Whatever you do; do not do business with Wachovia aka Wells Fargo Bank. After the Wachovia and Wells Fargo Merger instead of customer service getting better; it actually has gotten horrible. I called to find out what happened to my checking account and why I was charged an overdraft fee of $35.00. I basically was talked to by three men in the customer service department like I was trash. All three men I talked to on the telephone were loud, rude, and condescending to me. And when I tried to explain to the fourth representative what happened and that I wanted to file a complaint he basically tried to get sympathy from me by telling me how he gets treated by angry customers over the telephone! When I explained to him that each customer has to be handled on a case by case basis and that representatives can’t be mean to every customer on the phone because of a few bad apples, he hung up on me!

The Wachovia/Wells Fargo Bank has so many slick ways to get money out of the customer it is ridiculous. Even with recent laws on overdraft protection going into effect on August 16, 2010; they are still fleecing unsuspecting customers. But what the banks don’t realize is that they are losing customers by this treatment. Not only did I join this forum to file my complaints; but also to help people from being victimized by this bank the way I have been. Because the more knowledgeable we all become about their underhanded fee practices; the more likely we all are to take our business elsewhere.
Basically I was told that an automatic debit for $20.00 put me in the hole and triggered three more insufficient fund charges. It turns out that when I went online to check my account and make sure I could make some additional online charges; this $20.00 automatic debit which appeared to be withdrawn from my checking account already, actually wasn’t taken out of my checking account until the following day between midnight and 7:30am! And I only received this information after asking one of the rude service representatives what time they took this money out my account. He got an attitude and initially refused to tell me and then he told me the deal. Thank goodness he got upset and told me in a loud and rude manner; or I would have never discovered another slick way the banks fleece customers. After calling three more times I discovered that if I don't make a cash deposit by 2pm tomorrow, that I will be charged an additional $105.00 in overdraft fees. This would make it a total $140.00 in overdraft fees for a $20.00 automatic debit that appeared to be out of my checking account when I went online, but it actually wasn't. The other three charges in question would not get an Insufficient Funds Charge if Wachovia aka Wells Fargo had not back dated and charged me the $35.00 fee triggering three more insufficient charges.
I hope I am making myself clear because I am so upset right now, I could just scream.
What you should know when dealing with Wachovia/Wells Fargo Bank:

1. They will do anything to get a $35.00 fee from you. And when they are wrong you are lucky if they offer to credit you $18.00 of the fee back.

2. To find out the status of your account online or if you have a question about a particular item; you must call the 800 customer service number and find out if the item has been taken out of your account.

3. For some reason the men have been ruder and less helpful than the women I have experienced in person and over the telephone; so try to talk with a woman if you can.

4. If you account is in jeopardy of receiving an Insufficient Funds Fee; if you can get the money in by 2pm the next day you may be able to avoid it.

5. Charges in parenthesis ($32.00) denote that you are in the red and will soon be charged a $35.00 fee for each item in parenthesis if you don’t see the insufficient funds fee charged to your account.

6. Items that appear to have been posted to your account may not actually be taken out of your account until the following morning between midnight and 7:30am because it is on hold. So for example, you may see $125.00 on hold for Monday. You are assuming it is out of your account because the amount is reflected in your balance online. So say you have $500.00 in your checking account. You make a payment for $125.00 using your debit card. You see in the hold section that there is a hold for $125.00; and you see that your available balance is $350.00. Well the hold has not actually posted to your account yet until Tuesday between midnight and 7:30am. So if you have made charges or ATM cash debits before or after this $125.00 charge, you may not be in the black because of this deceptive practice. You have to actually call the 800 number and find out where you now stand with this $125.00 before you make another move on your account. So the conversation would go something like this. Hello I am checking on a debit I made for $125.00 and I want to know the status of this transaction. Is the $125.00 dollars posted to my account and if not when will it be? And while I have you on the phone I would like to check the status of some other items on hold and some other purchases I recently made. Then you give the service representative your recent transactions and find out the status on each one.

7. I also believe that every person should have a checking account with at least two banks, so you can pick and choose whom to deal with at any given moment. I am in the process of making PNC Bank my main banking account because I am tired of the rip off games of Wachovia/Wells Fargo. I am also looking into getting an account with TD Bank (formerly Commerce) because it appears they have continued to provide great excellent service to the customer as well as convenient access after the merger.

8. I will be back on this forum with more Tales of the numerous nightmares and indecencies I have suffered through with Wachovia/Wells Fargo Bank over the last year. I have only just begun. You will hear stories about a replacement ATM Card; a lying bank executive; and the run around you get when you try to file a complaint in-house with their Bank.

Good Luck and Watch Your Back with Wachovia/Wells Fargo Bank.