H R BLOCK EMERALD ADVANCE RIPOFFS MILWAUKEE Wisconsin

My name is Marvin, and last year I did my tax return at HR Block in Brooklyn on 51 Wilouby Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201- I was never inform from the tax preparer that the emerald card was an advance loan from HR Block, they preying on innocent people by unethical practices, however I received a phone call on 1/27/09; at 8:30pm; saying that I had balance of $1100 and to check my credit report. Please be beware of HR Block, and if there is anyone or has been taken advantage of I suggest that you contact me

I used to work for the Emerald Card call center here in Milwaukee. I had a call one night soooo similar to yours. The customer stated that her money should have been loaded within the hour. I had to look her up with her SS# because I couldnt find her by the card # she gave me. Looking at her account she had gotten the $500 Emeral Loan. She swears that she had been waiting on this money ALL DAY! Of course we are trained to only tell the customer what we see. But because of my Social Services background, I learned that a little research goes a long way. I viewed the transaction where she withdrew the money, and the tyme machine she used was right in the shopping center where HR block was located. This was quite suspicious to me because firstly:

**When applying for the Emerald Loan customers are told they will get $500. You only get 330 within the first few hours, and the 170 is reserved for your first payment to HR Block, or until you call and request that it is loaded onto your card. Whoever loaded her money @ the HR office loaded the entire $500 and it was not an error.

**Looking at the withdrawal transactions this person withdrew $500 minus HR & the Tyme machines fees on ONE TRY out of the correct account. My experience with most callers are aware that they only recieved $330 initially, so why would this person withdraw more than that? Also HR block has quite a list outlining thier fees, and it gets confusing to customers. This person knew exactly how much to withdraw. Whereas most transactions I saw, the customer tried several times because of insufficient funds either because they were not aware that they dont get the full 500 up front or they did not calculate the Tyme fees.

Whoever made this withdrawal knew exactly what they were doing.

The Emerald Card is given to the customer at the office, the customer is set up a savings account that holds the money. You have to use checking acct to make a withdrawal from the ATM. Because customers are told that this is an Emerald Savings account that can be re-used, they ALWAYS (never had a customer that didnt, and I reset many pins because of the) ALWAYS choose savings acct at the ATM. This person chose checking.

Sweetie I hate to tell you but I think the scum who did your taxes also applied for the Emerald Loan and took your money. It was not an error. You should be able to call the 1-800 # to Emerald. If you type in Emeral card on the internet search engine, you can find the website and get thier number. Tell the idiot that answers that you would like to find out where/when a transaction took place. They can give you the address of the ATM. DO NOT tell them that you lost your card - THEY WILL LOCK YOUR ACCOUNT DOWN. DO NOTtell them the true nature of your situation - THEY WILL LOCK YOUR ACCOUNT DOWN. This will not help you at all.

Go back to the HR blocks office and tell them you want print outs of your Emerald Advance paperwork or your Tax refund - DO NOT tell them WHY. This should prove that you did not apply for the loan

I just ran across your post...and it brought back call center nightmares.........I will go through my Emerald Card stuff at home and try to get contacts for you. But I think thats a good place to start.

I know exactly how the HR Block scum got the Emerald in your name and SS#, in case youre wondering.

They have the cards in thier office. All they do once approved for the loan is assign your card # to your emeral account. They set your pin for you...they will tell you they dont but they do. And when you call the call center to create a pin, there is already one in there for you, we (call center reps) were not allowed to tell you, this though, and we allow the customer to believe that they dont have a pin yet. The person at HR block created your pin, most likey the last 4 of your social. Called and activated your card, then spent the money.

I quit the job, after three weeks. It was during the holiday season and I could not put up with the way they trained us to treat people.