Dealing with consumer services
Credit card problem
Credit card problem
In spring of 2015 my wife and I were headed for London. We'd been there a few times in recent years. It was apparent that credit card security was better in England than in the US. A primary reason was that European credit cards contained security chips. I thought it would be good to obtain a chipped card. We had Visa cards from Wells Fargo. I went to our local Wells Fargo. The local banker made a phone call, presumably to headquarters, and indicated that this would be no problem. I wrote to Wells Fargo requesting a chipped card. In about a week I was shocked to receive a letter rejecting my request for an account. I wrote back explaining that this was a request for a new card and not a request for a new account. I shortly received another rejection. I wrote to Wells Fargo a third time, but I also wrote to the Better Business Bureau about my problem. In a few days I received a third rejection, but a a day later the BBB complaint was successful and I received the card.

There a couple of ironies here. Firstly Wells Fargo had recently been fined for creating thousands of fraudulent accounts. Secondly within a few months they sent chipped cards to all account holders!

A take home message - if you have a problem with a business, contact BBB.