| Category | Rating |
|---|
| Pay | -3 |
| Respect | -5 |
| Benefits | 2 |
| Job Security | -5 |
| Work/Life Balance | -3 |
| Career Potential/Growth | -5 |
| Location | 2 |
| Co-worker Competence | 3 |
| Work Environment | -5 |
Five true stories from my time at Wells Fargo Financial:
1) Customer and her daughter come into my branch with the sole purpose of refinancing her daughter's free and clear car in order to get cash for said daughter's wedding. I sent the car up for a refi and it was turned down because of inadequate equity.
Like the good little WFF CM that I was, I looked at their larger financial picture and noticed that refinancing their house for cash out would be the best plan for them. Unlike the majority of the other mortgages I did, this looked like a legitimately good deal. I would reduce their term and payment and give them cash out for the daughter's wedding. My customers loved this idea and I felt really good about the loan. The customers gave me one stipulation- I was not to touch their auto loan with a local credit union, as it was at 5%.
When it came time to close the loan, the closing paperwork had the auto loan with the credit union paid off. I checked my plan and the mistake was on their end, not mine. When I told my manager, I was told that the customer was to sign the loan anyways and we would issue an "in-lieu-of-check" at the end of the recision period.
If you're not familiar with the recision period because you've never sold mortgages before, the customer has three days after the closing to change their mind, after which they're basically screwed.
At the end of the recision period, the checks printed with a check to the credit union. I told my manager, who called my DM, who called the underwriters. The underwriters said something like "too bad, we told you no before the loan even closed." Thanks for telling me.
I took a very late lunch that day because I couldn't face that customer when she came in to collect her checks. I felt sick for months afterwards and prayed she would never call me nor would I run into her anywhere; I still feel awful for her.
2) Because my branch was in an undesirable location, we had trouble getting and keeping managers. We went weeks without managers. During those weeks, sometimes assistant managers from other branches would come and "help us out" under the DM's urging to "check us out and see if they wanted to work at our branch."
In English- these managers had no desire to work for our location in the middle of nowhere but would come over and use our branch in any way possible in order for them to "look good" and be "promotable" in a better store.
One particular AM, I'll call him Douche, came to visit for two weeks. Managers look better the more loans they have and given that this man wanted to be promoted, he encouraged us to send up anything and everything even if there was no chance it would be approved.
One customer I contacted via e-leads had no equity in his house, but I took an app anyways, so Douche and my DM would leave me alone. When I got his house value, I saw no room for a refi, but Douche told me that there was room, and to get the customer's documents.
Customer's documents were extremely complicated and him and I both had to run to the end of the earth and back to obtain them. Douche told me to tell the customer there "absolutely would be some way that we can help him." I asked Douche to explain to me, and he said to trust him. I told him, verbatim, "my manager says 'there is absolutely a way to help you.'" Customer was excited.
Douche leaves back to his branch and DM comes for a visit. As DM is looking through my loans, he asked me what my intentions were with that particular loan. I told DM that Douche insisted I send it up. DM asked me what the product was and I told him I didn't know, and then told him what Douche told me. DM was stern when he told me I had wasted my time as there was no equity in his car or house and he was not approved for anything. Who got in trouble? Me. I got in trouble for listening to the boss, for doing what I needed to not be reprimanded for insubordination.
I don't know if Douche was ever promoted, but I wouldn't doubt it. Slippery politics are not uncommon at WFF.
3) Not nearly as bad as the previous two, but quite indicative of the environment you work in: I witnessed my DM telling another CM to sell a customer a refi on his auto. CM refused, DM insisted, and made him pick up the phone in front of him. CM refused and DM reprimanded him. The problem? The customer had a 1% auto loan and the DM wanted him to refinance it for 18% in order to get $500 cash out. Yeah freaking right.
4) My DM once stood over me while I called a customer into the office, instructing me to tell them I had "great news" for them. I was brand new so I did as I was told. The product he wanted me to solicit was wrapping up two credit cards with three lines of credit- all at a higher rate than their existing cards. Doesn't make sense, does it? When I told that to my manager, he said I was "thinking for the customer" and that I basically had to get the customer in the office in order to keep my job; I did as I was told.
I asked the DM to show me how he would solicit this loan by allowing me to watch him sell it to my customers; it didn't work. Needless to say, my customer looked at me as if I had two heads, stifled their laughter, and left the office, sans loan. I looked like a moron.
5) A manager insisted I sell a $40,000 second to a customer who had $10,000 of equity in their house. She was to come sell it with me (because I didn't want to take the blame when it fell through) and she dilly-dallied around the office, making me 30 minutes late with my customer. She never apologized.
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If you don't mind experiences like the ones I described, you'll do well.