Consumer complaint received 2017-05-23
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: American Payment Holdco, Inc. (MA)

On   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX     I initiated a bill payment at a  XXXX  I have been to before several times for the same service.  XXXX  is not the problem here. But they have a bill payment service that runs through  CheckFreePay, w hich is a payment system used by other stores like  XXXX . My issue is with CheckFreePay losing my money and delaying payment.     As a customer using the  CheckFreePay  service at such large department stores that offer it, you can pay a small fee  ( {$1.00} ) t o send a bill and pay it with debit, which I did. I used a prepaid  XXXX  debit card ending in  XXXX  which was charged {$500.00} ( I can see its transaction history online ) and I paid a bill to my equity line in the amount of {$490.00} ( $  XXXX  $  XXXX  {$500.00} ). The payee is  XXXX   XXXX , which is in the store 's bill payment system, and the  XXXX   XXXX  clerk was familiar with this transaction as I had done it several times before this year. I was given a receipt after the clerk was successful in entering all information, including my  XXXX  account number, which ends in  XXXX , from my supplied bill.     The payment never reached  XXXX  and I had to pay them another way to be on time for the statement ending in mid  XXXX . I called  XXXX  and they told me to try callin g CheckFreePay  at  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX . On   XXXX   XXXX  , the CS rep acknowledged that at the end of  XXXX , the company experienced a serious system failure and could not be sure when payments would be sent or the problem fixed.     I waited and on   XXXX   XXXX   I called  XXXX  to find the payment still had not been sent and so I called CheckFreePay again. I went through menus telling of the issues for   XXXX   and got through to a rep each time I called, but once I told them what I was trying to get fixed, they said they had to put me through to another department. As though there were some sort of planned scam going on, once I was transferred, all calls suddenly got routed to totally different companies! It was as if each rep was sending me away. For the first three times I tried calling in about my issue, I was put through to  XXXX , the software company, which is completely unrelated to CheckFreePay, and a rep there was even telling me how this was happening all day!     Finally I did get someone at  CheckFreePay  that was willing and able to keep me on hold while dialing a supervisor. That person eventually came on to tell me that the payment was in fact sent   XXXX   XXXX  . These payments usually go through electronically and I can see them on the receiving end in a matter of days.  XXXX  said they did not have the funds. So where is it? Even if they mailed a paper check it should have been received by now. The supervisor I spoke to gave me ID #  XXXX . I have no idea where my money is and am asking for {$490.00} to make it to my  XXXX  account right away. If this is not done quickly there will be interest penalties or late charges.     I have the supplied  XXXX  receipt with  Reference  #  XXXX .