After getting a summer job at a local restaurant chain, I was given a paychek plus visa card for my paychecks as I didn't have information on me for a direct deposit. I thought it was cool at first but soon realized I was being had. I'm sure the restaurant gets a kickback for signing up employees for this card because it's basically guaranteed Visa is going to make at least a few bucks on every single person that is signed up for one.
I got a few hundred dollars on the card and wanted to get cash out of it because I did not want to carry around yet another card and try to manage its balance. I went on the site and found virtually zero methods of getting my money without paying at least a few bucks of fees. Being that this is money that I actually earned, I thought it was bullshit they were holding it hostage. I figured it'd be smarter to just use it and slowly burn down my remaining balance.
I did use it and forgot about it. With just 50$ left on it the stupid card, and 6 months of inactivity, they charged $5 for maintaining my account. I used it and again forgot about it for 6 months and was charged again. By the way, when you try to look at your balance online, they only let you go back 13 months and only let you look at spans of only 3 months at a time. So if you want to scroll back through your history, your only option is to do the math in your head and type months in increments of 3 like an idiot. This is not a software limitation, they are 100% trying to fuck you. They made looking at your history difficult on purpose so you don't realize you are being scammed, putting the blame on you.
I got charged for this $5 fee twice and finally sat down to cut any link I had with this bullshit service. Being that any way of getting YOUR money off the card is going to cost at least a few bucks, once you cancel, they are always going to eat up your remaining balance. While on the phone I was also told that if I had not called up and cancelled the card myself, I would get charged 5$/6months in perpetuity even into a NEGATIVE BALANCE. If I had forgotten about this card and realized it 10 years down the line, I would owe them $100 for doing jackshit.
Beware of this scam, they are obviously preying on people who are forced to get one of these through their employer and who treat it as a real giftcard, where you may get charged a fee of $2 after 2 years and where the balance never gets negative. But, it's not about the couple dollars, its about Visa subtly trying to squander my money for doing nothing but signing a deal with my employer. Refuse one of these cards or be extremely vigilant in not getting charged. Fuck the paycheck plus card by visa.
