Wells Fargo fires 5,200

[jyl]

Wow. Wells Fargo fires 5,200 employees for opening accounts and transferring money and more, without customer authorization, to boost sales numbers, from 2011 onward. That's 1% of their workforce, and you know most of them were in bank branches, so that's a lot of branch jobs going to be available.

5,300 Wells Fargo employees fired after 2 million fake accounts discovered | Ars Technica

Then again I hear WFC isn't the greatest place to work.

I wonder if anyone senior got fired. Seems like a failure of supervision and controls, if not worse.

[chapo]

Having had a business account with them for over 10 years, and the treatment they gave me, I vote that they are the worst bank ever.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by jyl

....

I wonder if anyone senior got fired. Seems like a failure of supervision and controls, if not worse.

Worse...

[gamin]

Unfortunately had dealings with them years ago. Never again. Bunch of crooks. They absorbed the old Wachovia Bank here in NC. Bunch of crooks. Senior managemen heads should roll too. They are the ones that set the unreasonably high sales goals and then didn't monitor results. Bunch of crooks.

[pavulon]

Caution: Bottom line mentality at work.

Would imagine Senior Management had established policy insulating themselves from accountability for subordinates trying to satisfy unobtainable goals.

[masraum]

Ouch, that's got to really hurt. Banks don't like things that affect their reputation, and I would think that this surely will.

[legion]

In an organization that size, maybe a couple of hundred examples of this would be "oversight". 5,300 examples seems more like "policy".

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by chapo

Having had a business account with them for over 10 years, and the treatment they gave me, I vote that they are the worst bank ever.

This!

Not related to this scandal, but a coupla years ago, I did some consulting work for a friend and they paid me with a check from a Wells Fargo account. The branch was right next door to their office so I thought I'd just go in and cash it. WRONG! Because I did not have a bank account with them, they wanted to charge me 3% to cash the check. Maybe that's SOP in banking, but then the talking head behind the counter does a few key strokes and proceeds to tell me that I have a mortgage with them and it makes absolutely no sense that I don't also have a bank account and tries her best to pressure me into one. I declined, asked for the check, and stormed outta there muttering explicatives that only Richard Pryor would understand. I was so frustrated and angry, I feared that Barney Fife, the security guard, might have use his pocket bullet on me!

[Macroni]

Going to Adele tomorrow night in their suite..... wonder if this will come up in conversation....
They are my bank and the profit motive runs strong in the organization. I believe their CEO Stumpf made just under $20 Million last year in compensation on $5.7 Billion in earnings.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

Wow. Wells Fargo fires 5,200 employees for opening accounts and transferring money and more, without customer authorization, to boost sales numbers, from 2011 onward. That's 1% of their workforce

Actually, that's about 2% of their workforce, the article that I saw said it was 1% of their payroll.

Per the Internet, they have 265,200 employees, which I'm guessing is now 260,000.

Yeah, I found several different locations that seemed to indicate that they had around 265k employees in 2015. That sounds about right to me.

[RANDY P]

They lost my mom's $40K safety deposit box recently. Lost during a bank move.

Staffed by little kids, and the 18 year old "Bank Manager" has no power. They just smile and constantly bug you with "did I provide excellent customer service?" while being unable to do anything at all.

Burn in hell WF.

[legion]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Staffed by little kids, and the 18 year old "Bank Manager" has no power. They just smile and constantly bug you with "did I provide excellent customer service?" while being unable to do anything at all.

This is exactly why I stopped banking with large banks. It can take dozens of phone calls and/or branch visits just to locate someone who has the authority to fix your problem. When my dad died, it took me 6 months and 4 branch visits just to close his account with BofA. They expected me, a non customer, to be an expert with their products. No one had the authority to do anything, and no one knew who did. I'd get told to call an 800 number, only to be told that my request was against policy. They were the ones that kept re-opening his account, charging fees, and sending collection notices.

I now bank exclusively with a local credit union. The tellers are far more empowered, and the few things they can't do, the teller manager (who sits next to them) can. I have never had to call a phone number. Every issue has been resolved in a single branch visit.

