Roaming Mum

I hate Unionbank! Among the banks the we have, they have the worst customer service! If it’s not for the EON card, we will never open up an account from them! Let me tell you our experience…

A paypal account is very important for every blogger. It is how we get paid and transact online. For Filipino bloggers, Unionbank’s EON card is just one way of en-cashing your hard earned money. Aside from this, you can also through your own bank account. Can’t withdraw in dollars though… it should be in your peso savings account. I asked my hubby to open up an account and try Unionbank’s EON card because it is said that it has the lowest paypal transaction fee among the other banks. I tried withdrawing money from BDO but they charge Php 200 for the transaction fee, unlike in Unionbank, they only charge Php 50. Now, I realized why they only charge that much!

Strike 1: When we first went to Unionbank, they don’t even know that they have an EON card! I still have to explain what it is and what it does! (I was thinking, “What?! Are you kidding me??!”) Anyways, the lady asked one of her colleagues and asked my hubby to fill up a form. She said that we should call their office after 2 weeks to check if the card is already available. We really didn’t care that much so we went back after a month to get our card. Since they don’t have any available parking space, I have to get the card while my hubby stays in the car. I received the card and let my hubby signed the piece of paper (proof that my hubby received it) returned it back to their staff and left.

Strike 2: After a year, I tried withdrawing money from paypal through my hubby’s EON card to see if the charge is really Php 50. We tried the card in one of their ATM machines and unfortunately, my hubby forgot the pin because it’s been a long time already! So we went back to Unionbank and asked if they could reset the pin for us. They said that they can’t do that and we need to request for a replacement card. So we did! We asked if we could withdraw our money over the counter and the lady said yes but it would also take weeks to get it! Reason??!!! They need to confirm my hubby’s signature! From where??!! From Cebu! (WTF??!!, now my blood pressure is rising…) I informed them that this is the same branch where we opened this account so they should have a copy of my hubby’s signature card! Then this lady says that their forwarding ALL of their signature cards to their branch in Cebu and they don’t have a copy! (What kind of system is that??!!) Since we don’t want to argue anymore, my hubby and I just informed them that we will just wait for the replacement card and went back to our car!

Strike 3: We finally received the replacement card last Friday (Oct. 23). Same scenario as strike 1, they don’t have any parking space, so I have to get the card myself. The same lady didn’t explain anything on what to do with the card. It only comes with the PIN and the receiving paper. We tried the new PIN last Monday (Oct. 26). Out of excitement, my hubby changed the PIN immediately but it won’t accept it. It’s saying “Unauthorized usage”. Since he tried typing the old and new PIN 3x the card was blocked! Assuming it has the same rule as with the other banks, it should be unblocked after 24hrs. We let 24hrs. passed, tried it again lunch time of Oct. 28 in Metrobank. But it’s still saying that the “card is NOT ACTIVE or BLOCKED, please contact your bank!” Gggrrr… this is really pissing me off! Anyway, we went to Unionbank to verify why the card is inactive or blocked. Fortunately this time, there’s a parking space. It’s around lunch time when we arrived. There was just 1 teller, around 3 people eating inside their room looking at me and 1 guy who was supposed to be entertaining my concern, accompanied his lady boss to her car! So basically, there’s no one left for me!  I asked the teller, “excuse me, wala bang tao dito??!” Then he politely answered, “Wait lang po mam ha…(finishing his counting), ano po ba yun?!” I explained my dilemma and he immediately checked it for me. I think the guys is just new because he’s having difficulties solving my problem! After around 5mins. the other guy who accompanied the lady boss came back! He mingled first with the other guys eating before attending to me! Then he finally asks, “Ano po yun Ma’am?!” So, I explained again… Informed him that the first attempt was saying “Unauthorized usage, “. He replied that it’s just “OFFLINE”! Ok, so how come it’s saying that it’s inactive/blocked?! He checked our card in their system and says that the card needs to be activated! He says that the card should be manually activated before we could use it! So how come it wasn’t explained to me when I received the card??!! The paper with the card didn’t even mention anything about activating it! Also, activation can be done through phone! It’s such a hassle if you still have to go to the bank and activate it! The guy says that they could rush the activation and it should be ok within the day, if not, lunch time the next day. True to his word, we were able to use the card and finally withdraw our hard earned money from paypal!

Overall, if you want to have fast, excellent customer service at a higher cost, withdraw from your own bank. But if you want the least charge, then go with Unionbank’s EON card. Remember, you have to be prepared with all the hassle that goes along with the fee!