Today I went to WF SO branch to withdraw $10,000 in cash, and left with distaste in customer service!
There was a male banker assisting a female banker who was apparently new to the company. I started the conversation by letting them know I needed to withdraw $10,000 and asked if I needed a withdrawal slip. Immediately, the young lady at the computer looked at me with wide eyes and said, “$10,000?”, as if I had said something shocking!!??
The male banker then continued asking for two forms of ID, which I provided. The young lady then asked me which account I wanted to withdraw from. After I told her, the male interjects, looks at me and asked, “Where did you get this money from?” Excuse me? Then he repeated, “Yeah, how did you get this money?”
I replied, “I have a HYS, why?”
At that point, another woman possibly the manager, came over and started hovering over the young lady. She jumped right in asking me, “what are you going to do with the money?” and “have you taken money out like this before?” She even had the nerve to ask “why do you have so many savings accounts?”
She mentioned that because I don’t have a checking account, I could save a monthly fee, but then immediately turned it into a “training moment” for the new employee. To correct her, I let her know her information was inaccurate and that I’m well aware of the fees. But by this point, this has nothing to do with “training”
I was hit with so many personal questions about why I wanted to withdraw my own hard earned money. I told them this was getting too personal, the only questions I should be asked are about ID verification, which account, how much, and denomination preference!!
The woman kept repeating that this was just a training moment, but there’s nothing educational about making a customer feel uncomfortable and literally interrogating them! What I plan to do with my money should have no concern to any employee.
I’ve taken out large sums of cash before without ever being treated this way. This was by far the worst experience I’ve had at any bank. The company needs to properly train staff on how to handle transactions like this without crossing ethical and professional boundaries especially if it’s an amount of money that may be large to them!
Although an apology was eventually given, this went way too far and was not a proper teaching moment by any means.
I’m very disappointed, disgusted, and uncomfortable with how this was handled, and I will not be returning to this branch.
To note, if anything happens to any of my accounts I will have all three staff looked into
Thank you,
AmandaB