Robert Weiss

Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 9, 2016/02/04) */ The payment did post, albeit business days after payment was submitted and the day after the complaint was filed

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 11, 2015/12/24) */ ChargeSmart has successfully reversed these payments from Duke Power and has issued a refund to the customer for bothEmail refund confirmations have been provided to the customer for both paymentsPlease advise if further information is needed to show that ChargeSmart has fully reimbursed the customer for these unpostable payments Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 13, 2016/01/12) */ Ms [redacted] Am just now finding and reading the e-mail you sent on January 5, I would like to advise you that ChargeSmart has returned all the money sent to Duke Energy in October, HAS BEEN RETURNED to meI received the funds on December 24, I received the $140.00, $and both charge fees I want to thank you for handeling this and getting my funds returned to me You do not know how much I appreciate you and your assistance Again, the money has been returned to me and I am very grateful for all you have done to make sure this was taken care of As far as I know, this case can be closeClosed as successful Thank you and sincerely, [redacted] A ***

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 8, 2015/11/04) */ Hello, ChargeSmart is an online bill payment service that submits payments to a network of auto loan, mortgage, education loan, utility companies, and other miscellaneous biller typesWe enable customers to submit payments funded by a debit or credit card to companies that normally do not accept this form of paymentWe charge a service fee that varies depending on the biller and the amount because we are charged an interchange fee by the Card Networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover)Our fee is clearly displayed before a payment is submittedChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting paymentsThe customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller ChargeSmart's website has a distinct green and gray color scheme with the ChargeSmart Bill Payments logo on every page in the upper left hand cornerChargeSmart states on each page that it may or may not have any direct affiliation with the listed biller(s)These measures are taken to avoid any confusion that customers may experience in assuming that we are their biller, rather than a third party bill payment serviceWhile it is true that are not directly affiliated with WE Energies, they do have the ability to contact us, should they choose to do soIt seems as though the WE Energies support agent with whom our customer spoke had not heard of our bill payment service before To address our customer's specific claims, we do not advertise a hour service numberOur support hours are M-F between the hours of 8am and 6pm Pacific Standard TimeIt is also clear that our customer incorrectly dialed our phone number, as it is a verifiable fact that we do not offer Caribbean cruises, nor do we solicit the age of our customers, nor do we offer free medical alert bracelets We show no record of our customer reaching our actual support number of XXX-XXX-XXXX, though we did receive an email request to cancel the payment on 10/after our business hoursUpon receipt of this email on 10/14, we promptly voided the customer's charge, as requestedNo payment was received and no service was renderedThe ChargeSmart account has been closed, so that no further charges can be made We're truly puzzled by the customer's claim that our toll free number led to an offer for a Caribbean cruise or a medic alert braceletAnyone can, at any time, call our toll free number and verify that it leads to ChargeSmart and ChargeSmart onlyAdditionally, having fulfilled our customer's request to cancel the payment, we consider this matter to be resolved

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/19) */
ChargeSmart is an online bill payment service that submits payments to a network of auto loan, mortgage, education loan, utility companies, and other miscellaneous biller typesWe enable customers to submit payments funded by a debit or credit
card to companies that normally do not accept this form of paymentWe charge a service fee that varies depending on the biller and the amount because we are charged an interchange fee by the Card Networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover)ChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting paymentsThe customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller
ChargeSmart's website has a distinct green and gray color scheme with the ChargeSmart Bill Payments logo on every page in the upper left hand cornerChargeSmart states on each page that it may or may not have any direct affiliation with the listed biller(s)These measures are taken to avoid any confusion that customers may experience in assuming that we are their biller, rather than a third party bill payment serviceWhile it is true that we are not directly affiliated with Sheffield Financial, they do have the ability to contact us, should they choose to do so
The customer visited our website on Saturday, August 8th and submitted a payment to Sheffield Financial in the amount of $with a service fee of $Also presented was the information that it takes 2-business days for a payment to post, which was noted on-screen and in our email receipt
On Monday 8/10, our Risk team was motivated to cancel the customer's transaction, as its characteristics and the risks associated with accepting and remitting the transaction were deemed unacceptably highWe voided the transaction before it settled out of the customer's bankWe sent an email notice of the payment's cancellation, just as we had sent the payment's original receiptWhen a payment is voided, the pending authorization will simply drop off anywhere between 1-business days, depending on the bankThe funds that were on hold with the bank would have been released to the balance of funds, or available credit within this time frameWe see that this void was accepted by the customer's issuing bank, that no funds were taken by ChargeSmart, and that no service was renderedAs such, there is no credit to be issued to the customer
Feel free to reach out if further clarification is needed to show that ChargeSmart acted in accordance with its terms of serviceWe apologize if there was any lack of clarity that the payment has long since been canceled, despite our best efforts to inform the customer of this information
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/08/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
On 8/18, after I submitted this compliant a company representative called me to let me know the funds were never withhold from my account as an email canceling the transaction was sent following the receiptOn the same day, I alerted my bank and requested that a hold be placed on the transaction; since, I never received the alleged cancellation emailI allowed ample time (days) for the transaction to clear my account before I called the biller to inquire the paymentThis is the first and last time, I'll pay any biller indirectly

