For quite awhile I have recommended books by Suze Orman and (when I had cable) I watched her show regularly. I lost a bit of faith in her awhile back when I found out that she was being paid to promote the FICO score. I have lost every single bit of respect I had for Suze Orman on Tuesday.
Tuesday saw the announcement of a new product being offered by Orman. She is now promoting The Approved Card, a prepaid debit card. This product, in my opinion is not beneficial to consumers. It is full of fees that rob consumers of valuable dollars. (Admittedly she does offer suggestions on how to avoid some of the fees)
An example of the fees in addition to the $3 monthly maintenance fee:
“The Monthly Account Maintenance Fee of your Approved Card is $3.00. The first month’s fee is waived when you purchase your Approved Card for $3.00. The Monthly Account Maintenance Fee is charged to your Card Account each month on the anniversary of the date your first load of the Card.”
“If you do not sign up for Direct Deposit and make a qualifying deposit or Bank Transfer you will be charged $2.00 per withdrawal at Allpoint ATMs.
If you do not sign up for Direct Deposit and make a qualifying deposit or Bank Transfer you will be charged $1.00 for a balance inquiry or transaction declined at Allpoint ATMs.
If you use an ATM that is not part of the Allpoint network, you will be charged $2.00 per withdrawal and $1.00 per balance inquiry or transaction declined plus any fees charged by the owner of the ATM.”
In addition, if you want to contact customer service more than once in a month, be prepared to pay (first call is free $2 there after). And heaven forbid you want to close your card and have the remaining balance mailed to you:
“In the event that your Card Account is cancelled, closed, or terminated for any reason, you may request the unused balance to be returned to you via a check to the mailing address we have in our records. There is a fee for this service.”
I’m just amazed at the great number of fees involved in that card. If an uneducated consumer were to pick up that card and not read the fine print (and let’s face it, most people do not!), they would be subjected to an absorbent amount of loss. There are a number of free pre-paid debit cards. I wrote about the pros and cons of prepaid debit cards. But I stress, it is only if they were free. A fellow blogger wrote a great post covering many of the free prepaid debit cards out there.
While Suze’s choice to promote this product was enough to stop me from recommending her, it was her blatant disrespect on twitter that has caused me to lose complete respect for her.
When a fellow blogger sent her tweets questioning her decision to develop this product, she resorted to name calling, rude comments and extremely unprofessional conduct.
She has called one of the top Personal Finance Bloggers on the internet, Mr. Phil Taylor of PTMoney.com an “idiot.” She couldn’t be further from the truth.
This tweet is in response to a tweet from @20andengaged defending @PTMoney
She addresses other tweets by saying that people are uneducated, yet she is clearly uneducated about the quality of writing Phil has published for a number of years and the great respect he has from his peers.
She continues with her rude comments by tweeting:
What I find even more disappointing is the quote she tweeted the day before:
Clearly Orman does not practice what she preaches.
Suze Orman has disappointed 100s of personal finance bloggers. She may not consider us but she seriously underestimates the power of the blogger.
If you want to read more, here are a few more articles to do so.
- From PTMoney - http://ptmoney.com/suze-orman-approved-card-prepaid-card/
- From Girls Just Wanna Have Funds – http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/suze-orman-pre-paid-debit-card
- From 20 and Engaged – http://20andengaged.com/suze-orman-approved-card-denied
- From The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/your-money/suze-orman-to-offer-her-own-prepaid-debit-card.html?_r=2
- From Business Insider – http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-09/news/30606540_1_russell-simmons-rush-card-debit-cards-kardashian-kard
- From Time Moneyland - http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/10/suze-ormans-new-prepaid-debit-card-debuts/
- From SoOverDebt – http://www.sooverdebt.com/2012/01/11/suze-orman-prepaid-debit-card/
- From MoneyCone – http://www.moneycone.com/suze-ormans-approved-prepaid-card-bad-wine-in-new-bottle/
- From MyBankTracker - http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2012/01/10/suze-ormans-approved-prepaid-card-reviewed/
What is your reaction? I’d love to hear what you are thinking. Would you ever use a Prepaid Debit card?
Update:
Suze Orman has apologized for her comments and name calling. (if you are not familiar with Twitter, read from the bottom-up on this screen cap)
The PR nightmare that has resulted in the past 36 hours has forced her to admit to the wrongdoing. She will need bloggers to advertise her products, to post reviews about her books and to continue to recommend her “ways” of managing their finances. In my opinion, she is trying to save face and I continue to be disappointed. By saying “I’m not good at defending myself against things that are not true.” I am sorry Ms. Orman but I have not read a single blog post that as been inaccurate. All of the information that I have read has come from the fine print.
Further proof that she doesn’t think very highly of bloggers, nor does she seem us as reporters:
I would very much like to hear what she says about the criticism that has been expressed. I tweeted her and was shocked to actually receive a reply.
I look forward to reading her defense. I truly hope it comes to fruition.
Update Number 2:
There has been A LOT of social media attention this and tonight it was covered on Fox Business’s Willis Report! Great 4 minute segment that specifically addresses bloggers.
