Consumer complaint received 2022-12-26
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
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:
Hello, I have been having more consistent problems for some reason. You may have to read all of this email and previous sent emails to somewhat understand what I have been going through, just with this. On my American Express Serve debit card, there is a " Cash Pickup powered by Ria '' feature that I have been unable to use for some reason. Serve claims that this feature is available to all Serve cardholders that have verified their email. I am also unable to add an email to my account for some reason and get an error. Over the XXXX I somehow lost my XXXX XXXX card and had to use the Serve instant debit card transfer option to add money, which has a {$200.00} limit, to my Serve account so that I could use a ATM. This feature mysteriously stopped working for me after a few times, and only gives me an error message every time I try. 

I had the idea to transfer all of my money out of Serve onto my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Then I found out just XXXX  that I can't buy money orders with my XXXX XXXX XXXX for some reason : XXXX XXXX XXXX So then I find that what I guess is the only solution, to close the XXXX XXXX XXXX that I have also had for some time and pick up the cash at XXXX which would close the card. I have had my Serve card and account since XXXX. It has expired and I just received a new one. 


XXXX XXXX XXXX My current Serve balance is {$2900.00} and it still won't let me do the XXXX XXXX XXXX for {$2500.00} which is the limit. I have contacted XXXX, and tried to do the bank transfer with them, but they locked my account and have been waiting for days for any help with this. They claimed it was rejected because of ID verification, and I sent them all of it. My photo ID front and back, a picture of me holding it, a picture of a recently delivered item from XXXX, a picture of the shipping label that I purchased, screenshots of my Serve account. But I am still unable to log in and am still waiting on their customer service. 

And was told here : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX regards to purchasing a money order at the local XXXX XXXX. 

If the American Express card you are using is a bank debit card then yes you can use either debit or cash to purchase a money order " And from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX " Yes I have the information from the money order help pages. I am trying to make sure my payment cards will work in the store. 

Does it matter if it is a prepaid or : normal '' debit card? I have been experiencing some crazy problems every day, trying to get money orders sent for an important transaction that I have to complete involving purchasing money orders and sending them with a XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX envelope that I purchased. " They responded : " Recently you requested personal assistance from XXXX XXXX XXXX. Below is our response and a summary of your request. 
Reference # XXXX Response : XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Hello XXXX XXXX Thank you for contacting back to us. 

XXXX, do not worry you can purchase money orders from store through your debit card whether it is prepaid or a normal debit card. 

If you have additional questions, please reply to this email and I'll be more than happy to assist. 

Take care- and I wish continued health and safety to you and everyone whom your cherish and XXXX XXXX. 

Sincerely, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX '' " Hi, thanks I was just wondering if my debit card will work in-store to purchase a money order? I have an American Express Serve debit card, with sufficient funds for what I need, but have been getting declined for some reason trying to purchase money orders at the XXXX XXXX, and the supermarket. I contacted Serve customer support and they said that there are no restrictions preventing anything. I was also told by XXXX that it will work if it is a debit card with a pin, which is what it is. If that doesn't work, I have a XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX too, which is a XXXXXXXX XXXX with the Serve card as the preferred method. 

Thanks, XXXX '' " I recently tried to purchase money orders at the XXXX XXXX. I gave my mother my American Express Serve debit card to pay with. It says on the website that I can use debit cards, and that American Express is accepted at retail. But, she returned saying that " it couldn't be done because the person told her that it is a credit card and not a debit card. This is an important purchase for me, it is for a vehicle purchase and seems to be the only way that I can pay the dealer. I also have a deposit on it. I want to be sure that we can go to the XXXX XXXX and purchase the money orders that I need, and the fastest mail with a tracking number, without any more problems for some reason. My card has sufficient funds available. I will try using another XXXX XXXX? She might have went to the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I don't know. 

Thanks and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX '' Thank you for any assistance, XXXX I need to complete this payment, so I need to be able to purchase money orders with my debit card, which should not be a problem at XXXX or XXXX and I have confimed this with every customer support involved. I tried XXXX XXXX at XXXX, a feature of the Serve card, and it says that they are unable to approve the transaction for some reason. I tried for lesser amounts, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, but all were unable to be approved. The ATM limit on a Serve card is {$750.00}, and am being left with no choice but to go to the ATM on my bicycle every day and buy the money orders with cash. 


