ComplaintsforBenefits Plan Administrative Services

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On or about February 1st my debit card used with a flexible spending account was suspended. The reason for the suspension was I hadn't uploaded receipts to validate the claims. This is all understandable. I proceeded to track down all the receipts and upload them as requested. During the upload process I accidentally uploaded my son's receipt to my daughters claim and vis versa. Those were rejected. I called and explained the mistake and expressed that I need access to my money in the flexible spending account. They said there is nothing they could do and I needed to go back in and upload the correct receipt to the correct account. After that was done it was another 5 business days to review. During that review it was then discovered that the prescription toothpaste needed a medical letter of necessity. After calling my dentist they indicated they would but that in the mail. I then called BPAS and said I'll just pay for it due to being frustrated with how long I had lost access to my account. Guess how long it takes to update on there end just to give me the ability to pay it... yep 5 more days. Then when this is finally done and I pay the $11.00 I call and ask how long until I get access to the funds in my account. The answer is; you guessed it 5 days until that payment will post to my account, oh and a business day or two for the card to become unsuspended. This is unacceptable, this is my money that I deposit into the account. No fraudulent or nefarious behavior. Yet when you call customer service your met with condescending remarks and a complete lack of awareness that this issue is stopping you from receiving medical care. Stopping you from being able to afford required prescriptions. At this point after over a month of waiting to fill my prescription I cannot understand waiting another 7-10 days! I'm so disappointed in the customer service of this company!

  

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  We apologize for the inconvenience. Based on our records, on February 15, 2024, a claim with an October 18, 2023 date of service in the amount of $11 for prescription toothpaste was denied because supporting documents were not provided as required by the IRS. Over a 114-day period, our system sent at least four communications to you requesting supporting documents, and when we did not receive them, the card was suspended on February 8, 2024. We understand that you attempted to use your card on that date but were unable to do so due to the suspension.  Please note that you do have alternative methods, including filing a claim on online with direct deposit to your bank account, to access funds in your account besides using a debit card, ensuring that your access to funds was never restricted at any point. According to our system, a request for repayment was made on February 15, 2024. We did not receive repayment until February 25, 2024. It takes approximately two (2) business days to process, and repayment was complete on February 27th. We do see that you have once again been able to use your debit card - please reach out to us if you have further questions. 

  Customer response

  02/29/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  The response is inaccurate or misleading. The additional documentation request was not part of the original request to provide receipts. It is inaccurate to say that the previous notices somehow justify the company adding additional requests yet still denying access to the funds. As far as payment being made for the prescription on the 25th that is also inaccurate. The payment was made on the 22nd; however, it "posted" on the 25th then two more days for the card to get updated. Make no mistake by suspending peoples debit cards they are denying access and by not being prudent they are causing people to go without medical needs.   My desired outcome is complete; the card is unsuspended.  Regards,  ******* *******

  

  Business response

  03/04/2024

  Attached please find all requested documentation related to the complaint noted in the subject line.

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Filed all the correct paperwork required from BPAS for a transfer of a large amount of my money. I filled the paperwork out well on the phone with BPAS, so I know it was done correctly. It has been over a month and the money has not been transferred. Very little communication and a lot of excuses.

  

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  A check was issued and sent to you on February 2, 2024. After receiving your complaint, we thoroughly reviewed our customer service logs and your account information. Our records show that on January 8, a BPAS representative assisted you with the necessary distribution paperwork and address change. While our fraud-prevention protocols for address changes typically include a validation period of 10 business days, it appears that your address change was inadvertently put through the validation process twice, which resulted in a delay. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience.  

