My complaint:
In January of this year, Direct Express bank discontinued my debit card and issued a replacement. All my Social Security payments are made to that card. I live overseas because I cannot afford to live in the United States. When I learned what had happened, I had the debit card sent to my home address in Michigan where it was activated and forwarded on to me. This process took a total of six weeks. After I received the card, I found that I was unable to access cash at any ATM — this, even though my old Direct Express debit card worked perfectly well wherever I traveled whether in the United States, Mexico, Spain, or The Gambia, West Africa, where I live currently. All the ATM systems recognize the card with my name, etc, but when I try to withdraw cash, I receive the message bank declined.
I have made multiple, unsuccessful attempts to contact Direct Express by phone to resolve the issue using their international number which is not toll free. The last time I called I was put on hold for so long I burned through $50 worth of phone credit without reaching a real person. I had my sister try to contact the company, however, they refuse to speak with anyone but myself.
Other attempts to reach Direct Express have resulted in an automated message to the effect that they were unable to process the call due to heavy call volume. Again, these failed attempts to reach a real person result in great expense to me in phone charges. How can i resolve this issue if I cannot speak to a real person at Direct Express in person?
Blake
Suggested solution:
Make my debit card work