Banking giant Wells Fargo reportedly drove a customer’s account into the negative for days over confusion about a paper check.
Sacramento resident and longtime Wells Fargo customer Gerald Monroe Mann says he wrote a $400 check – and soon after discovered $4,000 had been withdrawn from his account, reports CBS News.
After spending hours on the phone, Mann confirmed Wells Fargo had mistakenly added an extra zero to the amount when cashing the check.
The payment drained both his savings and checking accounts, leaving him $900 in the red.
Mann says he went back and forth with Wells Fargo representatives and was told he would have to wait 10 business days for his case to be resolved. Meanwhile, Mann says he was essentially cut off from his finances.
“Now I’m screwed because you screwed up. Not cool. Why would they treat me like that?
I’ve been a really good customer… I’m not rich. Money is important.”
In a statement, Wells Fargo says that after learning about the mishap, it returned the missing funds to Mann in around four business days.
The lender also issued another statement after news of the banking error emerged in an effort to explain why it needed some time to reimburse Mann.
“We are pleased we could help resolve this matter for our customer. As an industry, banks must follow an established process, which includes allotted timeframes to investigate and help customers reclaim funds involving check disputes. We work to complete the process as quickly as possible on behalf of our customers.”
Mann says that while Wells Fargo did not charge him with overdraft fees, he was without funds for eight days.
“When they make a mistake, it shouldn’t be the person’s problem. This can’t be the first time it happened. And you need to have something in place to take care of this so people aren’t screwed in the process.”
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