  Customer response

  02/16/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.   Regards,  ***** ***

• Initial Complaint

  01/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have a retirement account with BPAS from a former employer ******* ***, I left that position on 10/30/2013. My maiden name is ***** ******. On February 2, 2015 I got married, my married name is ***** ******. I mailed BPAS a copy of my marriage certificate in May 2015 after speaking to a customer service rep on the phone. I was told in June 2015 they received my marriage certificate and my name would be corrected. I usually call them once a year, I started using their portal in Feb 2023, uploading a copy of my SS card with the name change. I have had several phone conversations about getting my name changed. Last being Wednesday January 10 2024, at 10:19 AM, I spoke to a customer service rep for over 3 minutes, she (Barbara I believe) said my change was in the que and I would see it in 3 to 5 days. All I want it the name corrected. I have uploaded the ss card and marriage license on the portal 12 times now, I have verified they received the documents required to correct the name on my account 7 times. I have emails proof if you need it.

  

  Business response

  02/01/2024

  Your name has been changed. We apologize for the inconvenience!
  
  After receiving your complaint, we thoroughly reviewed both our customer service logs and the documents associated with your account. Our records show that BPAS began administering your account in 2017, and we have no record of receiving the documents to verify your name change before December 21, 2023. Your name change is now complete!

• Initial Complaint

  10/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been receiving BPAS IRA account validation emails for some time. I’ve moved from my previous address and somehow they have been able to send me notices of my (dwindling) IRA account to my new address. The issue is this. BPAS asks me to verify that I am the rightful IRA account owner. The verification process immediately asks you for your full name (including middle initials), full social security number (not just last 4 digits), full date of birth and current address. In all communications, BPAS only discloses my name and address. I called and they don’t know or won’t tell me where the IRA money came from or how it ended up with them. I certainly never heard of or opened an account with BPAS. Basically they told me BPAS received IRA dollars from “someone” on or around 2021 and it only had my name and address on it. So they can’t/won’t give me any information, but I MUST give them all my personal information in order to validate/claim the IRA or they will continue charging management fees on the account until it goes down to zero balance. Doesn’t this sound like a scam? It is a scam but not the normal one most people would think about. BPAS is a real company, (I believe) they won’t steal your data. The scam is in portraying themselves to me (and others like me) as a potential scam. Since I’ve never dealt with BPAS, asking for all that personal information upfront will look suspicious and scare me away from claiming the IRA money. Others will do the same; and where does all that unclaimed IRA dollars go? To BPAS’ bottom line.

  

  Business response

  11/02/2023

  We are sorry to hear about your frustration with communications from BPAS. Our team was able to locate you in our system and reached out to you on Thursday, October 26th - we did leave a voicemail with a request to contact us. Once we hear back, a team member will be able to walk you through the necessary steps to access your account. Thank you and we look forward to hearing back from you soon.

• Initial Complaint

  06/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am attempting to transfer an old retirement account from Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc (BPAS) (The wrongdoer) to my current retirement account handler: ******** *********** (the intended recipient who has done nothing wrong). I filled out, completed, and signed an account transfer form (see TOA Transfer Form without signature) - which I then sent to Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc (BPAS) so that they could process the transfer. The directions on the form are very specific - the funds are to be sent directly to ********. BPAS allegedly processed the transfer on 01/03/2022 as an "employee rollover" "based on the instructions provided" (see attached BPAS Screenshots). The instructions provided instructed them to send the funds directly to ******** for further crediting to my account. The funds were *never* supposed to be sent directly to me. In June of 2022 I was sent a form indicating that not only had they sent a check payable to me, but they had sent it to an address that I have not lived at in years. (See attached Funds Mishandling Notice) As per my statements from BPAS (see attached statement address), BPAS is well aware of my current address. BPAS willingly disregarded my instructions for the transfer, and willingly sent a check made incorrectly payable to me instead of ********, and willingly sent it to the wrong address. As per the attached "Funds Mishandling Notice" letter, BPAS is now attempting to charge me $150.00 (in a cashier's check or money order) as a direct result of their obvious negligence. If BPAS does not want me to file official complaints with the **** ********** *** ******** ********** (****, then they need to send my funds directly to ******** *********** with a copy of the transfer instructions - as per the original instructions which they had incorrectly claimed to have followed - with no further charges to me. This must be completed by the end of this month in order to avoid my filing a complaint with the ***.

