Done with gift cards from Raise.com

[pk1959]

I was never a huge purchaser of gift cards in the first place. I have only purchased 4 in the last 2 years. I just checked the balance on the 2 cards that I received last month and one of them has a zero balance. I am waiting for a call back from Raise now since I was 17th in line for a representative. The way I look at it is that I have a 25% failure rate with them right now. I can't imagine buying a lot of cards and having to worry about if the balances are going to be there when I go to use them.

 

[Marionnette]

I was never a huge purchaser of gift cards in the first place. I have only purchased 4 in the last 2 years. I just checked the balance on the 2 cards that I received last month and one of them has a zero balance. I am waiting for a call back from Raise now since I was 17th in line for a representative. The way I look at it is that I have a 25% failure rate with them right now. I can't imagine buying a lot of cards and having to worry about if the balances are going to be there when I go to use them.

I have always gotten good customer service from raise, but I've all but stopped buying GCs from them as well because of the number of bad GCs I have received. Some cards were drained immediately after purchase! I still grab Petsmart physical GCs every once in a while just to keep the cost down on pet supplies, but I spend them almost as soon as I get them.

 

[ajwolfe]

Sorry you are having a bad experience...This is exactly why I've never bought these; the savings just doesn't seem to justify the potential stress for me.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I have never received anything short of fantastic customer service from Raise. However, I have not once ever needed to call. They have an easy online form to fill out. I have purchased about 50 gift cards from them and had about 8 drained. It's not Raise's fault. They will refund your money and it will show up in no more than 3 days.

 

[Hikergirl]

Contact them, if its been less than 100 days you should be okay.

 

[pk1959]

I have never received anything short of fantastic customer service from Raise. However, I have not once ever needed to call. They have an easy online form to fill out. I have purchased about 50 gift cards from them and had about 8 drained. It's not Raise's fault. They will refund your money and it will show up in no more than 3 days.

I just got off the phone with Raise and I agree that they have fantastic customer service and it is definitely not their fault. They quickly processed a refund. My point was just about buying from ANY of the gift card resellers. Now I have to worry about the other one that I bought since it is not one that I am going to use immediately, but later on for a vacation. I guess if you are going to use the entire card within the 100 day guarantee that they offer, then it would be a great deal, otherwise not worth the risk.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I just got off the phone with Raise and I agree that they have fantastic customer service and it is definitely not their fault. They quickly processed a refund. My point was just about buying from ANY of the gift card resellers. Now I have to worry about the other one that I bought since it is not one that I am going to use immediately, but later on for a vacation. I guess if you are going to use the entire card within the 100 day guarantee that they offer, then it would be a great deal, otherwise not worth the risk.

Yes, if you don't plan on using them within the 100 days I would say don't buy them. I only ever buy during that time frame. I'm glad you got refunded!

 

[MomToOne]

Just a reminder for anyone using any of these services: always check what their guarantee is, and for how long. And don't just trust what they show you on a regular page - read the full terms of service. For example, Cardpool says they have a 100 day purchase on this page: http://www.cardpool.com/guarantee and while they say they don't accept returns of eGift cards on this page, they say nothing about the 100 day guarantee not applying to drained balances. You have to read their terms of service here: http://www.cardpool.com/tos to find this nice little tidbit: "PURCHASE GUARANTEE PROGRAM DOES NOT APPLY TO ELECTRONIC GIFT CARDS OR MOBILE GIFT CARDS DUE TO THE NATURE OF THOSE PROGRAMS." And that means the entire guarantee program, not just returns.

 

[JenzyHP]

I've had great luck with raise so far. I've used Zappos, Home Depot, and Lowes. It decreased our flooring and remodeling bill by a lot. We buy them and use immediately. They come so quickly that it is easy to purchase and go right to the store.

 

[LISmama810]

I've had really good luck with Raise. I did run into an issue a while back with a $200 restaurant gift card. I had used part of it, then tried using it a second time a few weeks later. The card was no longer good. I called Raise and told them I didn't remember how much I had used, but certainly not the whole thing. They told me to estimate, then refunded that amount immediately.

When I get physical cards, I take them to the store/restaurant immediately and have the amount transfered to a new card. I figure at least that cuts down on someone else using the card online.

Even though I had a good outcome the one time I had a problem, I've become wary of Raise, too. I'm not sure it'll keep me from buying them, but I'll be much more cautious.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I purchased a Victoria's Secret gift card on April 21st and made a purchase right away.

