Wells Fargo card, same thing ,they said I had to do it, or they would. I just used it a circle K and it locked up there register. The girls there said its the hologram strip that does it. Good one there Wells Fargo!! make a card that F—ks up everybodys system. Now I don’t know where it will work anymore I buy everything with that card. Considering changing Banks just because there stupid!

A co-worker of mine has a Wells Fargo account, and he got some fraudulent charges a couple of weeks ago. Furious, he made some phone calls to the companies that charged his account without his authorization. He ended up tracking down a woman 2000 miles away that received flowers that were charged to his account. The woman had no idea who was sending her flowers and was getting upset that merchandise was being delivered to her and she had no idea who it was coming from.

Fast forward to today.…my wife has a Wells Fargo account and she just received a new card in the mail. Her old card doesn’t expire for a year, so she called WF to ask about it. They said that her account was tagged as having possible “fraudulent charges” and her card was changed as a precaution.

Bullshit.

Wells Fargo’s system has been hacked and they won’t fess up to it, but can you blame them? The mass exodus would kill them.

Hey, same exact freakin’ story here. This card’s stripe has rendered my local Circle K worthless - I didn’t need the stupid new Visa logo. My Circle K lady actually said that Wells is shuttiing them out, I’m still trying to find some sturdier material on that - this is the only place online right now that’s talking about this dumb new card. I say we all start bitching on Wells’ help line so they take notice of their flawed new card.

Citi: pwned? http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/03/classbreakof.html

My wife and I are both Wells Fargo customers and her Wells Fargo card was hacked last week for more than $1100. This is the SECOND time our Wells Fargo card has been hacked in the past 6 months. They have some SERIOUS security issues and I have to tell you that at this point it is likely that we will be switching to Washington Mutual. This is ridiculous.

I forwarded this to all my ex-Welly Fargo co-workers… I am sure they appreciate someone griping about one of their psychotic policies in print. All of the CSRs (customer service reps) are WELL AWARE of the flawed cs policies that are not really FOR Customer service. They are simply maximizing their profits by sending out mass debit/check cards to all those who don’t currently use them. Yes, checking to see if you had one BEFOREHAND might have been appropriate, but simple common sense need not apply to management levels at WF. That would have taken their precious employee’s time up from attempting to SELL you other services WHEN You call in to report this mistake. Did they try to sell you something? A WF CSR is required to attempt to make a sell on Every IN BOUND Service call. Inconvenient? You bet! Rude? of course. Generating millions of dollars from their hapless banking customers who are forced to hear a telemarketing spiel when they are calling in to complain about a WF “Mistake”. What they did is not a mistake. They will generate plenty of income off ALL mistakes derived from the inconvenience of you setting up your New card. It’s the Wells Fargo way! -

+1 >:-( Add me to the list of Wells Fargo. I was at an out-of-town ATM last week (5/3/06) and notice about $1500 less from my checking/debit/atm account. I went online and sure enough I found three fraudulent charges on my account from across the nation.

I ALWAYS collect my receipts, and I NEVER use my debit card for online purchases.

I canceled my card that night but the charges have posted against my account. So now I wait.…

Getting hacked usually happens on your end of the spectrum. The website you trust to visit and downloads you put on your computer have alot to do with increasing your vulnerability.

I have had my account numbers changed three times in one year. Just this week they are doing it again because the security strip on the back doesnt work in Alaska. This change caught me on the road without a way to get at my money.

I am moving it has taken three attempts to get them to change to the new address. Yipes the banker you get on the phone seem to be totally lacking in banking skills.

Maybe I can find a better bank where I am moving.

Boy oh boy!! did Wells Fargo disappointed me today (7-21-06). I called to have some assistance with an overdraft fee (which I rarely do) and the only thing I got was uninformed operators and a liar of a supervisor name John. For Gods sake,, this is a large bank with enough money to educate their operators with the right information and to hire honest supervisor that can help a needy customer. I feel terrible by all the lies I have been told and have trusted to later find out that partially is not true.. Beware of the information they provide to you. Keep all your statements to compare with what they say,,,, you’ll be amaze some information they provide do not match yours. Because all they want to do is cut you off and leave you stranded.

