Final Approval Given For $28 Million Settlement Between Wells Fargo, Customers Who Claim They Were Recorded Without Consent

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Wells Fargo Telemarketing Recording Class Action Settlement Overview: 

• Who: A judge has granted final approval for a $28 million settlement agreement betweens Wells Fargo and a class of its customers. 
• Why: Customers claim telemarketing merchants hired by Wells Fargo recorded sales phone calls without their knowledge or consent.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.

Final approval has been given for a $28 million settlement agreement between Wells Fargo and its customers to resolve claims it recorded them without their consent on telemarketing sales calls. 

A class of customers claimed Wells Fargo violated the state’s Invasion of Privacy Act by not informing them they were being recorded during telemarketing calls aimed at selling them card processing services, Law360 reports. 

Customers claimed telemarketing merchants were hired by Wells Fargo to sell the debit and credit card payment services to businesses nationwide, later contacting merchants to ask about their yearly credit and debit card sales volume while recording the calls without their knowledge or consent. 

The settlement agreement was made between Wells Fargo, First Data Merchant Services LLC (a financial services company) and almost 200,000 California businesses, Law360 reports. 

Customers Will Be Paid Up To $5K Per Telemarketing Call Received

Customers will be paid up to $5,000 per telemarketing call received between March 7, 2011 and May 7, 2014, according to settlement agreement documents. 

Wells Fargo has already paid the settlement administrator in full, Law360 reports, with customers expected to receive their portion of the funds in three weeks’ time. 

Class members will have 90 days to cash their settlement checks, at which time the administrator will reissue checks to those who have not done so, according to the settlement agreement. 

Any funds that are not claimed within 18 months will ultimately be handed over to the State of California’s unclaimed property fund, Law360 reports. 

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Wells Fargo and other loan service providers earlier this year over complaints they gave first-time home buyers bad loans that were destined to fail.  

Have you been recorded on a telemarketing call without your knowledge or consent? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Myron M. Cherry, Jacie C. Zolna, Benjamin R. Swetland and Jessica C. Chavin of Myron M. Cherry & Associates LLC. 

The Wells Fargo Telemarketing Recording Class Action Lawsuit is Wang, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank NA, et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-11223, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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