I made the terrible mistake of purchasing a NetSpend card at a Valero. The promotional offer was a $5 credit, which waived the $4.95 activation fee.

I was very impulsive and did it without reading some of the negative experiences most of y'all have had. I also didn't realize all the fees associated with using it compared to my bluebird.

Anyways, they want my SSN to activate it, which makes me uncomfortable to begin with as they appear to be very shady.

I have $500 in that card, which I loaded at the gas station with a CC. What's the best way to get my money out the card without creating issues and minimizing fees?

I highly appreciate any feedback or a referral.

Sent you a pm coltonatx. It's all going to be okay.

I am still going strong here.
The beauty of the money orders at walmart is
- as long as you stay under 2k you do not have to show ID
- you can purchase more than 1 money order in the same transaction

so it translates to:
- $2k VR added to netspend for 3.95x2=7.90
- purchase $1k MO and 996 MO today for $2 netspend fee + 1.70 MO fee
----
3.70 in added fees on top of VR, which amounts to 3.95+$1.85/1k
Compared to visa gc, for which you would pay 4.95 + 0.70/1k MO, which will only save you $0.15
In other words, it is not a horrible deal for liquidated VR if you get stuck with them.

I tend to find it easier to pay the extra $0.15 and look like I am paying with a debit card compared to two VR gcs when buying an MO.

I have not done ach or moneygram payments.

Also, your referrals can pay for your fees

so it translates to:
- $2k VR added to netspend for 3.95x2=7.90
- purchase $1k MO and 996 MO today for $2 netspend fee + 1.70 MO fee


How are you able to buy $2000 worth of VR for $7.90? Isnt the limit $500 per card and thus four is needed? Or $15.80 total VR cost?

meh... got shutdown by NS today.
Had the account for almost a year and ran several thousand gently thru the account.
Recently loaded $3,000 over the course of the last two weeks - quite in line with prior loads but got the dreaded "There's something wrong..." message this morning.
CS repeated the usual reasons ie not used as intended yada yada.
Anyway...20 biz days and then I should get the check.
Funny thing is my PP prepaid (also run by the Metabanksters punks) is also inaccessible but the CS said the website is down.

NS is more trouble then it's worth

Did you use NS for anything else besides loading VRs and bill pay or cash withdrawal?

Nope.
Gently loaded only VR and even more gently unloaded via ACH billpay.
More surprised I lasted as long as I did given reports here and elsewhere.

1. Had some pretty lofty MS goals to meet over the next few months.

2. I'm not sure it makes a difference to the likes of Netspend or GoBank or whether I am unprofitable over the short term or unprofitable over the long term. All of my activity in both cases was fully consistent with their explicit terms and conditions (i.e. load limits). The fact that they operate according to an additional set of implicit terms and conditions (i.e. limits within the limits) that they don't disclose to their customers is something I cannot control.

Proves again why BB is the tool of choice...they tell you their rules upfront and as long as you play within those rules, all is well.

Just saw this and as soon as I hit "quote" I started drawing the line of division. Thanks for pointing this out to me; great tip! :)

To tell you the truth, I don't know if I want a NS or not but I will read the conga thread as recommended. I just want to find the right niche. So far, as of tonight, I finally got the HRB Emerald Debit and I am becoming more comfortable as I read about BB. Just waiting for an inactive Serve account to close so I can try the BB, I think.

This is off topic but two of our family BOA cards (one a rewards card) were recently just changed due to reporting of breach (Target?) without either of us knowing BOA was doing this. My son's card was declined publicly today. I think BOA is handling this poorly because they are not advising FIRST before they make these changes. They claim they sent the new card already.

I received two different cards in the mail. My application must have processed twice. I only activated one for now but any idea if I could activate the 2nd card and load to it?

I by mistake applied for the NS card online when what I wanted to do was activate the one I got at CV. In the end I also had 2 different cards but the 2nd I was never able to load anything on.

They shut my 1st one down wanting all the info w/o telling me. I dont have the documents they want and wasnt worth putting the effort in to get them.when they refused early Jan to let me drain my acct or send me back my $$$,I simply filed online with the FDIC. Got aleter dated 2/5 that basically stated everything thatw as said with their reps and mgrs and acknowledged the FDIC had contacted them and that they were in the process of cutting me a check w/o charging me any fees for doing so :D

So id say NS is doable expect a Hold on your acct after you drain it the 1st time and they will allow you to loadit but not unlaod. So if you cant afford to let them sit on your funds dont load it after your 1st unloading. When you cant unload call them and when they tell you everything they want you to send them simply file a complaint with the FDIC and a month later the check will arrive. Just tell teh FDIC what happened and that they refused to give you your $$ and you want a fee free check and for them to close your acct

Orange, I'm gonna try to get a second card. But since you already have one, just activate it right now and report back.

If you have success, I'll continue with my plan. I'll load a ReloadIt and a day or two later do an ACH-pull, then when that clears I'll post my success right here.

Got check today. Account was closed on 1/27.

It seems that they charged a few dollars for the check, or for talking to the CSR, but I am not quite sure.

ADmins.. congrats for getting your money back.

It appears that people can get their money back within 2 weeks from NS after acct closure. Did you have to do anything other than call to request your money back? No FDIC report?

For the other posters.. YES, it is possible to have two NS accounts. I HAVE TWO. Yes, you can load money into both accounts. Yes, you need to setup two online accounts one for each NS account.

The only missing elment is whether each account has its own loading limits or that maximum load limits are tied to per social security #.

I'm going to take my time to test out NS.

After reading about all the account closures it doesn't appear NS is any worse or better than any other cards. So I'm going to hit them with moderation. Sure beats having to find new homes every few weeks.