On December 21, 2011, upon checking e-mail, I noticed a fraudulent charge in my bank account. I waited until the "customer service" people were in the office and called to dispute the charge, I was told it was removed immediately. Later that same day, during my lunch break, I checked my account online. There were three other charges, I again called "customer service", and was credited the amount in question. Today, I received an e-mail that I had cancelled text and e-mail alerts on my account. I did not! So, once again, I called "customer service", during that call, I found out that not only were there more "balance inquiries" that I did not generate, but, also, there were two "cardholder to cardholder" transfers! Leaving me a balance of $1.49! The lady I talked to gave me the name of the person I had transferred the money to. I said not only did I not transfer this money, I don't even know this person! she then attempted to reverse the charges, of course, all the money was gone from this persons' account at this point. I digressed, at 9:00 a.m. CST, I had almost the right amount of money in my account, there was $15 or so unaccounted for, no big deal to me, just assumed I had forgotten I spent it. At 1:23 p.m. CST, when I was headed out the door to get groceries and pay some bills, I checked my e-mail again for my balance (just so I didn't overspend), at which point I discover that "I" had cancelled my text and e-mail alerts, at which time I called "customer service" (see above paragraph). This time when I called, they could not verify who I was, it seems as though my PIN had been changed! I changed my PIN online last night, and got the perfunctory e-mail alert telling me my PIN had been changed. I falsely thought that by changing my PIN, this person could no longer call and inquire as to my balance. Well, was I ever mistaken! Not only did it not stop them from calling, they were able to change it as well! So, here I am, trying to get access to MY account, and it is being denied! Then I got the bright idea to go online to my account to see what was going on-dead end, my password had also been changed! So, after what seemed like an eternity, I finally got ahold of a live person. Although she spoke perfect English, she had a very strong Indian accent, and, at this point, my stomach is churning and my blood is beginning to boil, so I had alot of trouble understanding her, and vice-versa. Finally, I was transferred to someone in the disputes department. He was nice enough, but, like the rest of the Netspend people, he sounded much like a broken record. Repeating "You should be more careful with your card, and who you give information to. At that moment, I blew a gasket!! After repeating to him three or four times that no one but ME knows my password, etc., I just gave up and hung up on him. I'm supposed to file a dispute, he told me to FAX it to them, I said "How the (expletive deleted) am I supposed to send you a FAX when I have no FAX machine, and now, no money? I know I will never get a penny of my money back, but what nobody has been able to tell me is, how did they let this person transfer my money to their account, and she has all of my information, but all I'm allowed is her name?
I've been a customer for about ten years, and, up 'til now, the only problem I've had is when I got married and they wouldn't accept a marriage certificate as proof of a legal name change! And, one final thought-the only way you can transfer money to someone's account is 1. You have to have the User ID and Password, 2. You have to know the PIN, and 3. You have to have the three digit code from the back of the card. And this is the scary part, I'm the only one who has ever handled my card, when I shop, I swipe it myself, when I buy lunch or cigarettes, or anything else for that matter, I swipe it myself. The only time I've ever been asked for the code is when I make my car payment to United Acceptance Corp. They are the only people besides Netspend that knows that number. This has made me sick to my stomach! I can't even feed my family this week, and more scary still is my paycheck is direct deposit only, and now my account is blocked (probably only to me), my company does not do paper checks. Merry Christmas to me, indeed! |
