Unemployed debit card debate continues

Here’s an interesting perspective on the debit cards being used by Nevadans on unemployment.

While the vast majority of contacts I’ve had are coming from unemployed workers who complain of being nickel-and-dimed by the cards, here is the other side of the debate.
 

Dear John,

I read your article dated 4/4/10 and was appalled by it. Not by anything that you said but by how stupid some of your readers are. I have been unemployed in NV for over 2 years. I've used this card with zero problems. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what is wrong with some of your readers. They're absolute morons! First of all the card is not owned by Wells Fargo, they just accept transactions through their bank. The card is owned and the rules are made by Eppicard. Now there you have a boat load of idiots! They are the worst credit card company I've ever dealt with, and their customer service is equally horrible. Their systems are constantly going down, and losing valuable information. For more than a year I wasn't getting my debit card deposit notifications via email. I called to no avail. They were never able to tell me why, until one day a supervisor finally fessed up about their horrible computer system. Basically they suck, and their tech support team is equally as stupid as the rest of the company employees. I had to call several times just to get to a rep and even figure out how to. They force you to put in your card number which calculates how many times you've called. Then after the 5th call they charged me almost $3.00 in fees that I had no idea I was being charged. Well the literature you receive says you will be charged after a certain number of calls. I didn't think they'd charge me for getting assistance that had nothing to do with checking my balance. I fought them to get back my money. I got all but about $0.75 back. I called the unemployment office in Carson City, but they really don't control the management of the card Eppicard does! There isn't much the unemployment office can do.

I prefer the debit card, because when I no longer live in NV I can get my money without the hassles of having a forwarding address or waiting on late mail delivery. You have to read the rules in order to not get charged fees. I figured that out when I first got the card. May help that I am an ex-banker therefore understand how bank cards work better than the average person. I never went to the ATM to get my money. Every Tuesday or Wednesday I went into a Wells Fargo branch where the Tellers got to know me, and I did a cash advance for the entire amount of my check. I never used my card for any other purpose. You don't get statements to follow your purchases on, and I just felt it to be too risky for me to try to use it like I do my debit card attached to my bank account. Eppicard's web site has too many problems and is very slow some times just to access it. In addition, if you have an Internet browser other than Internet Explorer it won't work. I found that out the hard way; it took me over an hour to get one of those morons from Eppicard's tech support team on the phone to troubleshoot the problem. Once you get the facts and figure out the rules you can use the card with ease. Now there is no more reason to go to Wells Fargo, because most banks will process cash advances on the card free to their customers. I have been going to my own banks since February to get my funds. I can tell you I don't use the ATM or use it in grocery stores for purchases. I take the money out, put it in my account, use my debit attached to my account and my checks to pay bills. I pay cash every where else.

I was flabbergasted by the stupidity of your readers with using the card. It's not rocket science but leave it to the mostly uneducated population in Las Vegas to make it out to be such! Tell your dumb ass readers to go to the damn bank, and do a cash advance for the full amount of the card, and save all of us the hassle of having to read about their moronic complaints. They just make themselves seem dumber than they really are! And if you really want more information about the card go to www.eppicard.com or call them at (800) 829-4130 option 1, 2, 2, 1. I guarantee the bimbos you get on their line will make the ones complaining seem like college professors! Anyway, I thought you should get a perspective of the card from someone who has some college education and experience using the card. Thanks for reading my gripe.