Why I wouldn’t mind seeing Wells Fargo bank go out of business…

So I moved back to the US in October and began a car search. My previous car was sold three years earlier, so I was at my leisure to start from scratch. I decided after being squashed into a Ford Fiesta in England for three years, it was time to get back into an SUV. I liked riding high and having more room. My goal was to pay the car off quickly so I put a limit on the cost and began my search before going out of town. Three weeks later I returned and had narrowed my search down and found a car being sold by a private seller. The negotiations went well, I put down a deposit on a Friday and agreed to come back on Monday with a certified check for the remainder.

I had the certified check made out to the buyer and gave it to him on November 30th. I figured, ok, he takes it to the bank, clears his bank in a day or two and I can get the release of lien in two days, max. The last time I had purchased a vehicle from a private seller, the release of lien was faxed through to my bank on the same day. Things had gone smoothly. I expected the same. Unfortunately, this time the private seller was dealing with Wells Fargo.

The seller proceeded to deposit my certified check into his account so that he could transfer the funds to pay off his loan. Apparently, by making the check out to him, the certified nature of the check ENDED upon his deposit. Warning for everyone in the future, have the certified check made out to the lienholder. This was my mistake as I was about to find out.

I proceeded to trade e-mails with the seller for the next MONTH thanks to Wells Fargo bank. That’s right folks, I was not able to legally drive my car for a MONTH. The seller transferred the funds to pay off the loan, but when he did, he was told that there was a $5,000 maximum for transferring online. $5k? Are you kidding me? People make more than that in a paycheck. What kind of limit is $5k? But wait, because the amount exceeded $5k, the remainder was not allowed to be deposited for another WEEK! That’s right, not only does Wells Fargo contain online transfers to $5k, that’s $5k per account per WEEK! So, he deposited the funds on the 30th, they cleared December 1st or 2nd, when he transferred the entire amount. the first $5k went through on the 2nd, but now a week had to pass. This is where it gets better. Someone at Wells Fargo hit the wrong keys and screwed up the 2nd deposit in Week 2. Now, 72 hours had to pass until the 2nd deposit was allowed to go through. So the money was handed over on the 30th, the first payment clears on the 2nd or 3rd and the bank errs on the 8th or 9th, which stretches out until the 15th for some reason until the remaining amount clears the bank. We’re at 16 days and I still do not have a release of lien.

So, finally, I think the money has cleared, hit print and fax Wells Fargo. Get me the release of lien. But wait, NOPE, because the online funds were no longer certified, they have to sit in the bank for 10 business days, 10 MORE days on top of the 16 already. Well, guess where that puts us? That’s right, smack in the middle of the Christmas holiday. Have I been able to shop for Christmas presents? Nope. Have I been able to drive to the office? Nope. Thank the Lord I was working from home otherwise I would have had to rent a car due to Wells Fargo. Bad enough, I went to Indianapoliis for a weekend to visit a friend and actually did that, RENTED a car when I owned one in my garage. Unreal. Around day 16 I began calling Wells Fargo. I got every excuse in the book but the bottom line is, Wells Fargo bank is working under antiquated processes and procedures with ridiculous minimum figures and waiting times. Rhonda and her crew got an earful from me. Finally, I had a connection that worked for another arm of Wells Fargo who spoke to someone else there. This was around day 20. The person promised the release of lien would be sent out on Friday, Monday at the latest, and sent UPS. I called the office of my contact and on Friday and Monday, the release did not arrive. So, I got the number and spoke to Denise. Denise decided it was time to backtrack. Apparently she said she would “request” the release be sent. She failed to inform us that “requests” could, and in this case would, be denied. Did Denise call to tell us that? Of course not. Why would Wells Fargo want people to be able to drive cars they buy? So now Denise’s’ best response was I would have to wait the full 10 business days. 10 business days – for money I provided in a certified check!!! A complete and utter joke.

I spoke to someone in customer service and asked her how her children would have felt if she told them they were not getting Christmas presents because mommy couldn’t drive her car because Wells Fargo wouldn’t let her. I asked her how they would feel when they wouldn’t get any presents after Christmas because mommy lost her jost because she couldn’t drive to work because of Wells Fargo bank. In both cases, she had no response. How could she? Her employer was denying the ability to drive the car I purchased. Her best response was to suggest ways in which the government might accept replacement forms for a release of lien.

Right, because the secretary of state is really flexible! That was just the path I was going to take. Are you kidding me lady? Hit print and fax. Done. Unreal.

On day 30, December 29th, the seller, yep, not even me, who had spent over 20 hours on the phone with customer service, received the release of lien. I now had to go retrieve the lien from the seller. Thankfully a family member did this and on day 36, January 4th, I was finally able to drive the car I purchased on November 30th. No thanks to Wells Fargo bank, who are still passing money in amounts and speed as when they were on stagecoaches bank in 1852 (yep, that’s your fun fact of the day). Now the countdown begins for when Wells Fargo will put itself out of business through asanine processes and procedures.

Goodnight and God Bless,

Scott