Complaint Review: Meta Bank Pay Power Prepaid Debit Card - Reno Nevada

I filed my taxes with TaxAct.com a few months ago and when I went to E-File my return it gives you these options of how you would like to receive you tax refund, it gives three diffrent choices,

Direct Deposit Into your checking/savings account

PayPower Debit Card

Mail You A Check

Well I thought I really do not want my banking account information out here on the internet with all the hacking and sercurity breaches that have been going on here latlety and having a check in the amount of $5,018.00 mailed to my home wasn't safe either so I thought the PayPower Debit card would be a great idea cause I wouldn't have to worry about any hacking or anyone taking the check out of the mailbox and that this way would be safe cause to activate the card they would have to verify my information and that would be a harder task to complete.

Everyone know's that the IRS gets behind during tax season and its understandable to a point but either way we all have to wait long enough to get our refunds as it is and don't need nothing else to prolong our money that belongs to us to start with.

A few weeks went by and I finally received comfirmation that my Refund was processed and approved and funds would be sent to the bank on October 13th 2014 well it was October 16th 2014 and I started thinking I had never received a card from this company, so I called tax act to get the information where I could contact these people cause I had no way in getting any of my money. I called 1-888-633-9432 after 20 mins trying to reach someone in the customer service department I finally talk to this man and he asked me for my card number, Ok first off he does not speak any english, I try and tell him that I am calling in cause I have not received my card he told me that I would have to have my card number before speaking to customer service I proceeded to tell him again that I had not received my card he gives me a number to call said he could not help me with out having the card number after I had offered to give him my name my social and what ever else could be used to access my account information he still gives me another number and hangs up on me. Okay RUDE was the first thought that came to mind till I called the number he gave me which was a "SEX HOT LINE" I mean for real. So I call the number four times and each time it was a sex hot line. So I call the customer service number back that was provided to me by TaxAct and this time I get someone that can talk alittle better english and I tell him that I did my tax return with TaxAct.com and that my refund was supposed to be refunded to one of there cards which I had not received in the mail yet. He ask me for my name and last four of my ssn and pulled my account right up after verifying a few security quesitons he access my account then he asks me to verify the last deposit the amount and who it was from so I do and he said well the ACCOUNT HAS NOT BEEN USED and the only transaction on the account was the direct depoist from the IRS and the orginally card had not been activated GREAT, so he then tells me that he has canceled the other card and he was ordering another card and I should receive it within 12 business days, The hell I will I proceeded to ask him can you not over night that card I have waited long enough just to get my refund from the IRS now your telling me 12 more days, I said I can't wait that long I had bills that were way past due that had to paid teenage kids that needed things so he gives me the option for 3 day express shipment but I would have to pay 30 bucks I said fine deduct it from my account so he does.

On October 22nd I received the new card in the mail "YAY" WRONG  I go to activate my card at paypower.com/activate put in all the information that it ask I verify everything and a message pops up and says the account is locked to call at 1-888-633-9432 okay thats fine I thought they needed to verify some information cause I never received the 1st card they sent so I call this number and they tell me that the account was locked and it would be locked for five days I asked why and they come up with verifaction from the IRS cause its such a large amount, NO NO people get more then that for starters and IRS knows exaclty what there depositing they have already done there verifaction process she tells me that there is nothing else she can do at this time and I said ma'am let me speak to your manager as I ask her that question I hear a baby in the back ground screaming at the top of her lungs, I said that must be new management she hangs up on me.

I am now pissed cause she just hung the phone up on me cause I outed her about a baby screaming in my ear.

Now what banks let you have children at your work place and a tv playing in the back ground is my first thought, so I call the number back again and I talk to someone else I tell them everything that had happened and he gives me another excuse of why there is a lock on my card he proceeds to tell me that it was locked for recent card activity I SAID WHAT for one there has not been no card activity I can promise you that cause your co worker cancelled the 1st card and they were no activity on the card when he cancelled it and I just received the new card via UPS so I know for a fact thats a lie and I want to speck to a manager he tells me that he is the manager and I said let me speck to the person that is over you, He tells me that there is no one higher then him I said you have got to be kidding I said so your the VP of this bank I highly doubt that after I said that someone else gets on the phone protends to me a Higher Up Manager ok what ever he puts me on hold comes back with this bogus ID Number and tells me to call back tomorrow and give the rep this information and I would have to answer a few secutiy questions I said why dont I answer them now, You are a manager why can't you handle this he tells me that I have to talk to someone in level 2 OMG for real this is the worst customer service I had ever incountered and you people have done gave me two diffrent stories of why my account was locked he hangs up on me.

Okay so I call the IRS to find out if their was any problem on that end after 5 options later 3 agents at the IRS and 5 hrs of holding I finally get to speck to someone I tell her what was going on and she puts me on hold for 15 mins why she checked everything and she comes back an says its not on our end that your returned was approved and verified and checked your good on this end and she proceeds to tell me that the information they have on file for me is verified with the bank to make sure everything matches on both ends before they will deposit any money into anyone's account. WELL I ALREADY NEW THIS but thanks for help I will call them back.

Call these people back and I give the this ID# the agent gave me the night before she acts like she has no clue what I am talking about when I give her this number then comes up with you will have to contact us back tomorrow and hangs up on me again.

This is a nightmare from hell and all I want is my money, My power got turned off cause these people and we have been without heat for two days now and I have three kids that can not stay in a home that has no power nor heat and its 32 degrees outside. I relied on this money to pay and catch up my bills, Its bad enough that you have to wait to have your tax return processed with the irs I should not have to wait after they have done there part and deposited my funds.

This bank sounds like a scam of somekind and there using peoples money or something