Consumer complaint received 2016-10-08
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: WI
Product: Prepaid card
Sub-product: General purpose card
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing account

Complaint:
Unable to open an account. 

I purchased an American Express Blue Bird pre-pay debit card at XXXX, paid {$5.00} for the card, and loaded {$5.00} onto the card, with the intent of having the company send me a Permanent Card. The paperwork with the card says to register at XXXX I followed the directions and went to that site, entered all of my personal information, including my social security number. Each time I did this process, the page would respond slightly different, and sometimes would prompt me with verification questions relating to my vehicles, which looks like a normal verification process. 

I updated my web browser, thinking that maybe it needed a newer version of firefox. That did not improve anything. I tried several different combinations of the information. Sometimes it would prompt me to confirm a slight variation of my address, using N instead of north. 

No matter what I did, I always ended up at the Unable to Sign Up message. " Sorry, we are unable to approve you for an Account at this time.Thank you for your interest in Bluebird. '' There was no reason given. Further, there was no customer service number given to call to resolve the issue. I tried to call the number on the back of the card, and it stated that I MUST use the online process to activate and that customer service can not do this process. 

During this process, while it may be encrypted, I sent my social security number, name, and birth date, at least 20 times across the internet. Most companies will prompt the user with an error message, such as " please verify your " XXXX '' is the correct information, if something is a typographical error. At one point I had wondered if I typed the birth date year with XXXX digits or XXXX. One of the questions it asked me about a vehicle was something I was uncertain of. I had a XXXX Buick, but I was not sure if it was a " custom '' or not ... I presume they use a list of VIN numbers for that system, but manufacturers do n't always have the right VIN numbers attached to extensions of the car name. That could have caused confusion. I wonder where they get this from anyway, since I have opted out of the DMV in Wisconsin. 

Regardless, I have tried fruitlessly to have them send me a permanent card with my name on it that i can reload, and as far as I can find, there is no way to call them. 

So, I have spent {$5.00} for a worthless card, and have {$5.00} on a card ... .it cost me {$5.00} to put {$5.00} on a card, that I was supposed to be able to use as a reload product that I could use with XXXX , XXXX XXXX etc to buy stuff online. 

I have a XXXX card that works fine, though they have a software glitch that presumes that you bought a temporary card at the store, and then they were to send you a card. When you have them send you a temporary card in the mail, the system thinks you have been sent a permanent card, and it will not send you a permanent card, which is corrected by calling them and explaining the problem. 

But with Bluebird by American Express, I can not get a card that I can use as a re loadable debit card.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation