First off, I'd like to preface this by saying that I have worked in a bank in all positions, excluding personal banking and management so I know how a bank should operate and what they are and are no capable of doing, the only reason I no longer have an account at my old company is because I moved from Canada to the US.in addition to this, I have worked in sales and customer service for 14 years. The Wells Fargo that I frequented just opened this week, in a very community based area, which is what makes this incident all the more disappointing.
I had to cancel my debit/credit card last week as I had lost it and while waiting for my replacement card, I had to go into the bank yesterday to withdraw money. I did so by writing myself a cheque to cash and left ($60 given in three $20 bills). Bear in mind, I don't have an ATM card so that is the only way to get cash from my acct. This morning, I went to buy something in my neighborhood and when I went to pay with one the $20 bills that the teller gave me yesterday, the business owner was hesitant as the bill was very old and looked like it may have been fake (the bill was from 1973). He asked that I get a new bill or get it verified. I wasn't upset, I just crossed the street and returned to the same branch I frequented yesterday and asked that they check the bill and issue a new one if indeed it was a counterfeit - I was sure that the bank would assume responsibility for giving me a faulty bill. (Any central bank teller, if they are doing their job properly should sort through the bank's bills and remove "mutilated bills"; anything that can be seen as a bill that should be taken out of circulation. The bank sends these back and gets the money replaced with newer bills). The teller explained that she needed to talk to her manager then went to another teller and asked a question. When she came back, she told me that it was my responsibility to know if a bill is real or fake and to take action before leaving the bank. I told her this was ridiculous: I withdrew money from my acct and the teller that deducted that money gave me what appeared to be fake money and because I was in a rush and trusted that a bank carries real money, that's my fault??? I told her that understood it wasn't her fault but that I needed to speak to her manager. At that point, she went to get the manager - a different person than the teller she had just conferred with - and when the manager came over to where I was, once he had safely locked himself behind the protective glass (which was just comical, I'm a 110 lb, 5'3 in, female) he finally acknowledged me.
Here's where it get offensive. The manager tells me that " There's no way this bill came from this bank"
(verbatim). When I explained that it's on my acct profile that I didn't have a bank card and that there was no way I got the bill from elsewhere, he went on to say that since it was brand new branch, there was "no way the bill could be from here because obviously, this bill is fake and that would just never happen, we're brand new just like all of our cash." He then went on to say that he understood my frustration but there was nothing that could be done since the bill didn't originate from Wells Fargo. So what I got from him was:
1) Even though I'm client (with a good banking history) I'm lying.
2) I took the bill I got from the bank and exchanged it for a counterfeit and decided to go to the bank and get them to assume responsibility. (Yeah, that makes sense.in addition to the hassle, that's just stupid.)
3) It doesn't matter what the situation is, they won't help.
I told him, that it was a real shame that this is the way the branch has chosen to handle things seeing as it's their first week being open in a tight knit community.
Here's the kicker: After leaving, I went across the street to another bank and asked them to check the bill for me. Turns out the bill was REAL and they took it and issued me a new one. So, not only does Wells Fargo treat their customers like dirt while other banks will gladly help but they don't even do the most basic part of their job at Wells Fargo. If the teller and the bank manager had taken the simple step or running the bill under a counterfeit checker, this whole thing could have been avoided. I was sufficiently upset at Wells Fargo and have told the tellers in the competing bank about my experience as well as several others that I came into contact with today. I will continue to spread the word that Wells Fargo stinks. I also dropped everything I was doing at the time to call and file a complaint against the manager and the branch.
It's shame that the unintelligent drones that work there don't understand the concepts of customer service, respectful approach, word of mouth marketing and how one dissatisfied customer can lead to a greater loss of business.
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