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[prytania3]

Maybe I should tweet about it.

Really, I signed up with Wachovia (fondly called Walk all Over Ya), but they were a delight next to the stupid, rude imbeciles at Wells Fargo.

I owe the a**holes money, but I didn't have the account number. They managed to find the account, but they wouldn't let me pay them.

Never in my life have I encountered anything so STUPID!!!

How such a loser bank got so big is just a mystery.

I mean, really. Unbelievable.

Oh, and I couldn't pay them because they didn't think I accurately identified myself. WTF?

I guess they wanted DNA.

[kaysixteen]

I now pay more or less all my bills on line, except for one credit card, where I still send in a paper check unless I wait too long each month, because this operation will cash my checks for free (though they have an annoying tendency to hold them a long time to maximize the chances the check can be considered 'late') but they charge ten bucks for the privilege of paying them on line.  Granted that this particular bank is one step above a loanshark outfit, still...

[larryc]

Wells Fargo is the only bank I have dealt with that I don't hate. Much.

That is only because we had some money when we started with them. Our old bank, dating to my first tenure track job days, was Bank of America. We lived from paycheck to paycheck and were often dinged with fees for bounced checks, minimum balance fees, fee fees, what have you. They screwed us whenever they could and we gave them way too many opportunities.

Fast forward ten years, we are doing much better, move to anew town, have an inheritance, open an account with Wells Fargo. My wife goes to make a deposit and discovers we have a personal banker who would like to meet with us. Banker tells us that we are Super Special Premium Customers and not to worry about things like overdraft fees or waiting in line, we are too precious for all of that. We'll be giving you an higher interest rate than we advertise, and free financial advice, and can I get you another cup of coffee?

We were so pissed off by the experience. There really are two sets of rules in this country.

[prytania3]

I now pay more or less all my bills on line, except for one credit card, where I still send in a paper check unless I wait too long each month, because this operation will cash my checks for free (though they have an annoying tendency to hold them a long time to maximize the chances the check can be considered 'late') but they charge ten bucks for the privilege of paying them on line.  Granted that this particular bank is one step above a loanshark outfit, still...

I generally do, too, but this was a co-signer thing, and I really don't have all the info, but I had enough info for them to find the account--they just wouldn't let me pay because they didn't believe I was who I said I was (but I was).

A bank refusing money. How novel.

[notaprof]

There really are two sets of rules in this country.

This has always been the case.  Thank you for noticing once you moved up to the premium set of rules.  Most people just assume that they paid their dues in the past with the rules reserved for lesser folks and now they deserve the special treatment. 

My son's best friend has been a sommelier at several of the trendiest dining establishments in LA and you would not believe how many outrageously high dinner bills are comped to the most wealthy patrons.   One he mentioned was for over $5000 for a party of 4.   Of course the restaurant hopes the celebrity/VIP/billionaire will mention their restaurant to their friends but this still makes me angry.   

[prytania3]

I don't have any problem with that. I understand banks are in business to make money, and so are businesses in general.

But a stupid bank that won't take money?

That doesn't compute.

[theritas]

Man pays off debt with pennies.

[georgiaprof]

Wells Fargo is the only bank I have dealt with that I don't hate. Much.

That is only because we had some money when we started with them. Our old bank, dating to my first tenure track job days, was Bank of America. We lived from paycheck to paycheck and were often dinged with fees for bounced checks, minimum balance fees, fee fees, what have you. They screwed us whenever they could and we gave them way too many opportunities.

Fast forward ten years, we are doing much better, move to anew town, have an inheritance, open an account with Wells Fargo. My wife goes to make a deposit and discovers we have a personal banker who would like to meet with us. Banker tells us that we are Super Special Premium Customers and not to worry about things like overdraft fees or waiting in line, we are too precious for all of that. We'll be giving you an higher interest rate than we advertise, and free financial advice, and can I get you another cup of coffee?

We were so pissed off by the experience. There really are two sets of rules in this country.

We had an account with AnotherBigBank.  A friend worked there as a loan officer - but at a different branch.  So, just to be cute, she put a flag on our account indicating that we were a super special customer to be given anything we want.  It was fun when I went into my local branch and deposited a check.  The cashier told me that there would, of course, be a seven day hold before those funds were available.  I said "No.  There won't be any hold."  She started to protest explain that it was bank policy when the manager was wandering by.  He asked if he could help and I told him that there wouldn't be a hold and if they would check the superspecial screen it would explain everything to them.  The manager fell all over himself apologizing for the error and noting that he would be certain to train his people to check these sorts of things.    I enjoyed that.

[merit_decrease]

Wells Fargo is the only bank I have dealt with that I don't hate. Much.

