Orange cash pre paid credit card fiasco

Dirtydec

Orange cash card fiasco BEWARE
We recently acquired an Orange cash card for my 84 year old mother who is struggling a lot at present,she has assigned her money over to trustees but we thought that by sticking a few quid on this it would give her some degree of financial independence,Orange is a good reliable,dependable Company?How wrong we were......
It has been used twice for online payments to Damart only,and within 2 days of that 2 fraudulent payments have been made to adresses in London and Birmingham totalling £41.50.As soon as we discovered this my sister reported this to the Orange cash customer services @ cost of 50p per minute,their premium rate phone line.She was told categorically that she would have to phone back after the weekend as there was nothing that they could do as the card itself was not actually stolen,I insisted that she phoned them back to clarify this as it seems ludicrous that someone had her card details and could help themselves to her money but Orange could not block the card,again she was told to 'phone back after the weekend.UNBELIEVABLE.
I decided that it would be sensible to transfer the money into another account.I then sent a scathing email to Orange to inform them of our dissatisfaction ,after 2 days I received a standard reply-we cannot deal with anyone else but the card account holder and they suggested that my mother should email them.We could also phone them on their premium phone line @ 50p a minute.So basically it would be costing us a small fortune to tell them that they were hopeless and someone was helping themselves to mother's money.My mother certainly is not capable of emailing in any case.
We will write to them to dispute these payments which we hope are reversed and we will throw the card away.
BEWARE,THIS CARD IS A SHAM,ORANGE CARD CASH IS A JOKE,BEWARE.I am surprised that MSE is recommending it.

Gentoo365

Regarding the first point. The payment services provider must provide appropriate means for their customers to inform them of possible fraudulent transactions. If any transactions occur after the notification (or if there is no means of notification) the customer is no longer liable.

For more details see here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/209/part/6/crossheading/authorisation-of-payment-transactions/made

On the second point. It is not your account, it is your mothers. Therefore it is up to her to discuss the situation with the service provider (orange). They cannot discuss the account with you.

Depending on their particular interpretation of the law they may allow you to discuss the account if your mother rang up and gave permission.

You note that your mother is unable to manage her finances and you mention that there is a trustee of some kind. I am not sure what the situation is but if it is true that she needs help in managing her affairs then you need to make it clear to any financial institution that she has accounts with. They will require the relevant evidence (e.g. a power of attorney) and will note on the account that you are authorised to discuss (and manage) the account on her behalf.

If you opened the account on behalf of your mother, as well meaning as it was, it may be that they have to close the account. As your mother has not accepted the terms and conditions herself.

I believe that you are an honest person and are looking out in the best interest of your mother. However unfortunately we live in a world where some people take advantage of elderly people and even defraud them. This can even happen within families.

Therefore all financial institutions are very wary of relatives ringing up and trying to act on behalf of family members. If the financial institution gives out information about their account holder they can be liable for a fine.

However, this does not mean that you cannot speak to them. Just that they cannot confirm anything back (not even that an account exists). Therefore you can ring up, report the possible fraud/invalid transaction and ask them to write (or e-mail) your mother with a resolution.

If you decide to help your mother understand the letter/e-mail, and help her provide a response then that should be o.k.

Dirtydec

I accept your points which are indeed relevant,however the fact still remains that whether it was my mother or my sister contacted Orange their stance would have been the same-phone back after the weekend!This can hardly be fair when a 3rd party has got the card details and is emptying her account.It also seems a liberty that they are able to earn money on their phone lines whilst we are reporting the issue.I will indeed be closing this account anyway and if we decide to reopen an alternative card we would get the account registered with the POAs noted.

callum9999

What number are you ringing that could possibly be 50p a minute!? I just looked on their website and the only number I can find is a landline number.

I have no idea why they are saying you have to call back after the weekend if the card isn't lost or stolen, but if that's the case then call them back and say you've now lost the card - problem solved?

Dirtydec

The card has not been stolen,we cannot say that it has,that would not be true.The landline number is the one charged at 50 p a minute.......If you would prefer to speak to a Customer Advisor just select the relevant option for more information. We’re open for general enquiries 8am – 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am – 5pm Saturday. Calls to a Customer Services advisor are charged at 50p per minute.

callum9999

Dirtydec wrote: »

The card has not been stolen,we cannot say that it has,that would not be true.The landline number is the one charged at 50 p a minute.......If you would prefer to speak to a Customer Advisor just select the relevant option for more information. We’re open for general enquiries 8am – 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am – 5pm Saturday. Calls to a Customer Services advisor are charged at 50p per minute.

Hence why I said LOST, not stolen. You are aware of the difference are you not? You don't even need to "lose" it outside the house - "it's definitely not been taken out of the house, I just can't seem to find it anywhere...".

What on earth are you using to call them? A satellite phone! Landline numbers don't cost 50p a minute. What number are you ringing that claims it's 50p a minute?

robpw2

i have an orange card and its always been very good, the reason why they probably asked you to call back was for 1. transactions on your account go into pending and do not give full information untill it has been properly processed 1b) this means that they could be pre authorised payement that would be returned to your account within 10 days .
if it was a genuine payent though they usually show up in the transactions section of the account after 2-4 days so they would then be able to process properly

do you check the account online

where was the card used - how did someoe get her details .

aleph_0

One remark on the phone number. They have a landline number (020 8264 8311), but state on their leaflet that to speak to a customer service advisor you "you will be given a number to redial".

So, if the OP has been redialing on a 09* number, then they'll have been paying 50p/minute. However, as others have said calling the landline (020 8) number, would be normal call rates. IMO, to discuss such things, it would be more than reasonable to go through to the lost/stolen menu option.

pcombo

aleph_0 wrote: »

One remark on the phone number. They have a landline number (020 8264 8311), but state on their leaflet that to speak to a customer service advisor you "you will be given a number to redial".

So, if the OP has been redialing on a 09* number, then they'll have been paying 50p/minute. However, as others have said calling the landline (020 8) number, would be normal call rates. IMO, to discuss such things, it would be more than reasonable to go through to the lost/stolen menu option.

Lost/stolen cant help nor will they transfer you to a customer service advisor. I've already tried it.

The 020 number is just basically a auto self service number which is pointless.

Orange dont actually operate the orange card or customer support or lost or stolen.

Dirtydec

Please note,I am not a total idiot,I am fully aware of the number displayed on the web-site and it does state an 020... number but as our learned friend pcombo pointed out you cannot actually effect anything by phoning this number.I do have an email from Orange cash stating ,yes this would be a premium rate line to report our specific issue.I am not going to say that I have lost it or mislaid it when we actually have the thing in our hand.The fact of the matter is that someone has our mother's card details and was emptying her account,this is a card that has only been used twice previously.Are you not worried that Orange have no facility in place or recourse for this type of issue?I am.We have now cancelled the card,we have had an email now stating that we will be reimbursed,but this has taken 10 days to get this far.
I am not a difficult person to deal with I am a reasonably wealthy businessman with several million pounds worth of assets,I have had dealings with many financial institutions over the years but I have never had so much trouble dealing with such an inflexible and unhelpful lot.Rest assured if I can put anyone off opening this type of card I will.
THE END......

Tixy

Have you decided what you are going to use for your mother instead?
Could she not just have a seperate basic bank account with a small amount of funds in it (the same as she would have had on the prepaid card)?
That would perhaps be more practical as she would be able to withdraw cash as well as purchase things? and it would be cheaper.

Just as an aside - if you say to Orange that Mother is not capable of emailing them with her complaint - this doesn't seem to tally with her having used the card twice online, which make may them a little more suspicious of the circumstances.