Wells Fargo returns 35 years' worth of bank fees to woman

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- How closely do you look at your bills or bank statements? The experience of one Castro Valley woman may send you to your files to take a second look. 7 On Your Side takes a look at what happened.

Shirley Stanforth dug through her files at her Castro Valley home. She acknowledges she doesn't always take the time to read her statements closely.

"I only go back and check when there's something amiss or I have to verify a purchase," Stanforth said.

Stanforth lives with macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease that can lead to vision loss. She still has her peripheral vision which means she can walk, but looking at anything directly is a problem.

"That means if you try to read, you're looking directly at letters. I can't read them. They're just a blur," Stanforth said.

She closed her safe deposit box at Wells Fargo branch in the mid 1980's after the bank informed her it was moving her branch to a location on 12th and Broadway in Oakland. She went to the bank to empty out her box.

She said, "Then I signed a form, relinquishing the box. And left the bank, assuming that was it."

Not quite. Stanforth said it took her five years to notice she was still getting billed for it every year. She went back to Wells Fargo and the bank told her it would take care of it. That apparently didn't happen. She happened to be using the automated phone teller this year when she heard something that stunned her. More than 30 years later, she was still being charged for her closed down safe deposit box.

"And right then I just flipped. They can't be doing this all this time," Stanforth said.

A frustrated Stanforth decided to contact 7 On Your Side and we contacted the bank. Wells Fargo told us, "In general, we recommend that customers review their account statements carefully and regularly. If there is charge or a fee they do not understand, they can come to one of our neighborhood banking stores, or they can call us so we can gladly assist them."

Wells Fargo said it couldn't comment on Stanforth's case specifically, so offered no explanation on the mix up. Nonetheless, the bank's customer service department called her and informed her she would get a full refund on 35 years' worth of fees.

"'Wow, Wells Fargo's got heart' and the woman laughed and said, 'We try,'" Stanforth said.