Equifax again proves to be the worst of the worst

[sengsational]

Normally, after a judge issues an order that a company owes you money after a data breach, you get a little check in the mail, and you take a picture of the check on your phone and you're done.

Well, of course Equifax has to screw-up that process.

Today, instead of a check, I get a thing in the mail that says in order to get my $7.43, I need to expose a bunch of information to another entity "myprepaidcenter.com" in order to collect the award.

It's very similar to everything else Equifax does. They make everything overly difficult and so end up doing less. I wonder who gets to keep the money that doesn't get paid-out...probably Equifax. Chief Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., who must have agreed to this payment method, needs to be disbarred.

Beyond the rant, the real purpose of this was to ask if anyone has even gotten this to work.

When I go to the prepaid center, it says "Oops. There's an error on our side. Please try again soon."

 

[sengsational]

Ok, I got past the "error on (their) side".

They make you type in the code, then solve a puzzle, then type in the code again, and it brings you to this page:

They want all your demographics, including email and phone number. Great.

And no indication for how to get actual money. I don't want to "shop online".

 

[Healthy Lifestyle]

I get these potential rewards from various settlements, but 99% of the time I don’t pursue it.

I wonder how many of us actually bother pursuing small settlement checks?

 

[audreyh1]

How annoying!

 

[braumeister]

$7.43 wouldn't be worth it to me. Your annoyance is justified.

 

[rk911]

Normally, after a judge issues an order that a company owes you money after a data breach, you get a little check in the mail, and you take a picture of the check on your phone and you're done.

Well, of course Equifax has to screw-up that process.

Today, instead of a check, I get a thing in the mail that says in order to get my $7.43, I need to expose a bunch of information to another entity "myprepaidcenter.com" in order to collect the award.

It's very similar to everything else Equifax does. They make everything overly difficult and so end up doing less. I wonder who gets to keep the money that doesn't get paid-out...probably Equifax. Chief Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., who must have agreed to this payment method, needs to be disbarred.

Beyond the rant, the real purpose of this was to ask if anyone has even gotten this to work.

When I go to the prepaid center, it says "Oops. There's an error on our side. Please try again soon."

This is one reason I have stopped joining class-action lawsuits. The amount of the award is not worth the time, trouble or the number of hoops one needs to jump thru in order to collect. Life is too short.

 

[Texas Proud]

I do not know why they would do that... since it is a check the money should go to the state if the check is not cashed..

My brother cannot get $25 from someone who never did get the check to him... so went to the state... the state will not give it to him because even though it has his address it does not have his apt number... so he cannot prove it is his!!!

 

[Car-Guy]

I get these potential rewards from various settlements, but 99% of the time I don’t pursue it.

I wonder how many of us actually bother pursuing small settlement checks?

There is at least two of us.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Ok, I got past the "error on (their) side".

They make you type in the code, then solve a puzzle, then type in the code again, and it brings you to this page:

View attachment 53152
They want all your demographics, including email and phone number. Great.

And no indication for how to get actual money. I don't want to "shop online".

I got a rebate from MyPrepaidCenter for our dishwasher. From what I understand, they do offer a virtual MC that you can use online like a credit card. I'm not sure about using it in person, but that's not really an issue for me as I do a lot of online transactions....I just have to remember that I have it, and to use it! But it's good for at least a year.

 

[jim584672]

I've had some of these cards in the past with class actions. They are hard to spend, most places won't allow them. I think Walmart online took it.

 

[simple girl]

How annoying! I recall getting a virtual card as well at some point from the MyPrepaidCenter. I used it online but I remember some difficulty I had. I want to say it was something like I had trouble combining it with another card or something like that. I ended up leaving a few dollars on it. It's hard to buy something for just the right amount. I recall using it at Target for a few small items I bought as a pickup order. Sorry I don't remember more details than that, but FYI! It was quite irritating.

 

[easysurfer]

Remember that Seinfeld episode where Jerry and his friends spent the entire episode trying to get a table reservation but never do? That's what dealing with Equifax is like.

 

[sengsational]

Here's how I almost got "the money" from the Equifax settlement. I say "almost" because I only got a gift card balance at Amazon.com. But since I shop at Amazon all the time, and gift card balances are used up in their entirety preferentially, I will be able to spend the all money without issue.

Once you get the debit card issued from myprepaidcenter.com using your code, you get a virtual preloaded card. Take a screen shot so you don't need to dig for the info on the card. You can add the card to your Amazon wallet, just use the fake address you used at the myprepaidcenter.com for your billing address.

