Parker vs Wells

December 31, 2022 post from retiree Kathy Parker aka "Parker"
 

This is a lengthy post, but I am going to close out 2022 with a ''Little guy versus big guy" story …as in me vs Wells Fargo, concerning a HUGE mistake they made …which was thinking they could sweep this problem under the rug by implying it affected merely one customer….me. Too bad for them they picked this one customer who worked in POC Research and Adjustments, which, at one time, was where we handled things like subpoenas and legal documents! I know there isn’t enough room to give you all the details here, so I condensed it for you to get the gist of the matter. (But first, let me thank all my mentors at Wachovia who educated me in trusting my gut, in particular Wayne Price, my favorite auditor. He taught me well in that area!)

April 4, 2022 Rec’d tax garnishment order from Wells Fargo stating they would freeze or remove funds from my account…to the tune of $833,087.88. Yes, you read that right! Only my first name, middle name, and last four digits of my SSN matched. Last name or address did not. Garnishment was for a woman in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from Law firm in Indiana. Called the number on paperwork from Wells and got nowhere. Told person I talked to I would follow up with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as well as with OCC. Called following day to both, as well as to Department of Justice in Raleigh (when advised by CFPB). Did online complaint with OCC first. Wells Fargo calls me same week after they received OCC complaint and says mistake sending letter, was not mine and no money taken out of account…then asks me to please destroy the paperwork! Like if it doesn’t exist, it never happened, right? Fat chance I will. Went to the DOJ and let them know Wells Fargo said that in my online complaint.

Wells Fargo calls and sends me many letters stating this was a mistake, no money came out of my account, and they are sorry for this snafu. Not good enough for me. Where there is one customer with this issue, there are more. My guess was that with 70 million customers, someone in programming found a way to try and match this tax garnishment by last four digits of SSN…but then they dropped the ball as no further investigation was done to make sure it was correct customer before they sent me the letter and 15 pages of paperwork on the tax garnishment. Another person told me of a second customer in Mount Airy, North Carolina who rec’d the same type tax garnishment letter (ironically for over three fourths a million like I got!)

DOJ states this problem belongs with CFPB, but CFPB was the agency who advised me to go to DOJ. I sent a second complaint to OCC with my suspicions. OCC sent second complaint to Wells Fargo, who finally sent me a letter (after numerous phone calls) stating they are finally doing an internal investigation on their procedures handling legal documents such as this. More phone calls from Wells Fargo followed. “Andrea” in their Executive Office stated “multiple customers’’ were involved. “Michael” from Executive Office also called more than once. I asked him if CEO and CRO (Chief Risk Officer) had been advised of problem as we all know Wells Fargo’s track record of higher ups not being told of issues. I wanted Michael to have either the CEO or CRO to send me an email that they are aware of this. Michael and I did not see eye to eye on this issue, suffice to say! Decided it was best to send both CEO and CRO letter so that no one was left out of this loop. I included all complaint report numbers for their information from every agency I dealt with. Never heard a peep out of either one of them, but at least now it is all recorded with OCC and CFPB, as I went ahead and sent the complaint to them as well. All in all this took over five months.

Anyone that wants to read the complaints can message me, and I will be more than happy to give you the complaint file numbers. I’ll even let you see the letter I sent to the CEO and CRO! LOL The squeaky wheel DOES get the oil! Let’s hope 2023 is a better year with fewer problems that Wells Fargo creates! Happy New Year everybody! 

Parker
Email:  critter1953@hotmail.com

 


On 12/31/2022, Kathy shared an unbelievable experience with Wells Fargo on her Facebook page.  As many Old Gang members aren't on Facebook, I wanted to share here as well.