Rush Card users are going on 8 days without access to their cash due to a glitch in Rush Card’s software. If you let Russell Simmons tell it, the problem should have been fixed by now.
Rush Card is a pre-paid predatory debit card for low income Americans who don’t qualify for a traditional bank account.
Simmons and his investors profit from the higher than usual fees they charge to make deposits and cash withdrawals at ATM machines.
According to Buzzfeed.com the problem started when Rush Card ran some sort of maintenance program on Oct. 12. The program ran longer than expected. Within hours, Rush Card users started calling customer service with complaints.
The next day, the problem worsened. Rush Card users took to social media by the thousands to complain. That was last week.
They’re still complaining.
Simmons tweeted a message to Rush Card users to DM (direct message) him their contact information so he could personally call them. But Rush Card users who aren’t on Twitter are screaming down the phone lines — and getting hung up on by customer service.
If you are experiencing problems with @RushCard, please DM me your name, address + phone #. We are working hard to get this all fixed.
— Russell Simmons (@UncleRUSH) October 19, 2015
On Oct. 17, Russell tweeted that users would not be charged fees. But that was little consolation to single mothers with hungry children.
One single mom tweeted: “[I]t’s been a whole week without money, it’s hard out here. Single mother no help. I work hard for my money and now I can’t get it.”
The sap who updates RushCard’s official Twitter account could only assure the single mom that “Your funds and personal information are safe.”
What can you do if you’re a Rush Card user? Well, you might try cutting the card up and mailing the pieces to Russell Simmons. It won’t get you your cash any quicker, but it will feel good to know this won’t happen to you again.
