New paint, signs and furniture graced the lobbies of Wachovia branches this month—all in the name of Wells Fargo, which acquired the bank in a mega merger two years ago.

Branches, now called stores, were converted to the Wells Fargo name in New Jersey and Delaware this month. New York and Connecticut will follow next month.

Besides the name change, the financial services giant is trying to make its Wachovia customers feel at home by acting more like a community bank.

"It’s about giving them a local feel with the power of a big bank behind them," said Lucia DiNapoli Gibbons, Wells Fargo’s Northern New Jersey regional president.

So far, the marriage with Wells Fargo has been a mixed experience for the Wachovia faithful. Dharmesh Patel of Somerset was making his second trip to the bank on a recent morning. His first visit was spent switching accounts, but then he ran into an issue with his ATM card.

"The old passwords don’t work with the new cards, so I had to come back again," he said. "They should tell people this instead of making them go back and forth."

The largest bank merger in U.S. history illustrates the difficulty of mixing two cultures under a single brand and appeasing customers who are tired of consolidation in the financial services industry.

"Mergers usually result in more complaints rather than pleasant surprises," said Ken Tumin, chief blogger for depositaccounts.com, which rates savings products from banks and credit unions. "I rarely see cases in which banks get larger and offer better deals for savers."

Nearly a decade ago, the same skepticism surrounded Wachovia when it swallowed First Union to become the fourth largest bank in the nation. The deal gave Wachovia, which was largely concentrated in the South, an immediate presence across the northeast.

As the Wachovia name was erased, some Wells Fargo customers have complained in blog posts about difficulty reaching call centers and debit cards that temporarily didn’t work.

Larry Blunt of Somerset said he has heard of other customers having problems. However, he said switching his debit card to Wells Fargo took just 10 minutes.

"They couldn’t get all the cards changed over right away, so some people’s cards work and some don’t, but I think it’s going to be a reasonable and well-run bank once everything is straightened out," he said.

Gibbons concedes there were a few minor glitches, but she said the initial problems were cleared up and the bank will apologize to customers who were inconvenienced. Wells Fargo also has hired another 250 bankers to assist customers in New Jersey. The bank now has 6,500 employees in the state and 313 "stores."

Wells Fargo offers a variety of packages that Wachovia did not, tailored to segments of customers such as students, employees of business customers, members of the military and first responders, she said.

The bank also offers portfolio management accounts that provide some services for free, such as online bill paying, checking or bonus rates on accounts, she said. Customers who already have free checking will be able to keep it.

"Our employees have more tools in their tool chest to meet clients’ financial needs," Gibbons said.

Tumin, of depositaccounts.com, said some changes are not for the better.

"With a lot of these acquisitions, some of the best features of the (acquired) banks are being dropped by the big banks," he said.

For example, last year, Wachovia—under Wells Fargo—began charging $2 a month for printing check images on monthly statements, he said. Previously, check images had been free.

Wells Fargo responds that customers who sign up for online statements can get check images they can print for free for up to 90 days.

The bank also lowered the interest rate available on Wachovia’s "Way2Save" program, which gave attractive interest rates to small savers. Wells Fargo said the action was taken because of a drop in interest rates, Tumin said. The bank also now charges a fee for new safe deposit boxes. They are still free for customers who already have them.

Alex Vass of Somerset said customers shouldn’t be worried about the switch to Wells Fargo because the bank has been his mortgage processor for 18 years.

"I know a lot of people are having problems, but this is a quality operation," he said. "I’ve been doing my mortgage with them for years and have never had a problem. It’ll work out for the best."

Wells Fargo has a tradition of supporting community groups and has selected art work for its stores with help from neighborhood groups. Customers also voted on which local charities would receive the most money from the bank this year. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey won the most votes and received a check this month for $30,000, according to Kathleen DiChiara, who heads the organization.

"They’re taking the right steps," she said. "Wachovia was wonderful because they did food drives and donated funds, and there is every indication it will continue under Wells Fargo."

Still, large banks are too impersonal to replicate the neighborhood bonds developed by community banks, said Gilles Gade, chairman of Cross River Bank in Teaneck. His one-branch institution has only 2,000 customers compared with 1.47 million in New Jersey alone for Wells Fargo.

"We call people by their first name when they come in the door, and some of our clients enjoy having coffee in the morning with the branch manager," Gade said. "That is something no big bank can implement for one reason: the turnover of their staff. Their people typically don’t last more than three years while a community bank might have some branch managers for 15 years."

Ana Matos, a Wells Fargo store manager in Elizabeth, would disagree. She said employees have a better career path with Wells Fargo than they did under Wachovia.

"Working for one of the largest banks in the United States allows me to be able to move up with the company because they promote from within," she said.

Staff writer Tiffani N. Garlic contributed to this report.