I love Mint. It's such a great service. A few days ago it sent me an email telling me that I incurred a service charge on my Vyoo business account. As is customary, I'd go down to Wells Fargo and have the charge waived. But this time was different. Not only was I sick of having to go down to Wells Fargo to deal with this crap, but I had also had them agree to waive this fee indefinitely the last time I was there. So I went down with a bone to pick.
See, Wells Fargo claims they're start-up friendly. They claim they like to help small business owners. What's so helpful about a $14 monthly fee for not having tons of money in our account.
My issue was a much larger issue though. I've been a Wells Fargo customer ever since I moved to California ten years ago. My business partner has been a customer for 10 years as well (he's linked to our business account). He also has an equity line, a personal account, and a mortgage through Wells Fargo. So when I went to speak with them about this ridiculous nickel and diming, I figured they'd be all ears. Boy was I wrong. I got stonewalled. "There's nothing we can do." And the guy was a dick about it.
Apparently it doesn't matter if we've pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into personal accounts and home equity lines... all that matters is that our business account doesn't have much money. So they charge us a $14 fee every month. We're a damn startup. We don't have revenue. But we need a business account to pay bills, to receive payments, and god forbid, to accept money if we raise financing. The fact that these accounts can't be linked to our personal accounts or that they can't waive these fees is beyond me. Like my roommate said...their left brain doesn't talk to their right brain. I'm gone...never again to return to Wells Fargo. Screw you Wells. Hope it was worth your $14.
24 comments:
I think what makes it so frustrating is that you can make the business argument, but that doesn't mean that that they will care. It's like they are daring you to leave.
With the fall of Wamu and its replacement with Chase, I've been thinking about what I want in a bank. It makes me wish for a community bank for the internet community.
Thanks for the site.
Erik
PS. You can smirk that I got a Wells Fargo ad.
@Erik - They definitely don't care. It's really absurd. I read a great article in Inc. this morning about why companies are failing. It's not as much the downturn as the downturn is an excuse. The real root of the problem lies in how companies treat their customers. Increase the bottom line at the expense of anything. Screw 'em.
Love that you got a Wells Fargo ad. I like the idea of clicking on ads for companies you hate...to get them to pay more to the piper.
Hiral Shah is their worst possible mortgage associate. she spends thousands on advertisements and is very sweet talking when it comes to getting new customers. As soon as you've got the mortgage you are scum to her. Treats you like rubbish. Beware of her. She has her own website and advertises a lot so you will see her name a lot in the newspapers etc esp for the Indian community in NJ. BUT BEWARE!!!
she CONNOT be trusted. She is selfish and cheap.
Gave us a rate higher than the market and has been ripping s off all along. Typical WF tactics to make money and only to make money. Screw customers should be their official motto!!
I couldn't agree more. Wellsfargo SUCKS. In fact, I created a bumper sticker that says just that. If your interested its $5 to express your "love". Let me know.
Mindy
I completely agree. I've been a Wells Fargo customer for over 12 years with several accounts with them. They've changed quite a bit and treat their customers like crap. They are also very incompetent. Avoid them if you can, you will get screwed eventually!
WF wants us to default on our mortgage
They are not helping us with the Making Home Affordable program. They told us it was not in their best interest to modify our loan. We have never been late on a payment and have 9 years left. One of us lost their job to the recession.
They figure we have too much equity in our house and they would rather see us get evicted than help us with the Obama plan Making Home Affordable!
I can't even begin to tell you how similar this is to my situation. As a freelancer, I've had to rely on the good graces of my banks over the years. I had a wonderful bank in the city and I hated to leave, but I was moving to the country and needed a bank nearby. I got and instantly repaid a car loan, I had six and five-digit balance for years... I resent even having to spend my time writing THIS.
The interactions I've had with my local bankers has been astonishing. I thought I was being set up and being filmed by hidden cameras. When I told the bank manager that I was having a hard time understanding how they had come to a decision to penalize my account for another bank's mistake, she said, "Oh, just keep acting confused."
