I bought one of these Paypal Prepaid Debit Mastercards to send my daughter on a trip to Florida. It sounded great! I've had a Paypal account for years and despite the bad press, they've been pretty good to me. I liked the idea of not having to link to my bank account since Paypal provides a buffer. I spent 10 years working in advertising and PR so I considered myself a wary and educated consumer. I thought I knew what to look for, but even I got taken in by Netspend, Bancorp and Paypal.
All over the product packaging, display and website they advertise "Instant Transfers" from your Paypal account. I was skeptical, but I found no fine print that gave me reason to doubt them. My horror began as I was linking my Paypal account, which was the only requirement in the fine print. They told me the card I purchased was not an actual Paypal Prepaid card, but rather a temporary card. Red flags went off. Instead of retreating immediately I decided to discuss matters with the representative. He assured me that the temporary card could be used exactly like the permanent card and I should have no trouble receiving my funds.
Sure enough, after linking my Paypal account to my card the "Instant Transfer" button popped up at the top of my screen and said my account was ready to go. I followed the link to my Paypal account and transferred the funds exactly as per the instructions and waited. The next day I still had no money on the card other than the $25 I had placed on it at the time of purchase.
I called and spoke to another representative who informed me that there were two different types of transfers. There is a "basic" transfer that takes 3-5 business days and the Paypal "Instant Transfers." I told her I had selected the "instant Transfer" link and followed the instructions and still not received my funds. I had reread the literature that was folded and tucked neatly inside the package and found no reason why my funds were not available. She then informed me that it was not possible to use a temporary card to receive an "Instant Transfer." This was exactly the opposite statement I had heard from the previous associate.
I asked to speak to a manager. After 20 minutes on hold the associate picked back up and informed me the manager was busy and they would call back. I never heard another word from the company. So I called Paypal hoping for some assistance. Paypal disavowed the prepaid company and clearly told me they have no association with them and no authority over their business transactions.
I finally got a transaction on my card. Unfortunately instead of my funds. I'd been charged a $4.95 service fee for a service I am unable to use.
After 3 days, my funds have still not been made available and I've been charged a monthly service fee. I decided to call Netspend again and see what the holdup was. After over an hour of being transfered through managers who tried to lecture me. I finally spoke with a manager who informed me that I was mistaken about the 3-5 day basic transfer and that temporary cards are unable to receive deposited funds at all. He told me my funds will be suspended in limbo until I receive and activate my permanent card in the mail.
I still have not gotten any resolution on this matter and the small amount on the card is being eaten away by fees. The managers are rude, disrespectful, intimidating and unhelpful. They refuse to even refund the service charge.
The depressing "twist" to this story is I wouldn't mind the fees and I would have loved and used the service if they had been honest with me up front and provided good customer service.
