I am guessing this has been asked before, though I have not seen it
A couple weeks back my (nutty and highly anxious) mom had been working with (one of the nations largest banks, I suppose I should not name it but they have had lots of bad press in recent years) to be able to withdraw some of the dividends on my moms brokerage account to withdraw dividends that had piled up as for some reason they quit transferring them to her external bank checking account as had been done
I tried to call WF (using just initial for confidentiality) and they always had to have my mom give them OK to talk to me . They tried, and she could not always hear questions as her hearing is bad so I tried to assist her in answering questions.
Never got anywhere. The people were always from some other country, could barely talk English, knew nothing. One time I got quite upset with the guy.
Anyway, we did eventually get the dividends withdrawn by going to a local branch, but never were able to reestablish the link to her checking account for future quarterly dividends.
A couple weeks pass
Tonight, my mom calls me in an utter panic, as she always does, but this time it was justified
A uniformed policeman came to her independent living building, and she happened to be in lobby
He approached her and said they are looking for me
Turns out WF put out an alert that I was an alleged perpetrator trying to take advantage of a vulnerable adult. WF thought I was trying to steal money from my mom by linking my OWN checking account to her brokerage and was coaching her on phone and yelling at her. (I do talk in a loud volume but that is as she cannot here
So the police have to investigate Apparently the policeman was very polite and nice and my mom explained I was not trying to take advantage of her and that I help her manage her money, etc, etc
THe cop said he will close the case
The cop was nice, but can you imagine my moms panic being approached by a uniformed officer in her building in front of other people asking for her son?
I called the officer and he was in fact very nice, and he was about to call me. He explained this happens, banks, financial institutions, and other places alert them when they think a vulnerable person adult is being taken advantage of but my mom explained to him and he closed the case
I said I know he was only doing his job, and as my mom reported he was very nice but still being approached by a uniformed officer in front of friends is traumatic, and I blame WF for doing this
I understand there may often be legitimate concerns they have to have investigated, but is there not another way? Could they not first come to us, not me necessarily but my mom to investigate rather than referring to police?
They are trying to protect a vulnerable adult but in the process highly upset said adult
I am not through with this. I have had many issues with WF as of late and this is the worst. Going to transfer my moms assets to another company as I already have done on my own I have had issues wit this bank on my brokerage, credit cards, savings, etc and I terminated all relationships.
I am going to try to call someone at said bank tomorrow to see if they could not have handled this differently. I suppose they have to be wary if they are suspicious of these things, but in the process highly upset the person they thought they were trying to protect
In case u did not know, WF is closing branches. Also, its been said here before they are really bad in excepting POA. If I had trouble with a bank, I would pull everything out and transfer it.
I don't see any point in talking to WF about this, especially since you've already found them less than helpful. I'm not sure what the process is in the US but when I wanted to move my money it was the investment company I was moving it to that sent a request for the funds to my bank, there no need for me to deal with them at all.
Once the dust settles, see how much Mom understood.
Do you already gave fianncial POA? Even if not, permussion can be given by Mom to you to act on her behalf at that particular bank.
Get an appointment with someone responsible in the bank (go in person with Mom if possible) to set that up. I had to do this with 14 year old children as they wanted my help but the bank said no.. until they signed an official authority form.
I am so sorry that this happened. Sounds like it is the common procedure for this bank, but kind of extreme.
I don’t blame you for switching to another bank.
as you know fits the initials ...... WTF ?
Big banks think they can control everything... best to get a fire proof pouch and bury your $$$ in a safe place... marked by a mark that only you know...
don't use a passcode or an IPAD.... NOTHING ELECTRONIC.... gosh, I think I was just hacked today...
ya... in today's world.... don't know the solution... All I know, when she was little, there was a lil computer game... and you can earn "KINS CASH".. ??
I think that may have been one of the first CRYPTO CURRENCY COINS.... in a kids game...
AKA..... CREDIT CARDS?
you don't see cash... only the interest building up if you do not contribute.... right?
Do you remember the good ole days, for "LAY-AWAY's"? You can't have it .. We will hold it for you until you pay it off.... Then you can have your Just Rewards!
AND GN YA'LL
Been so upset how they handled this. Yes, probably good they look out after vulnerable adults, but they could have contacted my mom direct to get her side of story before sicking cops on her, scaring the heck out of her, and in that case she did tell cop it was not an issue and he closed case
I have been thinking about making a stink with WF but as others have suggested, they are incompetent anyway so why bother. Just remove my moms stocks from them as I did with my own and move on.
(kind of funny, as my brother works in legal at WF corporate though in a different side of business.(
Since you have such an issue with them, though, I suggest you switch out her accounts to a smaller local bank, set up POA and joint accounts, and let them get to know you and your mother's particular circumstances and banking needs. You'll get far more personal service, but know that if they suspect fraud, they too would contact the police.