My experience with these things is that they basically hate people like us, who get things like MoneyPaks (I call them MPs and can get them at some Rite Aids etc) and then just use them to load their prepaid (PP) cards and bill pay (BP) out. They make no money on us. We are following THEIR T & Cs but they hate it anyway. It's a bit like Citi TY or PayPal or a whole lotta gigs out there that just plain stink.
My worry now is that they shut so many people down in one short period... So like, what if the darn company is going belly up? I would be totally pissed and would physically hunt down the bastids who took our money!
That said, I am going to play by their rules this once... I have done this before with oh so many things (and yes it's a bit like Netspend, who asked for ID, let you live a bit longer and then shut you later anyway).
So here's the letter my wife and I concocted today and sent to
<[email protected]> because I don't have a fax and I hate fax. Ya'll may borrow from it accordingly--note that I did NOT say we BOUGHT the MPs. We just have them and used them! I think that's important:
****
FROM: MM's Wife
June 16, 2013
ATTN: Account Now
RE: Sudden and unwarranted hold on account with $2,000 in my funds held!
To: Escalated Risk Department and/or Executives at Account Now,
I have an Account Now card number: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx and I have been using it to bill pay for some time. Primarily I have been using Green Dot MoneyPaks with $500 on them to load my card and then pay various credit cards held in my name or my husband’s name. My husband MM has the same card and is writing you now about the same problem, which is why I mention him here.
All my Account Now needs have been for personal/family use.
I have followed your policies and loaded no more than $1,500 per day/7 loads per week/$5,000 per rolling 30 days. I have loaded my card with valid MoneyPaks and I have used the card for bill pay, which adheres to your own policies and allowances. I receive MoneyPaks that are valid and spend them with your product.
My last successful card load on 6/11, and subsequent bill pay (also on 6/11) was three $500 MoneyPaks which were used to pay $1,500 to a Chase MasterCard ending in XXXX (Account Now transaction reference number: XXXXXXXX). These funds are dated as a payment to the credit card on 6/13.
However, on 6/12, a new day, I loaded three more $500 MoneyPaks to my Account Now card and then set up a bill pay for $1,500 to a Citibank MasterCard ending in XXXX (Account Now transaction reference number: XXXXXXXX). These funds have yet to make it to that credit card and based on past performance of your product, they should have by now...
I have attached a copy of the fronts and backs of those three 6/12 MoneyPak cards used by me.
On 6/13, unaware of any issues with my Account Now card, I loaded one final $500 MoneyPak card to my account. I went to my Account Now account but I could not make a bill pay. I saw my balance was $2,000 meaning the 6/12 money had not yet moved and now for some reason you were now holding my funds. I called on that date and after waiting on hold for a long period, a supervisor in Risk Escalation named Raymond informed me that he would escalate this issue to the IT Department and call me back. No one called. Heading into a weekend, I was instead waiting on my money with no help from your company and no reasons given as to why this was happening. That Citibank credit card needed to be paid and it did not happen because of this hold.
I have attached a copy of the front and back of those three 6/13 MoneyPak card used by me.
Note that the website through which I have made all my successful MoneyPak loads to your product is:
https://www.moneypak.com/. This link prompts me to enter my Account Now card number and then proceed to the next step, where I enter my MoneyPak information and submit it. Once this is done I am merely given a page that says “Success!” and nothing more. Then, when I check my Account Now card balance, the new loads are reflected instantly. I then perform bill pays. I began to wonder… If this is something your company does NOT want your customers to do for some loss-leader reasoning or something, then by all means go ahead and change it and then fully notify us, but don’t suspend me for your own internal issues! That would be very wrong indeed!
Sadly, the problems have continued:
On 6/15 I checked my Account Now account again and received this message in red:
“The card entered is unable to be used. Please contact the institution shown on the card for assistance.” I now have no way to even access my own history. That almost seems illegal to me!
For your confidential verification needs, I am enclosing a copy of my driver’s license as well as a copy of a home utility bill (Comcast). You may cross-reference this with other information I have already provided when signing up such as date of birth, SSN and my home address.
I am also notifying you with this signed letter that I allow my husband MM to speak on my behalf on all calls and correspondences. He helped me set up this product and knows more about it. As well, he is writing in a separate letter at this time to inform you that the same exact thing has happened with his Account now card and we would both like the cards unlocked and made available for immediate use. MM’s account fortunately has a $0 balance on it but he was shocked by the red message as well.
My card has $2,000 of my money on it at this time. My urgency is clear: If you fail to release these funds for my continued use I shall be forced to write to the FDIC and/or pursue this matter through other government and legal channels. I have heard of prepaid companies shutting down massive numbers of people without warning before and I hope this is not the case here.
I repeat: I would like the funds to be available for bill pay now. What is really strange is that nothing blocks the loading of funds onto your card from the above Green Dot link but once the funds are residing on the Account Now product, they become locked. I’m not sure Green Dot would be very happy with you should they learn of this glitch or abuse. My husband and I have done nothing against your terms and conditions and so your anticipated cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
MM's wife.
tel
cell
**************
(I should have said pissed off wife who hates calling into these places her hubby MM has set up and then she wonders wth happened to our money and for what, a few miles? Probably a scam!!)
Today the agent I spoke to said it would take 72 hrs of review time once they received the letter and docs so I will give them til the 20th to act.
We could just call or write again telling them to send a check, but I dont see any reports of anyone getting one yet, so my hope here is that they actually do still exist and they release the hold, thereby letting my wife BP out her $2k ASAP. Once that happens I think we are going to make them happy and just stop using the cards.
There are other such products but at this point it's becoming clear that most stink. I will report back with any news and I hope others are equally as thorough. Thank you
MM