Wells Fargo Problem

OK, so here's the situation. A bit over 2 years ago, my son stole my debit card and in the course of one evening, got us in to a LOT of trouble with overdrafts and overdraft fees. We cleared it quickly, though had problems for a further 4-6 weeks because of the reduced funds after covering the overdrafts. The bank (through the branch) worked with us, but they took our debit cards and required that we keep our accounts in good standing for 6 months before we were eligible to get them back. So, we just used checks and cash, did everything we were supposed to and once that time was up, we trotted back off to the branch. They suggested that we close that account and start fresh. Great! We did that, got our debit cards and our checks and went on our way.

Fast forward 15 months ... with the exception of one issue which was beyond our control, we've had no problems ... Until Friday afternoon when Wells Fargo decided to close our account for "misuse of a previous account". My husband's pay check had gone in that morning, we'd used the debit cards a couple times between 9am and 4pm, then at 6pm it was declined. We didn't find out the reason until Saturday morning, by which time, they'd refused the paycheck so it'd gone out of the account put us in to overdraft (which, btw, WF staff tried to use as justification for the decision). We have overdraft protection attached to our savings but with a hard hold on both accounts, they couldn't transfer the money I spent half an hour this morning cajoling them in to letting me deposit the $15 to cover the overdraft and put the account back to $0, so that it, like the previous account, would close without a negative balance.

So, after that long winded explanation ... do I have to worry about Chexsystems?

Thanks in advance!

It is good that you have paid the overdraft fee. Usually, people are reported to Chexsystems because of unpaid overdraft fees. You can also be reported to Chexsystems due to repeated overdrafts. You may think that there is nothing to worry as you have paid off the overdraft fees time and again. But the banks may not see this way. They may report it to ChexSystems.

I would be talking to a branch manager ASAP.

Now did you son steal the card or just use it without your permission? Did you file a police report for theft?

We did file a police report, but he was a minor and we didn't lay charges. I gave that to the branch when all this first happened. They're saying they don't have a copy and now it's expired, I can't get a copy from the NLVPD.

It got better today. They asked me on Saturday morning about the paycheck and said they could reverse the refusal and I *might* be able to get access to funds as early as Thursday. I said no. Frankly, I liked my odds better with the employer. Well, it seems they ignored that and his pay was back in the bank today. I went in to see if I could pull it all out and just close the account now but they won't do that. They're closing it on September 1st and sending us a cashiers check on September 2nd, which means we won't get it for at least 2 weeks from today. We have a mortgage and bills to pay, plus my family has become kinda fond of being fed. I am SO mad I could spit.

And to top it all off, my darn car battery died, so I had to go back in to WF and ask them not to tow my car, and then walk to work in the blazing Vegas heat, carrying 3 bags.

It is total BS that the police department does have a copy of the police report....they just too lazy to get it. Police reports a available for a least 7 years...then they go into archives where they are still available.

I would be calling that wells fargo back and be talking to the District Manager.

For what I paid off yesterday, they hadn't added an overdraft fee. The transaction was still showing as pending, so it didn't trigger. We haven't had an overdraft in over 3 months and as I said before, that was beyond our control. BoA took out our mortgage payment twice on the same week other bills were due out. It resulted two NSF's and one overdraft fee.

But this account isn't being closed for misuse. It's being closed for misuse of the previous account, which also wasn't closed for misuse. Where's the mind boggle emote? LOL.

I'd contact corporate.

Carrie L. Tolstedt, Senior EVP Community Banking
Wells Fargo
420 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

1-800-869-3557

Thanks OhioGal, I'll try that and see if we can get our funds cleared earlier.
I don't really care that they've closed the account since we were considering doing that once they announced the $3 monthly fee to use your debit card. I was having to fight them every couple of months to remove fees on our no-fee account as it was. What annoys me is that they did this with no warning, for no really good reason (even my branch manager and the guy she spoke to at Loss Prevention couldn't figure out what had triggered it) and that they're holding our money hostage. What worries me is the Chexsystems thing.

We've already opened up with US Bank and my experience so far with the branch I'm using (it's in a grocery store right next to my work, so very convenient) has been very positive. I've read that once opened, they don't close them. Is that true? I really don't want to go down this road again. LOL.

Oh, and SoapLady, I know they're being lazy. That's what you get when you live in a city with a massive budget shortfall who decide that the police and fire departments should be the first places to start making cuts.