Print the value of index0
American express serve This is a prepaid card that is stealing my money Nationwide
I have been a customer for a year. I never had any problems until I was refunded money. The first couple of times I knew the money was not adding up but I hadn't paid close enough attention. I started taking screenshots of my balance daily whenever something was refunded to document that the money wasn't being returned. It would just drop off. A couple of times I would let them know that I had proof of the money not coming back and they would return it on what they called a good faith credit. Then they started doing recaps, where they would figure the math so that it would add up to a balance that did not include my refund. It had gotten so bad I stopped swiping my card or if I did swipe I wouldn't refund an item. I would exchange it or keep an unwanted or unneeded item. Smaller numbers come back and accessible numbers over $100 comes back but anything over 10 and under 100 would not . I did not mind swiping at restaurants because I wouldn't get a refund on food. Well the last straw was when I swiped at Little Caesars. A transaction that was 18.73 cents has dropped off the face of the earth with many other transactions but what makes this one so bad is that my account is overdraft and not through anything I have done. I was sick recently and missed a week a work and was struggling with a much smaller pay check. I stopped swiping my card 4/26 and after my charges completed I had 2.25 left. I woke up 5/1 to an email sent on 4/30 about my account being in the negatives. I could not understand it. So I checked my statement. There were no new transactions just a negative balance. So I called in. I already had a feeling there would be a story but I held. I explained to the rep that there were no new transactions but I had a negative balance. He put me on hold for what might have been 10 minutes and came back with a crazy story. He told me that the disputed a charge on my behalf previously that kept the money. I stopped him there. I had put in a dispute but after going back and forth with the company they agreed to give me back my money, and because it went through paypal (which is one of the rare occasions the money doesn't disappear), I was refunded without help from them. In fact the people over at serve sent me an email stating that they couldn't help me unless I could prove that the company gave a time frame for the item that they never sent back, after I got the refund on my own. Well his story was that the company refunded the money and pulled it again. I told him I didn't see that on my statement and I check it daily. Then he says that since I authorized the initial payment he couldn't do anything but he was going to escalate the situation to another department that would refund the money. I get to the next department and she was riding on his story until I pointed out that the math did not add up. You cannot subtract 42.81 (the other transaction) form 2.25 and get a negative balance of 15.00. Then she goes "oh I see the problem". You made a purchase from Little Caesars and they did not take the transaction on time and so they refunded the money and took it again. That didn't make sense. I informed her that if they refunded the money it would've been there. She told me that they refunded the money on the 28th of April at 9pm. I guess she was giving details to prove she was being honest. And then said they took it back on the 30th and that's why the balance is negative. I explained that I had not seen this reflect on my balance or my statement and she tells me that there would be no paper trail on my end but she could see dates and times in the system. I told her I had not used my card since April 26th and all transactions were complete so if the money went back on the 28th it should've still been there on the 30th. She put me on hold to check saying that there must have been online purchases made. She came back and said that I was right. She said you haven't used your card at all since the 26th but I can assure you that the balance is correct. Please let me do a recap and show you. I stopped her and let her know that I know how it works when they di recaps and nothing would make it make sense that the money was put back, I did not use my card, and taken out again yet the funds weren't there. I ended the conversation. Now I'm just really upset that they would continue to rob me this way even when I prove that something is not right. I am stuck using the card a couple of weeks because my paychecks get deposited there but when that is switched, I'm done. They have gotten away with a decent amount of money and I need every cent.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Incorrect
#3Author of original report
Tue, May 03, 2016
The only missed education is yours as I am positive you have read this wrong. I am not stupid and my education level well exceeds 8th grade. While I see your point, your attempt to educate has failed because you are spouting nonsense. I understand very well how a debut card works as I have had one for more than 10 years. I do not swipe my card without the funds and only a moron would confuse this situation. In fact I'm trying to understand how I have done something to myself. I have not used my card since the 26th and the money was refunded on the 28th and now I'm overdrafted when it was taken 2 days later and I still hadn't swiped my card (which as you stated any idiot knows not to do without available funds) The money would still be there. If nothing else this is basic math and before you call anyone stupid or make a false attempt at being intelligent add 18 dollars to your account and subtract it and what do you get? Go ahead I'll wait....you are not being helpful. In fact you probably work for them and are apart of the problem. Do us both a favor and keep your help. Nothing anyone says will make that math make sense. Try to enjoy the rest of your miserable life.
Robert
Irvine,California,
USA
If this report isn't proof..
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, May 02, 2016
If this report isn't proof that the Government needs to put in some sort of test or education program before someone would be allowed to even touch a Debit Card I don't know what is.
So first off let me tell you that the only RipOff here is what you are doing to yourself. While I am going to try and help you out here and give you a basic level of education that you should have gotten from at a minimum a responsible 8th grader I am not quite sure you will grasp it.
First off be aware that every time you "swipe" the card it says you want to withdraw money from your balance to pay for some service and/or merchandise. Because of this YOU are responsible to make sure that you actually have enough to cover the purchase. Now, you ask "How do I do this". Simple, get yourself a written register and write down EVERY single transaction you make and deduct it from your previous balance you show. Then before you make that purchase make sure that the balance you have will cover the next "swipe". If it does not DO NOT use the card.
Now I am sure you are asking yourself "Well why can't I just use the online account". The answer is simple...that was NEVER meant to be a way to manage your account. There are cases where a company may not be able to submit the charge right away. It could be 2-3 days(sometimes longer) before it actually posts. This doesn't mean you have "free money" it just means that they are going to be a few extra days before it is taken out. This is where the written register comes in...it shows you made the purchase so it doesn't matter if it gets debited 1 day or 1 week later because you know you spent it.
But then I hear you now.."But the charge was there and then it wasn't". Again...if a company does not "finalize" the purchase it can TEMPORARILY drop off and make it appear the funds are availble. This is NOT the fault of the bank but the company. However, by law when the company does finally submit the debit it MUST be paid regardless of if you are in overdraft or not.
These are your problems and to repeat again the simplest way to solve them is to start using a written register. If you do not know how to use one, search the Internet. There are no less than a few dozen articles and even videos showing you how.
The one other item that is your problem is these "returns". I really don't know what you are returning, but the average person may have a few returns a year. It sounds like you return just about everything you buy. This is also causing you issues as returns are not the same as a purchase. It could take 1-5 days for the refund to be processed back onto your card. During that time you do NOT have access to that money. Again, this is the store not the card that is causing this.