WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL

Description of Work: I have a checking account with bank and every four months or so when I make a purchase company refuses to approve my ATM card. I am then expected to call the bank, go through the computer prompts till I finally get a human being on the line. Then they go through a process where they verify my previous seven transactions. Did you charge a 2.50 bus card, did you charge a 14.00 meal? Did you charge a 12.00 purchase from this store, etc. etc, I answer, "Yes, yes, yes, ... Finally, they say "Okay, we just want to be sure no escaped murderer has kidnapped you and stolen your bank card charging a pair of socks, or a bus ticket on your account. Please read further!

Description of Work: I do my banking with WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL.

Description of Work: My wife's is out of the country. The first day she used her ATM card and was able to get money out but the next time she tried to use it it was blocked. She called (international) and they told her she had reached her daily limit but the card would be fine tomorrow. She did not have cash for three days and asked me to call for her to clear up the matter. I called and was told they suspected fraud. The customer service rep (CSR) said the card was on security hold and they would have to talk to her. I am on her account but they refused to budge. I asked for a supervisor, they would not budge either but agreed to give me an international 800 number for her to call that was a direct line to the supervisor. As it turned out that was misleading (I'm being very generous here), it was the international number to the call center constallation (many call centers) and as you will read below he had to know there was little or no chance she would be able to contact him. I texted her the number.....it did not work. I called back thinking I did not copy it down correctly. When I asked to speak to Jamie Carter (the supervisor) the CSR could not find him in the directory. By the way there were no notes in the file for this account even though I had called and talked to two people previously. I asked for another supervisor. I cannot remember her name (I think Carrie). She said she saw no problem with the international line. I asked her to call my wife to straighten this out since apparently only my wife could give permission to open the ATM card according to them. She said she did not have international calling capability (this from one of the largest banks in the country). I asked to be escallated to someone who did. She said there was no one to escalate to but she could give me the mailing address if I wanted to escallate further! I suggested she use her cell phone and get reimbursed by Wells. The first couple of times she said she couldn't then said it was against the rules. I offered to have my account debited for the call and any ancillary service but she clearly was not going to act on my behalf. Both CSRs and supervisiors indicated I should have notified Wells ahead of the trip. I see this as nothing short of trying to make the incident our fault. It is none of Wells business where and when we travel and I have never had a problem with any other bank. When there was a suspected issue they called my cell, and straightened it out instead of leaving me stranded. The fact that Wells could not (or would not) help out a stranded customer with a $2-3 phone call is terrible. It really showed me how much Wells values their customers. This was not the first issue I've had and few things have gone right since they took over Wachovia, but this was the last straw. We will move our accounts as soon as schedules permit. I'm sure every large institution has its detractors due to the number of people involved, but this has been consistently bad service over time. I guess I am not a match for Well's level of customer service and will seek a bank that better meets my expectations. THANK GOODNESS FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS!!! But that's another story. The cynical part of me believes the CSRs and Supervisors will be rewarded for following policy and not letting a call escalate any futher (wouldn't want to bother any of the management on the weekend) and the call will be used in training sessions on how to deflect the the customer's real problem with policy. To be fair I was very frustrated and showed it ( I was never abusive) on each call as it became increasingly apparent Wells would not help. This would have been a very different situation if it had been a child but I'm not sure Wells would have cared. I know this because I related this scenario to one supervisor and it did not phase them a bit. I did give them a "C" for professionalism only due to the fact the CSRs and Supervisor's were trapped in a system designed to deliver volume - not service. If you don't fit the 20, 50, or X number of scenarios they identified as important they are unable to respond. My wife is still in Europe. Still does not have a working ATM card. However, AMEX is working with her to salvage the trip.