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Wells Fargo Advisors pros and cons, reviews, wealth management customer complaints, financial advisor ratings. Is Wells Fargo Advisors a good company to invest with and a fiduciary?

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Wells Fargo Advisors Reviews

by Paul,  8/5/2024

Pros:  None

Cons:  No Planning

Review:  I had my account there for a long time, but the CFP did no planning. It was like he was a stockbroker with a discretionary account. Nearing retirement, I decided to find a company that would do some REAL planning. When I found that company, getting my own money to transfer like trying to pull someone from the mouth of “Jaws”. My transfer was delayed by a month.

by Lisa,  6/20/2024

Pros:  None

Cons:  They are salesmen, not advisors. Poor customer service. Insulting & arrogant.

Review:  I had a terrible experience with Wells Fargo Advisors in The Woodlands, TX.
After multiple errors & bad advice, I asked to speak to a manager who was arrogant & insulting. They took no responsibility for their actions & bad advice.
This was one of the worst experiences in banking that I could imagine.

by Terry Guenther,  6/8/2024

Pros:  Convenient location / market analysis

Cons:  excessive fees

Review:  Had WF Advisors for over 15 years and was not made aware that I had purchased (owned) C shares until I switched to another broker. I was also not informed about the percentage charged for maintaining my account, until I saw a list of fees from a competitor; WF Managing Director (Minnetonka, MN) maintained that I was not paying any fees other than purchase fees.

Lessons learned-

Review your accounts regularly and ask questions. If you don't get the answers you are seeking or get runaround, consider another broker. Each firm has their limitations.

by Seth,  4/28/2024

Pros:  Friendly

Cons:  Conflicted/Questionable Judgement

Review:  I found my Wells Fargo advisor to seriously lack good judgement commingled with conflicted interests. When I raised the following questions concerning the effect on both the bond & stock markets beginning December 2021 — extremely high CapeSchiller Ratio, very high number (extreme greed) Fear/Greed Index, pending Ukrainian war, projected numerous 2022 Fed rate increases(bond/stock market effect), raging inflation rate, etc.; with the questions of the negative effect of all this on the bond and stock markets—my WellsFargo broker responded with a lot of ‘babble-speak’ promulgated by corporate WellsFargo marginalizing, miminalizing, rationalizing, and justifying their decision to keep everyone in the market so their brokers continue to scalp their sacred 1-1.25% commissions while ignoring logical concerns raised by their clients on unfolding issues. By the end of 2022 my total portfolio of 60/40 stocks/bonds lost 29% as $800,000 evaporated from my portfolio as I was preparing to retire in early 2023. Strange isn’t it? The WF brokers continue to receive unjust enrichment under these circumstances while their client become more poor. Even though I told my brokers beginning in March/April 2022, that I would be retiring in early 2023 — my announcement of this life event was ignored as no effort was made to adjust and rebalance my portfolio in preparation for my announced retirement. Furthermore, these WF brokers like to shuffle you into various funds such as Confluence, Jennison, etc. with exorbitant fees so they don’t have to make any decisions but still collect a hefty commission.
In conclusion, the bottom line is that I had an abysmal experience with Wells Fargo as I found them to be self-serving, conflicted, lacking good judgment, unresponsive, and generally self-centered. I would not recommend anyone to Wells Fargo Advisors period!

by Brian,  3/24/2023

Pros:  Nice people

Cons:  Questionable integrity

Review:  WFA held onto an equity, in one my accounts, that lost close to 70% in value from initial purchase. Numerous other scenarios similar to this in my accounts.
Emailed and asked why and I was told they were in the process of selling it from the managed accounts. Further questions and on a phone call I was told it was rated as a buy (perhaps since it had lost close to 70%!). Polar opposite responses. I placed a sell order for this and one other equity and I'm in the process of changing brokerages.

by Dave p.,  3/22/2023

Pros:  They used to send fruit at Christmas

Cons:  24 years, 1.9% return since inception

Review:  Really that says it all. Oh, except for being in our 70s & poor health, we're now down 23%. Even though we were only 30% stocks. These "advisors" have so many conflicts of interest that when i finally pushed my longtime fa as to whether he was telling me to buy a particular investment as a broker or fiduciary.....it was the longest awkward pause, & a dodge. On IRAs they are NOT true fiduciaries. That regulation is full of holes. For $36000 a year we got robobalancing & bs. This FA was still insisting that inflation was improving....in October 2022. We feel like we've been fooled. A genuinely good FA is probably not working for WFA.

by Paula,  3/17/2023

Pros:  Good financial advice

Cons:  FEES even on cash

Review:  I pay 1% annually for my advisor to manage my money. What really bugs me is the ROBBERY on cash. If you have cash in your account (to pay bills and associated with a checking account) they take advisor fees from your CASH and they don't pay interest. So they charge YOU 1% on your cash!!! It is outrageous and should be illegal.