It appears that Mr*** did successfully make a payment of $to *** ** *** on 8/It is likely that Mr*** did not yet complete the payment form before attempting to submit the paymentPreviously completed entry fields would show a green check mark to indicate that they have
been fillappropriately, however the Payment Submit button does not become active until steps 1, and have green check marks on all provided fieldsOnce this is complete, we present the user with a message that their payment is ready to be submittedWe regret that Mr*** was confused, however we did not receive any communications from the customer in an attempt to troubleshoot
The attached screenshot illustrates the record for Mr***'s payment, as it appears in our administrative system
Please see that this complaint is not valid, and that TIO.com has processed the customer's payment, precisely as requested, once the customer was able to follow the necessary steps to do so

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2016/01/05) */
This payment was refunded at the customer's specific request on 12/Refunds typically take 2-business days to post, which would translate to 12/21-The date in which this case was opened was business day number one, which is too soon
for the refund to have processed successfullyWe're glad to see that the customer has received the expected refund and closed the case as resolved

Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 9, 2016/02/04) */
The payment did post, albeit 9 business days after payment was submitted and the day after the complaint was filed.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/12/24) */
ChargeSmart has successfully reversed these payments from Duke Power and has issued a refund to the customer for both. Email refund confirmations have been provided to the customer for both payments. Please advise if further information is...

needed to show that ChargeSmart has fully reimbursed the customer for these unpostable payments.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 13, 2016/01/12) */
Ms. [redacted]
Am just now finding and reading the e-mail you sent on January 5, 2016.
I would like to advise you that ChargeSmart has returned all the money sent to Duke Energy in October, 2015 HAS BEEN RETURNED to me. I received the funds on December 24, 2015. I received the $140.00, $300.00 and both charge fees.
I want to thank you for handeling this and getting my funds returned to me.
You do not know how much I appreciate you and your assistance.
Again, the money has been returned to me and I am very grateful for all you have done to make sure this was taken care of.
As far as I know, this case can be close. Closed as successful.
Thank you and sincerely,
[redacted] A [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/30) */
Hello,
We have used the provided customer information to check our records and unfortunately have no record of a ChargeSmart customer with the name, phone number, address, or email address provided. Additionally, we are unable to locate a...

