I opened an account at wells fargo in stateline nevada about 2 years ago. At the time I was very specific about wanting an account that DID NOT have overdraft protection. I was assured that the account we chose did not. This account did however have a feature that transferred 75$ automatically from checking to savings every month. This alone caused me major problems with fees for bounced checks/overdraft fees. It would occur at different times of the month so it was difficult to plan for.
My main problem is that I made it clear that i didnt want overdraft protection the woman that helped me was very friendly but spoke poor english and I do not feel she understood me. Once i figured out that i had overdrawn my account, I talked to a manager at my local wells fargo, she assured me it would be fixed and refunded me the substancial fees it had incurred. Apparantly it overdrew my checking account for a fee 35$ a daily 5$ fee then it over drew my savings account for another 35$ and 5$ a day. No lie!
A couple weeks later, It happened again. I had very little $ in the account and purchased 20$ worth of fuel. I really thought i had the $ in the account but it appeared that a small fee for something? I really dont know. Was taken out and overdrew my account again? This time I had not checked my account in a couple of weeks, assuming there wasnt much $ in it. When I did look. To my horror it said I owed well over 400$ for overdrawing both accounts and 5$ a day fees! I was completly pissed off and confused... I was under the impression that I did not have overdraft? I know I had made it clear on 2 separate ocassions!
I let some time slide by... Several weeks. I had more pressing matters with a divorce and re-location to deal with. I recieved my tax return and decided to attempt to reconcile my debt with wells fargo. I went to a local office here in california.
I was told that since my account was opened in Nevada that I was not able to remove the overdraft protection from my account? Contrary to what I was told before. Further more I was informed that a note was added to my account saying basically that I was made aware of this from the previous manager I spoke to? Witch I would like to add i a COMPLETE LIE!
I offered to make a one time payment to them.instead of the 500$ or so they wanted, I was they would meet me in the middle. 250$ out of my refund check. They refused. Please bear in mind that I overdrafted approximatly 15$... The bank lent me 15$ and is charging well over 400$ in fees. Wish I could lend $ at that rate!
My dilemma is that... #1 im terrified to open another account anywhere. It is my understanding that wells fargo will collect their fees from whatever bank i place it in. Thus causing another cycle of fees and possibly worse... (taking my rent $)
and #2 I am sent to collections for this!
Is there any recourse? I am under the impression that banks are having to change these overdraft rules they have because of porblems with fraud and new laws passing in the states.
And if anyone from wells fargo or any other bank ever reads this. Shame on you! I pay a real steep price for the bank to "safeguard my $" in the end my $ is not safe and once its in the care of the bank, every way possible is found to take it from me! Between overdraft fees and hitting me for a dollar or 2 every time I use my card and charging me just to hold on to my $!! Iv found that my $ is safer under my pillow than in a bank!
~
0 comments