I've been a customer of greendot since 2005 or 2006. Throughout the years, i've had a history of months of a few dollars in reload, to months in which i made a modest amount of reloads. The month of January has been a bonanza—in the dollar amount i've loaded into my card—roughly $6900!!! Followed by February in which i've so far loaded nearly $2000. Which is why i'm more so aggravated to be sitting down at 4:30am writing a letter to collect a mere $143.49!!!
On January 31, having loaded $400.00 onto my card, i ordered food from a chinese restaurant for about $16, paid for a hotel room. For about $73, and was shocked to be declined when i tried to buy gas later that day due to lack of sufficient funds!!!
When i checked online, i noticed 4 UNAUTHORIZED items PENDING:
3 charges for $75.00—from an arco gas station from which i'd only made a purchase of $23.00
A charge for $143.00 from a walmart in lancaster, ca—a place i've never been in my life!
I promptly called greendot and reported it a a theft! I told them i wished to press charges and have the perpetrator arrested. I also asked that the money be CREDITED to my account immediately! I was told it could not be done then—since it was still pending—that i should wait till after its posted to ring back, that it would then take 3-5 days for it to be credited. I requested a new card and asked for fast delivery, since i was staying in a hotel.
I was told to load $30 onto the card to cover the fedex OVERNIGHT charges. I got the card AFTER FOUR DAYS! What was the point of paying all that money—if the mail took as long as regular mail? I asked repeatedly if i'd get it overnight and was told yes. It was sent Sunday—so i thought... Monday—Tuesday tops... Did not get it till Thursday! This ended up costing me $73x3 (nightly rate for hotel) since i couldn't very well go home let my card be received after i'd checked out!
After the charge to walmart was posted, i called back and had the most horrendous experience with greendot to date!!! Nobody i spoke to seemed to fully understand me; they'd be stuck and repeat a phrase over and over—whether or not it reflected or concerned what i was saying. When i asked to speak to a supervisor, they'd put me on hold till the dial tone came on. When i asked to speak to a supervisor on american soil—who speaks english as a FIRST language, they simply hung up on me!
My level of frustration got so high, i became afraid for my health, (i have very high blood pressure) so for 2 weeks, i steered clear of calling greendot... When i finally called, i was told first that they couldn't help me b'cos the charge had been posted—meaning the merchant now had the funds, so it was out of their hands—that I SHOULD CONTACT WALMART MYSELF AND TRY TO EXTRICATE MY STOLEN MONEY FROM THIER CLUTCHES!!!
I went totally nuts and said no way—that i'd waited for it to post because i was told BY GREENDOT—that only then, could my money be credited to my account... I requested they retrieve the recording of my calls (don't they always say they're recorded for "quality assurance"?) to prove that greendot reps, did indeed say so. He acknowledged that was indeed, the policy—wait till it posts, then have your money credited into your account—something i'd done many times before—find an unauthorized charge, call greendot and its credited in a few days?
Why has this been sooooooooooo problematic—and in a month that i loaded more money onto my card than ever? I asked and i'm asking... Why is it that i never saw those $75x3 to arco—$225 (which had been SUBTRACTED from my total CASH balance) in the CREDIT column of my card statement.
In a world where even the tiniest mom and pop shops are going green and paperless, why won't greendot EMAIL me records from my OLD card which i no longer have access to, but very much need for my records and taxes?
Why am i the one going through all these headaches, when according to your policy and employees, i did EVERYTHING i should have done:
I reported the theft and requested credit SAME DAY it occurred.
I called back after it was posted—when i was ASSURED it would be a matter of days till i got my money back.
I requested a cancellation of the old card and ordered new one—at an expense to me.
I requested an investigation and let it known i wished to press charges.
Having done all this, why am i having so much difficulty retrieving my hard earned CASH, when the thief who stole it had such an easy time using my card WITHOUT being in possession of it, WITHOUT my identification and authorization? Isn't it greendot's REPONSIBILITY to make it MORE DIFFUCULT FOR THIEVES to steal from its customer's card? Why does greendot expect me to contact walmart and investigate by myself?
Why can we no longer speak to americans or english speaking staff IN AMERICA DURING BUSINESS HOURS—9-5PM? I mean, i understand outsourcing calls AFTER business hours, but not 24/7! This has led me to lose confidence in greendot—as if going offshore is one step closer to its bigwigs soon taking all our CASH and bailing to some exotic offshore company, where they can't be touched by the US.
That's why i've put LESS money on the card this month—and depending on how this letter is handled, why i'll be taking my business elsewhere—it seems clear its not appreciated by greendot. Finally, due to my negative experiences with greendot lately, i have decided to warn other unsuspecting prospects by posting this letter—as is on complaints board dot com—check it out... You'll find i'm not the only one complaining about your poor services
Http://usashameboard.com/? Search=greendot&everything=Everything
If you wish to dispute a transaction that has posted to your statement
I unequivocally DISPUTE the transaction made at walmart lancaster on January 31 in the amount of $143.49. I did not make the charge, did not authorize it, have NEVER been in that city AND CAN PROVE IT!
I hereby demand that the sum of $143.49 be credited to my account and that explanation be given as to why$225 from arco on same day has never been shown credited to my account.
If this is not handled to my satisfaction, i shall call upon dateline nbc, 60 minutes or 20/20 to investigate your practices.
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