Anyone else having problems with Eppicard?

[vduhr]

New Mexico's unemployment and child-support payments were switched from BofA cashpay cards to a new company called Eppicard. The deposits to Eppicard began with last week's payments. I have read about numerous problems with Eppicard scams, unauthorized charges and problems with Eppicard's customer service. Eppicard also has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau. Immediately, the first deposit to Eppicard was delayed, albeit by only a few hours, which could very well be a glitch due to the change; however, the very first week, I have already had two charges to my account that were unauthorized. According to the information mailed to me about the new Eppicard, we should be allowed 1 free ATM cash withdrawal from any Wells Fargo, per week per deposit, and 2 free phone calls per month to Eppicard's customer service for either assistance or balance inquiry, and no fees are charged for online access/inquiries. I always check my accounts online. Last Tuesday, I withdrew $20.00 cash from my Eppicard via a Wells Fargo ATM. Later that day, I went online to check my balance and saw that I had been charged $1.50 for a cash withdrawal (remember, I used Wells Fargo's ATM so I should not have been charged anything). I immediately called Eppicard's customer service and the rep credited me the $1.50, but she noticed that I had also just been charged an additional .50 cents for the phone call and that the system was saying it was a balance inquiry, but I had not done a balance inquiry (even so, we are allowed 2 free phone calls/inquiries per month), I had simply pressed the '1' button to get to a rep. So she said she was crediting the .50 cents also. I checked my balance after that phone call and saw that my balance was back to where it should have been. HOWEVER, I just checked my balance again this morning and found that there were two credits of .50 cents each for balance inquiries, but the $1.50 for ATM withdrawal was still there. In other words, Eppicard still owed me .50 cents. Not a big deal, except that the charges/credits had been changed since the first phone call and, because of the problems with this company (i.e., Google Eppicard scams/problems and see what comes up, plus their F rating with the BBB), I immediately called their customer service again. I was credited the extra .50 cents immediately, but I am still concerned with this company and don't trust them, especially when I am already having problems with unauthorized charges in just the first week! Has anyone here, who is receiving unemployment or child-support payments via Eppicard had any problems? (Even if you haven't, I highly recommend that you keep extremely close watch on your account.)

[summert12]

1. its not just you

we received the same card for unemployment and so far we've been having nothing but problems as well. the payment arrived late last week, and it is late this week too. the website to check our balance isn't working, and we get charged everytime we try calling the number. we have decided to contact the new mexico workforce solutions and switch the unemployment payments to our private bank account instead of the debit card we were given. as far as i see it, there wasnt any problems or reasons to change from the old company. especially to something this bad. i would advise you to do the same thing, and just close out that account, and transfer the money to your own bank card.

[vduhr]

2. Thanks for your response....

I am going to transfer my payments to another account. My son is also on unemployment and is having the same problem. He also was charged $1.50 for a cash withdrawel when he had used a Wells Fargo ATM - again, he has not withdrawn any other cash. He's afraid to call them because he used up his monthly alotted calls when the payment was late the first time. This is their scam; they place these charges on your account so that you have to call their customer service to get the charges reversed, and then charge you for the call. I've had to call them twice now so I cannot call them again without getting charged? They provide no means of contact except via phone calls. I have sent a letter to NMDWFS to complain, AND I sent an e-mail to Governor Richardson's office too. I received a response from Richardson's office saying that they forwarded my e-mail to their NM Department of Workforce Solutions liason. I also sent an e-mail to KOBTV. Hopefully, if anyone else does this, it will get on the news too. This is terrible!

[abqmufc]

3. Switch to Direct Deposit...

In addition to the problems you've listed the reality is the card given to you by the State will always pose problems. Anytime you withdraw money or use the card there is the potential for a vendor (including ATM operator) to charge you a surcharge as the new card is not backed by any Bank. Once I realized I could receive my unemployment payments via the "old method" of Direct Deposited I switched. This can be done online.

My biggest problem with the State Unemployment process is the fact I called 5,635 times in order to finally get through. I then was on hold for 3 hours just to be told my concern was being forwarded on to someone who would respond in 48 hours. I spend over 40 hours just trying to find out why I"d not received a determination after 8 weeks of filing for unemployment.