Net Spend Put account on hold for "excessive refund" and wont release after providing all info they requested internet

I really wish I would have read all of the posts on here and other websites about netspend prior to allowing a merchant to refund a purchase I made with another card to my netspend card.  It sure would have saved me all of the stress NetSpend is now giving me.

I cancelled a reservation I made last year online for a trip I was making this past June.  In order to get a refund I had to write to the company and explain why I was cancelling and they would either approve the refund or not depending on my reasoning for cancelling.  I did that and they approved 1/2 of my money to be refunded ($1,000).  They called me to tell me that a 50% refund was approved and they needed the credit card I paid with to process the refund.  I explained I no longer had that credit card used to make the payment.  The woman told me that normally they wouldn't need the information, but they just changed systems and the new system doesn't have the credit card information from the old system where the refund would just automatically go back to the card used.  She explained that the refund would have to go back to a credit card since I paid with a credit card.  I asked her if I could use my netspend card.  She said yes.  I went ahead gave her the number, she processed the refund and I received the confirmation of the refund immediately.  A couple of days later, I checked my netspend account and the refund was there.

I went to the gas station, tried to use my card and the clerk tells me the card declined.  I was dumbfounded, because I had just checked my account less than 5 min ago.  I went back home and checked my account again, sure enough, the refund was showing.  I called netspend and the agent told me there was a hold on my account for an "excessive refund".  She explained that they would need a copy of the original receipt from when I made the purchase.  No problem, I emailed the confirmation leter I received when I made the reservation online.  The next day I called and customer service told me that that wasn't the original receipt.  I told them it was, I made the reservation online and that is the receipt they sent to me.  They said that what I sent was only a confirmation letter not a receipt.  I asked, Ok, what do I need to do to get this resolved.  They said provide the original receipt of purchase.  So I contacted the Merchant told them I needed an original receipt for the purchase.  They said my confirmation letter is the original receipt.  I told them netspend was not accepting that as an original receipt.  So the lady went into their system printed the receipt detail, payment detail and also obtained a receipt from their credit card processing company and faxed all of that to netspend.  There were many many calls to netspend prior to the merchant sending the above, and all was very frustrating because they weren't helping me resolve this problem.  All they say is they needed an original receipt.

I felt good after the merchant sent everything they had, the original purchase receipt details, the payment information and details, their credit card processing company's statement detailing the purchase and return transactions, and the original return receipt from their system.  Surely with all of that netspend would take the hold off of my account.  WRONG.

I called netspend about 6 hours after everything was sent to them.  The agent they are still waiting on the documents.  Called the next morning and was told they didn't write the case number on each of the receipts.  Called the merchant again, she wrote the case number on each of the documents and sent it back to netspend.  I called about 6 hours after they resent the docs with the case number written on each sheet and was told they had not received the docs yet.  Called the next day and was told that what the merchant sent was not an original purchase receipt so they will not be lifting the hold. 

My question is how can netspend determine that what the merchant sent isn't original?  I don't understand how they can make that determination.  I don't understand how they can have the merchant's transaction statements from their credit card processing company clearly showing the purchase and return and say that it isn't good enough.  I don't understand how NetSpend can legally hold my money because they don't like the layout of the Merchant's receipts.  I just don't get it.

Fine...I called netspend and told them I don't care if they reject the refund, send it back and I'll just have work it out with the merchant.  I explained I needed my account off hold because I get direct deposit on that card.  If there hold then I won't be able to get to my money to pay bills.  The agent puts me on hold and comes back and tells me that they cannot reject the refund.  LMAO...they won't release the hold on my account due to this refund and they won't reject the refund either.  WHAT IS THIS?  HOW THE HECK CAN THEY DO THIS?  The agent told me I would have to go back to the Merchant and have them reverse the refund. 

I have no problem doing that and will do it first thing tomorrow, but I cannot believe the headache netspend has given me.  I can hope the merchant can and is willing to reverse the refund, because they don't I don't know what is going to become of my $1000 and my account.  Neither did the customer service agent when I asked him what if the merchant can't or won't reverse the refund.  He just I don't know what will happen.  So I guess netspend can just keep my $1000 if the merchant doesn't reverse the refund.....STAY AWAY FROM NETSPEND!