To clarify a few things - I did provide WF with a copy of my orders and updated my account to reflect that I was "traveling." My account was froze before when I first got to country for a suspicious charge(foreign tranaction) because I had forgotten to notify them. That was my fault and also was about 6 months ago. I have no real issues with WF it is just A frustrating situation.
Ad someone else stated, I'm really curious as to what happened to flag my account in such a manner that telephonically verifying my info isn't good enough to discuss the situation. I've never heard of someone having to go to a branch with photo ID.
Ad someone else stated, I'm really curious as to what happened to flag my account in such a manner that telephonically verifying my info isn't good enough to discuss the situation. I've never heard of someone having to go to a branch with photo ID.
Look into the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (interest rate cap at 6%, etc.) and/or contact your JAG office.
Thanks for your service!
UPDATE -
Still getting the run around from Wells Fargo and they are refusing to budge so I'm turning to Social Media. I posted the following on their facebook page moments ago:
WELLS FARGO LOCKS OUT DEPLOYED SERVICE MEMBERS CREDIT CARD THEN TELLS HIM TO GO TO THE NEAREST BANK he can find...
Did that get your attention? Sound ridiculous? Yep, that's what I thought when it happened to me. About a week ago my credit card account was locked out for some unknown reason. I'm currently deployed overseas so I figured one of my charges in foreign currency triggered an alert so I called up the fraud prevention line. After about 10 minutes on the phone and my identity verified I am told that I must go to a Wells Fargo Branch with a photo ID "due to the nature of what is going on with my account."
I inform the helpful CSR that I am deployed and not only is there not a Wells Fargo, I wouldn't be able to go to it if there was one. After some more waiting, I am told that I can go to any old bank in this wonderful middle eastern country that I am in and then call back from there. WF - what are you thinking here? Today I called the fraud department back and am told the same thing, "We're sorry, there is nothing you can do besides going to a branch location." I attempted to speak to a supervisor but after being disconnected and unable to call back I decided to turn to Social Media.
I use my credit card fairly often(not in the last month or two however) so am very disappointed in Wells Fargo's policies regarding deployed military service members and how our accounts are "protected" - even from the actual cardholder. I am NOT satisfied with being locked out of my credit card account for months to come due to the fact that I am deployed to an overseas location. WF - You should be ashamed of yourself. How have you not come up with any other system in place to assist deployed service members?
I'm sorry it's come to this, and I hope that going "social" will be 'just the ticket' for getting the issue resolved... <fingers crossed>. 
I've had a Wells account myself for 10+ years (actually Wachovia then converted to Wells) and while they've generally been responsive, they seem to stumble a bit if/when anything "out of the box" happens, like they get confused if they have to go off-script. Case-in-point: the lawsuit Wells lost a few years ago (2011) because their CSRs refused to 'talk' to deaf people who were using a TTY device, which violates Federal law - they would actually hang up on them! That one cost them $16 million...
Please keep us posted... hoping for a quick resolution for you!
Hope it gets worked out for you quickly.
I was never in the military but I did live abroad in Japan for quite a few years. My bank's debit card (a small bank) expired and they refused to send a new one until I came into a branch (with ID) and signed for a new one. Yes, I can just fly 13 hours one way, drive 3 hours to a branch to sign for a new debit card, then fly another 13 hours the next day and still be at work the next day! They didn't care that I lived on the other side of the planet.
When I moved back here, one of the first things I did was withdraw the rest of my money, close the account and I went to Chase and have not looked back. I'm not in NFCU or USAA since I don't qualify but everyone raves about them so maybe consider switching banks?
Good luck and thank you for your service.
UPDATE 8/26
The Social Care team reached out to me today by phone after some emailing back and forth. They were very empathetic to my situation and put me in touch with the Executive Office. Shortly after speaking with the EO, I was back on the phone with the fraud department. This time, however, they were authorized to telephonically verify my info. Apparently, my account had been compromised and whoever tried using my card had tried to call in and wasn't able to verify themself as me in order to get their fraudulent charges approved. Not sure how this all happened but it did. As frustrating as the whole situation has been, I do applaud WF for protecting my account from fraudulent charges. They've sent out a new card and all is right in the universe once more.
@Anonymous wrote:
Really glad this worked out for you, OP. Your time is precious and can't be wasted on run-arounds like this, but at least they rectified the situation correctly. I do wonder, though, what kept them from saying "Your account is locked due to a fraudulent charge and a failed verification" the first time around, so that at least you could know why your account was locked to begin with. Oh well, the stars have aligned once more, so I guess it's not worth thinking about, hahaha!
Regarding what someone said earlier about a lawsuit involving the deaf and hard-of-hearing, it's really interesting/ironic how they recently made a commercial about a couple adopting a deaf child. I don't know if it's a reference to that, but regardless, what terrible display to hang up on someone because it's slightly less convenient.
While the bad PR has since died down, I believe the commercial was a "mea culpa" of sorts to the deaf community at large. On the deaf issue Wells behaved badly, but after the legal action was said and done they seemed genuinely contrite over the situation.
I'm sure the OP's issue was likely out-of-the-box for the front line CSRs, and out of an "abundance of caution" for both the OP's account and their own jobs, they simply 'froze'. As aggravating as this was, I am pleased that in the end the OP was able to reach somebody 'empowered' to assist him.
Something tells me this will be a "teaching moment" for the fraud CSRs that initially refused to assist the OP... 