Just wanted to let others know of the issue I encountered doing this shop....I have several emails in to the scheduler about it....haven't heard back yet. It is being scheduled by Summit Scheduling for a Sassie company. Anyhow, here's the situation.....

I was scheduled yesterday (8/22/16) to go to a convenience store and purchase a Net Spend Visa Prepaid debit card, if they were available, and take a photo of the rack. No problem. Got the photo, and found the card. I brought the card to the cashier, and she attempted several times to "swipe" the barcode on the back packaging of the card, as is the norm. She could not get the card to be "read" when swiping it, so she couldn't get the card loaded. Then she found her laminated instruction sheet, read it over, and this time, INSTEAD OF swiping it, she scanned the barcode with a handheld scanner, and she seemed pleased, and said it went through. She then asked me how much to load, and I told her, and that seemed to go through. Then the fee to load came up and that seemed to go through....I paid with cash, got my receipt, and left. All seemed well.

NOT!!! When I got home, I attempted to activate the card, as per the shop requirements, via the online website. After entering the card number and 3 digit code on the back, I got a message that "something went wrong" and to call the Net Spend customer service number listed on the screen. So I attempted this three times, and got the same results. So then I did call the CS number, and the rep I spoke with, after giving her the number on the card, said the card had never been activated at the store. I explained what happened... that is, that the employee could not get the card to do whatever it was supposed to do when swiped, and that she ended up scanning the barcode with the handheld scanner, and that everything seemed to go through. The rep told me that the barcode on the package ABSOLUTELY had to be SWIPED and NOT SCANNED, and that I would have to go back to the store and have it attempted again....swiped....or else get a NEW card, or else get a refund!!!

WHAT A MESS!! So last night I emailed Angela@summitscheduling TWICE through my own email, and TWICE through the Sassie email at the Sassie "Help/Contact" screen, and explained ALL the issues, but have heard nothing back yet. I also "wrote up" the report as best I could, but have NOT submitted it yet, and am hoping someone from either the Sassie company or Summit Scheduling can somehow "read" what I have written, so they can see the issues.

Others have also praised Judith from Summit Scheduling, so this morning I have emailed her as well, asking her to please try and find Angela to get her to read what is going on, since the shop was DUE YESTERDAY!!

I just wanted others to know the ISSUES that MAY CROP UP if you choose this shop.....I hope I get some advice/direction SOON, because one way or another I need to recoup the money I loaded on it, as well as the loading fee, and I don't want to wait much beyond this afternoon!!

So BEWARE of what MAY happen if you choose this shop!! If others have encountered a situation similar to this, how was it handled for you????? Thanks!

This sounds like a nightmare. I have no advice. I hope you can get your money back.

Thanks for the heads up.

It takes time and energy to warn other shoppers of SNAFUs like this.

Thanks again.

I did the shop Sunday. It went OK, I did have some problems trying to get some cash off the card because I needed it to cover a bank shortage lol. Just remember that to get money back off the card: Most atm's are $20.00 minimum withdrawal. You have to have more than $20.00 on the card to get that $20.00. I could not use it that day in the long run because "activating it" is considered a transaction, and you only get one transaction the first day. So I was finally able to get some cash off a different bank shop card by buying a piece of caramel and getting $10.00 back to cover my bank shortage. Thank goodness for the nice ladies at the pharmacy for telling me about this cash back feature of $10.00.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2016 02:54PM by sbobgal.

Well, just like I've read on other threads here in the Forum, the folks at Summit Scheduling have been SOOoooo helpful and reassuring, as have the folks at the Sassie Company that had this shop!! I've heard back from both avenues.....since I wrote up the shop as it happened and saved it in Sassie last night, they said that was FINE and graded me a 9!! WOO-HOO!! (I used some caps when I shouldn't have).They went ahead and finalized it on their end, and so all is good there!! I have been instructed just to take the card back and get a refund, and that if there is ANY problem getting a refund, I have been given the name of someone to contact who will help me through this!! So later today I will go back and try to see if I can get a refund!!

THANK YOU TO THE FOLKS AT SUMMIT SCHEDULING & SASSIE COMPANY who helped calm me down!!

So if ANYONE takes this shop, and at the store end they can't "swipe" the card to get it to work, just be aware that something like this may happen. BUT....if it DOES happen, you have the backing of the folks at Summit & Sassie Co!

Thanks for the heads up and update.

I signed up for it last week. I cancelled when I read the guidelines and saw that my SS# had to be used, and I had to pay with cash.

Thanks for the update. They should pay you an additional bonus for having to make a return trip to get the refund on the non-working card.

I did mine last night. It went completely and totally fine. Zero issues. I put $50 on it. There's $50 there.

Obviously, you have to provide SSN. It's a Patriot Act issue. If you think it's outlandish, I had a cashier put $5000 twice on iTunes cards in 5 minutes for (not profiling but true) two middle eastern gentlemen. You bet we got a call in the morning about that.

Prepaid cards are was to money launder.

Oh and BSA must have my SSN on a Post-It. LOL. So, another $50 ain't going to flag me.

I got my full refund (YAY!) and everyone at Summit Scheduling and the Sassie company doing this couldn't have been nicer!!

I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else!!

Don't forget to opt out of having them sell your information. I forgot to do that today. I have to call during business hours.

You're also charged every time you make a transaction. That comes out of your money you loaded on the card.

Everything with the return went great! The Sassie Company even made sure I had a little something extra for the trouble of having to go back and get the refund! So that was much appreciated!

As far as the card, yes, there are restrictions on using it. I think that's one of the reasons they tell you in the instructions/guidelines to use the card ASAP on one shopping trip if possible, to minimize the withdrawal of fees. I had no problems with the caveats of the card, and had planned to use it this week with the purchase of some groceries, but it turned out otherwise for me.

I would probably try it again, but would make sure I know the card is "swiped" before leaving the store!!!! The fee is fair and the time involved is adequate for the fee, IMHO!