Toyota Finance customer with the same last name or zip code. We take these matters very seriously and would be happy to investigate this customer's claim, should their grievance truly be with ChargeSmart and not another bill payment service. If the customer believes their account to be with ChargeSmart, we will require the name and/or phone number or email address on the ChargeSmart account.
Thank you
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The account is under my wife's name, [redacted]. Email address for the account is [redacted]@gmail.com
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/26) */
Thank you for providing the information that matches our records. The customer has used the ChargeSmart system to successfully make automated monthly auto loan payments since October of 2011. ChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting payments. The customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller. In June of 2012 we see that a new card was added to the ChargeSmart account and was associated with the payment schedule with the assistance of one of our agents. At this time it was made clear that the payments were being handled by ChargeSmart, and not by the customer's loan servicer directly, had it not been known previously. All communications made to the customer via email and phone were done so as ChargeSmart in an effort to prevent confusion that we are directly affiliated with the billers to whom we submit payment.
While we do provide the tools necessary for our customers to independently add new payment cards and adjust payment schedules, it is common for customers to reach out to our support team for the peace of mind and confirmation that they can let their bills to be paid automatically without further effort. It appears that when the payment card associated with the automatic payment schedule expired in March of 2015, it was not replaced before the April payment attempt. When our system recognized that the chosen payment card had expired when attempting to make April's payment, we froze the automatic payment schedule and sent an email notice to prompt the addition of a new payment card.
After reviewing the customer's logs on our website, which are not made readily available to all support staff, as was the case on 6/29, we have uncovered the following information: When the new payment card was added to the ChargeSmart account, it was selected to be the default card, as the customer stated accurately. The status of default card simply designates that payment card to be the one that is presented by default when making new payments on a one-at-a-time basis. Our records indicate that our customer had also deleted the previously used card before setting the payment schedule to run using the new payment method. When the expired payment card was attempted to be deleted, we presented an on-screen pop-up message that reads:
"This payment method has a recurring payment associated with it. Please update the recurring payment before deleting this payment method."
This warning was not heeded and the card was deleted. The customer then visited the automatic payment schedule and saw that the automatic payment schedule was presenting the one and only payment card as the available funding source, as it was the only funding method. The next payment date was presenting the next day's date, as that was the next available payment date. This information would have needed to be saved in order for the payment schedule to be updated and unfrozen. This requirement for deliberate action on behalf of the customer is to prevent to the processing of payments unwantedly. No such action was taken, and the automatic payment schedule was left in its frozen state and no payments were scheduled to be made.
We understand that it may be confusing to follow a specific order of operations when manipulating an automatic payment schedule. Our support team is made available to assist a customer when needed, and to correct these mistakes before they result in payments not being made. We also understand that the customer feels it is our responsibility to reimburse three months of late fees, though it would have been evident after just one day that the payment schedule was not updated correctly. Simply reaching out to support or revisiting ChargeSmart would have shown that no payment had been scheduled or otherwise made. No payment confirmation emails would have been sent while the payment schedule was still in a frozen state, and no funds were withdrawn from the customer's payment account. The lack of evidence that payments are being made along with a surplus of funds in a bank account is often evidence enough for one of our customers to recognize that their payments have not been made. Prior to the bill not having been paid for three months, no communication was made to ChargeSmart to investigate the matter.
We truly regret that our customer, after having successfully used the system for such a long period of time, unsuccessfully updated their automatic payment schedule and failed to recognize or correct the matter for several months, accruing the previously mentioned late fees. Unfortunately we are unable to refund these late fees to the customer, as they were not charged by ChargeSmart, but by the customer's auto loan servicer. While ChargeSmart's tools make it easy and convenient for its customers to pay their bills automatically using a debit or credit card, it is the customer's responsibility to ensure that the service is used correctly and that payments are made to their biller(s) as required by any financing agreement. We regret that this matter was not recognized by the customer sooner, and that we were not given an opportunity to correct the matter sooner and prevent the accrual of three months of late fees. Please see that ChargeSmart acted in accordance with its terms and conditions, and provided its services without fail when used correctly by the customer.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/07/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
As you can see in ChargeSmart's response, they recognized that I received the email about my credit card being set to expire, and that I added a new credit card and set it as my default card, as well as deleting the expired card. They then admit:
"We understand that it may be confusing to follow a specific order of operations when manipulating an automatic payment schedule."
This is my overall complaint. I did my very best to put in my new credit card and set it up as the card that makes the automatic payments. I did receive the warning that "This payment method has a recurring payment associated with it. Please update the recurring payment before deleting this payment method." When I put in my new credit card, I selected the bullet that made the new card the one that is used for the recurring payment, but it clearly did not work. That's a website malfunction. When I called ChargeSmart, as the person in the prior message suggested that I never did (and he also mentioned how friendly and helpful their customer assistance team is), the "supervisor" told me that it was my fault and it must have been some issue with MY web browser. His tone was basically the same as the previous message above: everything is my fault (and really, the tone in the message above tries to pain me as incompetent, which I surely am not when it comes to computers and using online service; I currently use many online service with automatic payments, and this is the only one I've ever had trouble with).
Thus, I do not accept ChargeSmart's response, and I am even more put off with them now after this response. The fact that they continued to "regret" that I was unable to act probably (or, "navigate" their system) shows an unnecessary stubbornness. And blaming me for not noticing right away that the payment didn't go through does not answer the problem of their malfunctioning, confusing website, which they themselves even admit is confusing.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/17) */
Hello,
ChargeSmart is an online bill payment service that submits payments to a network of auto loan, mortgage, education loan, utility companies, and other miscellaneous biller types. We enable customers to submit payments funded by a debit...

or credit card to companies that normally do not accept this form of payment. We charge a service fee that varies depending on the biller and the amount because we are charged an interchange fee by the Card Networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover). Our fee is clearly displayed before a payment is submitted. ChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting payments. The customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller.
Our customer submitted a payment on Monday November 2nd and shortly thereafter tried to contact our customer support team by phone. We were experiencing a heavier-than-usual call volume on this Monday morning, within our first hour of the business day, and were unable to field this customer's call within a reasonable amount of holding time. When we have a heavy call volume, we ask that our customers provide us a number for a callback, or to leave a voicemail, both of which would be received and handled within the business day. We show that our customer did not choose one of these two options and was disconnected as a result, after approximately 10 minutes of holding. We also see that the customer called back and hung up almost immediately twice. We regret the inconvenience caused by this heavy call volume, but feel that our alternative contact methods provide a fair avenue to resolve customer issues in these cases.
We did not call the customer back, as no voicemail or callback request was made, and we did not receive any email request to cancel payment. As such, the payment was submitted to the biller as had been originally requested. Upon receipt of this complaint, we contact the customer's biller and reversed the payment. The payment was refunded in full, as was requested. We consider the matter to be resolved, as all customer requests have been fulfilled. Please let us know if any further clarification is needed to show that all requests were met as received.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/11/04) */
Hello,
ChargeSmart is an online bill payment service that submits payments to a network of auto loan, mortgage, education loan, utility companies, and other miscellaneous biller types. We enable customers to submit payments funded by a debit...

or credit card to companies that normally do not accept this form of payment. We charge a service fee that varies depending on the biller and the amount because we are charged an interchange fee by the Card Networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover). Our fee is clearly displayed before a payment is submitted. ChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting payments. The customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller.
ChargeSmart's website has a distinct green and gray color scheme with the ChargeSmart Bill Payments logo on every page in the upper left hand corner. ChargeSmart states on each page that it may or may not have any direct affiliation with the listed biller(s). These measures are taken to avoid any confusion that customers may experience in assuming that we are their biller, rather than a third party bill payment service. While it is true that are not directly affiliated with WE Energies, they do have the ability to contact us, should they choose to do so. It seems as though the WE Energies support agent with whom our customer spoke had not heard of our bill payment service before.
To address our customer's specific claims, we do not advertise a 24 hour service number. Our support hours are M-F between the hours of 8am and 6pm Pacific Standard Time. It is also clear that our customer incorrectly dialed our phone number, as it is a verifiable fact that we do not offer Caribbean cruises, nor do we solicit the age of our customers, nor do we offer free medical alert bracelets.
We show no record of our customer reaching our actual support number of XXX-XXX-XXXX, though we did receive an email request to cancel the payment on 10/13 after our business hours. Upon receipt of this email on 10/14, we promptly voided the customer's charge, as requested. No payment was received and no service was rendered. The ChargeSmart account has been closed, so that no further charges can be made.
We're truly puzzled by the customer's claim that our toll free number led to an offer for a Caribbean cruise or a medic alert bracelet. Anyone can, at any time, call our toll free number and verify that it leads to ChargeSmart and ChargeSmart only. Additionally, having fulfilled our customer's request to cancel the payment, we consider this matter to be resolved.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/30) */
Hello,
ChargeSmart is an online bill payment service that submits payments to a network of auto loan, mortgage, education loan, utility companies, and other miscellaneous biller types. We enable customers to submit payments funded by a debit...

or credit card to companies that normally do not accept this form of payment. We charge a service fee that varies depending on the biller and the amount because we are charged an interchange fee by the Card Networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover). Our fee is clearly displayed before a payment is submitted. ChargeSmart is an optional means of submitting payments. The customer always has the option of paying directly with the biller.
Our customer, Mr. [redacted] submitted his payment to Sheffield Financial on 12/11, and was advised that his payment would post in 2-3 business days. His payment was confirmed to have been received by the biller on 12/14, the following business day. The date this case was opened was the second business day after submission, and likely the date the payment posted.
We spoke to Mr. [redacted] on 12/18 and confirmed the account number provided to have been correct. We believe this matter to have been prematurely reported, and also resolved. Please advise if further information is needed to show that ChargeSmart acted in accordance with its terms and conditions.