Wells Fargo To Purchase Wachovia
Usually Friday is a good day. You know, end of the week, impending weekend, rest, relaxation, etc? I have to say when I saw this lovely headline on Friday, it pretty much blew the previous sentiment about the weekend clear out of the water.
I can not think of a worse occurrence than for Wells Fargo to purchase Wachovia, and here’s why:
A few years back I had a very bad experience with Bank of America where for some years prior their credit card department was completely abusive and refused to provide any semblance of customer service. They were rude, unresponsive and pretty predatory with their credit card policies to the point that I vowed never to use another Bank of America credit card.
At the same time, I had personal and business bank accounts with Bank of America only because there was a branch two blocks from my home. Well, that experience was another “worst.” The tellers would yell (and I’m not exaggerating here) at me through the drive through when the DEPOSIT slip was not “in order.” When I went in to get some extra deposit slips, I was told that, “We don’t do that,” among other rudeness.
Fast forward a couple of years down the road: I sold a property in Singer Island, FL at the start of the big housing bubble run-up, paid off the credit card and transferred about $150K through Bank of America to my new smaller, regional bank.
Within one day, I had a Bank of America customer service rep calling me on the phone to let me know that they could help me invest my $150K. Ya! Thanks but no thanks.
Soon after that, I was sitting in front of a loan officer at Wachovia closing on a mortgage. She mentioned that I could get a “free checking account” with Wachovia because I now had a mortgage loan with them. I replied that I didn’t want to have a checking account a large national bank due to my previous experience with Bank of America.
She took the time and effort to explain that Wachovia did not do business like that and that I would be pleasantly surprised. And she was right. Despite being a big bank, the customer service was great, the bank’s corporate policies were non-intrusive and decidedly customer centric.
This is a COMPLETE 180° turn from the way Wells Fargo operates. They are, by far, the worst bank I have ever had the displeasure to be a customer at in my life. Every department from their mortgage department to their depository services to their corporate headquarters to their human resources department is run with the bank in mind and not the customer or employee.
I personally will be closing my checking account with Wachovia/Wells Fargo and if at all possible, refinancing my mortgages with them. I will also be telling everyone who will listen about my experiences. In my opinion, life is too short to deal with such an abusive company.
Oh, and I can’t wait to join the class-action lawsuit that will inevitably be filed against them for basically treating cusomters like they’re lucky to be doing business with Wells Fargo.
