Poker Stars Visa Debit Concerns

[LesJ]

I was very excited to see this option roll out a few weeks ago. It seems that although this option was rolled out slowly from a Poker Stars perspective, Pay Tru (the credit card company) is unable to keep up with the additional volume that we have delivered to them.

I signed up for this card well over 2 weeks ago, believing that it would be a much better option for cashing out than dealing with having checks delivered, especially since it had been stated on here that PokerStars was no longer going to use FedEx.

I cashed out an amount to my card about a week ago, anticipating the arrival of my card in the near future. I have used the card successfully to buy a set of headphones on bestbuy.com a couple of days ago, and just now to pay my electric bill. I still, however, have yet to receive my card.

I called PayTru on Wednesday to check on the status of my physical card. I was on with an actual customer service representative within just a few minutes (5-6 prob), which is a positive. The person I spoke with, however, wasn't able to give me much information. She said if it had been about two weeks since my signup, that the card should arrive shortly. She stated that it surely would arrive by the end of the week, and that they had no control over the postal service. She was unable to determine if my card order had been processed or if the card had actually been mailed out as of yet. I specifically asked, by the way, if she knew of any delays in processing of these cards and she claimed she was not aware of any delays and that she was sure my card would arrive shortly.

After my mailbox was empty yet again today, I decided to follow up with an email:
[ QUOTE ]
Good Afternoon,

I signed up for my card over 2 weeks ago and I still have not received my physical card yet. I called to check on this a couple of days ago and was not able to get much information. Is there any way to verify what date my order was processed and shipped out?

My card # XXXXXX, with an expiration date of XXXX.

thanks in advance for your help,

Les

[/ QUOTE ]

They replied a few minutes ago:

[ QUOTE ]
Les:

We apologize for the delay. There is currently a delay in card processing. Please allow an additional 4 weeks to receive your card. If you do not want to wait for the card we can issue a refund check for the account balance.

LaQuan


[/ QUOTE ]

This is extremely disappointing, and from a personal standpoint, temporarily devastating.

Les

[Stew]

No offense Les, but why would you ever load a card/account or cash out to an option where you don't have any physical means to access the cash by not actually having the card?

[LesJ]

[ QUOTE ]
No offense Les, but why would you ever load a card/account or cash out to an option where you don't have any physical means to access the cash by not actually having the card?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I was told that the actual card would be here in "7-14 days." Secondly, as far as accessing the cash, I can re-deposit it to Pokerstars or use it to buy stuff online. It is not like the cash is "lost." My thought process was to stick some money on there before I got the card so I could get ahold of some cash as soon as the card came, since it usually takes a day or two for cashouts from PokerStars to hit any cashout mechanism. I don't believe this is a case of me being negligent or risky.

I sent a another email to their customer service:
[ QUOTE ]
LaQuan,

Thank you very much for your time today. I really appreciate it.

Goofy question tho: If we can get a check processed and sent out so swiftly, what is the physical holdup with the card? Not being in this business, I am ignorant as to what issues you folks are encountering. I even asked the lady on the phone on Wednesday if there were any delays in the processing and she responded that she did not believe so and that I surely would receive my card "by the end of the week."


Thanks again,

Les




[/ QUOTE ]
Here was their very concerning response:
[ QUOTE ]
Les:

We do not print cards in the US. Right now there is a delay in processing. We usually do not issue customer refund checks, but are only doing it because of the delay.

LaQuan



[/ QUOTE ]

I just got this and I find it very confusing. Did PokerStars get a processing system set up that will NEVER be able to adequetly be used by US customers?

Les

[Tofu_boy]

[ QUOTE ]
No offense Les, but why would you ever load a card/account or cash out to an option where you don't have any physical means to access the cash by not actually having the card?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have the same though.

[Coy_Roy]

[ QUOTE ]
Les:

We do not print cards in the US. Right now there is a delay in processing. We usually do not issue customer refund checks, but are only doing it because of the delay.

LaQuan


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm hoping this means that customer service (which is hopefully located in the US) is unaware of the cause of the delay which is happening outside of the US,where the cards are created.

Hopefully.

[LesJ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Les:

We do not print cards in the US. Right now there is a delay in processing. We usually do not issue customer refund checks, but are only doing it because of the delay.

LaQuan


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm hoping this means that customer service (which is hopefully located in the US) is unaware of the cause of the delay which is happening outside of the US,where the cards are created.

Hopefully.

[/ QUOTE ]

I shared my concerns with PokerStars support earlier today, and this is the response I got.

[ QUOTE ]
Hello Les,

Thank you for writing.

The representative meant that the cards are not made in the US, but in a
foreign country, which makes it last longer for them to retrieve them and
then send them to you. Also, since this is such a convenient method, there
are many players that have switched to it, which have cause PayTru to have
a sudden and unexpected growth.

Please let us know any time we may be of further assistance.



Regards,

Jessica
PokerStars Support Team


[/ QUOTE ]

[Coy_Roy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Les:

We do not print cards in the US. Right now there is a delay in processing. We usually do not issue customer refund checks, but are only doing it because of the delay.

LaQuan


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm hoping this means that customer service (which is hopefully located in the US) is unaware of the cause of the delay which is happening outside of the US,where the cards are created.

Hopefully.

[/ QUOTE ]

I shared my concerns with PokerStars support earlier today, and this is the response I got.

[ QUOTE ]
Hello Les,

Thank you for writing.

The representative meant that the cards are not made in the US, but in a
foreign country, which makes it last longer for them to retrieve them and
then send them to you. Also, since this is such a convenient method, there
are many players that have switched to it, which have cause PayTru to have
a sudden and unexpected growth.

Please let us know any time we may be of further assistance.



Regards,

Jessica
PokerStars Support Team


[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, very good, and good to know.

I think we should now leave support alone about this for a time as we go back to just being patient.

[flafishy]

I'm not sure why we're being panicky here? You do have an account number and can use the account to move money around, correct? It's just that you don't have a card to hold onto? Why get so worked up about that?

[ridonkulous]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure why we're being panicky here? You do have an account number and can use the account to move money around, correct? It's just that you don't have a card to hold onto? Why get so worked up about that?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because they want to get cash from an ATM machine?

[wade17]

Anyone know whats the minimum you can load on the paytru card?