  

  Business response

  06/17/2022

  We’re sorry to hear you had issues with the transfer of funds from your BPAS account to ********. In reviewing your me***ge, there appear to be two key areas of concern:

  1. We didn’t transfer your funds directly to ********.

  With heightened fraud activity across the financial services industry, we make it a priority to protect our customer accounts. Research shows that fraudulent activity almost always involves a request to transfer funds.  As a result, we do not directly transfer funds.  We do state that clearly in our distribution forms. However, since you completed forms from ********, we understand you may have not been aware of our policy. Thank you for pointing out that potential for miscommunication of our policies for customers who don’t complete our forms. We will be addressing that issue going forward. We did send a check made payable to ********, for your benefit, in accordance with our policy.
  

  2. We sent your distribution to an address that differs from the address shown on your statement.

  Because of the volume of statements we generate each quarter, files pass through the **** ****** ******* (****) database. The statement address may be updated based upon that information. However, there are “Red Flag Rules” that we must follow.  For ***urity purposes, we do not update the address of record on an actual account until the new address we receive from the **** has gone through a validation process. Since we didn’t receive an “official” address change request from you, we could only send funds to the address of record in our database.  We are currently looking into implementing protocols to streamline the address validation process, and hopefully avoid the frustration you experienced related to your address.

  One of our Participant Services Representatives will reach out to you to confirm your identity and verify your address. Once we are able to verify the information, we will waive the $150 fee and re-send the check to the correct address.

  We apologize for the inconvenience and hope these steps will resolve this matter. If you have additional questions, please contact our Participant Services Center at1*************.

  Customer response

  06/24/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  I am deeply disturbed by the idea that a customer service agent will "reach out to me to verify my address change" - giving me no way to verify that they are in fact an actual representative of this company when they are asking me to verify my identity, account numbers, address, date of birth, social ***urity number - and whatever else they will allegedly be reaching out to me about.
  
  To date - I have not been reached out to. While I have received many scam calls throughout every day during, and long before, this complaint was file - I have received nothing that is verifiably BPAS.
  
  A great many companies *and* governmental agencies (including the ****** ******** ************** (***) and the ******** ******* ******* (***)) warn consumers *against* such phone verifications on the grounds that there is no way to verify who is calling you. Were BPAS  truly concerned about the potential for fraudulent activity and the protection of their consumers, then this would not be the method of handling these transactions that they would choose.
  
  I would also think that, were BPAS truly concerned about fraudulent activity, they would choose to *not* take possession of, and make investment decisions with, money that does not belong to them without written authorization from the legal owner of the funds.
  
  And yet - BPAS was more than happy to *take* my money without any authorization from me, and to make investment decisions regarding that money without any authorization from me... without my knowledge or my consent.
  

  And now, when I make an attempt to exercise control over *my own money* with a written authorization form, money to which *I* have legal rights and BPAS has *NO* legally authorized rights - they make an attempt to extort $150 from me to get them to follow the written instructions which they are clearly in receipt of.
  
  The deadline of 6/30/2022 for my money to be in ********'s hands to be deposited into my ******** account is still in play. If my money is not handled as per my *written instructions* then I will be making a formal complaint to the ** ********** ******** ********** (***) and any other agency which I feel it may be appropriate to loop in to this ongoing situation. BPAS has no right to make decisions for *my* money, because I have never granted them any such right.
  
  BPAS must turn over my funds in the manner in which they have been legally instructed, and without further fee to me.
  
  

  

  Business response

  06/30/2022

  We’re sorry that we have not been able to connect with you to verify your address. Our IRA Service team attempted to call you and left voice messages asking for a return call. We have also sent a secure email to you at the email address we have in our files with directions on how to update your address through a verified process that we set up for you. As of today’s date, we have not received any response from you.
  
  If you are uncomfortable responding to our messages, please contact us at ************** and select option 5 for IRA Services. One of our service representatives will then be able complete the validation process for your address so we can waive the $150 fee and reissue your check.   

   

  Customer response

  07/01/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
  
  To wit - this complaint should not be closed until my funds have been received in full, with no further fees or other deductions, by ********.

