I just noticed a charge to my checking account for $2. It was noted as “Phone Banker Call” with the date. I called to ask about and to dispute this charge.
The lady that handled the call mentioned that any time “general information” is given and the service of a live person is used, when it is a service that could be provided by an ATM, online, or via the automated system, that there is a $2 charge. She proceeded to say that she would refund the $2, and note on the account that I have been notified about the charge so that I’d be aware of it in the future. So, I proceeded to tell her the as long as she noted that, she should also note that I will not accept a charge like that again in the future, and that if I was to be charged, each and every time it might happen, it should either be told to me by the automated system or by the banker that I talk with. She said that an individual determination would be made by the banker for each call. I said, a categorical decision to not accept charges like that had already been made, and that I would blog about this in a few seconds to make sure that others don’t fall prey to this sort of tactic.
I have banked with this organization since 1978. They have been good. This was not good, and I’m appalled at the scummy approach to try to recoup money for having live people talk to me on the phone.
The worst part for me is that I always try to do everything as automated as possible. I don’t want to talk to a live person, if I don’t have to. I’m all for the automated approach – - just not the part where you charge a customer for something and don’t tell them about it.
She did mention that it was written on the back of my statement. Yeah. I get my statements and everything else done electronically. And besides, who cares if they did write something in small print?!?! If you are going to charge someone for talking on the phone, I think it should be a law that you have to inform them “during that phone call, and before the charge takes place” in order to do that. Anything less than that is scummy and a bad PR move – - regardless of any legal issues.
UPDATE 2008-03-17: Too many negative complaining comments… So, I closed comments for this post. Read the comments to see if you have anything “NEW” to say. If you do, then email me and I’ll post your comments. Otherwise, quit your bitchin’ and move on with your lives! Dang! AND, SHAME ON YOU WELLS FARGO FOR NOT NOTICING THIS AND RESPONDING HERE TO LOOK RESPECTABLE. I’VE BEEN WITH YOU FOR ~30 YEARS!!! YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS!!!
Filed under: Rants
This is BS! I just got this charge and am canceling my account. What a sac of shit.
For anyone coming across this post or these comments, I just wanted to note that I’m aware this post is getting some traffic.
I didn’t write it to trigger others to get upset. I wrote it because I know that sometimes people who can affect change actually read things like this and sometimes it can really be a catalyst.
I have several stories about things like that, where blogging has gotten directly to influential people in only a few minutes or hours, and where writing other letters or trying other things may not work or may take much longer.
So, if you’re reading, and you’re one of the executives from Wells Fargo, I know you’ve been here… If you were to comment, you would add a ton of credibility and that transparency would go a long way for the other customers who would be able to see that you care, and that you care about doing business with them.
But, that’s just my opinion… Or, is it?
[...] A quick google turned up this blog entry about the same issue: Wells Fargo charges two dollars to talk on the phone. « Tweblog – Toby Getsch [...]
I called WF a few weeks ago to get a brokerage account consolidated into another WF account. Something I can’t do online BTW. The idiot who answered my call gave me a number to a party line, said she’d transfer me to brokerage, then dumped my call. I called back, after trying the number she gave me, got the same idiot, who then transferred me to home mortgage. I won’t bore you with the rest of my story, except to say I was transferred three times before getting someone who said they’d send me out paperwork right away to do what I wanted. Still haven’t got it.
But the kicker is, I looked at my account online just now, and, low and behold, a $2 dollar charge for talking with these morons. I have been with WF for close to 20 years, but I’ll be looking into the local credit unions now.
I called to dispute charges, they were not only not any help but were quite rude to me. Now I get not one but TWO $2 charges on the same day. I believe there was a disconnect and I had to call back. So I got NO service and double charged to boot. What a crock of you know what. There should be up front disclosure both in the fine print and by recorded message BEFORE they connect you. I’d change banks, but last time I tried that, I ended up worse than before.
I just got the same thing today. The funny thing is my last phone call to Wells Fargo was back on 12/22/07. I just got charged on 1/24/08. My call to them was regarding unauthorized charges on my account. I googled the Phone Banker Call and found this blog post. Good source of information. I will be back to post once I find out what they say.
Well I called Wells Fargo and inquired about a $2 charge (acting like I didnt know what it was for). The operator I got on the phone was very helpful and quickly reversed the charge.
I don’t care if they reverse the charge, should we have to be wary of our own banks to swindle us? We shouldn’t have to deal with this shady business practice and it’s a waste of our time!
Online features shouldn’t replace customer service and ANY institution that makes money off of customers entrusting large sums of money to their bank should talk with customers for free (even if the call is outsourced to another country!).
and YES, it should be illegal to charge someone for a phone call without telling them and hiding it in the fine print of an online message (which was never even viewed or opened BTW) This is NOT proper or sufficient notice.
My phone call was to inquire about why deposited funds were being frozen and when they would be available for withdrawal, and THAT info was nowhere on the website.
I an currently switching banks, this is INSULTING!
I just found this $2 charge in my transactions tonight. I called up to find out what it was. I have no recollection of making such a call, so the Wells Fargo rep happily refunded the amount.
Still, it leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth.
I’ve blogged about this a little bit more on my own blog: http://arthaey.blogspot.com/2008/02/phone-banker-fee-refunded-ftw.html
Thank you for your post!
I too have received a two-dollar charge on my account for speaking with customer service at Wells Fargo. That’s complete BS and I’m canceling my account. If this was a tactic used to deter customer call in rate it definitely doesn’t work. Now I’m calling back to acquire about this charge. Idiots!
i just noticed the $2 charge today. i called WF from the UK (at a cost greater than $2) and got a cold response, asking me to verify what i was calling about way back on 2/14… i called then because WF put a hold on my card in error, and the only way to get the hold removed was to call. i was quized further and i told the banker, regardless – i’m not in the habit of calling WF unless there’s a problem on their side. so he eventually ‘gave in’ with an ever so slight huff.
wells fargo is a fine bank, especially compared to bank of america (which is the worst, BTW). but sometimes they get some fool making decisions like this that hurts their reputation. i’ve been with them since 1987, and while this isn’t enough to have me cancel my account, i’m still left thinking WTF WFB?