by Jerry's widow,  2/9/2023

Pros:  None

Cons:  Estate processing dreadful and abusive "customer service"

Review:  Horrendous waits on the phone, failure to follow through on instructions given, each new contact wants something different, hang up

by Todd Morse,  1/28/2023

Pros:  Investment Advisor personable

Cons:  Poor Back Office management, communication, lack of timeliness - delays 3 - 5 days, organizational poor management

Review:  My father had invested his life earnings for over 22 years in Wells Fargo Advisors (WFA). We set up a family trust for him over 15 years ago and named the WFA accounts to his trust to avoid probate and expedite his wishes in the distribution of his estate. The Financial Advisor said that we would not have any problems with the trust and securing the funds in a timely manner. NOTHING could have been farther from the truth!! WFA assigned a new employee to facilitate the liquidation of his funds. She, who was overseen by the manager of field support & Assistant VP, made numerous mistakes in closing the account. I contacted the attorneys who created the trust for my father and my father's accountant and they guided WFA through the process. Both firms shared that I, as the executor, was doing things correctly and they were surprised by the lack of knowledge of closing a trust with WFA. Unfortunately, as a customer, WFA never provided an overview of the process, and the new employee and Assistant VP had to contact the “Estate Team” throughout the process to acquire clarification of the trust process which delayed liquidation by months. The attorneys who created the trust shared my father's trust was a very simple “cookie cutter trust”. Due to the lack of knowledge in closing my father’s WFA accounts and poor communication, we shared our concerns with WF Complaints office twice and received back boilerplate form letters sharing that they would use our concerns as “coaching opportunities to make sure our level of service does not fall short again.” WF Executive Office followed up to share their protocol to justify the poor closing procedures. Recently, I took time to review some of the past reviews of WFA on the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs website and noticed that we are not alone when concerning the mismanagement of WFA. We do NOT recommend investing funds with WF.

by Carla,  9/6/2022

Pros:  Agent seemed nice when he opened my IRA

Cons:  Did not disclose the multitude of "fees" they charged me.

Review:  I kept getting bills for $300 annual management fees. I thought that is the fee for the account. It turned out that is a separate fee from the 1% fee WFA charges for IRA account plus fees for each fund where my money was invested. Over the years I lost 20% of my money while the S&P 500 rose 60%. What a scam.

by Broke and Broken,  5/6/2022

Pros:  Great way to get rid of money for good

Cons:  If you want access to your money see above

Review:  UTMA account that was with other firms and through mergers wound up here. UTMA account that had never been transferred to me. It's now way way passed time. Been trying for three years now to get control and in my name. Multiple phone calls. Multiple forms. Everyone you speak to has different instructions and different stories. The forms are never filled out right. The customer service people hang up on me 5 times or put on hold and never come back. They have lied time and again. It is a corporate mandate apparently. They want to keep getting fees and you get no access to money. I want people to know this outfit is a scam. Don't let them near your money. I will probably have a heart attack just trying to get this settled. The latest letter claims they are going to restrict account unless get updated date of birth. That's been on every form and copy of my driver's license. And the account is already restricted because I have no access. Nor will they let my elderly mother who is custodian have access. I think this company is a big Ponzi scheme. Beware.

by Pam,  3/10/2022

Pros:  Very quick to grab my investment

Cons:  Poooooor customer service

Review:  Now that my inherited IRA is in WF investment account my advisors refuse to answer my inquiries. Called 4 times, emailed 3, talked with secretary who promised she left message with my broker.

by Pete Speicher,  2/3/2022

Pros:  Very simple and easy to use website

Cons:  Customer service

Review:  I love the ease in which I can transfer Checking account money into my brokerage account and Purchase stocks. I do this monthly with leftover bill pay money. However, if you ever have an issue, which fortunately has been rare, plan on spending 6 to 8 hours resolving the issue on the phone.

by Shane,  12/28/2021

Pros:  None

Cons:  They make it impossible to access your money

Review:  I am the beneficiary of a beneficiary IRA. First off, no disclosure about being able to transfer the assets of the IRA to another beneficiary IRA within 60 days without penalty. Broker located in Plattsburgh NY, was condescending and less than useless. Didn't want to deal with me (apparently fiduciary responsibility has a price tag and I am not a big enough fish to warrant a minimal level of advice) transferred me to a WFA broker in Burlington VT, didn't know about this until 6 months after it happened. He was equally useless. I want to transfer my assets to another Beneficiary IRA with Etrade, but as to be expected, can't contact anyone at WFA to make this happen. They do not want to give you your money or allow you to access it. Stay very far away from this company.

by Cynthia,  9/27/2021

Pros:  None

Cons:  1) The WF Advisor of our managed account did not disburse mother’s and refused to take calls. 2). WF Customer Service had no idea that unmanaged investment accounts needed to receive approval from the account holder before it would accept funds.

