Vlad Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My wife and I run a non-profit animal rescue group which relies on donations for its operations. Some of these donations are cash, some are paypal and some items which the rescue then sells on e-bay or other venues. It is a pretty darn successful rescue, mostly focused on paying for the spaying and neutering of stray animals. Our bank is Wells Fargo since they have absorbed Wachovia, and they handle both the checking account and a money market account where the backup funds are being held. Some of our deposits are electronic but a great deal of the deposits are the old fashioned check type. In the past this meant dealing with slow drive through receptionist during "banker working hours" but more recently this was made easier by the new ATMs which accept deposits without an envelope, scan the checks, do math, and all that good stuff. Sounds like a good deal and it was until about December 2011 when the ATM decided to fail. I was depositing just shy of $1000 worth checks (some donations, some payments) and the ATM decided that it couldn't read one of the checks and it was going to return it. This happens now and then and it is usually not a problem, you can re-insert the check and it reads it on the second attempt. On this day however it decided to fail to return the check .. well actually it decided to fail completely. Not only did fail to return the check it failed to do anything but beep for a about a minute and return my card with no indication what so ever of what it did with the checks. No receipt, no error message, no nothing. I immediately parked and walked into the branch owning the ATM and asked for someone in charge. Of course that only mean that sat me down with a phone because no one in the branch has any control over the ATM attached to them, I had call another number. I give them the details, the time, the exact amount and I'm told they'll get back to us in about 10 days. Of course, they don't so we call them a few times and eventually the temporarily credit the account the deposit value but the case is still open. We keep calling them and they keep not having an answer. Until today .. Today they call us and say that really they can't be held responsible, they will not recognize the deposit, they will not return the checks that now they say they can't find in the clearing house, basically we are out $1000. No apologies, no recourse, no explanation, without a blink of a eye Wells Fargo decided to steal $1000 from a non-profit group. When we asked them what we can do about it their suggestions was that we should obtain photo-copies of the checks from the originators of the check which seems rather absurd seeing how the originators of the checks DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE THE CHECKS they sent us. Never mind that we may not even have contact information of the original writer of the checks, why would someone who purchased something from us even believe us and re-write us a check? Why would a donor ever donate to us ever again when apparently we "lose" checks? So at these point we are basically looking at losing the funds which would have spayed or neutered 10 stray animals and starting the process of looking for a new bank to which to move our business accounts, personal accounts, mortgage, and so on because through no effort of ours they are all now held by the same merged bank that we can no longer trust with the most simple of banking tasks: depositing a check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Man that sucks. Not sure how it works up there but small claims court can get their attention quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I would see an attorney and see if any remedies are available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 That sucks... as more things are outsourced at banks, including ATMs.. it gets further from the public You might see if WF, or whatever bank you might change to.. offers check deposits through an iPhone (or similar) - no reason to go to the ATM anymore.. just take a picture... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Sure I can speak to our attorney, who isn't free and at some point you are risking throwing money after lost money. I'm going to probably take it to consumer websites, have my wife put it on her rescue's facebook page, local papers that sort of thing. I don't think Wells Fargo give a rats ass about a lawyer calling them, they probably get 1000 of those a day, but maybe a bit more bad publicity will matter to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhgunguy Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My wife and I are shopping around to refinance our house. Wells Fargo just got crossed off the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My wife and I are shopping around to refinance our house. Wells Fargo just got crossed off the list. Let them know that, and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 My wife and I are shopping around to refinance our house. Wells Fargo just got crossed off the list. After my experiences with two different buyers trying to get a mortgage through Wells Fargo to buy our house in Trenton -- well, let's just say that if an offer comes in on any future property with financing through Wells Fargo, that offer will be getting rejected, unless the buyers also want to apply for a mortgage through a broker of my choice.... The first sale got held up for 28 days, and then collapsed..... The second one finally closed -- ten days late. Our realtor -- who persuaded us to give a buyer financing through Wells Fargo another chance -- asked the lady from Wells Fargo for a business card at the closing. When she handed it to him, he broke out a red magic marker, and drew a large X through the card before dropping it in his briefcase. She asked him why he did that, and he told her that he'd advise all of his clients to run from any deal involving WF..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I too have nothing good to add about Wells Fargo.... The bank branch cannot communicate with the auto division....it is amazing when they screw up no one will accept blame and fix it timely... DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperman Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I quit dealing with Mega-Banks years ago. I prefer local banks that only have a few branches. They actually are about keeping the customers happy. Back in 2009 my "local" bank was bought up by 5th/3rd. Almost immediately policies changed and fees went up. I found another small bank a few days later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 When Wells Fargo charged me $5 to cash a check drawn on their bank I crossed them off the list forever. Common Banking Practice was the excuse they gave me. Screw that. -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Wells Fargo sucks. I used to have a line of credit with them with my business. I paid it off quickly...they enjoyed tacking multiple fees to the LOC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMartens Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 They have also become infamous for foreclosing on deployed soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I hate your bank, too. For all the reasons you described, the reasons others described, and for aggrivation caused by my (reluctant) dealings with them on some family estate issues. I would rather bury money in the back yard in an old rusty coffee can than bank with them or the other large bank franchises. All I use for my own personal finiances are Credit Unions, much more personal and service oriented. Good luck, and hope it works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maksim Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 vlad, shoot me a pm. might have a solution for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbauer67 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I know the feeling, try contactIng the better business bureau. I have had good luck with them, second try to get as much proof of the lost deposits as possible and file a small claims suite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFlowers Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Does your local TV Station have an "Action" reporter? You know the guy who handles just these kinds of things? Region wide bad publicity is one of the best ways to get equitable responses. However, I agree that Wells Fargo is less than customer friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 This Hate rant has turned into a discussion, which is beyond the bounds of the rules for the Hate Forum. Thus, it must be closed. Please review the Hate Forum Rules: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8097 [note: this is a generic response] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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