ARVADA, Colo. — An Arvada widow is in a battle with her deceased husband’s bank to get her beneficiary funds. You won’t believe how long she’s been waiting.
That widow said she was at her wit’s end with trying to get the money that is rightfully hers. She finally contacted the FOX31 Denver Problem Solvers for help.
Sharon Pallatt’s husband, Jay, died in February 2013.
Four months later, in June, she closed all their accounts with Wells Fargo–except for one. That’s only because the bank won’t give her her money.
The frustrating ordeal adds to her grief.
At her home in Arvada, she works on a 1,000-piece puzzle. “I love to do jigsaw puzzles,” she said.
But it’s a puzzle of another kind that she can’t figure out.
“I finally got to the point of frustration and I called out for you guys to help me,” she said.
Her husband of 23 years died in February 2013. When she tried to close an investment account she got the run around.
“I’m just trying to get the money out and it’s been, ‘You’ll get the money by this date.’ I didn’t get it. ‘Okay, it’ll be ready by this date.’ I didn’t get it. ‘Oh, you need to fill out this paperwork. You need to fill out that paperwork,'” she said. “I was told it was invested in real estate. That’s why it’s taking so long. I was told one time it sat on someone’s desk for three months because they didn’t know what to do with it. It’s just been a nightmare.”
She’s been dealing with Wells Fargo advisors for over two years.
“I don’t understand anything about investments so. Sorry. So it’s hard. It’s hard to keep going there and trying to get this done,” she said through tears.
She’d already been coping with the biggest loss of her life, so the Problem Solvers stepped in to help.
At 10:18 a.m., we called a worker whose been trying to help Sharon from the beginning.
“Adam, this is Tammy Vigil with FOX31, we are trying to help one of your customers. We are trying to get her money,” I say to the employee’s voice mail.
Then, again around noon, we leave another message.
Around 1 p.m., when we get no response, we stop by the Denver Wells Fargo where he works.
We wait for him until finally an employee tells us we need to call someone else.
Which we do at 1:44 p.m. And at 1:46 p.m.
We got a call back after 3 p.m.
“We’ll try to get this resolved as quickly as we can,” said Christi Drumm, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo.
Then, we got another call from a Wells Fargo employee in South Dakota right after that.
She assured us she’ll look into it.
Sharon is grateful someone is finally taking on her cause.
“It’s not very much but I need every little bit. When you go from two incomes to one that’s tough. I’m just trying to meet all my bills—and not debt—my utilities, rent, car, insurance. I’m just trying to make ends meet and that money will help me,” she said.
It’s money that will also help her move on. “It is a daily reminder he’s not here,” she said.
She hopes Wells Fargo will finally help her get the pieces of her life together.
“This was the last piece of the puzzle.”
Wells Fargo is still looking into it.
But we will be calling them again tomorrow, and the next day until we solve the problem.
Whatever we learn we will pass along, and hopefully prevent it from happening to you.