Review:  For years our ‘advisor’ did nothing accept take his fees. Two days before he was to distribute my deceased mother’s trust, he called three times wanting to exercise an option. We declined and never heard from him again. He did not distribute the investments and refused to take the trustee’s phone calls. After speaking to his manager I did speak to our ‘advisor’. He was rude and condescending and still did nothing. The 2 New Jersey ‘advisors’ I personally dealt offered no solutions and were inappropriate.

Customer Service at WF was also a dead end. After hours on the phone and having them consult others, three of their representatives had no idea that an unmanaged investment account needed to have the account owner email a specific address before the account can receive any funds. This entity can not be reached by phone nor does a trustee have the ability to authorize the acceptance of funds. It has to be the owner, although Customer Service had no idea this existed.

My conclusion after dealing with WF Advisors for years. They will take your money and take your fees but it is almost impossible to get them to do anything, even a simple transfer from one WF account to another. Their Customer Service staff is poorly trained in the simple operations of investing into their accounts.

by Dale Swanson,  7/17/2021

Pros:  Tries to be thorough, detailed to a point, FAIL.

Cons:  Not knowing ALL INFORMATION of what your selling me

Review:  Been with WFA for a long time… 5 plus years ago, they get involved with a “5 year commitment invest” a total loser of an investment as well.
5 years came and went, we’re now being held hostage in an investment that wfa has zero control over and it’s now impacted our lives in a very large way as well as forcing tax extensions for to be filed for 10 years, and absolute nightmare…..
what do we get? “I’m sorry” from the senior advisor.
This is for the San Jose San Fernando street office staff.

by Donna,  5/21/2021

Pros:  Friendly advisors

Cons:  Disconnected Broker-Agent relationship with Wells Fargo Bank

Review:  Wells Fargo Advisors is a subsidiary of WF Clearing Services, LLC. There were several concerns with business practices that came to light recently during the settlement of my mother's estate. The biggest issue is the disconnect between WF Clearing Services and Wells Fargo Bank back office employees. This broker-agent relationship cripples the consumer in taking any action to resolve issues that arise. This is because WF Advisors acts as the custodian. My mother purchased an AIG annuity back in Sept 2015 through Wachovia Securities, which later merged with Wells Fargo. She saved all documents from the past 15 years. I also have all statements and disbursement records. There were six beneficiaries total after my mother passed away in October 2020. It has taken about 7 months to get IRA disbursements completed, after making over a HUNDRED inquiries. At the end, not one disbursement was correct. Wells Fargo Bank overpaid each of us...that's right OVERPAID. And the amounts were all different regardless that each claim form was completed in the exact same manner (i.e. not federal or state withheld). This institution made a difficult time worse than it needed to be. Hopefully this review will prevent another consumer from dealing with a nightmare process.

by Doug,  4/30/2021

Pros:  None, he didn't even want to confess he was my mom's advisor

Cons:  Giving me the run around, refusing to release my money

Review:  It's now May 1, 2021 and I still don't have my money. My mother passed away in mid Jan 21 and I contacted all her financial firms to report it. I was told I needed a short certificate if I was not a beneficiary. Mid March I got it and the banks were okay in her financial workings. At the beginning of February I notified both IRA firms and asked what needed to be done. Wells Fargo made it easy by providing downloadable forms and I could upload all necessary paperwork. Standard Bank told me they do all corespondence thru the mail. By the time I received the paperwork from Standard Bank I had filled out notorized and uploaded all the forms to Wells Fargo and I contacted them and was told to revise some answers that was not applicable to my case and I had already found out and got an Inherited Traditional IRA with a local bank. I supplied Standard Bank with some forms Wells Fargo needed thinking this bank would need it to. By mid February I had received a check from Standard Bank and Wells Fargo started to give me the runaround. Sure lots of people died over the past year so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. My financial advisor from my local bank received the monies from Standard Bank but couldn't invest yet until Wells Fargo check came in. I and now my new bank contacted Wells Fargo and they told me I needed to redo my IRA beneficiary forms again (contradicting what the first person told me to do) and everything else looks good. My new bank told me they couldn't do any good for me but that other people that got their money from Wells Fargo had to wait 6 months for it. I corrected the form and uploaded a new one again. I waited the 3 days and contacted WF Estate team and they told me they had my forms and it is being reviewed at the time. She put me on hold and came back and told me my account was no longer in Estate processing but in the transfer department. I waited 2 days and called them again to find out what's happening, WF told me I filed out the forms incorrectly and I need to fill them out again and upload again. This time I called my passed mom's financial advisor and told him about the runaround. He told me he didn't have my mom's account for over 10 years after I told him he really did not do my mom any justice losing half of her retirement account in 2000 and another half in 2007. He gave me his admin person who called me and explained I needed to open my own account to get it transferred to. All the time I have been cleaning my mom's house and arranging her burial and memorial in the summer. I contacted who the ad person told me to contact and they wanted to switch me to estate department. I told them no and they switched me to new accounts. I got a sup for some strange reason and he got things straight after he tried to switch me to estate department. It's been 2 weeks, my new account is ready for the monies but estate department put me back in the start of the line. I'm ready to report to the SEC if things don't go right soon as this company won't let go of their clients monies.