Wells Fargo lacks the pistol and the mask but Ill still label them a bandit. They took my daughter , their employee to the cleaners with 42 over drafts at 33.00 a piece. Needless to say her pay check that went into the bank(auto deposit) was completely eaten up. She was told by a bank clerk that her over draft protection would kick in automatically. So being the young and innocent never checked to make sure that it did. She never had a clue until a cleck at a store tried to take it from her thinking she had stolen it. Wells Fargo never notified her and continued to let her over draw. Had it not been for the clerk doing the banks job who knows how long it would have continued. She had 500.00 in savings, they never applied it to the negative balance but then drained it for the over draft charges. Im sure if she was to read the veryyyy small print their butts are covered. This did not happen by accident, it is a well laid plan. Go try to reverse all those charges and see how far you get. No one seems to have the authority and no one can a make a decision. A very pissed Mom who taught her daughter a better set of values then the people she works for.

I am SO sorry to read all of your comments…I work for Wells Fargo…for now. I’m in collections (first time ever) and I know it’s not for me…I’m not “pushy”, I can be firm…but come on, trying to get a little elderly couple living on a very fixed income (social security really sucks, by the way, but that’s a topic for another day) to pay on a line of credit on which they are past due.…it’s really sad. I’m going back to healthcare…where I can at least feel honest and not dirty about what I do.

Well that might be the best story of the day.

I had more then 50 overdrafts of 33.00 since September. I was pregnant and had a baby so I never checked my statements since I was too busy with my child and kept making my deposits only to find out that I had more than 2000.00 in overdraft fees. They have a 2 day hold on deposited checks but take overdraft fees right away.

I have multiple accounts with Wells Fargo Bank one Buisness account that they made A 28,000.00 dollar mistake in there favor wich was eventually cleared up, and letters of appology on Wells Fargos behalf were sent out, however recently I made A deposit into A Wells Fargo account from one my accounts from another establishment to cover some automated bill paying activities and they held the deposit for four days siteing unusaul deposit activity, allthough the check cleared my other bank on the next day this created an overdraft wich they coverd but charged me for after A few phone calls they have reversed the charges but they are now chargeing me 2.00 for each phone call that I made to them. It is in my humble opinion that everyone banking with Wells Fargo should switch banks .

Here’s another heartwarming holiday story for you. I work in Albuquerque, NM (yes, the so-called “Land of Enchantment”, but that’s another story) and I was working in the “far heights” late this Friday evening, December 22, 2006, on an interior design project. With 15 minutes to spare in order to deposit checks totalling around $20,000 needed to cover business expenses and holiday purchases, I covered the distance to my nearest Wells Fargo branch at the corner of Juan Tabo and Montgomery Boulevards in just over ten minutes time on icy streets (no, I wasn’t going over the speed limit, there was too much holiday traffic), only to be stopped at a long red light at the adjacent intersection to the branch. Finally, I rolled up and parked in front of the front door right as a bank employee wearing slacks and a white or light dress shirt, dark curly hair, about average height (I hope this enough of a description to get his chicken-shit candy-ass fired, but suppose that would be expecting too much from a corporation that clearly does not give a rat’s ass about its customers) strolled up and locked the door while watching me wave. As he turned and strolled away without any acknowledgement, I checked my T-Mobile auto-updated cellular phone and saw that it was 5:58 pm, presumably two minutes before official closing time. Thanks for caring! Here’s wishing for a lovely Wells Fargo bankruptcy in the coming year, you flaming assholes…

I thought I was the only person with helpless overdraft problems, hidden charges & fees, and a shitload of hate for Wells Fargo. Love your article.

Is it really the bank’s fault that some people can’t figure out that if you spend more money than you have in your account, you’re going to get an overdraft fee??? Holy SHIT! I can’t believe you’re that stupid! Of course they’re going to charge you for that! Second, if you knew anything about federal regulations for banking, namely Regulation EE disputes, you would know why a bank places holds on large checks. If you’re stupid enough to take in a large check rather than have it wired between banks, you deserve to wait.

