H&R Block Emerald Card Online Banking Ridiculous Practices No Accountability Kansas City, Missouri

I really dont know where to begin...

I opened an H&R Block Emerald Card account about 3 years ago, it sounded like a great idea, they offered direct deposit, bill pay, atm usage, cash back and a fully functional Mastercard.

I have found out, time and time again, that they are by and large the absolute worst organization to entrust your money with.

One thing that they do quite regularly is hold money. Lets say you go to a restaurant or bar and use your emerald card to pay the tab. What happens is the card is ran for an amount more than the total, to test its legitimacy and that there is money available. This is the case with almost every bank, but typically once the transaction is closed out, the 'hold' is released. Not with Emerald. The money is held for a minimum of 21 business days, 'for security reasons' and when I inquired about this the first few times they said it's the way it is and there's nothing they could do. After a few times of this happening, they then told me I could go back into the particular place, and have someone write on a company letterhead piece of paper all my information and give authorization to H&R to release the funds. This also applies to anything where you would place a deposit using the card. Talk about awkward and embarassing...

The customer service itself is beyond ridiculous. As others have reported on here, the 866 number is all automated, followed by a call center rep in the Philipines (literally) who makes you recite your account number, your name, address, phone number, social, birthdate, and email address. Again. Literally. Then they put you on hold for a few minutes, come back and ask what the problem is, then tell you there is nothing they can do and they have to transfer you. 4 out of 10 times you are disconnected at this point, making you call back in and go over the whole thing again with a different rep.

If you can get past this initial hurdle, you can get on to 'Customer Escalations', which has no number or contact info of its own, and go through the whole gamut again with someone new (this call center is in the US, in Texas I beleive). At this point though, no matter what your problem is, they tell you theres nothing they can do, its automated, the system wont let them, etc etc etc. You are disconnected from this center about 2 in 10 times. Everyone you talk to there has different information they offer up, and they always say the previous rep was mistaken. Needless to say, you go through and average of 22 to 50 minutes of hold times, transfers and conversations to ALWAYS get the same response-'Theres nothing we can do, but we appreciate your business'

I could go into detail each issue I've had over 3 years, but I'll give you the worst, which is currently ongoing. I had over 11,000 dollars in this account the beginning of June. Near the end of June, i was going to buy a car and was going to pull money out for a down payment. According to their website(s) the max amount you can pull from an ATM is $5000, but thats not the case. I needed $3600, so I went to call their 24/7 number on Saturday 06/26 to request a check be cut and sent to me, or a wire transfer. Their number for 24/7 emergencies gives an automated message saying they are closed and reopen Monday at 9AM Central. I borrowed 3600 with the intention of calling Monday morning to request the check. I sent an email to their complaint line saying they were liars and I really wanted to close the account because of all the issues I currently was having and have had over 3 years.

Anyway, I called Monday morning to request a check in the amount of $3600, after much deliberating also made them waive the $20 fee for 'Check Processing'. They said it was handled and I should have the check in a few days.

The next day I go to the grocery store and my card declines. I call the 866 number, it instantly transfers me to Customer unCare. They tell me the account was closed and all money was mailed out. So the account balance was $0, it was closed, and a second check for just under $7000 was being sent along with the check for $3600. They had no explanation for why this happened, said there was nothing they could do since it was late (it was 4:30PM Pacific) and theyd call back in the morning. At this moment I am literally broke.

They call back in the morning, basically tell me that they closed the account per the email I sent them on the previous Saturday. I asked why I wasnt contacted again or notified that they were removing all funds and closing the account, they said it was all automated. I then told them to cancel the second check, put a stop pay on it, and put all the money back in the account. They said, thats right, 'Theres nothing we can do'-the checks were already in the mail and their system didn't allow such a thing. Id have to wait for the checks to get here.

It is now July 9th. I have no checks. Whenever I call I am told they should be there the next day. I still have no money. I have bills late, I can't buy gas or groceries or anything. I am told over and over again there is nothing they can do, and at this point if I do not recieve the checks they have to have me fill out some form, and it will take a MINIMUM of 60 (SIXTY) business days to return the funds to me.

If anyone can help me, please contact me. If anyone uses an Emerald Card, pull all your money out and tell them to get bent.