Beware of making check payments through Bluebird. They have a weird system wherein they deduct your account even before the payee deposits your check. They don't have a "stop check payment" option. And, they won't return your payment even if it shows on their own system that the check did not clear.
Here's my story:
1. On Sept 17th, sent a check for $420 through Bluebird Pay Bill option. The merchant never received the check. As Bluebird online system shows the check never cleared (see screenshot below). However, Bluebird deducted $420 from my account.
2. On Oct 5th, I called Bluebird to stop the payment on that check. They did not have a "stop check payment" option. Instead, they disputed the charge. Meanwhile, I sent a second check for $420 to the merchant. He did receive this check, and the Bluebird online system shows the check cleared (see screenshot below).
3. I have called Bluebird at least half a dozen times, I have opened the case 4 times with them. 3 times, they refunded the amount to me. A few days later, they take the amount back from my account claiming that the merchant did receive the payment. The last time, on Nov 22nd, they even sent an email saying that, "After completing our review on your behalf, we are pleased to let you know that your account has been credited $420.00. This case is now closed." But two days ago, on Dec 8th, they deducted $420 again from my account.
This has been incredibly frustrating. Each time I call customer service, they just open a payment dispute case. They say that they can't see the same view of my transaction which I see, showing that the check did not clear! Incredible as it may seem, the customer service people are simply not able to see the same info that the customer sees, and verify that the check did not clear! They claim there is nothing else they can do other than opening a dispute. Each time, I ask to talk to someone else, they claim that they checked with the merchant and he told them that he did receive the payment. I have talked to the merchant and he told them clearly that he did not receive the payment for Sept 17th, but he received the second payment from Oct 5th. But Bluebird customer service and dispute resolution department simply does not seem to understand or care. Meanwhile, my $420 is stuck with them for 3 months now! I have no idea what to do from here to get someone to actually solve this issue for me.