  
  
  *****EMAIL SENT TO BPAS*********
  
  From: Vicki Jones <[email protected]>
  Date: Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 4:11 PM
  Subject: Re: BPAS IRA Withdrawal - Ticket #1531473 BBB Complaint ID #********
  To: Nicholas Reed <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
  Cc: IRA <[email protected]>
  
  
  Nicholas,
  
  
  The form has been filled out and faxed to (315) 292-6483 as per the instructions on the form. A recent utility bill is included, despite the fact that BPAS clearly received change of address instructions from the post office, as clearly evidenced by my statements being sent to the correct address, and the form clearly stating that such notification from the post office is acceptable as proof.
  
  
  BPAS has already missed the 6/30/2022 deadline to get my money to ******** as per the lawfully executed, written instructions received by BPAS many months ago, to avoid a complaint being filed with the United States ***urities Exchange Commision (US ***).
  
  I would advise that you move quickly to ensure that my funds reach my intended destination, in full, with no further charges or deductions against them.
  
  The form is also attached to this email as a PDF.
  
  BBB Complaint ID #********
  
  
  Victoria Jones
  
  
  

  

  Business response

  07/07/2022

  Thank you for getting back to us with the information required to verify your identity and address. We have reissued the check and sent it to your verified address by *** **** *** ***. It was delivered to you at 10:27 a.m. today. Please note that we also waived the $150 reissue fee for you.
  
  As we explained in our response dated 6/20/22, and again in our email exchange with you, we do not directly transfer funds. With widespread fraud attempts across the financial services industry and the fact that fraudulent activity almost always involves a request to send funds electronically, our policy is to only issue a check mailed directly to the accountholder's home address for delivery to the appropriate person/institution. This information is also stated on all of our distribution materials.

  As stated above, we did send you a check made payable to ******** for your benefit in accordance with our policy. Since you now have the check as per the tracking information provided to us by UPS, we believe this matter is now resolved.

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a HFSA and a VEBA HRA account with a company called BPAS. On 05/16/2022 I ran my card at an eye Dr and it was declined. After not being able to figure out why my cards were suspended on my online account or the phone app, I called to find out why. They said that a transaction that occurred on 2/23/2019 for $256.93 was being denied and I would need to pay them back before my cards could be re-activated. They told me to send a check in the mail for this amount. I asked if they could provide me with a bill or documentation stating that I owed them money before I sent a check and they said no. They said they sent me notice in Jan of 2019 that they needed receipts for the transaction (which I sent) then they emailed me on 06/06/2020 letting me know that the payment had been denied and that I would need to repay them. I asked for a copy of the email or any of the documentation and they said they could not provide me with it as it had all been deleted. There is a letter in my account with that date on it but the attachment does not work as the letter has been deleted. I told them I have no problem paying them if I owe them money but I would like a bill or written explanation for the money owed before writing a check since my online portal shows no payment needed. They refuse to send me anything. I have tried asking for documentation or a bill on 3 occasions (5/16/22, 5/17/22 and 5/19/22) with no success even after asking for a supervisor or manager. I would like to receive documentation for my own records from the company regarding this payment needed so I can send payment. If that cannot be given then I would like the charge to be dropped and my cards to be unsuspended.

  

  Business response

  05/24/2022

  We’re sorry to hear you were having some issues finding the required documentation to substantiate the services you received in 2019 that resulted in the suspension of your debit card. According to our records, we sent multiple notices to you explaining that we needed more information to meet IRS requirements to substantiate the expenses. When we didn’t receive the required information, we were forced to suspend your debit card. You were still able to access your account and file claims for reimbursement, however, during the time your card was suspended. We understand that our representatives have been in touch with you and were able to help you locate the missing documentation. As a result, your card has been reactivated which should resolve this issue.   Please contact our Participant Service Center if you have any other questions. 

  Customer response

  05/24/2022

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, they called and were able to produce the requested documentation so the problem was able to be resolved.  Regards,  **** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