One thing I absolutely hate is a business that treats me like they can abuse me because they judge that I need them more than they need me. I will go out of my way to avoid them. On this list is all big banks, Comcast, PayPal, Ebay, Google, Facebook, and most of Hollywood.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by legion

One thing I absolutely hate is a business that treats me like they can abuse me because they judge that I need them more than they need me. I will go out of my way to avoid them. On this list is all big banks, Comcast, PayPal, Ebay, Google, Facebook, and most of Hollywood.

just like me...Same thing.

Well- with the exception of PayPal, Ebay, Google and FB. I use those.

But I'm with you in spirit!

rjp

[dan88911]

Full page apology in the paper today. They refunded those customers who incurred fees. And they are going to do better in the future. What a great company.
And by the way you purchase their stock at good price and it pays a great dividend.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by dan88911

Full page apology in the paper today. They refunded those customers who incurred fees. And they are going to do better in the future. What a great company.
And by the way you purchase their stock at good price and it pays a great dividend.

Who cares.

The teen age bank manager to mom on her safety deposit box: "but we TRIED REAL HARD TO FIND IT!- Sorry " (puppy dog eyes). As if Mom's gonna go "Oh that's OK then, as least you tried.."

Mom's got plans to recoup that money they lost- she ain't going out like that. She's 75 and everything she has is paid off. Hired attorney, and things are happening.

**** them. They are garbage.

rjp

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by dan88911

Full page apology in the paper today. They refunded those customers who incurred fees. And they are going to do better in the future. What a great company.
And by the way you purchase their stock at good price and it pays a great dividend.

Knowing that half of Wells Fargo is the former Wachovia (that stinking pile of poo that used to be First Union) that was mismanaged out of existence makes me wonder....nah, I don't wonder

Those azzholes owe me a pension in a few years though...hope they survive.

I was an AVP (peon) for the original Wachovia in my youth....mega banks suck . Spent some time at what is now BoA too....don't know why anyone would use either one.

[Esel Mann]

A few years back I stumbled across a forum posting (not the PP forums btw) from a fired WtF employee spilling the beans on this crap. Branches are no longer about banking they are about pushing product. Period. Complete with unrealistic quota too. So folks at the branches started by signing other co-workers (knowingly) up for products. Then after a certain grace period they would cancel and there-by avoid any fees/costs. Life was great but then the quota got bumped so the branches started reaching out to friend/family for help (again knowingly). Again after the grace period, they would cancel whatever product and there-by avoid the fees/costs. Quota got bumped again. So which trough to turn to this time???? Yep, with access to the customer data, they would sign up existing customers (unbeknownst to the customer) for product. The idea was someone at the branch was then supposed to cancel said product after the grace period so as to avoid fees/costs. Woops!

If you've noticed, the branches are staffed with Millennials. Their attention span does not align well with cons that take time. So one nugget to gleam from this is don't expect any criminal masterminds from this current crop!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I had an account with Cardinal Savings and Loan circa 1984 (edit- 1976)- credit card circa 1984.
Cardinal savings and loan became Suntrust.
Suntrust became Wachovia.
Wachovia sold my credit card to fia services.
fia services sold my credit card to Bank of America.
My Wachovia savings/checking became Wells Fargo.
Every time I go into WF (any branch), they push stuff. It is obvious they are under a lot of pressure to push stuff.

I become genuinely grateful for where I am in life, and I don't have to do that (well- not yet- at least!).

I really feel sorry for them. The next time I am in there, I will fill out a suggestion form to that effect.

[intakexhaust]

They even created email accounts using customers information. This done to dupe their managers plus keep the WF customer in the dark of what the actual motive.

What's especially bad is the volume of unknown rogue employees having access to customers confidential info. Could be the teller sweet smiling Sally who's been an employee for 20 years. But she's rogue and sells off info to the black market.

[widgeon13]

That is a company out of control. The CEO should be fired!

I did business briefly with WF and they are the worst.