Bank issued gift card problems

[Lees3rwe]

I am so sad.
I have spent a combined 5 hours on the phone with Disney and with Wells Fargo.

We have 800.00 in Wells Fargo Visa gift cards.

They have a 2018 expiration date.
Disney cannot process cards (debit, credit, or gift cards) with a 5 year out or more expiration date.

On top of that, Wells Fargo puts a 20% hold on the balance when used for travel, restaurants, spas, etc. (this is evidently outlined in an "agreement" form that we never received. My husband told the bank employee that we were using the cards for our vacation, he never mentioned anything about this.).

Disney says there is nothing they can do, Wells Fargo says there is nothing they can do.

You cannot withdraw cash from the cards.

Our balance was due yesterday and I am scared we are going to lose our deposit.

I must say, I am disappointed with Wells Fargo, but not surprised...
I am a little surprised at how we have been treated by Disney though...
This would have been our 3rd trip in 18 months. They don't really seem to care one way or the other it seems. We have not had any truly sympathetic CM's and one acted like he was doing me a real favor by extending my deadline to Thursday.

Maybe this trip just isn't meant to be.

 

[sadossey]

I have been given those visa / bank card type gift cards as gifts a couple of times and both times had aot of trouble using them. One instance I Was given one for $100 and used it for a small ($10 or so) purchase and then could not use it anymore. Seemed as if you had to use it all at once or lose the balance. It almost seems like a scam.

 

[LIGrumpyGirl]

Go to the Disney Store or any store who sells Disney Gift cards and buy $800 worth. Then pay for trip with those cards.

 

[Sammie]

I agree gift cards can be hassle, we were given an American Express one and many places that accept AE credit cards would not take the gift cards.

On top of that I always had to purchase something that was less than what was on the card, they won't let you pay the difference.

 

[mickeynut1]

I'm sorry you're having trouble. I have never used those kinds of gift cards, but I have heard that some of them can come with strict guidelines for use. Maybe you can try going to the Disney store (not sure if this would work if WDW can't process the Visa gift cards) or go to Walgreens or somewhere else that sells Disney gift cards and try to buy some of those with the Wells Fargo Visa ones and then pay for your trip with the Disney gift cards. I don't know if this will work, but it might be worth a try. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

 

[mommadjones]

Go to the Disney Store or any store who sells Disney Gift cards and buy $800 worth. Then pay for trip with those cards.

This is what we had to do. We had Vanilla Visa cards in amounts of $100 each. We would buy them per pay period as a vacation savings plan but when we brought them to Disney to pay our room only they could not process them I had to go to DTD and change them into Disney gift cards. From my experience those cards are more trouble then they are worth, with freezing funds after use at a gas station to the automatic 20% they add for gratuity at restaurants, we stopped buying ten all together! We now will buy the Disney gift cards from our local grocery store in their place

 

[Lees3rwe]

Good suggestions... I hadn't thought of buying Disney Gift Cards with them.
I wish I knew if they could process them at the Disney Store, it is an hour away to the nearest one.
Our Sam's Club used to have the 100.00 ones but they don't anymore.

I am going to have to do something though!

Thanks again...
It is a bummer because I was really excited about being able to pay it off (after getting my mom's good news!).

 

[KELLY]

Good suggestions... I hadn't thought of buying Disney Gift Cards with them.
I wish I knew if they could process them at the Disney Store, it is an hour away to the nearest one.
Our Sam's Club used to have the 100.00 ones but they don't anymore.

I am going to have to do something though!

Thanks again...
It is a bummer because I was really excited about being able to pay it off (after getting my mom's good news!).

Our target has them also.

 

[mommadjones]

Good suggestions... I hadn't thought of buying Disney Gift Cards with them.
I wish I knew if they could process them at the Disney Store, it is an hour away to the nearest one.
Our Sam's Club used to have the 100.00 ones but they don't anymore.

I am going to have to do something though!

Thanks again...
It is a bummer because I was really excited about being able to pay it off (after getting my mom's good news!).

We had no problem at the DTD location but worse case scenario you take a fun trip to the Disney store and maybe have a nice lunch. I'm new so I'm unaware of your moms news but so happy that it's good : Have a great trip!

 

[Lees3rwe]

We had no problem at the DTD location but worse case scenario you take a fun trip to the Disney store and maybe have a nice lunch. I'm new so I'm unaware of your moms news but so happy that it's good : Have a great trip!

My mom is a stage 4 cancer survivor and we were waiting for her PET scan results before paying our balance on the very last day!

 

[mommadjones]

My mom is a stage 4 cancer survivor and we were waiting for her PET scan results before paying our balance on the very last day!

OMgoodness, Idid read that thread! As I said I am so new here I have been reading so much......I am sooo happy for her and you all!

 

[jlhpiglet]

You may want to go to the Wells Fargo location where your husband purchased the cards and ask to speak with a store manager or service manager. Calmly explain what has happened and that you were not given the disclosures with the gift cards. They should be able to come up with a solution for you. Often times the customer service employees are not as willing to fix issues as someone at your local Wells Fargo that knows you. Good luck!

 

[tweety38]

Walgreens also sells Disney gift cards.

 

[plutolovr]

I don't get why you would buy these gift cards to pay off your balance. It's just as easy to take the money you would spend on the gift cards and call Disney and apply that cash to your balance, even if you had to send a check. Wouldn't it? It would also be less hassle.

I could understand getting the gift cards to pay for your purchases once on vacation though, however I would get the Disney Gift Cards so there would be no question.

Just a lesson learned I guess.

 

[annieb727]

I'm really sorry you're having such issues with those. I am glad I read this thread though because i have a Vanilla Visa GC...going to go to Walgreens tomorrow here and see if they have Disney GC. It was all going to be used at Disney anyway.

 

[chitwnnole]

I earn a bunch of points for air travell which I convert to Walmart or Visa gift cards for gas stations. What I do is use the Walmart cards for our groceries and take the cash I would have used and apply it to a cash vacation fund. Same idea with the gas cards. Maybe you could try that. Instead of paying for gas direct next time use the visa gift card and take cash from your bank account Andy credit the same amount to the vaca fund

 

[goofyredraider]

I'm sorry to hear this! If your Disney store is not close, try and order them online....it is free shipping! They come very quickly...a few days. I order $25 increments all the time!
This is the link for the ones that can be used at WDW:
http://www.disneystore.com/gift-cards/mn/1001267/

They can be purchased in increments of $25-$500!!!

Or, try Target...they have $50 cards.
Kroger is another place...and Walgreens.

I don't think they cancel your ressie if you miss your 45 day mark... they send you a letter or something.

 

[punn]

i don't know if you have a giant eagle close by but they also sell the disney gift cards and you could get the fuel perks also. Good luck i hope it all works out for you.

 

[Rahjeir]

I would never use a gift card to save for anything anymore. I've been burned with gift cards not being in the system. If they can't find the number in the system it's worth nothing. It has happened to me more then once. Never do i use or buy a gift card for anyone. They get cash or checks and like it!

On a side note, in my home state of New Jersey, if you don't use the card after two years the state steals the balance on the card. Got to love it!

 

[Jestocost]

We have 800.00 in Wells Fargo Visa gift cards.

They have a 2018 expiration date.
Disney cannot process cards (debit, credit, or gift cards) with a 5 year out or more expiration date

Something sounds wrong with the explanation that Disney is giving you, IMO. Federal Reserve regulations require that funds on any gift cards issued have an expiration date of AT LEAST five years out, so it makes no sense that they can't process cards with a five year out expiration date.

See the Fed's 2010 press release, a summary of the regs or the full regs for more info.