by Larry Womack,  4/25/2021

Pros:  Giving you the runaround

Cons:  Refusing to let you have access to your own money

Review:  Nothing short of criminals. Kiss your money goodbye if you give it to them, seriously. Divine intervention is what you’ll need they are pirates and all these comments are the truth. Imagine the worst nightmare company in the world and then times it by 10, now your getting closer. Better off stashing cash in mason jars and burying them.

by Debbie,  11/13/2020

Pros:  None

Cons:  Ineptness

Review:  Horrible business practices. Once I tried to move money out of Wells Fargo the horrendous customer service started. I submitted my forms to transfer a 529 account to another brokerage in July. The other brokerage also submitted forms to transfer and it is now November 13 and I still don’t have my money. I have called 20 times to Wells Fargo and 10 times to the other brokerage trying to get help. My new brokerage calls WF with me on the line and it’s a constant run around. I called WF today and Abe put me on hold and didn’t come back. I called back in and was told he had connection issues. The new person is Nicole and she wants me to fill out new forms. I asked for a manager and was put on hold, later to be told they are all busy, but can call me back in 24 hours. Wells Fargo is a mess! Do not use them! Invest with Fidelity instead.

by Mark Anthony,  10/30/2020

Pros:  Nice Web Interface

Cons:  Zero customer service and broken English reps.

Review:  Tried to do a simple pension plan rollover to an IRA and it's taken over 3 months. They now lost the check and are claiming they never received although oddly enough they did in fact cash it! I'm out 100k and they never ever call you back. Run as far and as fast as you can away from this place. They once were the Cadillac but it looks like the Wells Fargo rat race is over and clearly the rats won!

by Joyce,  6/23/2020

Pros:  None

Cons:  They only care about large accounts

Review:  I transferred my 401K over - after about 7 years, I averaged 4%. Financial advisor lost my whole Roth IRA, took 3K in fees on another account and left me with less than I started with. Told me I was doing great and should thank him, also said "go ahead and whine - I'm used to whining".

by Faye,  5/21/2020

Pros:  None

Cons:  Incompetent, disorganized, non-responsive

Review:  There is not space here for a full accounting of how awful this company is. I work for a nonprofit and we had a generous donor give a gift of stock. We have been unable to access it for FOUR MONTHS because Wells Fargo says they have not received the correct paperwork. I have called at least seven times, faxed and/or emailed copies of the specified form at least five times, and every time they reject the form. Mind you, they never notify you that it’s been rejected. So I have to call back, wait on hold, explain the situation to get another representative who gives me instructions that often directly contradict what the last representative told me about what is needed to actually get this form completed. It’s not a complicated form. I don’t understand how a firm can be so incompetent. We are a small nonprofit serving people in need, and we have been unable to access these funds when needed. Wells Fargo should be ashamed.

by Anonymous,  5/7/2020

Pros:  They make good promises

Cons:  They break their promises

Review:  My mother had a Wells Fargo Advisors account. It was a TOD account to be distributed to me and my sister's children. My mother passed on in 2007. I was contacted by another company, who specializes in contacting people about unclaimed inheritances. They put me in contact with Wells Fargo Advisors. I received a large package of forms to fill out, notarize, medallionize and return to Wells Fargo. I did that. Wells Fargo did nothing. I contacted Wells Fargo, they said I needed to fill out another form and return it. I did. Wells Fargo did nothing. Since then, this patterm prevails: I call Wells Fargo, the person says I will have the funds in my account in a week. In a week, nothing has happened, I call again. Wells Fargo says I will have the funds in my account in a week. Nothing happens. I call again. It appears I must hire a law firm to deal with these crooks.

by CMYteam,  1/2/2020

Pros:  They were good for 5 years. Sudden decline in Advisor contact and mangement systems efficiency

Cons:  Late 2019 our prior Advisor team apparently quit/retired. No contact from apparent new advisor. Website lists a name but click on the listed name to email and their system automatically starts email to former advisor no longer there. IT failures. Call listed Advisor and it says mail box is full. Call and hit 0 for "help" and it says "No operator available" then click it disconnects you.

