Readers with active Serve & Bluebird accounts are reporting that their accounts have been shut down. We used to see frequent shut downs in 2017, but those stopped until a recent shut down wave in May and now we are seeing this second wave this year. Looks like we are back to seeing frequent shut downs.
View Comments (62)
Two of my Serves were shut down this morning. I lost online access to one on the 12th but could log into the other until the past several days. I called on the 12th and was told "it's nothing to worry about, we are just verifying some transactions with Dollar General and you should regain access in 3-5 business days". This was expected but previous shutdown simply barred loading of the card and I could still use it. This shutdown blocked all access (even calling the number on the back of the card ends up hanging up on me after telling me I'm permanently suspended).
It's bittersweet that they closed them and I'm somewhat disappointed they didn't close my wife's as well. I know that I don't have to load there, but I'd love to never set foot in another DG or Family Dollar.
Several reports of other BB and Serve shutdowns today on r/churning MS weekly thread as well.
Didn't get an email and can still login to my account, however, whenever I try to pay a bill (car loan) I get a notice saying "We are unable to complete your request at this time. Please call Customer Service at...". I get that error when trying to pay my mortgage too. I'm hesitant to call in, but I will, any suggestions?
same here. I deleted the payee and tried to re add- not working.
1 shutdown 2 survie , it just last less than 6 months for last round of shut down
Just got an email from BB.....I may be a bit paranoid but I wonder if there is more to this than just an update?
"Due to planned system maintenance, any saved contacts that you’ve paid a bill or mailed a check to from your American Express Bluebird® Account will unfortunately be removed on December 11, 2019. Your saved payees will need to be re-added as new payees after December 11, 2019 to use the Pay Bills and Mail a Check features for future payments. "
My guess is they may be switching platforms for bill pay and also the other company taking over from Amex (the one they announced long back but never actually happened?).
"(!) Unable to Sign Up
Sorry, we are unable to approve you for an Account at this time.
Thank you for your interest in American Express Serve."
Never got emails for both my BB and Serves. Also was able to login to both sites and didn’t notice anything different. Been maxed out on my monthly loads since Oct 20. I guess the true test will be Nov 1 when limits reset and see if I can reload or not. Have a stack of $5k in GC’s to liquidate. Fingers crossed.
What is the easiest way to tell if you were shutdown (and did not get an email)?
You can register a debit, not gebit, card on the website and try to load a small amount.
Try to load your card. If you haven't met the monthly limit and it won't let you load, that's a pretty good sign.
Right. I meant other than driving to Walmart.
Reload, or try, your card without driving to WalMart using this new thing Al Gore invented a few weeks ago. Called the intarwebs? inner tube? webnet? Something like that. If you hold your bank debit card up to the monitor at exactly 90 degrees from the BB login screen, you can add money to BB using the glory of Al Gore's invention.
If that doesn't work, then either you're banned or you haven't bought enough carbon credits to offset your WalMart trips, in which case you need to contact Curmudgeon Enterprises as we're running a sale on carbon credits this week.
No email and I can still log into both apps. Updates for both apps are showing up in my app store and I'm almost afraid up let them go. lol
I thought AMEX sold their prepaid business to another company. So I guess the blacklisted were included in the deal?
There is a notification in BB after login saying 'Due to system maintenance, all stored payees will be removed on 12/11/2019 and will need to be re-added as new payees after this date.'.
Not sure what it means or what they are getting to.