I called the customer service line at Wells Fargo to ask if there would be any problem if we were to bring in a check issued by Her Majesties Customs and Revenue Service of the United Kingdom, and was assured that there would be no trouble at all, and that some of the funds would be made available the day we brought it in, and that there would likely be a hold on the rest for a few days. I asked if there would be any fee for cashing the check, or cheque, in this instance, and was told there would be none. I was specific in my questions and in the nature of the check, and got very assuring and very specific answers from the customer service representative.
Yesterday we took our little check in to the Mesquite branch to cash the check, where the customer service representative had assured us there would be no complications and the male teller, who was not wearing a name tag and did not have a name plate up, took the check and examined it for a bit. He seemed a little confused by it, then prepared to put it into his computer. As we talked, Katrina reminded him that the amount was in British Pounds, and so he examined it further before admitting that he was looking for the Pound sign on the check. Katrina pointed towards the numeral field and said, “you mean that great big one right there?” Sure enough, there was a very large “£” right before the numbers printed in the numerical amount field. The teller then fetched his manager as he became very unsure of how to deal in the foreign currency check.
Kerry, the manager on duty came along, entered the situation, and informed us there would be a hold on all the funds for six to ten weeks, and that there would be a $75 fee for cashing it. I said to her that the customer service representative that I had called said there would be no fee, and that there would only be a short term, partial hold. Kerry then smiled a cocky little smile and asked me if I had “informed the customer service representative that the check had been issued in January, because the date is the first thing I look at on a check.” Katrina stepped in right away and reminded Kerry politely that the check was a British check, and that the date 01/08/2011 was dated the first of August, and not the 8th of January. So, in the end, we have to pay a fee of $75, deal with a total hold for up to a quarter of the year, and deal with two people who cannot answer why their customer service misrepresented the process, why their institution does not operate efficiently enough to handle this sort of transaction efficiently, or their internal communications process accurately. We then asked if they had a form or an address to communicate this to the company office, or even a phone number we could call, and were told they don’t have that information at the branch.
We found this event extremely unprofessional, especially for a goliath like Wells Fargo, and I wanted to complain about it in public because as Joe Small, I don’t like being the little guy who gets stepped on by a bank, then ignored afterwards! It may be true that the fee is correct, that the hold is correct, and so on, but that should have been communicated accurately at the Customer Service point of contact! And the cocky attitude of the manager was less than appealing, even if we did correct her on the date for it.
For this, I do not recommend Wells Fargo, and would love to state publicly that I would love it so much if the corporations that are taking over the small towns could remember that many of us still want to be treated like we are in a small town, and like we are people, rather than profit margins.
Kelsey J Bacon
