When Wells Fargo and Wachovia got married, it was bad news for this divorced couple. Merging the two bank’s databases resulted in the husband getting bills and statements for his ex-wife. After trying to fix it and deal with some Wells Fargo customer service reps who clearly needed counseling, the man is ready to break it off with his bank too.

Reader KJS3 writes:

We know Wells Fargo just “completed” the merger with Wachovia. Apparently, they’ve just decided that they’ll just merge whatever else they want to while they’re at it. I’ve been divorced for more than 4 years. We got new bank accounts, I got a new mortgage. Wachovia kept it straight, no worries. For 4+ years, I’ve gotten my Wachovia statements, my ex got hers, and all was well. Until now….

Problem #1

I get a letter from Wells Fargo saying I have an account that’s past due, an account I don’t recognize. So I call the enclosed #:

[20-22 rings (yes…seriously)]
Wells Fargo Lady (WFL): “Hello?” (yes…no “Wells Fargo” or “how may I help you”)
Me: “Um…I was calling Wells Fargo”
WFL: “Oh…this is Wells Fargo”
Me: “Riiiiight…I have a letter that says I have a past due account, but it’s not one of my accounts”.
WFL: “Can I have the number”
Me: 12345whatever
WFL: “I’m sorry, that’s not a Wells Fargo account number. I need the Wells Fargo account number.”
Me: “The letter says ‘Account Number’ with that number. There’s no other numbers.”
WFL: “Wells Fargo account numbers have more digits than that. Unless you can give me the correct account number, I can’t help you.”
Me: “Look…I have a letter here. It’s on WF stationary. It came in a WF envelope. It has your phone number, and the account number I gave you. That’s it.”
WFL: “There’s nothing I can do.”
Me (must…control…rage): “Look…can you tell me what kind of account it is?”
WFL: “Oh, sure…I can look that up. Name and last 4 digits of your social.”
Me (WTF…now you can help me): name+4SS
WFL: “It’s your mortgage account.”
Me: “No, it’s not. That’s not my mortgage account, and the past due amount is less than my mortgage payment, which I am completely up to date on”
WFL: “Not according to our records. You’ll need to make a payment to catch up”
Me: “No, I’m looking at my account on-line right now, and I’m up to date. What’s the address on the mortgage”.
WFL: “Um…I think I can look that up…one second…”
[5 minutes later]
WFL: [the ex wifes address]
Me: “That’s my ex wifes house, the house is her’s per the court judgment.”
WFL: “The court said that?”
Me: “Yeah…more than 4 years ago, and Wachovia didn’t have a problem with that”
WFL: “I’m sorry, but when I enter your social, I get this account”
Me: “Still not mine. My mortgage is [number] and is in [different city]”
WFL: “This is the account I get with your social”
Me: “when you enter my account number, do you have the right info”
[Long Pause]
WFL: “Yes”
Me: “And on the account under my social, does it have a Wachovia account number of [number on letter]”?
WFL: “Um….yes…So these letters should go to the other address”
Me: “Yeah.”

Apparently, their IT merger is so screwed up, not only are they arbitrarily merging identities, they can’t even get their hate-mail generator updated to the new account numbers.

Problem #2

I get my ex’s checking account statement in the mail today, with both of our names on it, and my address. Dial the 800 number.

Me: “You sent me my ex-wifes checking account statement.”
Different WFL: “I’m sorry…the information I have is correct”
Me: “Is not. We’ve been divorced for more than 4 years, and in all that time, she’s correctly gotten her statements, not me”
WFL: “I’m sorry, all I can see is what is in the system. It’s correct. You must have been getting statements because both of your names are on it”
Me: “Wrong. In 4 years I’ve never gotten a statement for my ex wifes personal checking account”
[5 minutes of “I don’t believe you, don’t care and won’t fix” from WFL]
WFL: “Well, no matter what, I can’t change it. We can’t do that over the phone. It’s for security”.
Me: “You can add me to an account that isn’t mine and change the address of the account owner without any authorization at all, but you can’t fix your screwup because of ‘security’?”
WFL: “Yes”

So…I’ll be taking off and trudging to the branch to fix this, and to close my account. Bye, WF.

Voting with your dollars.

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