I've been doing my personal banking at Wells Fargo since I was a teen, which is more decades than I'd like to admit. This branch makes me want to take a shit on the lobby floor and throw it at the prison-visiting-room glass wall separating the patrons from the tellers......like I'm a gorilla in an ape house at the zoo, which is how the assholes on the other side of the glass make me feel.
I've been depositing fairly substantial draws on profits from my businesses for years with no problems. But last time I did so earlier this month, using the ATM at this branch, I was informed by my electronic receipt that Wells Fargo would be holding my check for TEN FUCKING DAYS.
I walked into the bank and asked a reasonable question: WTF? Ten days? You're going to take possession of the funds from my business account and sit on the money for TEN DAYS?
They explained to me that the ATM was on a "different system" and there was nothing that they could do about it. They advised me to come into the bank next time if I wanted to avoid a hold.
So today I come in with a deposit for a substantial five-figure sum, and following their earlier advice, go inside to visit a teller. The teller does the perfunctory stuff and then says, excuse me, because of the size of the deposit, I need to get it approved (like always -- no big deal).
Her supervisor come forward, runs the checks, and then asks me, "Were you expecting to receive these?"
Because I wrote the checks and didn't "receive them," I don't immediately grasp what she means by the question, so I ask her to explain. She obliges me by repeating the question, word for word. I tell her that I heard her the first time, but I didn't understand the question and was looking for clarification. She repeats her question a third time, word for word, like what she heard was, "Eh, missy?! I didn't hear you! Come again?!"
Finally it dawns on me: Was I expecting to receive the two checks from the person who had written them? (That would be me, as should have been clear from her thorough examination of the checks.) I tell her sort of.....I had taken end-of-the-year draws on the advice of our CPA, for tax purposes. She then informs me that there will be a hold on the checks.
I explain to her that I had been advised after my last deposit to come inside to make deposits if I wanted to avoid a hold. I said that I'd been banking with Wells Fargo since the mid-1970s and my last two deposits were the only times I've ever been told that the deposits were subject to holds. What gives?
She says, "Lots of check fraud."
I repeat, "Yeah, but I've been banking with Wells Fargo for decades, and the holds on my deposits are a new thing. Haven't I built up some credibility by now?"
She says: "The holds are done by the computer. It's random."
I respond: "Random? If the computer is doing it, it's not likely random. Is there a deposit size threshold or a rule of thumb or an algorithm or something that triggers the hold that you can share with me, for future reference?"
Her (dismissively): "No. It's random."
Me (incredulously): "There's no rhyme or reason to it? You're really saying it's random?"
Her (icily): "It's random. Have a good day. "
This branch of Wells Fargo can go take a flying fuck at a wood chipper. read more