XXXX Your case has been successfully submitted to XXXX. Your case number is XXXX Your email has been sent. 
Thank you for contacting XXXX. Please find your service request number below. You will receive a confirmation email soon. Click Close to return to the Email Us start page. 

Service Request Number : XXXX My name is XXXX XXXX and I have been trying to make a payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have the payment on my Amex XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). They sent me their bank info which is XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I would like to finish the transfers, instead of mailing money orders. My debit has it's own account and routing numbers, and I have sufficient funds. 

I have been having difficulties attempting to purchase money orders. I have contacted each customer service and have been assured that there are no problems and that it should be working, and to try again. 

They said that I can pay the remainder on my vehicle with bank transfer " Here is our bank info for you to bring to your bank to initiate the transfer. Please be aware our bank will not accept XXXX transfers or on-line bill pay checks. '' I tried to send a XXXX direct to bank transfer, and was declined. The payment is {$2800.00}, and there is a balance of {$2900.00}. 

Later contacting XXXX since there is nothing else yet : My name is XXXX XXXX and I have been trying to make a payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have the payment on my Amex XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. They sent me their bank info which is XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I would like to finish the transfers, instead of mailing money orders. My debit has it's own account and routing numbers, and I have sufficient funds. 
I attempted to do the transfer with XXXX, and it was declined and my account " locked for security purposes '' while waiting for the bank account verification deposits on my Serve account, and I explained in the email this situation, but have not received any response yet. 
I have been having difficulties attempting to purchase money orders. I have contacted each customer service and have been assured that there are no problems and that it should be working, and to try again. 
They said that I can pay the remainder on my vehicle with bank transfer " Here is our bank info for you to bring to your bank to initiate the transfer. Please be aware our bank will not accept XXXX transfers or on-line bill pay checks. '' I tried to send a XXXX direct to bank transfer, and was declined. The payment is {$2800.00}, and there is still a balance of {$2900.00} on my Serve account waiting for me to complete payment. 
I need to complete this payment, so I need to be able to purchase money orders with my debit card, which should not be a problem at XXXX or XXXX and I have confimed this with every customer support involved. I tried XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX, a feature of the Serve card, and it says that they are unable to approve the transaction for some reason. I tried for lesser amounts, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, but all were unable to be approved. The ATM limit on a Serve card is {$750.00}, and am being left with no choice but to go to the ATM on my bicycle every day and buy the money orders with cash, which is really not an acceptable option for me. For just XXXX example, right now it is pouring rain outside. 
XXXX XXXX This is for a vehicle that I have a deposit on and recently purchased most of the parts for. I finally placed the deposit on XXXX, and have been trying to pay the remainder since then, with sufficient funds in my account. 

Before this, I had to withdraw all of the money that I had saved for this with ATM transactions from my XXXX XXXX card, which also kept being declined for some reason, so that I could load the Serve card with the money, so that I could pay for another vehicle, where the seller suddenly backed out after I finally sent {$2800.00} to him with XXXX transactions of {$1500.00}, {$700.00} and {$600.00}. He suddenly refunded my money after informing him that a tower that was trying to set up had backed out and said that he can't take the job after asking if I could pay with XXXX, just because it would be easier, when I had his requested deposit on my Serve card, after trading in all of my video games at XXXX for the money. XXXX of the transactions were immediately refunded and available but the {$600.00} " was refunded by echeck '' so I had to wait for that to eventually clear back into my Serve card. Avoid XXXX XXXX too, ok. 

XX/XX/XXXX Parts delivered to wrong address, XXXXXXXX XXXX  packages with a picture of delivery at a house with a red door. I walked up and down XXXX XXXX and could not find it. There was also some kind of work being down down XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX A few red front doors but no packages or the wrong XXXX house. There was a knock on my door and was informed that my orders were in front of XXXXXXXX XXXX  house on the corner, and had to go get them. 

XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, I woke up to find XXXX ATM decline charges of XXXX on my Serve account. I am sure that I did not sleep walk to the ATM and that it didn't leave this house when I was sleeping. There are XXXX text messages from Serve.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation