Purchased £2000+ worth of Amazon Gift Cards, unable to spend them.

Grumpy_chap

zlorf said:

I am just repeatedly told to "wait 24-48 hours" and the accounts department (whom customers themselves cannot contact directly) will respond with a "resolution".

It is quite possible that the Accounts personnel that need to resolve this are on leave until New Year, possibly Monday 6th January.

GDB2222

Aylesbury_Duck said:

GDB2222 said:

The OP has asked for help with Amazon. I don’t think that all these criticisms are warranted. 

I generally agree, but I suspect the suspicions and criticisms of the process are probably the same things that have caused Amazon to take the action they have.  I suspect this is going to take a lot of unwinding and at this time of year, the time taken to do so is probably going to be longer than usual.

It sounds as if OP is acting entirely honestly, above-board and with their employer and client's consent.  However, it looks very odd and I can understand why a retailer would put a stop on it until they know more.

I agree, but emailing from a no reply address, whilst demanding a reply… That’s beyond poor. 

Undervalued

zlorf said:

I won't go into the specifics of the person's situation as to why they can't (currently) have a personal bank account - not least because it doesn't relate to my question.

Outtatune, while you sound like a very knowledgeable person, please accept that you don't know (or need to know) anything about the person in question, their circumstances and the restrictions which have been imposed upon them.

The person's assigned Social Worker has authorised Amazon Gift Cards to be purchased, and items to be purchased via Amazon in this way.

The individual used to physically collect cash from a local Social Work office every fortnight, but has now been issued with a prepaid card which they can use to withdraw cash at ATMs.

Rest assured the Social Worker has also been updated at every step with this issue which has been going on for over a week now.

We have all the evidence necessary as proof of purchase, and have attempted to attach the photos to emails which seemingly aren't read by a human being.

The last contact with Live Chat asked me to email the receipt photos to "image-attachments@amazon.co.uk" and we received yet another template email stating "your order has been cancelled, place another order".

What's the best course of action?

So, as I suggested in my recent post which may have crossed with yours, their department must (presumably) accept some responsibility if that approved payment method runs into any complications? 

Do you work directly for this client, perhaps as a self employed carer, or are you employed by social services or an agency? If so and you have acted properly (and I am sure you have) it is surely for them to sort out.

zlorf

Undervalued said:

zlorf said:

I won't go into the specifics of the person's situation as to why they can't (currently) have a personal bank account - not least because it doesn't relate to my question.

Outtatune, while you sound like a very knowledgeable person, please accept that you don't know (or need to know) anything about the person in question, their circumstances and the restrictions which have been imposed upon them.

The person's assigned Social Worker has authorised Amazon Gift Cards to be purchased, and items to be purchased via Amazon in this way.

The individual used to physically collect cash from a local Social Work office every fortnight, but has now been issued with a prepaid card which they can use to withdraw cash at ATMs.

Rest assured the Social Worker has also been updated at every step with this issue which has been going on for over a week now.

We have all the evidence necessary as proof of purchase, and have attempted to attach the photos to emails which seemingly aren't read by a human being.

The last contact with Live Chat asked me to email the receipt photos to "image-attachments@amazon.co.uk" and we received yet another template email stating "your order has been cancelled, place another order".

What's the best course of action?

So, as I suggested in my recent post which may have crossed with yours, their department must (presumably) accept some responsibility if that approved payment method runs into any complications? 

Do you work directly for this client, perhaps as a self employed carer, or are you employed by social services or an agency? If so and you have acted properly (and I am sure you have) it is surely for them to sort out.

I need to exhaust all potential avenues to resolve this before passing it over to Social Work. They are swamped.

It's clear that contacting this first line of Amazon's customer services department isn't going anywhere at all. I don't anticipate a Managing Director will reply any time soon (although I will try, and thanks for the suggestion).

When reaching out to mega companies via Twitter, how best to draw attention to an individual case? It's not something I've done in the past. Any tips?

Thanks 

elsien

You would need to direct message them with the account details etc. Have to be honest, I have had very variable experience with this. Some companies respond quickly, Asda I’m still waiting for a proper reply from September. 

Also to be aware that if your client doesn’t have their own Twitter account you may get into the date of protection side of things where they won’t talk to you without his consent.

Debbie9009

Like undervalued, I think you will need to get the social worker involved, I don’t think the receipts for the gift cards will be enough, I think they may want to know the source of the money, and why gift cards are being used instead of using the prepaid card, and they may want this information from an ‘official’ source, maybe on headed paper/email.

You can see from the comments here people have lots of questions, and this will be the same for Amazon.

Grumpy_chap

Debbie9009 said:

 they may want to know why gift cards are being used instead of using the prepaid card,

That question crossed my mind.
The type of prepaid card I am aware of can be used in the same way as a debit card for online purchases.  
There may be other types of prepaid card that work differently.

zlorf

Grumpy_chap said:

Debbie9009 said:

 they may want to know why gift cards are being used instead of using the prepaid card,

That question crossed my mind.
The type of prepaid card I am aware of can be used in the same way as a debit card for online purchases.  
There may be other types of prepaid card that work differently.

Indeed, there are different types. The particular prepaid card available to the individual is limited in its use and can't be used online. I would be happy to share this information with the correct Amazon department if they were remotely interested!

Thanks to everyone who suggested Amazon's social media for help. I must say it's not something that would have crossed my mind.

I used to use Amazon a lot in the past, not so much recently. I remember their customer services being far more willing and able to help, and less "computer says no" in their approach. Companies change, I guess.

GDB2222

When I have contacted Amazon CS, they have been able to help most of the time. I don’t know why it’s not working this time for the op. 

It’s possible that the entire fraud prevention team is on holiday, but hardly likely? 

sheramber

zlorf said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Debbie9009 said:

 they may want to know why gift cards are being used instead of using the prepaid card,

That question crossed my mind.
The type of prepaid card I am aware of can be used in the same way as a debit card for online purchases.  
There may be other types of prepaid card that work differently.

Indeed, there are different types. The particular prepaid card available to the individual is limited in its use and can't be used online. I would be happy to share this information with the correct Amazon department if they were remotely interested!

Thanks to everyone who suggested Amazon's social media for help. I must say it's not something that would have crossed my mind.

I used to use Amazon a lot in the past, not so much recently. I remember their customer services being far more willing and able to help, and less "computer says no" in their approach. Companies change, I guess.

It is common scam to ask someone to buy Amazon gift cards and buy something for them. The money for the cards is never repaid.

I expect that is what has triggered a fraud alert on this purchase. 

You could try raising a complaint with Amazon.