Consumer complaint received 2021-03-26
Company: Netspend Corporation
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer

Complaint:
This complaint is against NetSpend Corporation but I am providing background information on how the complaint arose. On XX/XX/21 I utilized the XXXX  Website Service called XXXX XXXX to request 4 hours of moving services through a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. In order to secure the reservation customers are required to prepay for services. I prepaid {$240.00} using my Netspend Corporation prepaid card for a 2 person crew and 4 hours of moving services to take place on XX/XX/21 to assist my XXXX father relocate from a single family home to another single family home. A person who identified himself as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX would only respond by text and confirmed, " We are on the way. '' XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX never showed up to assist in moving. We stayed up all night at the property and no one arrived. Even worse, they stopped responding through any means. I left several voicemails and requested contact because I had already secured a 26 foot XXXX  Moving truck and had no movers. I was forced to hire another moving company to move the items and required additional time to rent the XXXX. Even worse, my XXXX father was forced to help move items in order to ensure he could get moved in time. 

The only available new company charged more for less hours. On XX/XX/21 I tried wholeheartedly to resolve this dispute with XXXX  which transferred me to XXXX XXXX. I spoke with a customer service representative at XXXX XXXX  who provided such poor service I had to request a Manager. I explained to the Manager I was livid her employee just told me that I, " must have had the services provided because XXXX XXXX XXXX provided the Moving Code. '' I explained to the Manager no one from XXXX XXXX XXXX showed up to start the job and also I was very concerned because I did not provide the Moving Code to the company. I was advised by XXXX XXXX since they were a third party marketplace that connects customers to moving companies in their local area they could not issue a refund. I would have to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX to request a refund. I explained that I had already contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX and they will not respond. I also requested XXXX XXXX  formally document my complaint that XXXX XXXX XXXX never showed up to start the moving job and remove them from their list of available movers as they were a fraudulent company. I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX again on XX/XX/21 and they did not respond. 

My final hope was to contact my financial institution, NetSpend Corporation, to request a refund for services never provided. On XX/XX/21 I advised the Customer Service Department to dispute the transaction due to no services being provided. I explained I was required to prepay for moving services and the company never showed up. I was advised NetSpend would complete its investigation and it could take up to 90 days for a determination. I explained I had been a customer of theirs for years and they could see I was a credible consumer with my payroll deposited for years. I was requesting the refund as soon as possible because I had already paid another {$270.00} for another moving company and another {$100.00} for relatives to help move remaining items that could not be carried by hand. Each time I contacted Netspend I was assured, " not to worry our Dispute Team will review your dispute and has all the information necessary to process your refund. '' I was told I would receive an update on XX/XX/21. 


On XX/XX/21 I received a secure message through NetSpend that my dispute had been declined based on information provided by the merchant. I spoke with a customer service representative to request information on how to appeal the decision. She claimed there was no option to appeal the decision of the Dispute Department and put me on hold multiple times as I requested a Manager. After waiting on hold 3 times I was finally placed on the line with a Manager. I advised the Manager I was not frustrated with him or the previous agent, but the situation. I have now waited over 7 weeks to be refunded for services that were never provided only to have my request declined. 
Even more insulting, the Manager claimed I would have to wait 10 days for the Dispute Department to send me an email with the information provided by the merchant before I would possibly be given the option of a " callback '' with the Dispute Department. I had already been promised a callback from someone in the NetSpend Corporate Office and never received the callback. I explained to the NetSpend Manager waiting 10 days for an email to confirm the information I had already shared with him was unacceptable and I would be pursuing further action. This is the purpose of my request today. I feel I have been denied my refund unfairly with no recourse for appeal. 

Furthermore, it is consumer abuse to be denied a refund for a service never provided and discriminatory to have my refund request be treated differently because it is a prepaid card. Had this complaint been through a normal bank I would not have had to go through this nightmare to request a refund for services never provided. I am filing this formal complaint to obtain my refund and protect consumers of NetSpend from their arduous and unfair dispute resolution practices. I am requesting refund of the {$240.00} and any punitive damages your office sees fit to ensure this consumer abuse does not continue at NetSpend. Thank you for your consideration.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation