Quote:
Originally Posted by CDSmith
Here's the thing about posts like this one quoted --- who gives a shit if *you* haven't had any problems with them? What matters is that the original poster IS having a problem. Comments like yours serve no purpose in a thread like this, thus they are irrelevant.
I realize it is human nature to want to stick up for something you believe in or support your friends, but shouldn't we as humans also be intelligent enough to at least include some helpful advice for the person who actually IS having a problem with said company? Think about it.
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Much too intelligent a comment for an EP thread.
Something else the cheerleader squad tends to overlook is that the vast majority of the business which nominally EPassporte conducts, is entirely handled by computers and most of it by someone else's (ie their bank's) computers. Since their bank is hooked into and depends on the same network as every other debit card issuer, it is hardly surprising that the performance is comparable.
In any practical sense, EP's customers only work with EP themselves when something goes wrong or a question arises. If you are lucky, your question will be one which is covered by a scripted answer, otherwise basically you are screwed.
Dell telephone support - for example - can be equally frustrating, but if you insist, you can speak to a supervisor and responses to email questions are usually helpful. EP is the only service company I can think of which makes it near impossible to get past first-line support and has people handling email enquiries who appear to use the same limited number of scripted answers as those who work the 'phones.
So you fall back on Keyser and often he seems able to get more sense out of them, but he is on the outside. As I discovered a few months ago, if he is given wrong information or runs into a rubber wall too, his value is also limited.
Over the past 3 years or so I have had 3 or 4 all thankfully minor issues. More than with other cards, but not so bad. However, every single one has needed Rand's or Keyser's help to resolve and has taken days or weeks to sort out. If any of these same issues had arisen with a bank, none would have needed more than a single, quick telephone call.
Before anyone chimes in that EP is not a bank, that is not the point here. The point is that they are all service businesses and in that respect EP compares dismally.