Amazon Email Gift Certificates - Urgent Warning

andychelt

If anybody has any email gift certificates sat in your email inbox I strongly urge you to login to Amazon right now and apply them to your account even if you're not ready to spend them.

As I have found out tonight to my loss, Amazon gift vouchers are not worth a penny in email form as if you do not apply them to your account they can be cancelled by the purchaser or sent to somebody else at any time. Expiry dates do NOT matter!

I had 12 gift vouchers in my emails and ready for Christmas shopping tried to claim them, the latest 6 worked but the first 6 wouldn't. After 2 phone calls, 3 emails and 2 1/2 hours arguing Amazon finally admitted that the purchaser had cancelled them and that gift certificates could be cancelled, refunded or reissued to somebody else at any time no matter what the expiry date :mad:

Padz_2

So your friends took their gifts back? Shabby.

andychelt

Lol not friends no, a company who pays me every month in Amazon vouchers (or in this case not every month!).

I know that a lot of people on here get Amazon gift certificates for doing surveys etc and so thought it might be worth warning in case anyone's counting on them. :money:

cally6008

post this on the "up your income" section as well

Abbafan1972

Thanks for this. I get Amazon vouchers for doing surveys, so this is useful info to me.

fluffnutter

Perhaps they'd gone to you by mistake and the company was just trying to rectify things? If your company pays you double your salary accidentally, you don't get to keep it!

andychelt

Not at all. I get one a month. I foolishly decided that as the "Gift Certificate" was sent to me direct from Amazon, had a clear year expiry date that it would be ok to hoard them up till Christmas!

This is the equivalent of your company paying you your wages, then after 6 months seeing you haven't spent them and saying lets take them back and pay someone else with them to save money!!

I'm still amazed that when a gift certificate has been issued to an individual that the purchaser can withdraw or cancel it if you haven't added it to your account even if you're clearly within the years expiry date. I tried to argue that the expiry date was therefore useless but the Amazon "Manager" said "oh it hasn't been expired Sir, it's been voided!" :mad:

fluffnutter

andychelt wrote: »

Not at all. I get one a month. I foolishly decided that as the "Gift Certificate" was sent to me direct from Amazon, had a clear year expiry date that it would be ok to hoard them up till Christmas!

This is the equivalent of your company paying you your wages, then after 6 months seeing you haven't spent them and saying lets take them back and pay someone else with them to save money!!

I'm still amazed that when a gift certificate has been issued to an individual that the purchaser can withdraw or cancel it if you haven't added it to your account even if you're clearly within the years expiry date. I tried to argue that the expiry date was therefore useless but the Amazon "Manager" said "oh it hasn't been expired Sir, it's been voided!" :mad:

Aah, that's different then. And, yes, a rubbish policy.

Azari

andychelt wrote: »

Not at all. I get one a month. I foolishly decided that as the "Gift Certificate" was sent to me direct from Amazon, had a clear year expiry date that it would be ok to hoard them up till Christmas!

This is the equivalent of your company paying you your wages, then after 6 months seeing you haven't spent them and saying lets take them back and pay someone else with them to save money!!

I'm still amazed that when a gift certificate has been issued to an individual that the purchaser can withdraw or cancel it if you haven't added it to your account even if you're clearly within the years expiry date. I tried to argue that the expiry date was therefore useless but the Amazon "Manager" said "oh it hasn't been expired Sir, it's been voided!" :mad:

I'd send them a letter prior to court action.

I don't know the legal technicalities of this but once someone gives your something - whether or not is a a contractual payment or a gratuity - it seems very odd that they should be able to take it back.

If they did this with a tangible asset the name for what they have done would be 'theft'.

BigMac1989

Can I ask what survey site you use to receive Amazon vouchers? Would be really interested if you would share the details with me

andychelt

It isn't a survey site, I just mentioned survey sites as I know alot of people get emailed Amazon vouchers that way (I claim air miles from my suverys )

Its from a company called betterthanbanners. They have 3 banners on my website and approximately every month send me an Amazon voucher. I believe they might also operate under bucks4banners.

Tbf they're pretty useless, and hardly ever respond to emails. :mad: :wall:

I also agree about the "theft". I tried explaining to Amazon that if this was a physical voucher then taking it back from me without my knowledge would be stealing....