Fuck Vanilla Visa Gift Cards

submitted by UncleWillard56 from self.corruption

Bought 3/$200 for my kids and none of them worked. Not online. Not in a store. Their customer service was completely useless except at being condescending and or hanging up on me. Oh sorry, trying to send me back to a number that had no live human offer. No refunds should never be a legal policy. Luckily my bank refunded me since I reported them for fraud. Stay away from them!!

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[–]Musky 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Did you register them? Read this online:

If you select these cards as your payment mode, you may encounter certain transaction errors. One of these errors is that the card does not get authenticated. This is because a regular credit card has a valid, registered address associated with it, while a gift card does not.

For this, you need to first register your card with the site. Enter the name, address, ZIP code, and other information, and confirm the same with the site.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Did you make sure the store activated them? At the store they are no good until activated by the cashier so if you ran off with 200$ Visa cards they won't work. HOWEVER even when activated their website is broken not showing the amount but take it to a grocery store like Roths IGA and buy a candy bar or deli food for a small amount they'll look into what you have. You can also get fast food gift cards too if you want to pay for it that way and I've even seen gas cards for certain gas stations or even a general gas card that works for many brands you put your own amount onto from your bank onto that.

[–]UncleWillard56[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yep. Still nothing. And customer service was useless and rude.

[–]SoCo 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

To simplify, the cards must be activated first. If you buy them at a register, the register activates part and loads the money, so you can just steal a stack of blanks and get anything. .... yet, the back of the card has a big sticker with activation instructions. You must go online or call the phone number to activate the card. They probably want your name and address at minimum, as they are pressured by the government for Know Your Customer laws. Some cards even from banks, may allow setting most of that up ahead of time, but they usually still require an initial activation, by using it at an ATM with you pin code (just check balance is all that is required).

Credit cards are super insecure and mostly the way they are to collect your info and spy on your purchases, so they make you jump through hoops. The companies eat literally $100's of millions per hour in fraud, rather than using something more modern and secure.

[–]charlie6067 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Today's tip: sign into your credit cards' websites and set notification alertss to your phone/email whenever a charge of $1 or more is made. You'll know instantly if your credit card was used. Beats waiting 30 days to review the statements. Nips fraud in the bud. You're welcome 😊

[–]UncleWillard56[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, I bought them before and always went online and registered. Never had a problem before. Told the kids to do that, and nothing. I'm more pissed at how terrible the customer service was.

[–]1Icemonkey 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

If you had cash, why not give them cash? But you didn’t have cash, did you......

[–]UncleWillard56[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Who uses cash? They like to order online.

[–]IMissPorn 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I believe you that something went wrong in your case, but I've used these a couple times without any problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–]UncleWillard56[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Me too, that's why I was surprised. Not just because they didn't work, but because the customer service was so bad. I didn't go in all pissed off or rude, I just wanted to solve the problem. They immediately got defensive.

[–]IMissPorn 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I see. Well that's a fair complaint. Even if problems like this are rare is not good if they're this bad at handling it when they do crop up.