I too have been taken in by the misleading practices of H&R Block Bank and their Emerald Advance line. I signed up for the original advance for $500 to be paid when I did my taxes through H&R Block.
The first sign that they have misleading practices was when the amount to pay off the original advance was taken out of my taxes when I filed them, H&R Block didn't send it into H&R Bank until a month later. Their excuse was that because I had gotten a rapid refund the money wasnt actually credited to the bank until the government sent them the money. Wait, arent they owned by the same company? It was never mentioned that it would not be credited immediately. On top of that, I was charged an extra months interest for the money because of that.
Now the kicker of all this is that after the original advance was paid off, they sent me a letter stating I still had a $300 credit line that could be used with a payment of $30 a month off the card. The only requirement was that I have direct deposit from work. It took them amost 2 months to get the direct deposit through. Each time i would call and ask about the monthly payment I was told "don't worry, it will be taken out when the direct deposit goes through". Well they finally figured it out and my paycheck from last week was put on my card. I was told that $90 would be taken for the last 2 past due payments and this months also.instead, they took my whole paycheck and then told me that it was their policy that if payment hasnt been made in 61 days they have the right to take anything I had in the account to pay for the whole amount and cancell the credit line. Apparently it was small print on the original agreement.
I have called every day for the last three days and have been transfered around, told that it is their policy so there is nothing they could do and when I have asked to talk to a supervisor have been either given a voice mail or told I would get a call back. No one has bothered to call me of course.
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