Review:  Late 2019 our prior Advisor team apparently quit/retired. No contact from apparent new advisor. Website lists a name but click on the listed name to email and their system automatically starts email to former advisor no longer there. IT failures. Call listed Advisor and it says mail box is full. Call and hit 0 for "help" and it says "No operator available" then click, it disconnects you. Sent email to listed name and still no reply. Poor management, poor systems coordination. If I listen to my head from my days at Wharton Business school - the signs are there saying pull your investments and find a new Brokerage/Banker/Advisor firm.

by Ashley p,  12/3/2019

Pros:  None

Cons:  Horrible customer service!

Review:  Called on a mon. Nov 18th to request a withdrawl. It wasnt even put in the system till i spoke to someone else on that friday. So monday that girl did nothing. Finally mailed out nov 26th. Still no check they did not offer me direct deposit. Im paying for the mistakes of their untrained customer service reps. Should of had my money already. They didnt eventry to correct the situation.

by Terri,  9/24/2019

Pros:  Nothing

Cons:  Incompetent,uncaring, reprehensible , immoral and what should be considered as illegal

Review:  My mother while traveling in Canada suffered a massive stroke , was removed from life support and passed away on July 24, 2019. As you can imagine this has been a difficult time for my family. My father who is 80 years old not only lost his wife of 57 years, he has been very badly treated by Wells Fargo Advisors. He and mom had a joint account with survivorship. Upon informing them that mom had passed away they immediately closed/froze his account. He has not has access to his own money since August 6,2019. Wells Fargo , of course, requested a death certificate, The one father received from Canada along with a notarized letter was presented to the bank. This same death certificate was provided and accepted by two other banks, the funeral home,mom's two pension plans and her life insurance company. Wells Fargo Advisors would not accept this, and requested an Apostille, which I had to inform them after contacting the Canadian Embassy is something that Canada does not offer and therefore we could not provide. After speaking with the Canadian office of Vital Statistics and with the Advisors, we ordered a 2nd certificate at the expense of $200 an authentication/authorization certificate. This certificate has a attached wax seal, ribbon and certified letter.
I'am sure you can all see where this is leading, after receiving this certificate and scanning/faxing it in to the Advisors
five days later I receive a email telling us to disregard the request for the second certificate , and that they now wanted
us to provide a third certificate this one from the Canadian Consumer Foreign Affairs. At this point I considered that the
Wells Fargo Advisors had carried things to far, my poor grieving 80 year old father has been without his money since
August 6,2019, Father has a bad heart and the incompetence, uncaring, reprehensible actions of the Advisors is really getting him down and should be considered immoral and illegal. This kind of treatment is why Wells Fargo is often receiving negative reporting in the news. I would advise everyone to think long and hard before trusting the Wells Fargo Advisors with your money.

by Annette Wyatt,  8/12/2019

Pros:  None

Cons:  Everything

Review:  This fim holds my company retirement. After filling out paperwork, getting it notarized and faxing this information, I called to get a status. Said my ID didn't fax legible and I need to enlarge it. I did. Sent via another fax machine. Called again the next day. That didn't fax well enough either. I sent a copy via mail. 6 days later they claim not to have it. Morons, my drivers license has a feature to prevent duplication. Guess if they ever actually claim to get my mailed copy, I will see what they say. Or I'll get an attorney to sue them for denying me access to MY money. And it's not a federal law they receive my ID since I had to show it to have the documents notarized. For many reasons, I will never trust Wells Fargo. Do NOT become another victim of the runaround.

by Richard,  7/2/2019

Pros:  I have no history with a broker here

Cons:  I have no history with a broker here

Review:  Stay away from this company. They do not honor their word. I opened an account this company on the advise of Wells Fargo Bank. Not a branch of the bank. I never traded any funds and after 6 months wanted my money back. They wanted to charge a $95.00 fee to close the account. I spoke with several brokers there and finally was told that they would refund my total account. Funny, I received a check today with the $95.00 taken out. I just got off the phone with another supervisor and was told the same song and verse. l

by Phil,  6/17/2019

Pros:  None

Cons:  None

Review:  Termination Fee

In late May 2019, I closed my account at Wells Fargo Advisors and transferred all of my mutual funds to another large mutual fund company. Imagine my surprise when I received a bill for a termination fee of $125.00. It was so nice of them to give me a going away present like that. It just confirmed my suspicions that their ethics and greed problems that they have had in the last 5 or 6 years has not changed or gone away. This really confirmed that my decision to move my mutual fund account elsewhere was the right move. If they ever wanted to make sure I will never do business with them or any of their subsidiaries again, they found a way.
Any new investors considering Wells Fargo Advisors or any of their subsidiaries should read up on the various ethics problems and multi-million dollars fines the government have imposed on them because of these problems. New investors would do well to consider almost any other investment company.