At this point, you might be able to use the debit card, but I wanted to buy more than $7.43 worth of stuff, and I wasn't sure how Amazon would treat a card that didn't have enough money on it. I figured it would just reject the transaction rather than applying all of that card and letting me pick another payment source.

So to get around that issue, I applied the exact funds of the newly minted virtual prepaid card to an Amazon gift card, which usually sits in my Amazon account with zero balance. It took a few minutes to process, but now I have a gift card balance which will get preferentially applied to my next Amazon order.

I can't leave without saying Equifax sucks. Along with Thomas Thrash, who didn't make them write checks.

 

[fosterscik]

Nice way to use those gift cards. I had a couple that I couldn't use very easily. You solved my problem!

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I got a rebate from MyPrepaidCenter for our dishwasher. From what I understand, they do offer a virtual MC that you can use online like a credit card. I'm not sure about using it in person, but that's not really an issue for me as I do a lot of online transactions....I just have to remember that I have it, and to use it! But it's good for at least a year.

Oh! I ordered something from Target this weekend, and thanks to this thread, I remembered to try my rebate card. Turns out Target (and probably many other retailers) allow you to split a charge between two cards, so I put $100 on the rebate card, and the rest on my regular Visa.

 

[alanbennett]

I gave up. Even in retirement, my time is worth more than that required to get the $7.43

 

[bigla]

I had a miserable time with. Had to call and get a new VISA card. Followed steps to put in phone wallet and it would not work. What a waste of time.

 

[firemediceric]

Here's how I almost got "the money" from the Equifax settlement. I say "almost" because I only got a gift card balance at Amazon.com. But since I shop at Amazon all the time, and gift card balances are used up in their entirety preferentially, I will be able to spend the all money without issue.

Once you get the debit card issued from myprepaidcenter.com using your code, you get a virtual preloaded card. Take a screen shot so you don't need to dig for the info on the card. You can add the card to your Amazon wallet, just use the fake address you used at the myprepaidcenter.com for your billing address.

At this point, you might be able to use the debit card, but I wanted to buy more than $7.43 worth of stuff, and I wasn't sure how Amazon would treat a card that didn't have enough money on it. I figured it would just reject the transaction rather than applying all of that card and letting me pick another payment source.

So to get around that issue, I applied the exact funds of the newly minted virtual prepaid card to an Amazon gift card, which usually sits in my Amazon account with zero balance. It took a few minutes to process, but now I have a gift card balance which will get preferentially applied to my next Amazon order.

View attachment 53199

I can't leave without saying Equifax sucks. Along with Thomas Thrash, who didn't make them write checks.

Thank you for providing the step-by-step directions. I had received $22.31 from Equifax and jumped through the hoops as you did to get the virtual card. I added that to my Apple wallet, wondering where I would use it for the exact amount with a merchant that would allow me to use the Apple wallet. The places I shop most, Walmart and Home Depot would not. The fact that it’s a debit card, I wasn’t sure how it would work for purchasing gasoline with a pay at the pump. With your suggestions and outline steps, I just added it to my Amazon gift balance. Thank you again.

 

[NewEnglander]

You got screwed out of .01, My payment was $7.44.

 

[Venturer]

Well mine wasn't from Equifax but a $15.00 Debit card from Valvoline for a rebate on an oil change. It was going to expire in Jan. As has been mentioned it was hard to find anything exactly that amount until yesterday morning. We had carried our pup to petsmart for a grooming. They ask my DW if she wanted the nails just clipped or ground down for $15.00 & I said ground. When we picked her up I ask them to seperate out the nail grinding charge,then after paying the regular groom charge I finished up with the Valvoline rebate card. Next month when the miles are up I'll go back to the same place and get my oil change but now they are offering a $25.00 gift card rebate. I'll just use it for the pup again!

 

[scfr]

Thank you for this brilliant information! I got my debit card added to my Amazon account.

 

[sturge]

Damn...all this for $7.43? Y'all need to find a new hobby for retirement

 

[Chuckanut]

Thank goodness our elected representatives are not doing something to help ensure our privacy. If they did you, me and the person behind the tree might not be $7.43 richer today. Try not to spend it in one place.

 

[aja8888]

My $7.44 is now in my Apple wallet as a MC.

 

[mrfeh]

Difference in amounts is interesting. Mine was $19.something