Wells Fargo bank

[Matt34]

I will never do business with these folks again. Talk about some shady business practices and there "online" banking is the worst I've ever dealt with. Wrote them a one page email telling them where they could shove my account, feel a bit better but thought I'd share my frustrations here too.

Anyone else have bad experiences with them? I can't imagine I'm the only one after the crap they put me through.

I'm Gald I still have my primary checking and saving accounts with USAA. Been with them 10 years and have had only one problem with them.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I was a credit manager in one branch, assistant branch manager in two others, and branch manager for 4 of their offices before going into biz for myself. Man, the turnover. Lots of politics. They had fired everyone from the district manager on up to the ceo - everyone I started with was gone.

So what's up - did they take some of your money?

 

[Matt34]

I was a credit manager in one branch, assistant branch manager in two others, and branch manager for 4 of their offices before going into biz for myself. Man, the turnover. Lots of politics. They had fired everyone from the district manager on up to the ceo - everyone I started with was gone.

So what's up - did they take some of your money?

Well, it's still not resolved yet so I'm still not sure what they did. Basically comes down to the way the process transactions and not posting them accordingly with the on-line banking service.

One example:
I deposited monies(thru the banks own ATM) to cover a paypal purchase 2 days prior to the day I actually made the purchase and they processed both the day following the payment. Withdraws first followed by deposits but according to my on-line banking service(that I checked prior to paying with paypal) the money was already processed and available in my account. Left me with a $30 NSF fee.

I guess I took for granted that all online banking services were like USAA's.

 

[gellor]

Well, it's still not resolved yet so I'm still not sure what they did. Basically comes down to the way the process transactions and not posting them accordingly with the on-line banking service.

One example:
I deposited monies(thru the banks own ATM) to cover a paypal purchase 2 days prior to the day I actually made the purchase and they processed both the day following the payment. Withdraws first followed by deposits but according to my on-line banking service(that I checked prior to paying with paypal) the money was already processed and available in my account. Left me with a $30 NSF fee.

I guess I took for granted that all online banking services were like USAA's.

They've done the same thing to me before. And now that they're getting rid of their OneLook service, I'll probably be switching banks very soon. Sorry you had that sort of luck with them.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I know there's some lag time in depositing money in an atm, and actually having access to it. For instance, someone could write and deposit (in a atm) a rubber check for $1000, then request $900 in the next transaction. Of course, you'd be hit with a $30 NSF fee, but what the heck, you just made $900. Banks are smarter than that. That's the reason for the limited withdrawal at atm's. Tellers usually go in the next business day and account for all the transactions.

If you deposit $1000 in an atm on a Saturday afternoon after the bank closes, and charge money that Monday through the same account, assuming the money is in your account, it's very possible the $1000 hasn't been verified yet - depending on the punctuality of the employees at that particular branch.

On the other hand, if you electronically transfer funds form a savings account to a checking account online, those funds should be available right away.

Wells Fargo could easily waive that $30 - depending on how bad they want to keep your business.

 

[masak_aer]

This is what i know in the banking business. This practice is common to most banks but not all. If you have a deposit and a withdrawal in the same day. The one that hits your account first is your withdrawals then your deposits. Examples:
you have a balance of $30 in your account, you deposit a $100 check which cleared the next day. Then you withdraw $40 at 2 pm and another $90 at the next hour on the day the check cleared. This is what you can expect to see:
balance $30.
withdrawal $40
withdrawal $90
NSF $30
deposit $100
ending balance $-30

That is one way for them to make money. Unless you challenge them directly and few phone calls (few can mean 3 phone calls, 10 holds @10 minutes each), they'll waive the NSF thing. I worked for a bank before so I got a sense of how they do business anyway. Please correct me if this practice has changed at all.

 

[Matt34]

The deposit I made was cash, I wasn't trying to float a check.

 

[masak_aer]

Regarding your case, you should be charged for NSF, since it has passed 2 days. The rule is, ATM cash deposit has to be available by end of business day if you deposit before the bank closes (usually the cut-off time is 3 pm). If you deposit after 3 pm, they should process it in the morning (usually 9 am). I think what had happened is, the teller responsible for the ATM forgot to process your deposit the day after and he/she waited until the close of the next business days. I don't know the time you deposit the money so this is just my assumption:
You deposited your cash at 4 pm on Dec 14, the teller didn't process the ATM until Dec 15. On Dec 15, the teller forgot (or too lazy?) to process the deposit so he/she waited until the close business on the 15, which made the money available on the 16. Since you also made withdrawals on the 16, they would count your withdrawals first then your deposits.
This is just my guess of what might have happened. Keep on calling them and complain to them. Talk to the manager and demand your money back. This thing shouldn't have happened in the first place.

 

[agarwalro]

I hate the way Bank of America displayes the balance for my checking account in the online banking.

There is a filed called "Balance" and one called "Available balance". They rarely match and after 2 years I still cant figure out how it works. All I have figured out is, the lower of the two is what I can spend.

Another big grudge I have is that payments dont post online in a timely manner. There have been instances where the online transactions are 4 days behind.

Bank of America has completely obliterated all the good that could come out of online banking.

 

[zipper]

The "available balance" differs because you must keep a certain amount in the acct just to keep it open. I quit doing biz with BOA because they jacked the int. rate on my visa from 7% to 13 % for no reason (this was well after the intro rate period). All they would say was that it was a biz decision based on a review of my credit. Really? After the acct had been open for 2 years? Not to mention with a middle score over 700 I was hardly what you would call a "credit risk".



USAA is great.............for insurance anyways. Still do my banking through a local CU.

 

[Tomorrow]

Matt,

You must be eligible for the local Fed Credit Union. USE IT. They're much better than any bank.

 

[Matt34]

Matt,

You must be eligible for the local Fed Credit Union. USE IT. They're much better than any bank.

Yeah, I'm opening an account with them this weekend, should have done that in the first place. I had an account with a FCU when I was in Lousiana and had no problems with them, still used them up until a couple years ago actually.

 

[Audioholics]

All I can say is - save your money. This may sound ridiculous if you're under 30, but once you have about $20k in any combination of investment accounts with one of these banks, they drop all the fees and treat you right (everything magically becomes "free" for real) and since you carry a larger balance you don't have issues with posting or pulling out funds.

Up until that point the fees are their bread and butter and they'll do whatever they can (in terms of policy) to get those fee statements up each month.