You’ve only ever read about my complaints regarding GCash when it comes to non-dispense disputes as it has happened to me twice in Vietnam with two different bank ATM’s. Unfortunately I can now also add PayMaya to that list.
I had been frequently using my PayMaya physical card for ATM withdrawals since August 2019 in Bangkok and decided to continue using it upon coming back to Ho Chi Minh because it seemed the PHP-VND rate was better compared to PHP-THB. Because I had gotten paranoid with 2 non-dispense incidents with GCash, I decided to follow my former landlord’s advice in the past about only transacting with either Sacombank or Vietcombank ATM machines.
That theory was busted when upon attempting to withdraw money on a Sacombank ATM on September 25, 2019 (the same bank ATM which I had been withdrawing money from for 3 weeks before that), I read an error message on the screen which says “Your bank does not allow you to perform this transaction”. I took out my card and reminded myself not to panic while looking at the balance in my PayMaya app. Nothing deducted. I reinserted the card and tried to withdraw again and my fears had materialised. I was shown the same error message and what’s worse, no money nor ATM slip came out but my PayMaya balance has already been deducted for the failed attempt.
I went straight to the bank manager (even though I knew there was nothing they could do on their end). I was told the proverbial “contact your bank or card issuer”.
I contacted PayMaya via email but it wasn’t until a week has passed when I received a reply from their support team. Inside my head my good impression of them was already waning. Their so-called support team is inefficient and those who have responded to me were a bunch of liars. I was repeatedly told that their escalations team has tried to contact me many times via my mobile number. Well, guess what, my sister in the Philippines who has had my Smart postpaid sim inserted into her iPhone 5 cellphone has not answered any calls from someone claiming to be on PayMaya’s bogus escalations team before, during and after the email exchanges.
Since I was not getting any straightforward answers via email, I even took to the App Store review on the PayMaya app. Similar to their email support, it was only a waste of time.
I had begun to compare PayMaya’s support with that of GCash support and I can tell you right now that you can at least count on GCash to answer you honestly and promptly. PayMaya’s customer support will tell you comforting lies.
I expected the reversal of the non-dispense issue by October 16, 2019 because having already experienced it with GCash took me 3-4 weeks. Surprisingly on October 9, 2019 at 11PM, the reversal was already reflected in my PayMaya balance. The resolution took 14 days.
The resolution time for non-dispense dispute is perhaps one of the striking advantages PayMaya has over GCash. GCash could refund my funds in 3-4 weeks only after submitting a dispute form while PayMaya could complete it within 2 weeks.
GCash & PayMaya Issues 
[…] I usually stay in Vietnam on a 3-month period each time and have had frustrating experiences with picking ATM machines that will actually dispense money. Would have been nice not to have to wait 3-4 weeks for a refund from my card issuer because the ATM machine did not dispense cash. Would have been nice not to get paranoid each ATM withdrawal attempt because as my luck would have it, I’ve had to dispute non-dispense incidents twice in a two-year period for my debit MasterCard and once just recently for my debit Visa card. […]
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