by Sharon Stapp,  4/5/2019

Pros: 

Cons:  Liars and deceivers

Review:  My brother named me successor trustee in his legal trust. WF brokers initially told me they would transfer his account (well under 100K). I signed all their prerequisite paperwork and provided all the required paperwork on my side. Days later they WFA insists that they have a diffferent trust and no successor is named and that I need an attorney to resolve this. No one will speak with me now since they uttered the word- legal. It sounds like a song and dance wherein the money is gone and they do not want to admit they lost or used his account. Every attorney I've spoken with says this is wrong, possibly illegal and unlawful on WFA's part. DO NOT TRUST WELLS FARGO ASSOCIATES WITH EVEN A PENNY OF YOUR MONEY, YOU WILL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN/ IT'S TIME TO GET THE MEDIA INVOLVED.

by Debra Hatcher,  3/17/2019

Pros:  None

Cons:  Rude, lied, and uncaring

Review:  We have tried to receive help and lower payments. We will pay but are having a hard time with $880 a month. If we could lower and stretch it out, they would be making more money. It took a year of calling and my daughter was told as long as you are making your payments then you don't need help. Then one rep. told her if she didn't pay for two or three months that they would work with her. Really?? Now as a cosigner I am getting threatening calls. Not only has her credit tanked but mine went from excellent to fair. We sent in paperwork and they said she didn't make enough to remove the cosigners. The cosigners make too much to refinance and lower her payment. She was told "Your parents will have to pay.' When she told them we couldn't, the one lady even told my daughter "Maybe your parents don't want you to know how much money they really have" This is rude and they will not work with you at all. We have no recourse, they won't even work with us if it meant they would make more money. Since my family is in the school system we are putting the word out not to use Wells Fargo. My other daughter used Sallie Mae, they are eager to help, and suggest ways she can get through a few months with no payment. Wow a company that cares!! Not Wells Fargo!

by Jeff Carlson,  3/7/2019

Pros:  Customer contact and help online visibility

Cons:  High fees and below market returns

Review:  On balance run-of-the-mill performance not monitored or altered once set up. Really passively managed funds on autopilot when should be actively managed. Double the fees compared to market.

by team member,  11/17/2018

Pros: 

Cons:  Horrible Customer Service

Review:  I work for Wells Fargo and have been disciplined by HR due to my interaction with Wells Fargo Advisors. The customer service is horrible. You get a different person and different answer every time you call. Don't forget the amount of time you will wait on hold with no willingness to phone you back. HORRIBLE! It makes me want to quit my job working for Wells Fargo. They cannot say they work for the customer when their lazy, slacker customer facing people do such a poor job. Do not bring your investments to that broker.

by Neil Flynt,  11/4/2018

Pros:  Access to broker

Cons:  Fees and non management

Review:  Tried to transferr advisor trust account has been going on for 3 months nothing but lies and non service. Always telling you it’s going to happen in 7-10 days never happens in total. Still have a social security payment tied up for 60 days. I reckon they think the government will bounce a check. Suggest anyone having a problem contact finra. for help.

by Mike,  8/31/2018

Pros:  None

Cons:  Terrible service

Review:  I transferred a 401k to a Wells Fargo Advisor account. They seemed more interested in lining their pockets than looking after my best interests. My advisor wanted me to buy a $100k annuity and forgot to tell me about their annual maintenance fees when I opened the account. I did more research on annuities and realized that this was a bad investment choice for me. i transferred my account to another institution. My advisor called and told me to transfer all of my accounts because he did not want to deal with me anymore.

I called twice this summer to have my account transferred to another advisor but no one returned my calls. Poor service and poor investment advice. SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE FIRED FOR NOT RETURNING PHONE CALLS! Any fees they charged for closing my accounts was the best money I ever spent.

by John M.,  8/2/2018

Pros:  None

Cons:  WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE, LIE, CHEAT & STEAL. RUN and NEVER LOOK BACK.

