BEWARE PREPAID ATM!!!!

[badgerfan]

I have been using Carib for a long time, and have gotten in the habit of using Prepaid Atm as my cashout method. I had done this on a couple of occassions without incident, but made it a practice of immediately withdrawing funds when they were sent to the account from Carib. Unfortunately, last week I was busy and could not immediately withdraw the funds. When I went to do so on Sunday, I found out that the account had been drained of over $1000. Although the method of withdrawal was listed as ATM, the amounts were of the nature that could not be withdrawn from an atm, i.e. $222.44, 121.21. When I called Prepaid ATM, they told me it was a software problem and it would be fixed by Monday morning. When I called on Monday morning, they told me they were still investigating, and that they could not tell me when the investigation would be complete or when I would get my money back.

Needless to say, wrongfully converting over a $1000 of somebody's money and then refusing to provide that person with a timetable for getting that money back is unacceptable from any business. I strongly recommend that anybody using Prepaid ATM reconsider doing so. I am beginning to think this entity is a scam.

 

[danmurphy jr]

It's a Billion dollar business! Define "entity is a scam". Who is the bank that holds the money? Pre-paid Credit Cards are much less costly than ATM cards
Good luck, a bank has to process all funds through the FDC. That would make it a Federal crime. You'll get it back.

 

[badgerfan]

I define "entity is a scam" as a place that syphons out $1000 of my money and gives me the runaround when I call to inquire about what is going on. I hope you are correct that I'll get it back, but I am concerned about it.

FYI, Enron and Worldcom were billion dollar businesses, too.

 

[danmurphy jr]

I'm on your side. You may have been Phished. The figures you gave sound like purchases. Courts are not tolerant when it comes to this kind of stuff. I would start a journal of every contact, date,time, who you talked to, what about, everything that will show you are prepared. Put a value on every contact. Don't get off the phone until you have an answer for the reason you called.
Get a supervisor or anyone in authority. More than likely the person you have on the line has none. I would get a copy of the Carib transaction. Stay on it.

 

[LUCKY 7]

Badger,

This happened to me a month ago with my prepaid card. They took out $200 and when I called two days later their excuse was a computer malfunction. That's the last time I used that card.

 

[badgerfan]

thanks for the advice. I will post a follow up as events unfold. Although the website's main page is up today, account information is inaccessible. An error message comes up saying that the website is temporarily unavailable and will be available as soon as possible. Hopefully, that means they are working feverishly on fixing the problem.

 

[badgerfan]

I didn't see your post until just now lucky7. I'm assuming you got your money back??

Here is an update on my fiasco. After five days and a dozen phone calls, I finally got the money credited back to my account, and I immediately transferred it out. Of course, it took another day to get it transferred. I could not use the Prepaid Atm card to withdraw because they are allegedly updating the software and the cards aren't working.

I'll leave you all to decide whether Prepaid ATM is a legitimate business going through some tough software times, or a business that should be avoided. I'm not sure what my position is yet, but I can guarantee one thing--if I ever use them as a withdrawal method again, I will remove the money from the prepaid atm account immediately.