How about all of you learn how to keep a fucking register and quit using excuses like having a baby and it wells fargos fault. two suggestions for everyone. Make more money and i’m assuming for most of you thats not an option and the one that applies here is don’t have a bank account if you have no money and don’t know how to keep track it.

i have never had any problem with wells fargo they are great to do business with i’ve been there for years and plan on staying there!!!

WF put a week hold on a paycheck from my work (they have been depositing money from this account for over 3 years). This hold caused major problems, overdraft fees, and hours of useless time on hold. I sent them a letter today via email to request reimbursment. I can exect what their response will be. Somehow, things are never their fault and there is no one with the power to do anything. I am doing research on our local banks. I am over large entities, machines. It is not not the fault of the people that work there. They are just trying to make a living like you and me. The problem is that the bank (restaurant, store, whatever) is too big, so they require this huge rigid system to operate. The system only sees assets and liabilities. The CSR’s are just your human interface. If you can, Bank locally, shop locally. America can have unique towns again, instead of this homogeneous robot of chains and corporations.

My son is a victim of idenity theft. None of us are customers of WF. I have spent alot of money trying to get this mess cleared up. The WFB is in Ca and we live in MN.They gave me 10 days to get requested papers noterized and sent back to them. It took 4 days to get here. After requesting all paper work from 2 fraudulently opened accounts all we got was the applacation paper. WE ARE NOT HAPPY. WE will NEVER do business with WFB. Deb

sara How about all of you learn how to keep a fucking register and quit using excuses like having a baby and it wells fargos fault. two suggestions for everyone. Make more money and i’m assuming for most of you thats not an option and the one that applies here is don’t have a bank account if you have no money and don’t know how to keep track it. bill March 26, 2007 8:15 AM i have never had any problem with wells fargo they are great to do business with i’ve been there for years and plan on staying there!!!

Thank you to the both of you!!! These people are so stupid, they seem to think that everything is the banks problem and in all reality it’s the lack of their intelligence. I am a phone banker for wells fargo “a operator” (how downgrading to put it that way) and I have yet to see anything that has been banking error!! If people keep better track of their money and their accounts, these types of problems would not exist. (and for heaven sakes, here’s a concept) take responsibility for your own actions.

Wells Fargo is a great bank and nothing is done to hurt customers, they bring it on themselves.

get over it all of you jerks out there! i work for wells fargo and all of you people crying about overdraft fees are pathetic. it is not the banks job to track your purchases… its yours! GROW UP!!!

FWIW Wells Fargo is insolvent and on the verge of bankruptcy as they have a huge and undisclosed derivative risk… Have a Merry Christmas…

I am DONE with Wells Fargo. After years of their stupidity, I’m going to another bank.

Here is one example of my experiences with them: I have an auto deposit on my paycheck every month except for my June check which is a final check for the summer months. These auto deposits have been occurring for over 7 years, same two times every month and with the same employer issuing the check. Suddenly, one June, without any type of verbal warning, they decide to hold this check of $8,000. So, what do, I do? I decide to pay some bills - silly me, thinking I had money in the bank. Well, I did this for a week and after 10 DAYS, I get a notice in the mail saying that my deposited $8,000 check will be placed on hold! I live 20 miles from the bank and it took 10 days to get that letter to me.

I can understand if I walk in there with an $8,000 check from someone that had never direct deposited before. Come on, this was 7 years with THE SAME COMPANY!

Well, this was convenient for them as it resulted in MANY overdraft fees that they refused to refund. Someone was right - I’m just a number to this big banking system. I have to wonder if they just look for the right time to do things like this.…..things that cause overdrafts which are IMMEDIATELY posted to an account, no waiting period on those!

I think the least they can do is inform their customers immediately when a deposit is going to be placed on hold. Sure, they have the right to do that but with that right comes the responsiblity to inform their customer - immediately, not 10 days later.

