hi - sorry not all the editing worked on the last item i pasted from what I sent to the onbudsman... ignore the line about lodging a complaint lol!

RBS operated paypal pre pay 'top up card' blocked from use to pay regular utility bills - notmentioned anywhere in advertising NOR t's & c's: Hi I wish to lodge a complaint regarding this product - on which I now have some £500 'trapped' that I cant use to pay the bills I bought the card for! The story: I tried to use my top up card (an essential now my credit rating is shot after a crunch-induced company failure) to pay my phone bill - and it wouldn't do it - so I started investigating why... the t's & c's say it cant be used at hotels or car rental (that need to pre authorise) but why not utilities? - this is madness! I have just been informed that this card (and I quote the paypal telephone rep from memory) 'cannot be used for payment of any 'subscription' service whether or not the payment is a one off and not to be repeated' - in plain English this means you cannot use it to pay your utility gas/electricity/phone/mobile bills. I know - hence vodafone cant take my payment from it much as they'd like to... In fact all the major high value payments you might regularly want to make are blocked.... Which begs the question - do they want us to use this card or not? My Caxton FX euro (currency) prepay MasterCard allows payment at car rental (I've done it) hotels (ditto) and all the above utilities - AND it loads instantly from your bank account (within seconds!) - I hope they see the opportunity and issue a sterling one soon! I have lodged this issue with Elliot in the RBS chief execs office 0131 556 8555 and await his response (his initial reaction was 'well we don't have much to do with this product' - to which I asked whether that was tantamount to them washing their hands of the matter) ....especially their response to the accusation that it cant be used for any subscription service despite no mention of this restriction on the advertising. I have also got trading standards on the case regarding misleading advertising - as you have to pay for this product and I doubt I'd have shelled out up front for a card that can only be used for consumer spending. They need to change the terms for the product to become competitive. Pay pal are known for sharp practice and usually get to hide behind a Luxembourg address - but this is an RBS product and I as a NatWest/RBS business and personal customer expect better than this. Its a restricted and as it stands intensely unuseful product masquerading as another competitive top up card solution. Incidentally - the card has no raised lettering either - so manual processing is not possible - even though this is another restriction not mentioned in either the ad's nor the t's & c's... I think RBS should be brought to book on this one - especially in the current climate where such products are becoming ever more popular. Ive lodged this not only with trading standards, but also the ombudsman, moneybox, you & yours... they are gonna LOVE that... Just thought youd like to know....