Direct Express Provides Abysmal Service to People with Disabilities

Direct Express is a prepaid card which allows individuals receiving federal benefits such as Social Security a means to access their funds. 

I’m a disabled American receiving Social Security Disability Insurance while living overseas.  Recently, my Direct Express debit card, which I use to access my benefits, expired. 

On September 1^st I called Direct Express customer service to activate my new card.  The representative I spoke with assured me that my card was now activated, and that I could immediately begin using it without any trouble.  However, when I attempted to get cash from a nearby ATM machine on September the 3^rd, the ATM machine displayed an error message indicating that my transaction could not be processed.  Earlier I had verified that I had more than enough in my account to make the withdraw I was attempting, but still the ATM machine would not process my request. 

I returned home after not being able to withdraw any money and spent the next several hours attempting to contact Direct Express customer service.  However, each time I called I received a recorded message stating that Direct Express was receiving a higher than normal volume of calls, and then the call would be automatically disconnected from Direct Express’s end.  Keep in mind that I live in a time zone which is twelve hours opposite of the US, so how many calls can they possibly be receiving at 3am, local US time?

At around 8:30 pm I was finally able to access the main-menu (dial one for English, star for main-menu, and seven for customer service).  A recording informed me that all representatives were busy, that I should remain on the line, and that they appreciated my business. 

I briefly heard the sound of a ringing phone after waiting on hold for approximately thirty minutes, but then my call was mysteriously disconnected without me being able to speak with anyone.

 I immediately redialed Direct Express customer service, and then spent approximately the next hour or so on hold, waiting to speak with a customer service representative.  Eventually I was able to speak with a female customer service representative who told me that my card had been “locked” due to the fact that I was traveling outside the United States.  Unfortunately, I was distracted with the issue of getting my card to work, and I did not catch the female rep’s name. 

When I attempted to explain to the rep that I was not traveling outside the US, and that I have in fact been a legal permanent resident of a foreign country since 2013, she immediately adopted a confrontational/sarcastic attitude towards me.  When I asked her if my card was unlocked, she told me that the procedure to unlock my card might be completed in as little as a few minutes, or it might take a few days.  According to her, I would just have to keep going back to the ATM to find out when it was working. 

 I informed the rep that I wanted to speak with a supervisor, and at this point she became even more hostile, and she began raising her voice to me.  She repeatedly demanded to know why I wanted to speak with a supervisor, but every time I told her it was because I was unhappy with her service, she would simply pretend that she did not hear my answer, and would again ask me why I wanted to speak with a supervisor.  Eventually the rep agreed to transfer me to a supervisor, but instead of transferring me to a supervisor, she transferred me back to the main-menu of the Direct Express’s customer service tree. 

 Once again I navigated the tree and waited in queue for my turn to speak with a customer service representative.  But after approximately thirty more minutes of waiting on hold, I was once again disconnected without being able to speak with anyone.  By this time, it was nearly midnight in my time zone, so I decided to give up for the day.

 When I attempted to call back on September 4^th, I continually received the recorded message indicating  that Direct Express was receiving a higher than normal volume of calls and that I should call back later.

 On the following day, September 5, I called Direct Express customer service at approximately 7:20 am my time.  At around 8 am a customer service rep by the name of Jacklyn took my call.  I asked Jacklyn if she could help me verify that my card had been unlocked, and that it was now working.  I spoke with Jacklyn for less than one minute before she informed me that she would have to put me on hold to check that information.  It is now 8:45 am, and Jacklyn still hasn’t returned to my call to let me know if my card is now unlocked or not. 

As someone who spent five years working in customer service, over a decade ago, it is my opinion that Direct Express’s customer service is so ineptly bad that it can only be described as being completely dysfunctional. 

 The really bad part is that Direct Express customer service is supposed to provide assistance to people who are suffering from disabilities.  However, instead of providing adequate customer support, Direct Express’s customer service staff frequently engage in behavior that can only be described as uncaring, sarcastic, and belligerent.  That is, if they even bother to pick up a customer call without dropping it after a sixty-minute hold time.  Moreover, Direct Express customer service staff are frequently unable to provide customers with basal information, they are unable to solve basic issues in a timely manner, and they often provide information that is false or misleading, just to end the call. 

 Does it typically take BofA customer service several weeks to get a non-functional debit card working again?  No, it does not. 

 Since Direct Express is used to distribute federal benefits, perhaps the public would be better served if Direct Express’s customer service operations were relocated to India or the Philippines, where most of the workforce displays a much better work-ethic.