CougarOne is the most inefficient, frustrating service in the world. I have been trying to access my refund from UH for the past seven days with no luck. First, my PIN needed to be updated, so I went to the CougarOne office, but apparently they cannot do anything about PINs or withdrawals.
The only form of assistance I received was direction to a phone where I could call CougarOne, and then told to go online and fix my password.
In frustration, I left the CougarOne office and went home, from where I accessed the Web site and changed my PIN. I tried several ATM’s but they did not work. I went back to the CougarOne office, which was nothing more than another exercise in frustration.
I then called CougarOne from my cell phone, since I felt it would be useless to walk to the CougarOne office, and I was told that I would have to go online and reset my password.
Frustrated beyond words this time, I asked the CougarOne representative if she could send me a check to my home address, to which she replied that there was nothing she could do about my PIN, about sending checks to me or much less anything else.
She further elaborated that I would have to do all that online. It took all my strength and inner resources to remain calm and polite, but I thanked her and hung up.
As of this writing, I have not been able to access my money, and I am quickly losing faith that I ever will. I had never received such dismal customer service. If this is the trend of the future, I tremble for the millions of small customers such as myself, who find themselves powerless and alone.
Elena Delavega Ph.D social work student
