Consumer complaint received 2023-07-22
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees — 
Company: Greenlight Financial Technology, Inc (NC)

See below for a very long email thread with the kids allowance manager Greenlight. If you read it from bottom to top, it's fairly self explanatory. My son made a purchase at XXXX XXXX and then returned part of the purchase. Greenlight charged us for both transactions rather than making the second transaction a refund. Their internal records show the refund, but my app clearly shows a charge. They don't seem to understand. They also have trouble with gas stations placing a hold on accounts and then charging the final amount. 


XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, I congratulate you on your ability to create a transaction history that shows that we received a refund. HOWEVER, the Greenlight app does NOT show a refund in my son 's account or my account. Why is this so hard? I think it's time for me to turn this over to the authorities. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, We apologize for any confusion. 

Please see the document attatched to the previous email in order to understand the transaction in question. The transaction history sent will show you that {$13.00} was actually added to the balance instead of being deducted. We hope you understand. You can also reach out to us at XXXX and one of our agents will be happy to resolve this issue. Thanks! Have a great day! 
Best Regards, XXXX XXXX. 
Customer Service Representative XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX I'm confused. Multiple of your employees have told me you issued a refund instead of a charge, but my app says differently. Please convince me I'm wrong. See attached. There is a VERY CLEARLY listed {$13.00} XXXX XXXX charge and NO REFUND in sight. I'm losing my patience. 

Attachment ( s ) XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Thank you for providing that information provided! 

We see in XXXX 's transaction history that the partial refund was issued and applied to the balance after the purchase from XXXX XXXX for {$17.00}. We apologize for the confusion this caused when the refund appeared as if there was another purchase made. Please see XXXX 's detailed transaction history attached for a better understanding. Please let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with! Thanks! We hope this helps. Have a great day! 


Best Regards, XXXX XXXX. 
Customer Service Representative Attachment ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, As I discussed with XXXX when I called last week, both transactions are legitimate, but the second XXXX ( {$13.00} ) was a partial return of the original purchase. The detail that XXXX sent me in this email thread clearly confirms that. However, both show up in the Greenlight app as purchases. I've spent much of my career in banking and payments, and this is a pretty basic issue that most companies figure out before they go live. This is the second issue I've had with incorrect accounting from Greenlight in the past month. The first was multiple double charges on a gas station purchase. Again, I know the industry, so I know exactly what went wrong - the gas station placed a hold on the account for a high amount and then charged for the actual amount, but my account ended up getting charged for both. After I escalated that issue, I think the proper amount was refunded, although I've not yet seen a thorough accounting. Please correct my account for the XXXX XXXX return before I am forced to escalate this to the CFPB. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, My name is XXXX on the escalation team stepping in to help out. I truly apologize for the trouble you have experienced. Our apologies for the delayed response! 

Can you please advise if either of the two transactions for {$17.00} and {$13.00} were unauthorized? If so, would you like to file a dispute for these transactions? 

Please let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with. 




Best Regards, XXXX Customer Service Representative XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX Thanks, Jewel. I'm looking at the app, and I don't see any changes. The XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX transaction is still shown and I don't see a reversal in XXXX 's account or in my account. 


XXXX XXXX ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, My name is XXXX on the escalation team stepping in to help out. I truly apologize for the trouble you have experienced. Our apologies for the delayed response! 

We have reconciled your XXXX 's card so that the correct balance is now reflected in the app. We apologize for that inconvenience! 

Any money pulled from your account we can refund back if you were to move the funds Please let us know if there's anything else that we can do for you! 


Best Regards, XXXX XXXX. 
Customer Service Representative XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX Do you have an update on this complaint? I can escalate to the CFPB if necessary. 


XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX Thank you. This detail is helpful and is materially different from what is posted to the Green Light app. This confirms that XXXX made a purchase for {$17.00} and then received a refund of {$13.00} for a net purchase amount of {$3.00}. Two problems : 1 ) The app shows that BOTH {$17.00} and {$13.00} were deducted from XXXX 's account, which is inconsistent with the detail you provided ; 2 ) Why did your system move {$8.00} from my account to XXXX 's account when XXXX 's account shows a positive balance in the detail you provided? 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX transaction history for the dates : XXXX XXXX XXXX Attachment ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX P. ( Greenlight ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Thank you for reaching out to Greenlight! 

As you requested, I've attached XXXX XXXX transaction history for the dates : XXXX XXXX XXXX to this email. We hope this helps! 

Please don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything else we can help you with. 

Have an excellent rest of your day! 

Your Greenlight Team