It was like the Twilight Zone. And trust me, that was only a sliver of the whole story. I'm still trying to untangle this mess so that when I do close my accounts (I do have a business account and a checking account and can transfer funds between them, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong there ;) )
I'm also reluctant to close my account because that's exactly what my banker offered to do "to solve this problem."
What? Rather than work to keep my loyalty and protect their reputation (this is a small town and I'm in the process of starting a new B2B venture in that town), they tell me to simply leave?
WTFargo?
@Anonymous - Thanks for the latest post... what an awful story! I realized that speaking to the branches vs. speaking to their phone support is like talking to a head and a detached body. They have no idea how the other operates. I couldn't believe my banker offered to close my account when I was having problems. What the WTFargo!?
Boy do I have a Wells Fargo Story!!! I have made advance payments of over $20,000 or 18 months worth of payments. I needed to skip a few and they file for foreclosure. ON A PREPAID LOAN!!!! charge me over $1,300 in legal and late fees, again on a loan that is paid in advance. You can not talk to anyone at Wells Fargo because "THAT'S NOT MY DEPARTMENT." Stay away from anything Wells Fargo!!!
I blew up my wells fargo credit card with a shotgun blast. check it out here on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV3ImC4Ol7s
I agree. I had deposited a financial aid check from college and Wells Fargo Bank rejected it saying that it was past the 6 month period. I told them it was well within the 6 month period. Then they said that I didn't deposit before 4PM. I probably didn't...but then how come they accepted my rebate check that was due that day. If they did not accept "post" it until the next day then the rebate check would have been no good. So they charged my a $7 fee for a check that they did not want to take. I took the photocopy of the check... and the accompanying bank statement to my college financial aid office and they said that "this has usually does not happen....unless it's Wells Fargo"....lol..It was Wells Fargo and they apologized on Wells Fargo's behalf even though the check was good. If I had time I'd like to file a complain against that stupid Wells Fargo Bank customer service rep. He said that a month is calculated at the beginning of a month let's say March 2009 although the check was issued on March 24..the stupid rep said that from March 1, 2009 to April 1, 2009 is 30 days although my check was issued on the 24 of March. I figured I better keep quiet I don't want them take anymore money out of my account. I have since been reissued a new financial aid check and the lady said that she will make a copy of the check just in case something happens again. I figure it something stupid happens again I'm calling my local new show's consumer protection people. Wells Fargo....just bad for business. Oh, I also had another account where they were charging me $2.50 for storing my paper checks eventhough they no longer send me my paper checks anymore....it's all on microfiche if I ever want to see it...Wells Fargo sucks!
Thanks for the site. I own three businesses and 2 properties and annually do close to $20M a year with Wells. It has gotten really bad and they suck. Trust me, it's not just the little guy they're screwing. I'm out of there first chance I get and moving to a community bank who will appreciate the business.
Did the same to me!
And piled fees on top of fees after i tried to pay off the fees and they kept slipping a new one right under the time limits! even after i canceled the accounts they kept fee piling and calling ten times on a Sunday to harass me! I told them to stop calling and they refused and would not cancel the accounts! They would not listen and repeated there rhetoric like checked out drone monkeys! I told them i will abandon the account!
Who do these people think they are? And why do they get to get away with it?
It was like paying protection money to the mafia!
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH WELLS FARGO ON ANY LEVEL!
In my opinion they are a rip off lying cheating corrupt corporate entity!
A totally surreal experience working with Wells. They turned out to be the credit company on an incentive offered when I purchased new appliances. I never received a bill, but started getting phone calls about a being overdue. Once we received a bill, we paid in full. Wells then his us with finance charges and late fees. When I tried to call to resolve, I was left on hold for over 40 minutes when I finally hung up.
Eventually, I got through to them to complain about the charges, but by that time another billing cycle had run through, so they had tacked on another finance charge. I am now on hold for a third time, getting the run around and being told that if I want to dispute, I need to write a letter to their billing department, as the billing department does not take phone calls. Well you know that is going to get me no where.
It is egregious that Wells has the audacity to indicate that they have no responsibility for their customer service delays, no responsibility for the terrible service, and that I must start writing letters, while still accruing fees to get this resolved. .
Do not even attempt to apply for credit with these Wells Fargo goons. I filed and discharged bankruptcy in 2004, six years ago. I acquired two credit cards from WAMU and Capital One within six months of bankruptcy. Each card has current limits of $7500 and $9500. Balances are always below $300.00. NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT on credit cards! Not one single negative annotation since bankruptcy. I bank at Wells Fargo with my personal and business accounts. When I applied for a credit card online, I received a DECLINE notice from those assholes at Wells Fargo. The ONLY reason for declining is the bankruptcy from SIX YEARS ago, stated in the letter. You have got to be kidding??? I gross $125,000 a year for the last four years and have no debts. Wells Fargo can kiss my ass goodbye!!!
I am so angry at Wells Fargo right now. I have online bill pay set up for my car to Ford Motor Credit. I go in and approve a payment once a month. I have two checking and a savings account that are all supposed to be linked so I don't overdraft. Tuesday I log in and everything looks good. I have a $575 deposit pending and money in all of the accounts. I look an hour later and there are 10 overdraft fees of $35. I call and they tell me two payment went to Ford for $500 each. They charged 10 overdrafts and then put in the $575 deposit. Their answer, I must have autopay through Ford. I don't. I call Ford and they say two payments were mailed. Wells wants proof, I fax it and get the complete runaround, Glenda in Cedar Rapids says things like, You should really plan better. Wells insists the money was taken out by Ford. Glenda does admit that she can see back to June that I always do bill pay and Ford has never taken money out this way. She has not given me proof. I asked her to credit the fees (we have a business checking and use their credit card processor for several million dollars of business every year, I am also on the verge of refinancing my ho,e with them) she told me she couldn't think anymore about it, it was time for her to go home and she would call me today after she put some thought into it.
Wells Fargo has a lot hidden charges for merchant account. I just closed my merchant account with them and agreed to pay the $500 cancellation fee as what the representative told us when i opened a merchant account. They said that was it. But now that i am cancelling they are charging me additional $1210.80 for the lease equipment. Nobody told us that before. But of course i was a trusting customer back then to the schemy sales representative. If you are a small business owner, NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER sign up with WELLS FARGO MERCHANT SERVICES.. It's a rip off. PLUS, they wont tell you but you will be paying PROPERTY TAX, SERVICE FEE, and UNEXPLAINABLE charges on the leased credit card equipment that's in addition to the MONTHLY LEASE, and TRANSACTION FEES. Yes, those little things have property tax. When I called Wells Fargo customer service to help explain me all the fees, they transfer me to the Merchant Customer Service. When I ask the Merchant Customer Service if they see the fees I am looking at my computer bank account, they said I dont know what you are talking about, please call the Wells Fargo Customer Service. Viola, they also charge $10 for paper statement I never signed up for. So Go away far away from WELLS FARGO... just RUN RUN RUN... When I go to their office they appear to be really nice, BUT dont trust what they say. Even if you attempt to read all the contract, it's all for their benefit - you wouldnt have a chance, so just run and DONT TRUST their sales representative.
I don't know what is going on with this bank but 2 months in a row they say were late when we send our payment in 10 days early and then our bill is 106.00 a month and they are charging us all these fees that equal 250.00. I think we need to turn them into a higher authority and I'm not sure who I would call that governs over these people.
I hate all banking institutions! where did all the bailout money go. Certainly not to the small business owners that need captial to grow and expand. I cant get a business loan if my life depended on it. Small businesses fuel the economy and I dont know how any new business get started since there is no financing available. FFFF all banks and FFF wells fargo. I have a merchant account and business accounts that do well over 30k a month in transactions and i cant get a business loan for more machines.
