I left a company in July and had filed for a FSA with them through CreativeBenefits now know as WageWorks. I received a balance reminder from them 6 months later stating that I had about $220 in their accounts and that I was able to use that until 12/31/09. So on 12/29/09 I went to the local pharmacy and stocked up on misc items mostly all covered by FSAs. I went online and filed the claim for the items that qualified for the amount that was totaled as FSA compliant on the receipt.

A few days later I received a notice that I had been denied on all claims. Calling the customer service line was next to useless until I found the buried line to a representative. After waiting on hold for 5 minutes the call started dialing a rep then disconnected me... Going through the process again I was finally connected to a rep and we discussed the issue. As it turns out you are only covered by the FSA as long as you are employed by the original employer. When asked about the Billing notice stating the $200+ account balance, the rep stated that those are all automated and that it doesn't take into account the employment status of an individual. After giving her a piece of my mind about how that is misleading and costs my hundreds of dollars she agreed and stated that if she didn't work there she would find them confusing also... She then stated that in fact I didn't actually lose the $220 something dollars the account said I had, instead I only lost what I had deposited, which was less then what I had elected for when I signed up for the FSA. So infact the statement I had received was even more misleading in the fact that it stated I had cash in an account that I didn't actually have.

This place is completely ignorant and oblivious to their customer. They have potentially cost me hundred of dollars and I'm sure that there are other that have lost much, much more then that. I agree that if your company offers an FSA with WageWorks/Creative Benefits, run the other way and just pay the taxable amount rather then spending extra time dealing with the circus that is WageWorks.