Complaint Review: PayPal Prepaid Mastercard

I purchased two prepaid PayPal Mastercards putting $150 on each card.  At the time of purchase I was charged a $4.95 activation fee.  Activation either online or by phone would be required.  I initially tried online only to keep getting an error code saying my government ID was incorrect.  (Just FYI, they require your social security number to activate the card.  I was not happy providing this information but I didn't want to be out $300 so I did provide my correct social security number.)  After several failed attempts online, I decided to contact PayPal via phone.  This time they said that the sixteen digit card number was incorrect.  I then tried to reach customer service only to receive a message that they were closed and to call back at a later time.

I was finally able to reach a customer service rep who took all of my information and activated my card.  After having so many problems trying to get the card activated, I called to check my card balance and to make sure everything was done properly.  I was surprised to hear that my balance was $145.05.  They had taken an additional $4.95 out of my balance.  I contacted customer service to find out why.

I informed them that I had paid the $4.95 activation fee when I originally purchased the card.  Their response was that I paid the $4.95 at the store just to have the card and that there is an additional $4.95 activation fee.  He indicated that if I had read their terms I would have known that.  I informed him that I was not able to read the terms until I purchased the card as the terms were sealed in the package.  Basically they are double dipping on the activation fee.  Even though I paid $4.95 when originally purchasing the card, I would not have been able to use the $150 loaded on the card unless I paid the additional $4.95 fee to activate.  This is a total rip-off.  Had I known they were going to double charge me, I would have purchased another prepaid card.  I also found out that they will charge you $4.95 for each month you carry a balance. Needless to say, I will be using my entire balance immediately and then never dealing with them again!

PayPal Prepaid Mastercard is a total rip-off.