Target and Disney Gift Card Activation

[snchpnz]

I purchased three $50 Disney giftcards from Target.com but when I tried to use them it turns out they haven't been activated. I called Target and was told to wait 3 or 4 more days and that they will be activated. OK, I'm still waiting. I'm giving them till Friday before I call back. I'm wondering though, has this happened to anyone else?

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but my inner Debbie Downer is thinking I probably got scammed. Some employee activated the cards, kept them and then sent me some inactive ones. Or it could also just be a mistake. As they say "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Still, if it does turn out I got the wrong cards either by accident or on purpose I'm not too confident in the ability of the call center employees to solve this. By the way my first call was handled I get the feeling I'm going to be getting the runaround from Target.

I wonder if I can just go to my local Target store and have them solve it there instead. I'm assuming they must have some way of tracking what cards were activated, cancelling them and then giving me three new ones.

Any advice or words of encouragement?

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Did you order them online? I have never had a problem with store bought ones but believe I have seen others with issues with the online purchases.

 

[smitch425]

I purchased three $50 Disney giftcards from Target.com but when I tried to use them it turns out they haven't been activated. I called Target and was told to wait 3 or 4 more days and that they will be activated. OK, I'm still waiting. I'm giving them till Friday before I call back. I'm wondering though, has this happened to anyone else?

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but my inner Debbie Downer is thinking I probably got scammed. Some employee activated the cards, kept them and then sent me some inactive ones. Or it could also just be a mistake. As they say "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Still, if it does turn out I got the wrong cards either by accident or on purpose I'm not too confident in the ability of the call center employees to solve this. By the way my first call was handled I get the feeling I'm going to be getting the runaround from Target.

I wonder if I can just go to my local Target store and have them solve it there instead. I'm assuming they must have some way of tracking what cards were activated, cancelling them and then giving me three new ones.

Any advice or words of encouragement?

I've only purchased the cards in the store, but there is a line on the receipt stating that they are not available for use for a few hours. Have you waited the 3 or 4 days yet?

 

[snchpnz]

Yes, it was an online order. From now on I'm only going to buy them in person and in small quantities.

And no, I haven't waited the three/four days yet (since I called them). It's been about a week since they were shipped out though. I received them two days ago. I tried to use them Monday night when I got them and I called them on Tuesday morning. I'm going to wait till Friday and see what happens. The last set of giftcards I ordered I used immediately with no problems.

 

[jlemieu1]

Sorry to hear about your issue. I also only buy in store. Also you can cehck your Disney GC balance on this site.

https://www.disneygiftcard.com/manage/

 

[disnikki08]

I always purchase mine online and have never had a problem. I'll definitely be paying more attention to them now that you mention it.

 

[M4travels]

I can only order the gift cards online as I am out of country and have not had an issue until I received my order today. I received three envelopes of three gift cards each in the mail today. When I went to add them to the Disney Gift Card app, the first envelope's contents were not activated. I called Target and spoke with the call center agent who eventually got me to the Gift Card section. The women there took down the info from the cards including the bar code numbers and said she would escalate the issue and get them activated. I'm not overly concerned as I think the batch that went out just didn't get scanned for activation.

The other two envelopes of three cards each had no issues whatsoever. I can see where it might make some skittish, but I have never had an issue with any orders online and I will continue to use the online system.

Michael

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

All 4 cards came unactivated.
Target/Disney were able to activate 2 but never able to activate the other 2 even after months and multiple calls. Finally went to store and they gave me Target giftcards in same amount as Disney gift cards.

 

[brennicksmom]

I have bought $2850 in GC from Target since the new year and all were perfect. Good luck everyone.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have bought $2850 in GC from Target since the new year and all were perfect. Good luck everyone.

Are these online purchases? Or in-store? OP is having issues with cards purchased online.

 

[cruizincathi]

If you have your online receipt, take the inactivated cards to a Target store. Ask that they exchange them and watch as they activate the new ones. I had this happen a couple weeks ago...sort of. I bought $3000 worth in store. When I called DCL to have them applied to my account, 1 of them did not work. I had the receipt and could show that particular card was purchased(based on code on card). Target did an exchange and I got a new card that worked.