That is only because we had some money when we started with them. Our old bank, dating to my first tenure track job days, was Bank of America. We lived from paycheck to paycheck and were often dinged with fees for bounced checks, minimum balance fees, fee fees, what have you. They screwed us whenever they could and we gave them way too many opportunities.

Fast forward ten years, we are doing much better, move to anew town, have an inheritance, open an account with Wells Fargo. My wife goes to make a deposit and discovers we have a personal banker who would like to meet with us. Banker tells us that we are Super Special Premium Customers and not to worry about things like overdraft fees or waiting in line, we are too precious for all of that. We'll be giving you an higher interest rate than we advertise, and free financial advice, and can I get you another cup of coffee?

We were so pissed off by the experience. There really are two sets of rules in this country.

That is so true.  Don't even get me started on Bank of America.  Fee fees is right, and they are still like that.  Plus horrible customer service.  I have never experienced the other side...

[karmann]

I once tried to buy a short-sale house through Wells Fargo.  The seller was asking $99k for it and owed more than that, so WF had to approve the deal.  We had the house appraised, and it appraised for $100k.  Wells Fargo rejected the deal because their guy (not an appraiser, some number cruncher in another state, I forget what they call them) believed it was worth $140k.  When our realtor reminded WF's negotiator that you can't actually finance more than a home is worth, and nobody who needed a mortgage would be able to buy the property for $140k since it only appraised for $100k, the negotiator said they would just wait for an all-cash buyer.  Right. 

So anyway, the home has been vacant ever since (empty through a harsh winter, etc.) and it's for sale as a foreclosure for $69k with no apparent buyer interest. 

[chaosbydesign]

Ah, banks refusing money. I've had this before. It was overdraft fees I was trying to pay, I think, and they refused to let me pay them without photo ID even when I had my account number and bank card etc.

The same branch gave me money without photo ID a few months beforehand. It makes no sense.

[newhere]

I also HATE Wells Fargo.  I don't usually read the On the Money comments, but I saw the title and couldn't resist.  There definitely are different sets of rules in this country depending on how much money you have.  As a grad student I had inherited some money from one set of grandparents and had a stock portfolio including blue chips stocks in a range of companies.....  including some common stock in Wells Fargo (I didn't buy it, I inherited it).  The total value amount was significant (many many times my annual salary as a grad student). Nonetheless, I lived w/in my means and drove a 14 yr old Mazda and wore ratty jeans, figuring that I better save the inherited money for a down payment on a house or my kids college education.  So I looked the part of a poor starving grad student.  In I walk to WF to ask about their current rates on CDs, as I was thinking of moving some funds from an acct on the other side of the country to my current location, and the jerk behind the desk says ' you know you need a minimum of $1000 to open a CD?'. He then walks away, never to return, and completely fails to answer my question regarding current rates.  Couldn't even give me the time of day.  I considered giving him a dressing down - as a company shareholder - and then decided it wasn't worth my time, withdrew my business from the company and have never returned.  I guess no one ever informed that a**hole that not everyone lives on credit.

[wet_blanket]

It's been a LOOOOOONG time since I've had to physically give a bank money, but I don't remember ever being ID'd.  The deposit slip did have a space to write one's name, but it wasn't routinely checked - I have definitely deposited to my own and to someone else's account with that line blank.

Is the ID so they can find you if it turns out you're making payment for blowing something up?

[oldadjunct]

I tend to doubt that there is any significant difference between Wells Fargo and any other of the mega banks other than the luck of some transactions working out well.  The entire point of the organizational structure of mega banks is that the customer will never, ever, interact with an actual decision maker.

This reality was brought home to me not long ago during a x-country relocation that caused a single and very minor bump in moving money.  BOA dumped me immediately, a Wells Fargo V-P tsk-tsked the BOA response when I explained it to them, took my initial deposit sufficient to qualify me for a variety of benefits, and then immediately dumped me.  In an attempt to resolve the problem and demonstrate I was a customer worth retaining, I then said that I was about to transfer a very significant amount of money to Wells Fargo via electronic US bank-to-bank transfer, I was told (kid you not),  "Oh, that will only make it worse."

Despite my non-negligible national banking background I could find no resolution until I enlisted a banking friend to vouch for me at a local but not mega bank, where individuals actually do make reasoned decisions.

Funniest, and most ironic, part of the story:  When Wells Fargo dumped me they returned my initial check deposit with a fairly large stack of $100 bills (a year's worth of living expense).  Had I been scamming them, I won.

[wegie]

It's been a LOOOOOONG time since I've had to physically give a bank money, but I don't remember ever being ID'd.  The deposit slip did have a space to write one's name, but it wasn't routinely checked - I have definitely deposited to my own and to someone else's account with that line blank.

Is the ID so they can find you if it turns out you're making payment for blowing something up?

Or to see if you're money laundering.

It's called KYC (Know Your Customer/Client) and it's the bane of every banker's and fund manager's life.