Wells Fargo ‘Reconsiders’ Vegas Event

I think that they are going to reconsider on how to hide it, but still hold it, like AIG did by not having any advertising around the premises. Or they may be reconsidering to hold smaller ones instead of one big hoop-la, but my gut feeling is that these will go on.

Let’s remember 1789 – France.

Why do they thing that it is OK to spend taxpyers money on big parties? They claim that it is a reward for a job well done. I work in public school and no one rewards me for working with students. I and my co-worker do a great job everyday. Our reward is watching the students grow and learn. It is not for the pay that is for sure.

I wish someone from ABC would contact me about the real truth. I am a loan officer and I do 98% of my client’s loans through Wells Fargo. They have been my favorite lender…and I really like a lot of the people that work there. I know how to close a loan. You used to be able to do that with Wells Fargo, but they are making it nearly impossible for the hard-working bill-paying average Joe to get a mortgage. They have the money to lend. They tell everyone they are lending it. They make it tougher everyday…sometimes 2 or 3 updates a day letting us know there are more restrictions or higher requirements. Sometimes, people that don’t have a bad mark on their credit report can’t get approved, even if they have paid their mortgage every month, but the guy down the street that has blown off his debts, has a higher score for no good reason, can get a loan. The whole system is screwed up so bad and nobody seems to be able to fix it…or doesn’t want to for some reason. Meanwhile, lenders seems to be attempting to cut us off at every opportunity we have to close a loan…and really for people that need to get it done. They get too busy for the britches, so they have consistanty increased the rates and are making it impossible to lock a rate for a customer. This all the while creates more closings of brokeages, causing more unemployemnt in a field that is going to be a big part of getting the economy back on track.
This is my second post on ABC. Like I said, I hope someone contacts me from there. The real truth behind the scenes should be known. We all deserve to know, not just us who work there.
Thanks.

I used to work for WFB and I’ll tell you that the lowly employees on the bottom don’t get anything but screaming and yelling from customers. The pay is terrible and no one in upper management listens. It’s too bad that the upper management doesn’t understand (or doesn’t want to understand) how the regular people live and would rather have a party, using tax payer money, than help the people who really need it.
Overall, Wells is a decent bank to do business. Don’t listen to all the people who’ve overdrawn their accounts hundred’s of times…..

For the United States to get out of this economic slump, money needs to FLOW!! What I don’t understand is that it seems nobody is looking at the BIG picture. Everyone just wants to yell and scream and gang up on businesses w/o really thinking about it or understanding basic economics. When all these companies go on retreats, they spend money…money that goes into the local economy…money that creates and maintains jobs…money that stimulates the economy. That’s the whole point. Money needs to be spent and circulated back into the economy, not saved. Who is going to replace all the income generated by this trip for the local and US economy?? Who cares if Wells Fargo wants to go on a retreat…all those people need to buy plane tickets, all those people need to eat in the airport, all those people need to rent cars, the guys working at the airport get tips for baggage, cars need gas and that’s not free, merchandise shops sell more merchandise, all these people make a huge mess, so janitors and housekeepers keep their jobs and shifts aren’t cut back, waiters and waitresses have work, bartenders, valets, and bag boys at the golf course all make more money..and you can go on and on and on. To an individual, 700 billion is a lot of money. To a country, it’s pocket change. Spend Money! They say we have a recession…I choose not to participate. I wish others would too. Money needs to be lent and money needs to be spent. This is the fastest way to have an economic rebound.

Listen to thoroughly naive Mike who wants money to FLOW! But look where Wells proposes that flow to take place versus the intended credit flow proposed by TARP. The last thing this economy needs is a celebration by Wells employees on the taxpayers’ tab. The money allocated Wells by the TARP was intended to FLOW into the hands of consumers who need to purchase goods and services from the core of our economic engine, not from bartenders and Las Vegas caterers and airport personnel showing Wells employees a good time. Mike is the kind of fool who wants us to live on the edge of a party we cannot afford instead of spending our borrowed money to benefit the masses.

Having had my mortgage through Wells Fargo I learned they are lacking in ethics, but this proves it to everyone. They lied to us, and now they are going to lie to the entire country.

Taxpayers got screwed on this one by the AP. Probably hundreds of WF employees would have traveled to Las Vegas and parted with thousands if not millions of bucks. We don’t know if WF was picking up the tab, or each individual was paying their own way. Either way, airlines, car rental agencies, taxi companies, hotels, service employees, dealers, and maybe even prostitutes, etc. etc., all lost out on this deal, not to mention the city of Las Vegas, and the state of Nevada. The WF team members would probably have been recognized for their success in writing billions in sub-prime mortgages that were picked up by us taxpayers, and rewarded with large bonuses for their good work. They in turn would return to their home state and maybe purchase the Mrs. a new Lexus, or maybe a BMW, that would in turn help to stimulate a bit of foreign economy. No matter if WF received bailout money or not, these types of actions will stimulate the economy, and they do have to pay the U.S. Government dividends and eventually pay back the borrowed funds.

It is just plain and simple, America in general, from top to bottom is just coruption! To make buck, dishonesty is everywhere. Yes: An economy driven by consumption, in time, is as good as termites are for a wooden structure. This coined by myself.

Yes this is the bailout at it’s finest!
NOT!!

Mike: In response to your post about Wells Fargo going on a retreat..yes, that is true.. money needs to be spent and earned by others. I have to admit, I’m sick of everything going to Las Vegas. I’ve been to LV 5 times least year because of conventions and tradeshows….FIVE TIMES! There ARE other places in the USA that people can go to. Yes, LV has the space for huge conventions, there is no doubt about this, but I’m sure this Wells Fargo event is not some HUGE convention. There are other midsize towns across the USA that have wonderful facilities and attractions and restaurants that can use a boost too once in a while. What about Cleveland, Minneapolis, Nashville?? Those economies can use a boost, have beautiful hotels (Ritz etc) and great restaurants…and can use a boost to THEIR local economies.

I was displaced from a bank which was subsequently acquired by Wells Fargo. I can tell you that this is the typical mentality of top executives not just in banks, but in corporate America at large. I don’t know how anyone in good conscience can book a lavish event or any event at the same time they are impacting the livelihood of others through layoffs. Think of how many jobs could have been saved with the money being spent so frivolously for the enjoyment of the top privileged few who live a great lifestyle on the backs of other employees that have to work like slaves being burdened with the duties of those that were laid off. Where I worked, middle managers and clerical staff typically worked long hours and reaped few rewards yet top executives still traveled in private jets, enjoyed golf memberships, free subscriptions, company cars, and other perks like this Vegas party. This “let them eat cake” mentality may lead to a class war if things keep going the way they are.

on behalf of the hotels, caters, and others in the hospitality sector in LV, the airlines with the cancelled empty seats, and the cabbies sitting idling in the airport queue …
thank you for taking food off our table.

RE: YOU ARE GUILTY OF INCITING PUBLIC FEAR AND I DEMAND YOU REPORT THE FACTS!
Must we liken your organization to the Rwandan radio station, RTLM, whose hate-filled rhetoric incited genocide in Rwanda? While your false, misleading and biased reporting may not be hate-filled it is causing fear among United States citizens. Fear breeds blame. Blame breeds hatred. Hatred breeds killings. Our economic woes are real enough, without your news organization adding fuel to an already combustible crisis.
Yesterday, President Obama publicly acknowledged he “screwed up.” It takes an individual of character to admit when a mistake was made. Does your organization have enough character to admit its false, misleading, and biased reporting?
Daily, your news organizations hold the new Obama administration to very high ethical standards. Shouldn’t the American public also demand the same high ethical standards from its news organizations? When your organization blatantly reports false, misleading and biased information, who holds you accountable?
Is your news organization more interested in ratings than factual reporting? Is your news organization to be relegated to mere “talking heads” to be valued only for entertainment rather than honest, factual reporting worthy of Edward R. Murrow?
Here are some facts pertaining to Wells Fargo that separates them from the bad apples and acknowledges their corporate integrity:
1. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has been a leader through its many active programs to reach distressed homeowners helping them to keep their homes. They reached 94% of its customers who were 2 or more payments past due. For every 10 of these customers, solutions were achieved for seven, 2 declined help and 1 could not be reached. Of those who received a loan modification, one year later, approximately 7 of every 10 were either current or less than 90 days past due.
2. Wells Fargo was the first to announce a $371.5 Million dividend to the United States Treasury to be paid on February 15, 2009 which is a solid return on our tax payer’s investment!
3. Last quarter, Wells Fargo made $22 billion in new loan commitments and $50 billion in mortgage originations which is more than $70 billion or almost three times the amount of the U.S. Treasury’s investment in Wells Fargo.
4. Wells Fargo did NOT ask the U.S. Treasury for a bailout – Paulson asked Wells Fargo as the U.S. Treasury needed strong banks to rescue failing banks and stave off additional bank failures.
As a former First Lady of the California State Hispanic Chambers of Commerce which represents the interests of over 400,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in the State of California with a network of over 60 Hispanic chamber and business associations throughout the state; as the Executive Director of the Santa Ana Education Foundation which serves over 54,000 children and their parents of Santa Ana; as a community leader who has experienced Wells Fargo’s generous volunteerism and philanthropy; and for all that Wells Fargo has done for the community writing you is the least I can do for Wells Fargo.

