Reloadit's definition of a "calendar day"

[Linda marshall]

I don't know about you, but when I read, "You may make a maximum of $1,000 in Bill Payments per calendar day using Packs in your Safe. A calendar day is midnight to midnight Pacific Time" to ME that means; if I made and completed a load at 11:58 p.m. on Monday, I should be able to load again on Tuesday morning as early as 12:01 a.m. Apparently that's not the way Reloadit interprets their policy. Their interpretation, although it varies depending on which CSR you speak with, generally holds that a "calendar day" means 24 hours from the last load. What about the "midnight to midnight" part, you ask? Again, it depends on who you ask. I called this morning to find out why if I hadn't loaded since last night, I was getting an error message that said I had reached my maximum load. Strangely enough, the first answer I got was that I couldn't load because there was a $1000 WEEKLY load limit!! When I challenged this, the CSR insisted that despite what I was reading online, she was reading directly from the terms and conditions I had agreed to when I signed up which stated that the limit was $1000/week. I asked where I could get a copy of that information and she put me on hold. When she came back, without any acknowledgement it, her story changed. She explained that I was getting the error because I had just loaded last night at 8:37 p.m. so I would have to wait until after 8:37pm tonight to load again. I was about to ask her what happened to the "weekly limit" that she insisted was "in my contract", but my phone battery was about to die so I hung up. I was curious however, so I charged my phone and called back. Twice. And each time, not surprisingly, I got different answers. Ok, they were admittedly variations of the same theme; a calendar day means 24 hours from the last load. In the second call, when I pointed out the discrepancy between what I was reading on the website and what I was being told, the CSR agreeably acknowledged that the policy just changed on Monday and they've got technicians working on changing the language on the website "as we speak". Beginning to believe that they randomly pulled answers out of a hat, and curious to hear what else they might say, I tried again. This time, after being assured that there had been no policy change, I found myself having a strange, almost surreal circular debate about semantics that was destined to fail. It went something like this:
Me: "The website indicates that a calendar day runs from midnight to midnight PST, so technically yesterday was yesterday and today would be a new day, right"
CSR: "Yes, that's correct, Mam. Midnight to Midnight means 24 hours from the time of the last load."
Me: "No, 24 hours from the last load means 24 hours from the last load! Midnight to Midnight PST means the clock starts over at midnight pacific standard time"
CSR: "That's what I'm saying, Mam. So, 24 hours from that time you can load again....."
Me: "NO! It means after midnight I should be able to load again!! If it's 24 hours since last load, why would it matter what the time zone was?"
CSR: "Mam, like I have been telling you, starting from the time you load, you have to wait 24 hours until you can load again"
Me: "I understand what YOU are telling me, but that is different from what I am reading on the website!"
CSR: "No, the website says the same thing I am saying, midnight to midnight is 24 hours."
Me: "It doesn't say that!! It says midnight to midnight is a calendar day! That means a new day starts at midnight!!"
CSR: "Yes, a new day starts at midnight, but you have to wait 24 hours until you can load again. So at midnight the next night, you could load again. Midnight to Midnight, or 3 to 3...... the same thing."
Me: "Aaarggghhhhh! Okay, But I don't know why they didn't just say per 24 hour period, because that is apparently the policy!"
CSR: "That is correct Mam, 24 hours is a calendar day."
Me: "Right. 24 hours IS a calendar day. We can certainly agree on that! Thank You."

I guess I will be waiting until after 8:37 tonight to load my remaining packs. But because I am curious to hear how other people interpret "midnight to midnight" I've posted a poll.

 

[Matt]

Personally, I'd not worry about things like semantics. Accept that things are odd when it comes to prepaid cards, and as long as you haven't totally lost money in the process, take it in your stride.

You're not likely to be able to straighten out a prepaid so it works super smoothly for MS.. if they are going to fix based on what you are up to, they're likely to really fix it...

 

[Linda marshall]

@Matt, I think you misread my tone and my point. Let me clarify, I wasnt really expecting my calls to change anything, I don't think the CSR's have that kind of power, I was just sharing what transpired because 1) I do find it frustrating to get a different answer with each call --except of course when it works in my favor "HUCA" and, 2) the miscommunication taking place with the last CSR seemed absurdly funny to me. Also, for the record, I am very careful to avoid doing anything that might jeopardize the MS community. I did consider the potential for risks, but in this case I concluded that because I was calling in with a clarification question only which did not required to give my name, they had no access to my account or information related to my account or MS activities.
After posting this morning, I had a discussion with my 13 year old daughter about what seems (seemed?) to me to be such an obvious example of poorly chosen (unclear) if not, as it seemed to me, flat out WRONG use of terminology to convey the actual policy. The fact that she took the contrary position I would have been chalked up to the fact that because I'm her mom, at 13 she feels compelled to disagree with me, but judging from the poll results 2/0 against my position, I'm really curious!
Despite what it may seem, I'm honestly NOT invested in "being right" nor winning, my tone here is meant to be far more playfully incredulous and inquisitive. Ok, and truth be told, the calls did feel like an interesting diversion from the long list of to-do's that should have been the topic of my focus. Still, I do remain curious about the logic behind the (IMO- mis)interpretation of "midnight to midnight PST" meaning anything other than calendar day, so I hope people will respond with some counterpoints to my position. I'm open to different ways of thinking, so bring it on! If nothing else, it will make for a great and I'm sure, lively family discussion around the dinner table tonight!