Glad to find your blog. Well Fargo sucks and I hate them too. Bad experience/verbal assault this morning by phone on a car payment that is FIVE DAYS late. I am sane, practical and professional and still cant believe I was taunted, mocked and threatened by them over this payment. It's unbelieveable. Dont use Wells Fargo FOR ANYTHING if you have a choice to go elsewhere. The whole experience over the past few years has been bad.
I nearly had a nervous breakdown w/my bank, Wells Fargo, too. This past June, I had been a victim of fraud. So many times, I called the Wells Fargo Legal Dept ... It was always the same length of wait (one hour) & the same response: There was nothing they could do for me. Oh, I was upset being a long time customer, too, ever since moving to CA. I thought that I was protected by fraud. I thought that I had rights. Overnight, $7,000.00 was withdrawn from 3 of my accounts; by the 1st of August, several $100’s more were withdrawn continuously. I had no choice but to hire a consumer attorney in Manhattan immediately (thank god I picked a righteous one; not someone working in this scheme), file for a motion -- vacate the judgment against me & release the funds. The Plaintiff's process server (Capital One Bank along w/their attorneys Rubin & Rothman) was a fraud. He routinely submitted false affidavits & eventually, lost his license—revoked by NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs: The Plaintiff’s Affidavit of Service was not only false but also perjured--A clear example of “sewer service”, long recognized as a tool used by unethical debt collectors in New York. To add, this debt collection law firm was recently sued by the NY Attorney General & Administrator of the Courts for not only routine and systematic service at incorrect addresses & falsifications of affidavits regarding same, but also falsification of confirmation of residence by fictitious neighbors, as in my case, a lady by the name of Jane (whose last name may as well been “Doe”). Even after the judgment was vacated, it took another month for the monies to be returned. So, even after knowing all this, Wells Fargo still didn’t return all the bank fee charges. They kept my money, acting ignorant that the legal order was served in error ... appeared to have no compassion for a victim of fraud. I even have Chronic Lyme Disease & cannot get disability, unless I hire a lawyer, which I'm too exhausted, too tapped out to do for now. I've read so many books on CLD that it nearly killed me, knowing who holds the patent on death. Talk about the biggest crime against humanity. Anyways, I would go elsewhere to another bank, but it appears to be all the same…
Good luck with your business! Godspeed.
We weren't working, BUT, Wells Fargo called, called and CALLED, but didn't leave messages. We were HARASSED, THREATENED: I wrote a letter to ALL their corporate offices in the U.S... I finally got a call from a brown noser, who just worked in their corporate HQ in TX. .
Long story short - I made SURE they got over $1600. in one month, BUT, that wasn't enough we didn't buy groceries, gas, pay our elect bill - a WEEK LATER they wanted MORE MONEY.
When I finally asked, "I thought you were going to work with us?" "We ARE. We haven't taken YOUR CAR!" WITCH.
So, we ended paying them IN FULL, knowing full well they overcharged us, bastards ! ! !
I will NEVER, EVER deal with them again. I am EMBARASSED to even know that I grew up them in Anaheim, California.
They are vicious, cuthroat, self centered, self serving arrogant BASTARDS.
As long as they get ALL THEIR MONEY, down to the last red cent - they are nice, God FORBID you are late one day, or if you lose your employment they don't give a flying fart!
So, WELLS FARGO, just one more thing: KARMA BABY, KARMA.
wells fargo is like most banks...they will do what they must to make money. my uncle left us money and erin harrigan the administator still has not sent us our money. let her know how wrong she is....erin.harrigan@wellsfargo.com you can not win with wells fargo.
the only thing to do is take your money out. close all accounts including investments and trusts.
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0yC3uCLR3s&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Wells Fargo has stole grandmas money and won't apply payment or give the money back as they charge her $28 a day!?! Yes this is true and there is a lawsuit filed....please share!
Facebook: grandmagotrunoverbywellsfargo
Also checkout: Facebook: we declare war on wells Fargo and wells Fargo sucks
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