Ok all of you really nice people telling everyone whose had a problem with Wells Fargo Bank to learn how to keep a fucking register - first off, do you people have some close relationship with Wells Fargo to make you defend them by insulting others? Second, it is true that if a person is very careful with watching their spending and using their accounts they can prevent fees. However, Wells Fargo simply likes to make it that much harder to do. They do like to be sneaky about their methods, but because their methods are approved bank regulation, even if it seems wrong to do to the customer it can’t be called “banking error”. For example, WFB will post debit card purchases the day they were made so that you can see the transaction online, and then they will reverse it so it cant be seen on your account, hold it for several days or longer, and then repost it (officially this time, so the money is taken out) and it always seems this happens when them doing that incurs the customer overdraft fees. Now them doing that is not a “banking error” because they are allowed to do that. However, it still does not seem right to do.

<——— Wells Fargo Employee. Lol

Oh yeah, if your worried about security, you should get identity theft protection. Saved my ass almost 900 dollars so far.

I agree - Wells Fargo is not only stupid, but unethical and predatory. http://www.wellsfargoinjustice.com info@wellsfargoinjustice.com

I have stayed with Wells Fargo for almost 2 years now but I was unhappy recently because I can’t do much on their Online Banking Site.

It started when I went to deposit checks on an ATM machine like always because I never make it to the bank because of work. So at night time, I always make it a habit to deposit money. But I noticed that there is always a lost $100 on the account and the receipt says a different amount from the ATM Machine. So I checked on a branch one time for me to understand why it happened. They explained to me that they make the $100 ready for me to be used. But still, the amount it printed in my receipt was no where to be found in their database. They showed it to me in their old computer. Most of the amounts in their computer in my history didn’t appear in my online site. I told them why this amount never appeared in my history. Even in my online banking account, I never saw that amount. It habitually changes and you can never keep track of how much money you got when you deposit in an ATM Machine. Even if I use the calculator to sum up the deposits and withdrawals, it never came up with the right amount. That is why I told the employee how am I suppose to know if the bank is getting money from my account or not since the figures always changes. (I use my ATM account for everything, sales, POS, shopping, food, etc.) What they told me is that the bank never gets money out of my account. I could believe him on what he is saying but he can’t explain to me why the figures in my online account never matches if I use the calculator.

The main thing about this is what if I want to see how much money I have when I deposited this money 3 days ago? This is my main problem on their website. I saw that they updated the whole website but still its just some GUI changes and design but no important updates that will make online banking easier. I told him I wanted to see how much money I have for each transaction I made. So I can keep track to prove his word that I am not losing money. He told me, “You can make a ledger for yourself of each transaction you made and you can compare it against the website.” I said, “Then why do I have to do banking with you guys if I have to do it myself manually.” This made me think how much online banking with Wells Fargo sucks.

And then a friend told me about Bank of America. He showed me their online banking and I was delighted on a particular feature I need. They log each transaction and besides each shows how much money you have after the transaction was made. In Wells Fargo, you only can get how much money you have before the transaction happened only the MOST RECENT one. In BofA, they will show you everything for each transaction you made. This will save my time rather than me doing a ledger and log each transaction manually which is ridiculous. So in short, I opened an account and I am on the verge of moving and closing my Wells Fargo account once I got my tax refund in my old WF bank account.

This is my story. I hope Wells Fargo can do something about this.