 

[M4travels]

I can only order the gift cards online as I am out of country and have not had an issue until I received my order today. I received three envelopes of three gift cards each in the mail today. When I went to add them to the Disney Gift Card app, the first envelope's contents were not activated. I called Target and spoke with the call center agent who eventually got me to the Gift Card section. The woman there took down the info from the cards including the bar code numbers and said she would escalate the issue and get them activated. I'm not overly concerned as I think the batch that went out just didn't get scanned for activation.

The other two envelopes of three cards each had no issues whatsoever. I can see where it might make some skittish, but I have never had an issue with any orders online and I will continue to use the online system.

Michael

Just thought I would report back that 2 of the 3 cards were activated when I checked this morning. The date and time of activation was the 18th at 21:18 so approximately 3 hours after I called. Hopefully the last one will be taken care of today.

Michael

 

[snchpnz]

That's good to hear yours were activated Michael. None of mine have been activated so far. I went to my local Target store this morning and the manager said I had to call the number on the receipt. I called again and was now told that they would be activated by Wed. the 25th. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Toffeehe]

They are still having issues as of July 20, 2015. I bought several Disney gift cards online at Target.com and none of them were activated. The main online help phone was not helpful as the person told me to call Disney as it was their issue. The email reply told me to call the main online help number for Target.com.

I finally found a thread on here that someone kindly posted and I wanted to post this again to help others with the same problem. Whomever is filling the online order is forgetting to scan the cards and activate them....I guess they just pulled the cards and dumped them in an envelope without scanning them in. My receipt had no information about the cards like when I buy them physically at the store. When you buy them at the store the cashier scans them and then activates them on the register and your receipt has each card listed as active in 3 hours time.

So, to get your Disney gift cards activated, you have to call this number: 1-800-544-3875. This is called the Corporate gift card department. Josh helped me get them all taken care of in a short amount of time. I also could understand his English, unlike the Target.com main helpline...very heavy accented English and a lot of pauses (overseas connection problems??). Good luck! I am just going to buy them at the store...just wish they had bigger denominations.

 

[TamaraH]

Same thing happened to me with 5 cards (I've probably purchased 50 to 60 cards online and these were the only problem ones). I called Target and luckily 4 were able to be activated right away. One was being stubborn and it ended up taking about a month. Here's the thing - they go through a 3rd party activation. So basically if they mistakenly don't get activated at the time of shipment Target may not be able to activate it (like my one) and they have to contact someone else to activate it which could take a while. It was a pain and I kept calling every week. Target takes care of their customers but sometimes it may take some time. I ordered just recently and all was fine. Just keep calling - they will get it taken care of. Be sure to let them know if you are leaving on a trip and when they are needed.

 

[DISNEYMOMTO1]

They are still having issues as of July 20, 2015. I bought several Disney gift cards online at Target.com and none of them were activated. The main online help phone was not helpful as the person told me to call Disney as it was their issue. The email reply told me to call the main online help number for Target.com.

I finally found a thread on here that someone kindly posted and I wanted to post this again to help others with the same problem. Whomever is filling the online order is forgetting to scan the cards and activate them....I guess they just pulled the cards and dumped them in an envelope without scanning them in. My receipt had no information about the cards like when I buy them physically at the store. When you buy them at the store the cashier scans them and then activates them on the register and your receipt has each card listed as active in 3 hours time.

So, to get your Disney gift cards activated, you have to call this number: 1-800-544-3875. This is called the Corporate gift card department. Josh helped me get them all taken care of in a short amount of time. I also could understand his English, unlike the Target.com main helpline...very heavy accented English and a lot of pauses (overseas connection problems??). Good luck! I am just going to buy them at the store...just wish they had bigger denominations.

This is kind of funny because Target headquarters are here in Minneapolis. One would think............Heavy sigh...I will make sure my friends who buy my daughter the GC for birthday and Christmas are aware of the problems!