Review:  Will never ever have anything to do with anything named Wells Fargo/Wells Fargo Advisors. They smile to your face and stab you in the back. WFA is a rip off and make it impossible to get your money (now their money suckers) back once invested. ZERO customer service, ZERO morals. Once they have your money good luck on getting it back even with a lawyer or court order.

by Stephanie,  7/23/2018

Pros:  None

Cons:  Customer service is horrible. Advisors do not care

Review:  As a Wells Fargo customer for 20 years, I have never been as disappointed in the lack of service the advisors provide as I am right now.
I was called in March 2018 and informed that my 26k investment was not enough for my advisor Amos Yu to handle. His boss, Jim Gaither, attempted to calm me down after I made 3 complaints with no response but he never apologized for his employees words. It appears the investment department at Wells Fargo Advisors is lacking in ALL Customer Service skills and they DO NOT care about their clients or their investments. I am now moving my small 26k investment that they do not care about.

by Michelle,  7/20/2018

Pros:  NONE

Cons:  Customer Service and Assistance

Review:  Our home burned down a few weeks ago for a total loss and our insurance company was wonderful and got our check to us in a timely manner. We attempted to pay off our mortgage in person at a Wells Fargo bank location that deals with mortgages. We were told they could not handle such a transaction and we needed to send the check to corporate, where they would pay off the mortgage and get the overage amount back to us "sometime." No one could explain or even attempt to explain why the bank could not handle the check nor why a timeline for them getting the overage amount back to us could not be given. So, while we wait for the check to be 'cashed', we are still having to pay on a house that does not exist and they reap interest on money that does not belong to them. The representatives have been indifferent, somewhat incompetent , and lacking in any form of customer service. Thus making an already devastating situation more frustrating and difficult.

by joe trump,  5/2/2018

Pros:  none

Cons:  honesty

Review:  said termination fee was transfer fee. it was a termination fee. Lied about refund. said never said refund

by Steve,  4/26/2018

Pros:  Given some time and may think of one.

Cons:  Ignorant and without an morals.

Review:  Set up a trust 2 years prior to my father’s passing. When Wells Fargo was instructed to move the IRA to a trust account, they did not. When administering the estate, I confronted the financial advisor as to why the funds were were not placed in a trust 2 years ago when they were given a written instructions to do so. The financial advisor tried to tell me since my name was already on the account it was the same as trust so they did not Feel it necessary to make the change. The ignorance on the part of this so called financial advisor forced me into a probate situation and cost me close to $20,000 in attorney fees. Wells Fargo had also failed to transfer a savings account with over a $100K and a checking account with $40K into the trust. Wells Fargo attempted to hold up the release of the checking and savings without a court order at the time of this confrontation so I withdrew all all the money from these accounts since my name was on the account. The get the IRA released it took me 6 months of battling with Wells Fargo. There as alway one more form that needs to be signed and submitted for review. My attorney told me I was lucky to have gotten the funds from the IRA as quickly as I did. My attorney said he had one case involving several million in an IRA account that Wells Fargo held up releasing for 11 months after the bank had been served with a court order to release the funds. Wells Fargo is a very unscrupulous bank and their employees have no morals.

by KS,  3/10/2018

Pros:  Christmas Card Every Year

Cons:  Never a serious conversation about fees or returns.

Review:  WFA Broker was very nice, but when asked about fees, dodged the question. Never gave an honest appraisal about returns versus fees. Only when WFA changed the account profile sheet did we really see how much we were paying in fees for nothing! Also, unlike at least 1 other firm, we did not get a weekly account summary online showing our performance versus goals, or a newsletter. When we finally saw our fee costs, we switched to another firm. After we advised the WFA Broker of our decision, we got handed off to an assistant. Even after 9 years with the same WFA Broker, we never got a "thank you". We even submitted a list of questions for review, only getting back a performance graph. WFA is the worst!!

by tf,  2/24/2018

Pros:  .

Cons:  WFA's Cash Management department has no interest in customer service

Review:  WF Advisors' cash management team demonstrated a SERIOUS DISREGARD FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE when I tried to transfer money from outside IRA's to a newly created IRA at WFA. Money transferred was still not in my account 20 business days later. Speaking with WFA I was told they hadn't received the check. I got documentation from the sending bank that it had been sent on time. WFA still insisted they hadn't received the check so I told them I'd have it canceled and resent. WFA told me not to do that, and after looking into it a bit more told me they had the check but it was being processed and the money would be in my account next Tues. The following Thurs, still no money. WFA then went back to saying they didn't have the check. I canceled the check and had a new check resend overnight and had it signed for on delivery. 4 hours after it was signed for I call to follow up. WFA continued to say they hadn't received the second check either. I got mad and showed them the tracking info and the signature at which point they said they had the check but it was made out to the wrong institution-Wells Fargo Bank instead to Wells Fargo Clearance Services. The light bulb then went on and I realized they had had the first issued check all along but it had just been sitting on someone's desk because it was made out to Wells Fargo Bank (btw it is WFA who sends the paperwork out to the sending bank with the required check info). No one at WFA had cared to call me or the sending bank to notify us that there was problem with the check.

