On approximately May 15 I placed a stop payment order on a check I had writted to an ex landlord. This check was for a deposit on a rental that I had since paid him the cash. The landlord kept refusing to return the check to me so I placed a stop payment on it and received a reference number for the stop payment order.
Two weeks later, the landlord walked into a Wells Fargo Branch and cashed the check! Wells Fargo did not catch or honor my stop payment request and paid the money out of my checking account to this person.
After discovering this had been paid in error, I called Wells Fargo Customer Service number and was told a claim had been filed. I was also told it could take 30 days for reimbursement since a fraud claim had been file. This is not fraud - this is a Wells Fargo MISTAKE!
After approximately 3 weeks of NOT hearing anything from Wells Fargo Bank, I went to a local branch and spoke with a teller. I explained to her what had happened and she showed me on her teller screen that the stop payment was in fact in the system. She recommended that I speak with a Personal Banker.
I spoke with a Personal Banker who could not belived this happened. He got on the phone with someone and explained the situation to the person on the other end. Again, I was told a Fraud Claim had been filed and was given a reference number (even though this is NOT FRAUD). I was again told another 30 days.
After another two weeks of not hearing from Wells Fargo, I called the Wells Fargo fraud department phone number and was told the case had been closed. The person I spoke with said that since I wrote the check, it was not considered fraud. NO DUH! She transferred me to the Executive Office for Customer Service and I spoke with someone named "Sarah". Sarah agreed with me that this is NOT a fraud issue but is a bank error. She placed me on hold for 15 minutes and finally came back to the line and told me she needed to do some more checking into this and would call me back within the hour. I never heard back from her.
That same day, I again went into my local branch and demanded to speak with the Branch Manager. I was handed off to some young guy that claimed to be an Assistant Manager. I again explained the entire situation to him only to be told he bascially couldn't assist me but would be more than willing to get on the phone and make some calls on my behalf.
8 weeks later, I am still out my $100.00 from this stop payment that Wells Fargo paid in error. I worked for banks in the mid 80's and allthough I know a lot has changed over the years, this is clearly a teller error that Wells Fargo will not honor.
This bank scares me very much! They claim your money is safe with them but when something like this happens, they won't do anything. This was only $100 loss but what if the check were $500???
DO NOT use this bank! The news media keeps reporting that Wells Fargo is doing so well financially and this is the reason - they are ripping people off - BIG TIME!!!
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