Fortune Telling: The Approved Card will disappear very soon BUT Suze Orman will find an alternative excuse as to why it has disappeared.
One more great blog post about this debacle (and it’s not just great because he mentions me!):
From DollarVersity: http://www.dollarversity.com/suze-orman-teaches-you-how-not-to-handle-criticism
Image Credit: The Approved Card image was a screencap from the official website for the card. No copyright is intended.I also blog at A Five Star Life. I write about anything that comes to mind but try to focus on finding the good in daily life.
Interesting how she talks about truth and being cruel yet she uses words like “ignorant” and “idiot” to describe people who criticize the card.
I’d rather hear why she thinks the card is good for consumers than hear personal attacks. Really turns me off to her products and I lost a LOT of respect for her.
Glen Craig(Quote)
Exactly. She has shown no tact and very immature behavior. If she is not running that twitter account, the person who is should be fired immediately. But given the number of personal tweets from her account, I believe it to be her.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on January 11, 2012 at 9:57 am
Suze Orman makes me want to punch kittens.
I’ve never really been a fan, but this is over the top. Her twitter feed was hilarious — though now I respect her even less. I wrote a post about her card too. I’m glad to see so many PF bloggers taking a stand against it. Hopefully then when people search online for help with their debt, they’ll stumble on these posts and be able to make more informed decisions instead of getting swindled by Suze.
Bridget recently posted..Confession: I took the loan
Bridget(Quote)
hahaha.
Her response to criticism on Twitter has left me with no respect for her. She should be arguing her claims rather than answering with hate. She’s acting like a child.
One can only hope that her fans are seeking out information before blindly following, although I doubt it.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
The twitterosphere is abuzz! Thanks for your comment DP!
I don’t know what Suze was thinking. How can this card be a good deal for anyone? Why would you want to direct deposit your pay into a prepaid card that earns no interest and has fees even for checking your balance?
This card will probably go the way of the Kardashian card.
MoneyCone recently posted..Suze Orman’s Approved Prepaid Card – Bad Wine In New Bottle
MoneyCone(Quote)
We can only hope this card disappears. I think now is the perfect time for GreenDot to do some huge advertising for those that are trying to control their child’s spending.
Thanks for replying.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on January 11, 2012 at 11:51 am
I really hope it was an intern and not truly Suze, because that left an awful taste in my mouth. You can defend your product without getting defensive, calling people idiots and ignorant. So ridiculous. Alienating the audience who can actually help her was an awful PR move. If she would’ve pointed out the benefits, it wouldn’t have been such an argument. The fact that she just went back to elementary school and decided name calling and being arrogant was the answer was just unwise.
Briana @ 20 & Engaged recently posted..
Briana @ 20 & Engaged(Quote)
I 100% agree with you Briana! Shame on her!
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I completely agree with you: I used to love Suze, but this card is ridiculous. She used to help people, but now she’s just taking advantage of them. How unfortunate. Not to mention how nasty she’s been to others in her tweets — shame on you, Suze!
Christa(Quote)
In my opinion, her apology doesn’t hold any weight. It’s too late for it. She should know better. It’s a shame that the vast majority of her fans will never know about that part of her personality.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I can’t wait to see what she writes to defend her card!! I got in late on this but it’s amazing how the whole PF Community came together. I love it!
The Jenny Pincher(Quote)
Yes, the community made me very proud to be a part of it. I won’t be holding my breath on the article but I’d like to hope she really meant what she said.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Whether it was an Intern or Suze, it came from that account and being such a huge brand she would have more control over who tweets what from that account. I still think she has a disdain for us because we don’t agree with her. She apologized to Ron because he writes for NYT and has the ability to make or break this for her. I’d love to see her defend the current fee structure as I think it goes against everything she claims to stand for.
Ginger @ Girls Just Wanna Have Funds(Quote)
I totally agree. I look forward to her article, if she ever writes it.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Why am I always on an airplane when the good stuff happens! I missed the whole thing….but that doesn’t worry me. Suze has always been a finger pointer and doesn’t like it when someone questions her. Clearly a PR nightmare-in-the-making for her. Although I do think there are uses for her card, it’s a much, much smaller audience than it appears she’s marketing it toward.
AverageJoe recently posted..Networking 101: Meeting Basketball Industry Insiders (a How To Manual)
AverageJoe(Quote)
I agree, but I am inclined to think the market she should be targeting isn’t even aware she exists, let alone watches her show or reads her books. I imagine it would be more along the lines of the unbanking, low income, uneducated individuals. Sadly, they are the ones who are not reading the fine print or paying attention to all the fees.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Here’s my PF post on Suze Orman:
http://alldoorsconsidered0.blogspot.com/2012/01/suze-orman-wants-cash-only-clients-to.html
After I tweeted Suze Orman my opinion, she has now blocked me out of her tweets. How’s that for fair & balanced reporting? Suze’s nothing more than a spoiled rich bitch feasting on the mounting numbers of more and more people as they plunge into poverty, IMHO!
morrison(Quote)