NetSpend Corporation Blocked Account - Unethical Activity Austin Texas
I am a payroll administrator for a large construction company in Arizona. We recently started using QuickBooks Payroll services. When I signed our company up for the service, there was an advertisement for direct deposit into a NetSpend account. I thought I would give it a try before recommending it to our 150+ employees. Many of our employees do not have checking accounts and would like the convenience of having direct deposit into a debit account.
I like to use pre-paid debit cards to shop online. I don't feel secure using my checking or bank debit cards. So I thought this would be a good alternative for me as well. Here is what I decided: The convenience of the card is outweighed by all of the hoops I had to go through just to access my own money. I feel bad for consumers who count on this card for as their only means of payment for buying groceries, paying utilities etc. I hope everyone that reads this will consider a different source or card.
August 5th, I purchased $231.67 of items at Lifetime Fitness Café. I paid cash. On August 19th, I returned most of those items to Lifetime Fitness Café for $229.38. The clerk asked for my purchase receipt, so I handed it to her with the merchandise. She asked me for my debit card to put the refund back on. I didn't think anything of it and handed her my NetSpend Visa card. She issued the refund back to my NetSpend account and scanned the card. On Friday, August 23rd I had part of my payroll direct deposit put into the NetSpend account. That day I found that NetSpend had blocked my account and would not let me access the funds on my card. They said it was because I had refunded some items on to the card that I had not used to purchase the merchandise with. I didn't even think about it when I handed the clerk my card. I didn't think it mattered.
I asked what I could do to resolve the matter. The representative said to fax the receipt to their Fraud department. She did not specify which receipt, and I assumed since it was a REFUND that they would want the REFUND receipt. So, I faxed the refund receipt. I also emailed the receipt. I called again on Monday August 26th. By this time I was very angry. Not only could I not access my refund, but they would not let me access my payroll direct deposit. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, she told me that it would take three business HOURS to resolve the issue. She repeated it many times so I would understand. “THREE BUSINESS HOURS.” Ok, I get it. I called back three hours later. Another representative then told me it would take two business days. “What happened to three business hours?” I asked. I guess the script changed from one representative to the next. Since I had faxed the receipt on August 23rd, I fully expected the problem to be resolved by August 27th; this was not the case. I called AGAIN. Each time I called, I encountered another person with a mediocre grasp of the English language. I am a very liberal un-prejudiced person, but when I call a customer service line, I expect someone to be able to take care of and UNDERSTAND my concerns. Even the supervisors were reading from scripted information. Each time I asked a question, they would repeat the same answer, OVER & OVER & OVER. They told me that I needed to Fax in the receipt, (not specifying that they needed the PURCHASE receipt) AGAIN. I explained that I had done that multiple times. The rep told me that I would have to wait two business days, AGAIN. They said I would have to wait until the Fraud Department received the receipt. Since I had already complied with that request, I asked to speak to someone in the Fraud department. The representative told me that was not possible. On August 26th, I finally spoke to someone who told me they needed the PURCHASE receipt. Who knew? Certainly not anyone I had spoken to previously. Apparently they did not understand the small difference between PURCHASE and REFUND receipts. At least not enough to tell me what they needed.
Over the course of three weeks, I have spent over 126 minutes of cell phone time speaking with and waiting for customer service representatives. After explaining that I had given the PURCHASE receipt to the clerk who had issued the refund, the representative told me that there was nothing she could do. I was EXTREMELY ANGRY by now. I said “so you are telling me that there is no way to access MY MONEY?” She put me on hold for several minutes. She got back on the line and told me I would need to go back to the vendor and have them reverse the refund. She said that was the only way I would be able to access my money. On August 26th, I went back to Lifetime Fitness and asked them to reverse the refund. The manager of the Café tried to reverse the charge and was not able to. Even though I had 518.98 in my account, the reversal was declined due to "insufficient funds". So , I called AGAIN. Now they tell me that the only way to access my money is to obtain a "RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT” from Lifetime Fitness. I called the Lifetime Fitness Club Business Administrator and explained my problem. She responded with the following email:
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your e-mail. I apologize for the experience you have had accessing your funds. Unfortunately I am unable to reverse the original refund. However, I am able to provide you with a copy of the purchase receipt that NetSpend Visa requires per your e-mail (attached). I hope with both receipts satisfy NetSpend Visa’s request for you to be able to access the refund. Please let me know if there is anything additional I can assist you with.
So, now I have sent in both RECEIPTS via FAX and email. I am patiently waiting for TWO MORE BUSINESS DAYS. I wonder what kind of excuse they will come up with next. Seriously, it has been three weeks. I am at a loss. All this time and energy is not really worth the $518.98, but I cannot let this go. If this is how they treat customers, it is my duty to let everyone that will listen KNOW! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT GET A NETSPEND VISA.