Raise Gift Cards...Is it just me?

[pk1959]

First of all I am not a huge purchaser on Raise. I have only ever purchased 4 gift cards and as of today I now have a 75% failure rate.

The last one I bought in December of 2017 and used a tiny portion of it in February of this year and just checked this morning and it was wiped clean. I have contacted Raise and will now wait while they investigate. Thankfully they have a 1 year guarantee, but I honestly don't see how they can afford to keep going if they have to refund all the money. I think I'm done trying with them.

 

[momto4obkids]

I've bought a lot of cards from them and haven't had any drained. I always use them within a day or two of purchasing them though.

 

[runwad]

Yep me too, I use them right away. Or, if I can go to the store and use that gift card to buy a new one, I do that. That is what I do when I buy a discounted gc for a gift. Never give the one I bought discounted, always go to the store/restaurant and get a new one so my recipient won't have to deal with it. That would be embarrassing.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Even when I buy GC in store I use them right away. Things just aren't that secure. I've never (knock on wood) had an issue with Raise. Not saying it is your fault, but keep in mind things get hacked all the time.

Hope it gets resolved quickly for you!

 

[kydisneyfans]

Had multiples from Raise that were drained. Had no problem getting refunds, but it is frustrating. We don't do the aftermarket gift card buying much anymore as the Kroger fuel/credit card rewards combo usually leads to a better buy.

 

[MomToOne]

I've had cards from several resellers drained. It's just part of the dance. Always make sure there is a guarantee, and that you understand all the twists and turns of it - read the fine print. Then use the card as soon as you can (I generally do within hours of receiving it). And never depend on the card - always have a backup payment method with you, in case you discover it is drained when you try to use it.

I have some situations where I will buy cards, but only here and there. Generally I want the ability to return items I buy if there is an issue with them for cash or credit back to my credit card, instead of credit back to a gift card, so I only buy them when I know I won't need or want to return something.

 

[jhoannam]

Never had it happen, but I always use them right away. And use a credit card to buy them, in case Raise ever fails to follow through on their guarantee.

 

[Ashleybritton]

I had two drained before I could even use them. They did not refund my money and I ultimately had to dispute it with my credit card. I will never use them again.

 

[gottalovepluto]

First of all I am not a huge purchaser on Raise. I have only ever purchased 4 gift cards and as of today I now have a 75% failure rate.

The last one I bought in December of 2017 and used a tiny portion of it in February of this year and just checked this morning and it was wiped clean. I have contacted Raise and will now wait while they investigate. Thankfully they have a 1 year guarantee, but I honestly don't see how they can afford to keep going if they have to refund all the money. I think I'm done trying with them.

So... best practice with ANY of those types of sites is flip the card ASAP, if you aren't doing that just expect them to be drained. I only buy what I know I can flip fast. And it's not just Raise, any 3rd party gift card purchasing service can have the same result. For goodness sake's! These companies are dealing with people who say "I promise I have all the numbers of this gift card but I won't use it!"- like that's gonna end well. How their books look? Idk, obviously their goal is to make enough off the legit transactions to cover the ones that go bad.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I had two drained before I could even use them. They did not refund my money and I ultimately had to dispute it with my credit card. I will never use them again.

Woah. They claim a 1 year guarantee!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Even when I buy GC in store I use them right away. Things just aren't that secure. I've never (knock on wood) had an issue with Raise. Not saying it is your fault, but keep in mind things get hacked all the time...

This isn't hacking. It's outright theft of the exact gift card, no hacking skills required. Also as for the hacking of gift cards, the only major instance I can remember is target a couple years ago. It's just not common.

 

[MamaBelle4]

This isn't hacking. It's outright theft of the exact gift card, no hacking skills required. Also as for the hacking of gift cards, the only major instance I can remember is target a couple years ago. It's just not common.

Yeah, it is more than often theft. I was thinking about the Target issue from a couple years ago and wasn't there an issue with PPDG as well?

I was also referencing actual hacking (like Experian or Lowe's/home depot, I can't remember which).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yeah, it is more than often theft. I was thinking about the Target issue from a couple years ago and wasn't there an issue with PPDG as well?

I was also referencing actual hacking (like Experian or Lowe's/home depot, I can't remember which).

Yep, PPDG appeared to suffer a gift card hack, fixed and have gone back to selling hundreds of thousands gift cards successfully. As for the personal id hack on Experian they don't do gift cards and the numerous store hacks you'd have been hit if you paid for something with a credit card, not a gift card. Still believe people should not be worried about their gift cards being hacked.

 

[MamaBelle4]

. Still believe people should not be worried about their gift cards being hacked.

See, I worry about things like this on a regular basis. The level of my concern is most definitely not proportionate to the actual danger. I'm a worry wart by nature.

As for the personal id hack on Experian they don't do gift cards and the numerous store hacks you'd have been hit if you paid for something with a credit card, not a gift card

Yeah, I know gift cards weren't hacked in those, just referencing the actual hacking.

 

[pk1959]

I've bought a lot of cards from them and haven't had any drained. I always use them within a day or two of purchasing them though.

I think this is probably key. Problem is the ones I like to buy are for stores that we don't have in our area so we want to use them on vacation. The ones I like are usually a good deal at a 25% discount or better, so that seems worth it. Not worth it when they always seem to get drained tho..

 

[MomToOne]

For goodness sake's! These companies are dealing with people who say "I promise I have all the numbers of this gift card but I won't use it!"- like that's gonna end well.

The problem here isn't always the seller of the gift card turning around and using it after they sold it - often the gift cards were bought fraudulently using stolen credit card numbers or some money laundering scam, and the stores have negated the value of the credit card once it was discovered.

But this is why the resellers demand credit card numbers when you sell a card. So they can attempt to recover their costs if you turn around and drain the card after you sell it. I don't understand it all, I am sure this is a separate dance between the fraudulent sellers and resellers which has its nuances. But it must be profitable for the resellers in the end, or they wouldn't be in business.

 

[Ashleybritton]

Woah. They claim a 1 year guarantee!

I purchased two walmart gift cards and they were both wiped out. They came from different sellers so they did not approve the refund. I can see how that would look suspect, but they were able to determine the cards were spent at a Walmart six hours from where I’m located while I was at work. None the less, they wouldn’t issue the refund. I was so mad. I don’t know if it was done by someone working for them, or how it happened, but it was a total of $150. Fortunately the dispute with my credit card worked.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I currently have a RCI cruise planned and they had some certificates available at about 6% off. I checked with my TA, and she checked with her Agency Manager, and they called RCI, and nobody could figure out how to make them work, so I passed on purchasing them.

It seems that the risk isn't worth the reward.

 

[pk1959]

I currently have a RCI cruise planned and they had some certificates available at about 6% off. I checked with my TA, and she checked with her Agency Manager, and they called RCI, and nobody could figure out how to make them work, so I passed on purchasing them.

It seems that the risk isn't worth the reward.

When you click on the "voucher" or "details" of the certificate you are interested in it shows how to redeem it. Strange that RCI couldn't tell you how to do it.

• 1. Book your Royal Caribbean® cruise vacation: ONLINE: RoyalCaribbean.com CALL US: 866-504-3941 Deposit required at time of booking. 2. After making your cruise reservation, email a copy of this Gift Certificate to:SharedServicesGiftCertificateRedemption@rccl.com Please allow up to 10 business days. You will receive a notification via email once certificate(s) have been applied to your reservation.