What is the point of online and mobile banking if you have to keep your own register anyways? I’m not saying that Wells Fargo shouldn’t charge you for exceeding your limit, I’m just saying that the way they conduct business is unfair to the consumer. How are you supposed to keep an accurate register when charges can “fall off”, as one phone banker explained to me, and then re-post at any time. And it just so happens that these charges re-post right before you make a deposit to cover the costs, but yet you had made the deposit before the charges re-posted. The bank managers response to this situation was, “well we can’t keep charges on there forever!” Understandable, but if Wells Fargo is going to drop and re-post charges at their discretion, how about an e-mail? a phone call? a fucking smoke signal, just some kind of notification on whats going on with our account! If we have to keep a register, and track all transactions whether it be charges falling off, pending transactions, and when items are posted.…. Well isn’t that the banks job. How about giving the consumer the option to keep the charge posted a few more days? After all it was the consumer who made the charge, they should know if the charge was legit or not. And another thing that is funny, Wells Fargo doesn’t give you the option to set-up your check card in a way to where it is impossible to go over your balance. Why not? Instead they allow you to open a second account that acts as an overdraft protection account. And then when you do need to utilize your “overdraft protection” account they charge you a fee. That’s the fucking stupidest shit I ever heard! It’s all MY MONEY! Why the hell should I have to pay a fee for covering costs with my own money. But the bank and credit systems are set up for the average consumer to fail. You can’t take your debit/credit card and run it up to $20,000 when your limit/account balance is only $500 because sooner or later your card will be declined. But the banks allow you to go over just a little, so that way when you do (even if it’s a dollar!) they hit you with a fine. But Wells Fargo is a business, and a large one at that, so I expect to see no change in the way things are done because they profit too much money in fees alone. So the only solution I see for now is to get rid of online and mobile banking since they are not always up-to-date and Wells Fargo expects you to keep a register.(That seems to be their answer for everything.) And get rid of your check card. It amazing on how many people are siding with Wells Fargo, even though you may be an employee, I mean come on! Deep in the back of your head you have to be telling yourself people are getting bent over here. It used to be that people would allow the bank to take their money to keep it in a safe place, nowadays the bank is just taking our money. If your an average consumer, who works a 9-5, barely making ends meet, and trying to support a family… You’re better off keeping your money in a shoe box under your bed. At least then you know you won’t be getting ripped off.

Kari, Katy and all of the other Wells Fargo employees.

I find it insensitive and downright rude of your responses toward anyone who has expressed their concern, grievenses and so forth.

THAT in my opinion is how rude the customer service is at Wells Fargo.

Yes I used to bank there.…used to being the operative word.

I chose to leave Wells Fargo banking because of the ‘rude’ customer service and the constant bank charges on my account.

Did you know that Wells Fargo CHARGES the customer if they take money from your overdraft protection account?

For example: My payroll checks were automatically deposited into my account on Friday morning. Actually posted to my account. Then on Saturday morning we’d deposit my husbands payroll check because his company doesn’t provide automatic deposit. That deposit of course would be held or in pending mode until Tuesday morning.

IF you went and spent all the money you just deposited over that weekend, you’d see the transactions, however if you happened to spend over that and Wells Fargo was left to transfer money from your savings/overdraft proctection account, Wells Fargo would charge $10 for each transfer/transaction they made for you. WTF? So say if I needed $10 transferred over to cover the overdraft then Wells Fargo is taking $10 for themselves because someone had to go into the system to do this?

In my opinion Wells Fargo is nickel and diming everyone to death with these ‘hidden’ fees and charges. It’s outrageous and really needs to stop. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if more and more customers start leaving Wells Fargo.

I’ve had nothing but foul mouthed, obnoxious angry little punks for customer service reps who I might add more hidden charges just for answering or taking care of something on your account.

Oh gosh I could go on and on about how bad Wells Fargo is but I think the fact that I’ve ‘stiffed’ them with a negative -$1,000 overdraft and not answering their calls and returning their little notices and envelopes.

I’ve opened up a bank account with a our local credit union, which I might add have even made $.10 within our first week of opening our account. No hidden fees with them plus we own a portion of our credit union. We’ve had our account now for a couple of months and love it there. Always treated with a smile and they’ve even started calling us by our name! How’s that?!!

Oh sure.…eventually I’ll get around to paying this overdraft charge that’s on that Wells Fargo account, but you know what? I’m not in any big hurry to do so.

So Kari, Katy and all other other Wells Fargo employees.….….…..I hope you’re happy working there at Wells Fargo because eventually.….….…..you’ll be a victim of what everyone else is complaining about. So.…..YOU GROW UP BITCHES AND LEARN SOME CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS!!!