CONCLUSION, the cash management department at WF Advisors demonstrated multiple times, by lack of follow up and lying (or not knowing what was going on in their own department), that customer service is not of concern to them. If you have a choice, why use a company that doesn't care about you when there are companies out there that do. I am closing my accounts with WFA and considering transferring all of my accounts out to Well Fargo.

by GF0x,  2/24/2018

Pros:  NONE

Cons:  These individuals are very crooked!

Review:  Do not follow up and when there is an issue one will deceive and the other will swear to it.

by Cara Hammond,  2/9/2018

Pros:  NA

Cons:  NA

Review:  My husband and I have been loyal customers to Wells Fargo for years. We run millions of dollars through their bank each year. We tolerate their problems with technology and turnover of staff with a patient attitude as we understand not everything in life can be perfect and instantaneous. We had a VP of Wells Fargo as a client in our business. I don't believe that she even realized that we were a customer of Wells Fargo. She threw a crazy fit at our front desk, barged her way through 2 locked doors by lying to my staff, came in to an executive meeting and proceeded to rip me a new one regarding a subject that she had no idea what she was talking was talking about. She made threats toward organization and personal threats towards me as the owner. I went through 4 different routes with Wells Fargo regarding the threats she made. They didn't care. I even had one of their employees tell me that she was sleeping with her boss and nothing would come of my situation. That lady has the wrath of the devil in her. She has a history of belligerent behavior in our community (published in the newspaper) and Wells Fargo continues to employee her. I would be careful if you are working with Wells Fargo branches in Central Florida as the Regional Director seems to be questionable in stature.

by Tom,  1/17/2018

Pros:  There are none

Cons:  Insensitive, unresponsive to request, inability to listen and provide what the customer needs.

Review:  Absolute scam. Only out for making commissions and charging as much as the can. No listening skills to provide what the customer needs. High expenses for little or no customer service. No access to cash when needed.

by Dee Dee,  1/13/2018

Pros:  None

Cons:  Poor customer service

Review:  Make it very difficult to transfer money out. Phone wait time is terrible and if you get multiple people they all tell you different things. Run fast!

by Soon to be former WF customer,  1/11/2018

Pros:  none

Cons:  poor back office response, unecessary delays ("up to 3 business days" is not to be counted upon), inconsistent claims and unkept commitments, poorly trained/unknowledgable advisors, and more.

Review:  Ugh! I cannot think of a more poorly operated brokerage firm - None of the issues ever occurred when Prudential held the reigns - set up a list of other firms, pout on a blindfold, and throw a dart n- wherever it lands, you will be better off.


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Wells Fargo Advisors Commissions

Wells Fargo Advisors' standard commission for stock and ETF trades is $0. Customers pay $0.65 per contract on option trades.

There is no minimum deposit required to open an account at Wells Fargo Advisors, nor are there any inactivity or low-balance fees. There is an annual fee of $25. However, this charge can be waived by signing up for electronic statements.


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Wells Fargo Advisors Cost

Costs for other transactions (penny stocks, mutual funds, margin rates and various operational costs) are clearly outlined in the WellsTrade commissions and fee schedule.

Many tools are available to the online investor to evaluate stocks and funds including real-time quotes, historical pricing, charting, watchlists, portfolio tracker, stock screeners, alerts, as well as commentary and research from Wells Fargo and S&P. Once positions are held, the tools allow access to portfolio and individual holdings level information regarding profits/loss, activity, performance, etc. Online access to electronic documentation (statements, trade executions, 1099s) is an additional benefit for clients as well as the ability to download to Quicken® or Excel.


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Wells Fargo Advisors Disadvantages

Lack of proactive problem resolution is a big disadvantage of the brokerage. However, even with all the technology and tools– which work well, but are pretty standard among online brokerages – problems can, and do, still arise. If they do, they may not be manually or automatically detected, creating confusion, lost opportunities and frustration. Once a person from Wells Fargo gets involved, the problems may be resolved more or less quickly, but you will likely receive courteous, prompt, effective attention.

We opened three accounts at one time (online brokerage and two IRAs) by filling out the paperwork for each of the separate accounts. A few days later these accounts all appeared online. When we began trading, two of the accounts executed with no problem but one of the accounts did not. We were surprised when we didn’t get the expected trade confirmations on one of the accounts but assumed that we must have made some mistake. Being more careful in subsequent transactions, we found that we were receiving confirmation numbers when placing orders but just the same the orders were not being executed. Finally, we called and was told that there was a signature missing which impeded trading. This demonstrated a lack of proactive customer service on behalf of Wells Fargo Advisors at the time of account opening (why didn’t anyone contact the client about the missing signature?), at each transaction request (why wasn’t order rejected instead of accepted and confirmed?) and each transaction failure (no notification).


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Wells Fargo Advisors Summary

Overall, investors can expect a very good level of products and service from Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Bank, but today there are many much better options available.

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