Why I Hate Wells Fargo

The distinction between paper checks and direct deposit makes sense–presumably, with DD, they can immediately verify the other bank will make good on the funds request, since it’s all electronic. With a paper check, I’m sure there’s some amount of physically-carrying-things that makes it take longer to make sure the check will be honored. You would think it would just be, at worst, one day–like, they’d somehow load all their checks into a computer and all the different bank computers would reconcile with each other overnight or something–but who knows. They certainly benefit from the hold, since every day they have the money but you don’t is good for them, like an interest-free short-term loan from you to your bank.

Welcome to the world of “you don’t fit into the boring 80% of people who come to our business” - if you’re not direct deposit, you’re clearly a criminal! cc: credit scoring companies.

Alternatively, they could just be looking for excuses to hold on to the float - 2 days on every damn check they get probably generates some extra profits.

Actually, come to think of it, earlier this year they eliminated the Federal Reserve delay in clearing checks - they now clear instantly. Mysteriously, the multiple-day hold period is still there.

They cater to customers with no self-respect?

(Seriously, you let them get away with that shit? I’d withdraw my considerable account on the spot there and find someone else who valued my patronage more. It’s not like they’re performing a not-for-profit public service!)

There is nothing I miss about my old job more than direct deposit. And now, I want to kill Mumbleita. She told me to go to BofA twice to cash them checks.[/quote]

That was my favorite part of the story. Until I got to the part where you said you already quit BofA, I was wondering why you didn’t just say “fine, give me back my paycheck, along with all the money in my account, and I’ll take it all over there while I’m at it.”

Just wondering… since you’ve got the C-note in your account before the deposit, and they seem to like giving you a hard time, why not break it into two seperate transactions? If you felt like it, you could even make the runaround they make you navigate as annoying for them as they do for you.

Actually, come to think of it, earlier this year they eliminated the Federal Reserve delay in clearing checks - they now clear instantly. Mysteriously, the multiple-day hold period is still there.

Not true. you’re talking about Check 21 which went into effect last October. But it doesn’t make checks clear instantly. It clears the way for legally equivalent electronic copies of checks, but doesn’t manditate their use. Most checks still go through the traditional clearing process through the federal reserve system. And it can literally be a week before your bank finds out if a check you deposited is bad. I hate having to explain deposit holds to people at my job, but you’d be surprised how many people can’t understand why the $40,000 check they just deposited into their overdrawn account wasn’t automagically available the same day.

But Bill’s story is fucked up. There’s no reason not to give you $100 cash back if you have at least that much in your account. Should have told her fine and asked her to fill out a withdrawal slip for a C note instead. Like there’s a freaking difference.

They cater to customers with no self-respect?

(Seriously, you let them get away with that shit? I’d withdraw my considerable account on the spot there and find someone else who valued my patronage more. It’s not like they’re performing a not-for-profit public service!)[/quote]

I agree with you on principle, but transferring everything would be a royal pain in the ass. I did speak to the manager about the comment, but I have no interest in going through all that hassle just to make a point about customer service.

Huh, I thought they’d all pretty much transitioned. Guess not.

Some have. It’s a process. But’s it’s spendy to do, and there are so damn many banks and credit unions. Eventually one of the benefits will be the near erradication of deposit holds.

Never had a bank account. Credit Union from day one. I deal with a lot of cash and checks and deposit them twice a week without a hitch. Don’t use ATMs at all. Don’t even have an ATM card. Like others here, I only keep at most $5k locally in a money market account and move cash into checking as needed. (My business account is separate.)

I urge ya’ll to find out the membership requirements of your local credit unions. They have been loosened quite a bit lately…

For the Credit Union I’m with all I had to do to join was give them $10Au. Brilliant.

There is nothing I miss about my old job more than direct deposit. And now, I want to kill Mumbleita. She told me to go to BofA twice to cash them checks.

This is why you should call the manager. She twice refused to serve the customer and referred you to another bank instead. Let’s see how the manager feels about his underlings telling his customers to take their business elsewhere.

And I concur, screw Wells Fargo. Close your account and take Thumbelina’s advice; go to another bank.

