Monday, August 11, 2008

A Little Venting.....

Okay, so I have some things on my mind that are quite bothersome. According to professionals, writing your thoughts down actually helps calm your nerves and "come to a conclusive decision on the matter". So, here it goes.

Tiff # 1
Wells Fargo
Now, don't get me wrong, I think Wells Fargo is a pretty great place to bank. I've personally been banking with them since my first savings account when I was a child. However, I don't agree with some of their ways in handling certain things. I for one, had been working with a company for almost a year. During this time, I hadn't had any problems depositing my checks..but one day while looking over my account, I noticed numerous overdraft charges. I know to how manage my money, and I'm pretty good about only spending what I have. Turns out, my paychecks had been coming from an out of state company and the bank was putting holds on my checks when they were deposited, unbeknownst to me. After speaking with a close friend who works for Wells Fargo, I find out this happens all the time. And that's not it. It's been such a hassle trying to speak with someone who can actually take care of the problem and give me a refund. I will not give up though. I'm determined to find a manager who will help. *I'll keep you posted on this.

Tiff # 2
The Fire Alarm in my Building
Over the past two weeks my fire alarm has gone off three times! This is completely exasperating. Especially when a piercing alarm goes off at 3 am while I'm peacefully dreaming. And again a week later at 6 am after a long nights work the evening before. And yet again that same day in the middle of the afternoon. It is an annoyance being evacuated for several hours waiting for the fire department to search the entire building and then give the okay to go back inside...only to find that the elevator is closed for several more hours until they can fix that. Not only that, but I think the intense ringing may be harmful to my beta fish, blueberry. Our fire alarm has gone off so many times in the last few months that people don't even evacuate now. They sit on their balconies to get away from the ear-splitting alarm...at least until the fire dept makes them get out. Even the fire department is tired of getting called out to our building. One day there will be a real fire, and what a sad day that will be as many of the neighbors won't vacate and the fire department takes it's time thinking it's just another false alarm.

1 comment:

Michael D. Christensen said...

I don't know if you've got this resolved yet but since I'm a commercial banker perhaps I can help a bit. Wells Fargo is the king of all fees and holds. They've been a correspondent bank of Bonneville's for a decade now and they're always thinking up new fees even for us. They typically will place a hold on any out of state check for more than a few hundred dollars and are legally allowed to hold your money from you for up to 12 business days.
The best way to get around this is to go to a smaller bank. In order to compete smaller banks try to get you your money available as soon as possible, usually with little or no hold time. Also, you will develop personal relationships with the employees and they will trust you enough to not worry about placing a hold on your funds.
Obviously, I'm a director of a community bank so I'm a tad biased but there's a reason no mega-bank can achieve a five star rating. When you have that many customers it's almost impossible to give a personal touch on customer service.
Thus ends my community bank infomercial. Keep up the writing, you're very talented at it.