SAN ANTONIO — Navy veteran Leonard Maye thought he was finally going to get into an apartment after spending the last several months homeless and living at Haven for Hope in San Antonio. He just needed to access his tax refund.
Maye said he lost his home in Kansas last year after an injury prevented him from working. Still, the veteran was able to move to San Antonio last year and get a job with the City of San Antonio while still living at Haven for Hope. He was also able to file his taxes on February 25 and received a significant refund on a Serve American Express debit card.
Unfortunately, he couldn't get the money off that card.
“We’ve been fighting with this card for at least a month… actually,” Maye said. “I went to five different banks…almost every bank company in the city, and almost 30 ATMs.”
Maye got the card from tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt. He said he had tried going back to the business location that prepared his taxes but the staff told him he needed to call the card company directly. Maye tried calling the company but they weren't able to fix the issue. He then tried creating a new PIN number for the card and still had no luck.
While Maye was able to find an apartment that he should be able to afford, he worried he was running out of time to pay for it. That's when he called KENS 5.
“We called you guys because we were kind of in an emergency,” Maye said. “We needed to get that money order to pay for the apartment.”
KENS 5 first contacted some banking experts at USAA to find out where Serve cards could be used and directed Maye to some specific ATMs. The U.S. Post Office also provides options to get money orders so Maye tried that as well.
When the card didn't seem to work correctly anywhere, KENS 5 and Maye went to a different Jackson Hewitt location and double checked his account. A Tax Preparer at that location was able to contact the card company directly and helped Maye fix his account so he could use the card's PIN number.
"They had to fix it on their end," Maye said. "They had to send me an email and after I did all that I could see my account balance."
Maye was later able to withdraw money from an ATM with the PIN number and get a money order and secure his apartment.
"It's really exciting. Especially in a new town with nicer weather here. It's a beautiful city," Maye said. "We're going to introduce the kids to our new place here."
Maye said he was able to get his refund figured out after calling KENS 5.
"After a month of trying to do this all on my own, KENS 5 helped out quite a lot," Maye said. "I wasn't getting the correct information and that resulted in even bigger problems."
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.