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I am writing this letter to inform the public of my experience with the Emerald Card with H&R Block.

Our joint refund was placed on this card. There was some kind of promotion and it was free to receive our money on this debit card with the Mastercard logo.

When our refund was placed on the card, I called the number on back of card and spoke to a rep. I wanted to know how to take out my money without any fees so I could pay my mortgage. The rep was very nice and said that a regular bank ATM would charge fees. An "all point ATM" has no fees. But, either way, if I am charged any fees,if I call back after taking my money out, they will waive those fees.

I was able to find an "All Point ATM". It took a few days until I was able to go. The ATM would only let me take out 400 at a time. Each time I was charged 2.50 for a total of 20 dollars.

I called back to have the fees waived and now the story has changed. I was told that the fee was 2.50 for each transaction and will not be waived. I explained what I was told and was hung up on by the male rep.

I called back again and spoke to a supervisor and was told they will waive fees, but I need my husband with me during the call because it is a joint refund. I called back with my husband and they only waived 7.50.

If they are doing this to everyone then they are making millions and it is wrong.

Monetary Loss: $13.

Location: Bristol, New Hampshire

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Guest

Sad but true the HR Block has fees and sometimes it cost $5+ to take out cash ...The cheapest way to get the money off is a money order from Walmart .97 or even your bank free or at cashier when make a purchase

Guest

Ihad the same problem first time using the emerald card never again

Guest

If I put money in my epocket and if a billing payment trys to take money will the money be taken if none in account but it's in epocket

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1062107

No, they will not be able to take the money out of your epocket.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1599246

I put money in epocket and it disappears and they can't tell me where it went

Guest

H&R block has the best card I ever got no monthly fees like most cards do.If u like complain about fees read the paper for the card first.Same as if u have first hawaiian and you go to bank of hawaii ATM your gonna get a fee hello.well any ways wanna complain no ones fault but yours.....8)

Guest

I think that the emerald card was intended to be used as a regular plane-jane day-to-day debit card. I have my veterans administration disability check direct deposited to the card monthly and I never have any issues with it.

as for atm fees, that's kind of obvious. not even gonna go there. the $20 fee for paying a car payment? sounds to me like the dealership is trying to make extra beer money off you.

ive never been charged any "hidden fees" or any *** like that ever. ive never had an issue other than my credit sucks (which is my own fault) and I don't get enough from the va. not trying to bash anyone, but technically the emerald card is a "product", and you chose it in a free market, where there are other competitive companies who would like your business. like I said, ive never had an issue, and I really like the emerald card as an option for my tax return and for a direct deposit option.

way better and less mickey-mouse-ey than the *** money network card ive been given by a few previous employers where it charged anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar 25 per transaction, plus atm fees.

my point is, if it works for you like it does for me, great. keep using it like I will. if not, seek a different option. if im not mistaken, for an extra fee you can have it deposited to your wells fargo or usaa accounts by using h & r block.

or you can use turbotax and do whatever they do. also, hr block gave me my state refund for free, and charged me like $25 or something like that for my federal refund. also, ive never been audited by the irs, or *** over by any particular company since im only 22, but I use the online software to file my taxes so that I don't have to pay someone to do it for me. sorry guys, but the online software and google answer all my questions about taxes and all that mess.

I hope this may have cleared up any confusion that may have been caused in the comments. I know ive read some really negative things, minus the hr block employee.

Guest

They charge me one dollar every time I try to make a transaction that gets somehow canceled. So lets say I go to an ATM to try and withdraw 20 dollars with 22 on my card and the bank charges 3 dollars to withdraw so it doesn't work and gets denied ill randomly be alerted that 1 dollar has been withdrawn. At first I didn't bother complaining but after a while it gets pretty annoying that they take a dollar for literally no reason.

Guest

I just tried to make a car payment via phone and they told me that the Emerald Card typically charges $20+ to make that payment over the phone.... Some kind of Charge->Cash transaction or something.

I'm having the funds transferred to my regular bank account.

I should have done that in the first place.

As far as fees, I haven't been charged any. I just checked my transactions and see no fees.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-621782

How did you transfer the funds off of your Emerald card into your bank account?

Guest

Hey guys, no-one is "sitting" on your return. The IRS has to process the return in order for them to issue a refund.

8-15 days is the average time for all returns to be processed and refunded. No one is ripping you off. As a matter of fact, it cost 24.95 in bank fees for the card, 34.95 for direct deposit, and 54.95 for IRS check. So if anybody is ripping you off it is the IRS.

If you dont like the way HR Block does business then I suggest taking a tax course and doing them by hand by yourself. Either that or take your chances on TurboTax (lol).

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-613190

I realize you're an HRB employee, and that you feel obligated to stand up for their services. Fact of the matter is, you guys charge hundreds of dollars to sit there and type on a computer, and say here please sign these forms.

I know this, my husband used to go there all the time and get charged $600+ just to do his tax returns, plus all the other fees it entailed. Past 3 years we did TurboTax, $60 to do his state and federal, got way more money back then would have from HRB because of their outrageous fees, and got our money in 8 days without problems. We were also able to go to my bank in which I hold an account, and pull all his money off his Netspend card from TurboTax FOR FREE! No hidden charges at all.

So to take the chance of, not sitting at an HRB office for hours on end, and not having to pay outrageous fees, to just sit at home, on TurboTax for an hour or less, depends on your typing speed, and have it done for $60, well I'll take "that chance" every single year.

Oh, and please don't use your commercial promos of, "if something happens we protect you and back you up, no on else does that." Well Turbotax does for free and HRB doesn't do it at all. Before I got married, my husband got audited after using HRB services for years, and got stuck paying close to $3000, because HRB did not have his back and protect him.

Abdalrahman Efd

Do not fall for this card the fees are outrageous, plus they sit on your dime to grab the interest it will accumulate. they are planning on sitting on mine for 14 days. Just called their *** on it!!!

To top it all off i got charged fees for not even using the *** card!! Duh It was only used till i got my return monies out of it.

Once again peeps,

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS!!!

have the funding direct deposited to your bank....

Less monies in the long run and way less hastle.. Plus you bank will not sit on it!!!

Guest

this is the stupidest complaint i've seen yet. where in the heck do you get to use any atm and not get charged a fee unless you bank there?

NOWHERE. i had not realized mortgage companies stopped taking visa or mastercard as payment.

Guest

ONLY waive the outside ATM Fee, not HR Blocks 2.50 fee.

If you were paying your mortgage why were you taking cash out? You could have used the card to make your mortgage payment over the phone!

If you wanted cash in your pocket, go to your local grocery store or Walmart. Buy the items you need and get cash back. Sure, it's not 400 dollars at a time, but you're getting stuff you need AND not getting hit with an ATM fee.

Read your paperwork next time and listen to what you're told.

Guest

It's not the IRS's fault, H & R Block are misleading their customers by giving false information. I was to receive my money by February 14 and they've blamed the IRS as well ad it's not true.

The outcome of my frustation, I went inside of the H&R Block Office and demanded they return my original W-2 form. I'll be damned if I let H & R Block charge me $300 for something I can do myself.

I did my taxes online for free and I'll receive my money by March 7th.

p.s.

If you decide to ask for the original W-2 form H&R block used to fill out your Tax return, make sure you copy the tax return that H&R Blocked used so you can put the same information online for free.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-436352

You can't take the H&R Block forms out of the office until your return is complete.

Guest

This wasn't bait and switch. Bait and switch is when a company advertises a product for a great price and says they "ran out" and they offer you another similar product at a higher price.

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