When I went to use it this week the balance was zero. I called VS to see where the $$ had gone. They told me there was a hold on the balance and gave me a number to call. The phone number was for the bank that issued the credit card used to purchase the gift card. I called VS back and told them they gave me incorrect information -- they told me there was a problem with the credit card used to buy the gift card (I'm thinking it was stolen). When I called Raise they immediately refunded the balance of my gift card to my credit card.

I have purchased a lot of gift cards from Raise and this is only the second time I've had an issue. They have always been courteous and helpful so I will continue to use them, however I will make more of an effort to use them right away.

I used to be able to get at 18 - 20% off VS, but lately it's only been 8%.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I've had really good luck with Raise. I did run into an issue a while back with a $200 restaurant gift card. I had used part of it, then tried using it a second time a few weeks later. The card was no longer good. I called Raise and told them I didn't remember how much I had used, but certainly not the whole thing. They told me to estimate, then refunded that amount immediately.

When I get physical cards, I take them to the store/restaurant immediately and have the amount transfered to a new card. I figure at least that cuts down on someone else using the card online.

Even though I had a good outcome the one time I had a problem, I've become wary of Raise, too. I'm not sure it'll keep me from buying them, but I'll be much more cautious.

Which stores have you had success doing this? I've never thought to do that. I know most stores won't allow buying a gift card with gift card but you're saying they just give you a new one? Good to know.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I used to buy regularly from Raise but stopped a little over a year ago, after we tried to use $1,000 in Best Western Gift Cards that turned out to have been purchased with a stolen credit card. Raise was great about refunding the money, but it was an awkward time at the front desk on the first day of our vacation and on the phone with Best Western's gift card department trying to explain where I got these cards. It made me think twice about whether I really want to be involved with buying gift cards off the grey market when I don't know where they came from in the first place. I also didn't want to have to worry about spending the gift cards before they could be drained by the previous owner or trying to transfer them to a new card before they get locked due to fraudulent activity. I'm all for saving a buck, but this just didn't seem worth it to me.

 

[mustlovecats]

That's disappointing to hear. I bought about $15,000 in Target giftcards through them to pay for a Disney trip for my family and I and didn't have a single problem.

I bought another $1000 in various clothing store giftcards and also didn't have any problems. But I used the full balance of all my cards within about 20 minutes of purchasing.

 

[LISmama810]

Which stores have you had success doing this? I've never thought to do that. I know most stores won't allow buying a gift card with gift card but you're saying they just give you a new one? Good to know.

I did it at Jamba Juice, and I think at least one other place. I'm not sure if they considered it buying a new card vs just transferring the balance, but it wasn't a problem.

 

[QVCshopper]

I will not buy from these online gift card retailers because of the high fraud rate. People steal credit cards, buy gift cards, and resell on the sites, and then immediately drain the gift card. It's fairly well known at this point and while buying the gift cards is not a crime, I feel like it's helping out the whole cycle. I've had my cc number compromised multiple times, and refuse to be part of it. And, yes, I know honest people are also trying to resell their unwanted gift cards, but it's just not worth it to me.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I will not buy from these online gift card retailers because of the high fraud rate. People steal credit cards, buy gift cards, and resell on the sites, and then immediately drain the gift card. It's fairly well known at this point and while buying the gift cards is not a crime, I feel like it's helping out the whole cycle. I've had my cc number compromised multiple times, and refuse to be part of it. And, yes, I know honest people are also trying to resell their unwanted gift cards, but it's just not worth it to me.

That's how I feel about it too.

 

[momto2inKC]

I guess I've been lucky. I've purchased $3,000+ in Target gift cards and have never had any issues with any of the cards. I do use them immediately.

 

[dpswift]

I have always gotten good customer service from raise, but I've all but stopped buying GCs from them as well because of the number of bad GCs I have received. Some cards were drained immediately after purchase! I still grab Petsmart physical GCs every once in a while just to keep the cost down on pet supplies, but I spend them almost as soon as I get them.

Those are the ones I buy too. I did have trouble with Target ones awhile ago

 

[gottalovepluto]

I bought lots of Target but immediately used them on Target.com so no issues. I did buy a $200 Cheesecake Factory that was drained within the 100 day period. Talk about horribly embarrassing, the waiter came back with an apologetic manager who told us our gift card had a zero balance. Raise refunded it, and I was like caller 15 or something as well, but they did give me my money back. I never want to repeat that so I haven't purchased table service gift cards since. I had success with Subway, McDs & Panda no problems. (Panda had ridiculous issues redeeming the e-card so I won't do that again.) I've only used Raise.