I bank with Bank of America and I’m not particularly thrilled with them. I should check and see if my Credit Union offers a debit card. The one drawback for me is that I tend to use ATMs quite a bit and that’s what makes BofA so nice, I can find an ATM pretty much everywhere I look.

Man, can I ever empathize, BD. (Note: skip to the very bottom if you want to read the suggestions and not uninteresting anecdotes)

I was with Norwest whilst going through business school, and, like you, just stayed with them after they morphed to Wells Fargo. You know, because it would’ve been INCONVENIENT to change. It was ever a hassly runaround when I’d deal with the employees, who somehow always struck me as being some sort of weird automatonic flesh-and-blood manifestations of the bank’s impersonal and highly questionable applications of business law.
I constantly had the uncomfortable tickle in the back of what passes for my brain that there was some Wells Fargo version of SHODAN in a big computer nerve center somewhere in North Dakota that had figured out a way to synthesize meatbags, download ultra-aggressive banking regulation interpretations and fuzzy marketing slogans into their integrated central processing units, and ship them to the local branches to try to fool the populace into thinking that they were an institution with heart and that cared.

Anyway, things really started looking up when Old Lady Gravy and I decided to use them as the lender when we made our most recent home purchase. But they got even better when I started doing everything online. Their website is very easy to navigate, and the bill pay function is excellent. Now that I never ever have to talk to the employees, I really, really like Wells Fargo. Well, maybe ‘like’ is a little strong: I really, really tolerate them would be a better way to put it. It’s sad that the less I have to actually deal with them, the more I like them, but that’s the way it is.

Your OP is a bit odd because you make it sound like you hate having to deal with the human (or cunning facsimile thereof, anyway) side of the customer interface, but you also get the heeby-jeebies from the automated side. You’ve got a quandary.

First, I might try to assuage your fears a little. Way back when I was in public accounting, I had some banks as audit clients. Financial institutions are very tightly controlled (in the sense of audit trails) because of the nature of the business. If the scenario you alluded to (“Our records don’t show your transaction”) does happen, it’s so rare as to be statistically insignificant, and it will be relatively easy to correct if you get the ATM to print you a receipt. To me, the risk of it happening and the minor inconvenience of straightening it out if it did is certainly not enough of a hassle to make dealing with the tellers and Nosey-itia or whatever her name is on a monthly basis worth it. But I know that it can still be tough to give a machine your money, regardless of the assurances you get from the accounting industry.

Secondly, you may want to go see one of the synthetics there about getting their version of the debit card. You can attach a Visa account to the bank account via the card. That way, they know that the incredible risk they’re exposing themselves to when they give you your C-note back is covered, and at prime plus 18 at that.

Good luck, man.

And oh yeah, fuck whoever said toothgaps make you untrustworthy. Old Lady Gravy has an awesome gap and she’s HOT as well as being upright.

That kind of claim is going to require photos.

I dated a gap-tooth chick in high school and my friends joked that if you shoved a hose up her ass she could be a lawn sprinkler.

I think it’s entirely a function of how much money you have with the bank.

I am a Bank of America customer. They’re convenient, they’re everywhere, and they’re evil. Or, rather, they’re evil if you’re not a super fancy pants Advantage customer.

We bought a house last fall, and the competition in our market is such that you need to be able to put your hands on a certified check for an ungodly amount within one business day in order to bid on a house (at least, that’s the advice our realtor gave us). Most houses have 2-5 bids on them within a day or so of the open house, so if you like a house, you need lots of liquid capital.

Our problem? It took us 3 months to find a house we liked.

However, I noticed that, after about a month of having a bunch of cash at BofA, they started treating me MUCH better. Like allowing me to open free accounts, waiving bank charges, etc. etc. Letting me talk to the manager – and the manager was “so happy to see you, sir.” I decided I liked being treated like a fat cat.

My wife and I now have a total balance of about $8k at BofA – and we’re still Fancy Pants Advantage customers. Why, I don’t know, since they’re supposed to require us to have more moolah than that, but… <shrug> I’m not complaining.

My advice to you: be picky about your next house.