MLKlein

Wells Fargo: John Stumpf's Letter to Shareholders Is a Must-Read

Customer service? Here are two recent examples of "customer service" at WFC in our family:

Daughter number one opens a checking account and gets a debit card. Thinking (incorrectly) that if she is overdrawn the bank will stop authorizing payment on the debit card if she has no money, she processes a series of small debit purchases over a weekend. While this assumption is wildly optimistic and not consistent with dad's advice, it is most probably made by many teens as they learn to manage their finances. End result; $53.07 in charges triggered $689.00 in OD fees. Wells position; close account, report to credit agencies, not budge on fees until dad gets involved and then agree to "settle" for $275 with no guarantee of clearing credit report. Extortion?

Second example: Daughter number two opens a Wells account without discussion with dad. Dad finds out that the "banker" gives daughter free checking. That's great, except that the free checking account is linked to a savings account that automatically pulls money out of the checking account every month. Looks fine until one realizes that daughter is a student with irregular income. Dad queries about what happens if the debit hits and there are insufficient funds in the checking to satisfy the automatic debit. Daughter can not explain what happens and tells dad that she never got a clear answer to this question at the bank. Dad now gets involved and closes the linked accounts.

Solution to both issues: US Bank. USB has a second chance account for daughter #1 and has an appropriate fee free account for daughter #2.

My opinion is that if we are going to support banks with deposit insurance and for the larger ones, the full faith and credit of the USA, it is time that we expect a higher standard of care when it comes to customer service. This starts with training that promotes doing right by the customer first. That requires that the banker actually understands what the customer needs and sells a solution not a product. This shift in the bank's selling paradigm is particularly relevant on the lending side of the bank's business where in most banks, lenders are let loose on customers to sell loan "products" with little or no formal training. Given the this sales attitude, we shouldn't wonder when the asset side of a bank's balance sheet blows up.