To all the idiots posting on this who have no clue whatsoever as to what they’re talking about:
1.) Wells told the government on several occasions that they did not need any portion of the money. They were literally forced to take it. Wells has since paid back about a half billion dollars of the money. No other bank has paid back a penny.
2.) The money that went to pay for the trips was well under half a million dollars, and the people who were going to be taking the trip to vegas were sales reps who were responsible for bringing in over 230 BILLION in revenue. The money came from the 2007 budget, and the tickets were non-refundable. It doesn’t do anyone any good whatsoever by denying them a trip they earned. The money isn’t coming back, and ironically it would have been much better if they had allowed them to go, as that would have pumped money into the economy.
3.) The people who were going to be taking the trip were everyday employees. They were going to be receiving training while they were out there as well.
4.) Not one damn red cent for these trips came from taxpayer money. None of it. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are running with a bald-faced lie perpetrated by the AP.
5.) The media has printed a retraction, and they buried it in the middle of the paper a few days ago, but no one will see it because people are inherently stupid and only listen to someone for about a minute before making up their minds.
6.) Wells is the ONLY US BANK listed on the index of the ten “most trusted” solvent banks in the world. They posted a 2.3 billion dollar lost last quarter because they merged with Wachovia, a company that had made a few iffy business decisions, but one that was salvagable and still worth the effort to purchase. If Wells had not merged, Wachovia would have gone under, and Wells would have posted a healthy gain.
7.) Wells was not involved in the sub-prime lending schemes that got us into this mess in the first place, and in fact they are being looked at as a model for how to run a lending institution going forward.
So, to recap, because no one absorbs anything these days unless they see it repeatedly: The government told Wells that if they did not take the 25B they had apportioned to them, that it would create an unstable environment with people pulling out their money and investing it only in banks like Wells who did not take any TARP money. That would have led to a collapse of the entire financial system, with many people losing their life savings due to banks becoming insolvent. So basically, because Wells took money from the government that they couldn’t refuse (that they’ve already started to pay back), and is investing the rest so they will issue a guaranteed 5% interest, stupid people misunderstood what was happening and crucified them for it. Do you have any inkling how small $400K is compared to the return the government will realize in the form of 5% interest paid out on a $25 billion investment? That’s roughly one day’s interest. And then you have the undisputed fact that none of the money to pay for the trips came from the TARP funds in the first place. It was money which came exclusively from Wells Fargo profits and it was already spent. The trips may have been canceled, but no one can use the tickets or hotel rooms that the trip money purchased. The stimulus package was put together with the intention of creating jobs. How many people in the entertainment industry, travel industry and hospitality industry do you think are going to lose their jobs now that these trips have been canceled? How much GDP revenue do you think will be lost in the way of the tourism these trips would have brought in had they been allowed to happen? Wells took out a full page ad in the NY Times to honor the people who got f*&%ed out of these trips, but they’d have been better served by having the trips go on as scheduled, and posting a big middle finger instead.