Ko-Kard: All’s Well That Ends Well

It has been a bumpy ride, but I can’t complain.  Customer service has been great, sans the technical mishaps.  I received my card the day after I created my recipient profile in my client’s Ko-Kard account.  Was really surprised when the LBC guy called out from the gate and told me I had a package from Ko-Kard.  That fast!  I must have made it to their cut-off for processing time, so my card was sent out the same day, and delivered by LBC the next.  Hurray, too, for LBC!

So that was the other day.  I even took photos of my card and posted it on my Facebook account.  Just like my other BDO cards, it came attached on a letter, and the letter says the ATM PIN is also enclosed.  There was nothing else attached so I read the letter again, hoping that somewhere in the jumble of words I would find that 6-digit PIN.  Nothing.

Okay, cool!  I was going to the city (we live in the boondocks) in two days anyway so I was just going  to swing by the bank and maybe they can help.  Meantime, I still needed to wait for the verification of my client’s bank account.

The next day, my other client sent me an email to inform me that he has registered with Ko-Kard, and he wanted to have my KID number.  So I sent it on.  That afternoon, my main client also sent me his bank verification information, so I was able to log in and attach my KID number to his account.

This morning, I finally made that trip to the city, and sadly, it all went to naught.  The BDO staff told me that the default PIN for all their issued cards is 123456, so I should try those.  After 15 minutes of waiting for my turn in a pretty long line, I did just that, but the system told me it was incorrect.  I again went inside the bank and approached the BDO staff for help.  They were really nice.  Let me use their phone to call the hotline.  The first to take my call was someone from their call center.  She didn’t know how she could help me, so I was transferred to another lady.  Again, the voice at the other end of the line had no idea why their default PIN would not work with my card.  So I was again transferred to the Cash Card Department, coz they are in a better position to help me.

Now, this lady at the Cash Card Department is really something.  After relating my problem for the fourth time, all she had to say to me was, “You should contact your card issuer.”

Well, hello!  As far as I can understand, the letter came from BDO Remit, on a BDO letterhead, where my BDO Cash Card was attached, so I’m assuming that I can be somehow helped by the BDO staff.  And the icing on the cake, she did not even bother to ask for my card number, if only to find out if I indeed have a card in my hands.  Some kind of customer assistance you got there, BDO Cash Card!

Now, while I was on the phone with that Cash Card Department lady, the tellers at the bank were already trying to find out the status of my card.  They looked for my account in their system, and told me that the status is issued and active.  That, at least, was a relief.

So, to make a long, sad story short, I just thanked the lovely BDO ladies and told them that I’d just get in touch with the card issuer.  Well, that was after I gave them an overview of what virtual assistance is about and how they, too, can earn from the comfort of their homes.  🙂

Fast forward to now.

I was just on the phone with Joy, a lady with a really sweet voice, who called me after I sent Ko-Kard Support an e-mail asking how I could get a hold of my mysterious PIN.  Joy gave me my PIN, telling me that as a precaution, they really don’t send out the PIN with the card, and that the protocol is really to give the PIN over the phone, after the card holder confirms his/her identity by answering a few questions.  Now, why didn’t I know that?  Apparently, they sent me an e-mail with that information.  That I should let them know the moment I received my card, so that they could inform me what the PIN was.  And the e-mail was sent to one of my addresses that I don’t frequently use.  My bad!

Still with that soft voice, Joy informed me that when using the Ko-Kard, from the main menu of the ATM, I should push on “Withdraw” and choose “Cash Card”.  So there’s that special route you have to go to if you’re making withdrawals from your Ko-Kard.  Something to keep in mind!

So I now have my PIN, and an email just came in a few seconds ago, informing me that a remittance is on its way.

Birth pains!  But all’s well that ends well.  And I hope that my VA readers have learned something from my experience.