Amazon Gift Voucher Complaint

bazza2000_2

born_again said:

bazza2000_2 said:

For context, the MoneySavingExpert community was created to empower consumers — to help ordinary people understand their rights, challenge unfair treatment, and hold large companies to account. It’s concerning to see a shift away from that purpose, where discussions appear to defend global conglomerates rather than support those trying to resolve genuine consumer issues. Perhaps a little re-education on why this forum exists would help remind us all what “consumer advocacy” actually means.

Please take a step back. 
We are here to help & provide correct information.
We could all agree with you 100%, but that would not be "consumer advocacy”, or helpful to you in anyway.
Nothing Amazon have done wrong here. A gift card has been purchased & redeemed. Now someone else claims it is their card (no offence intended) If you were a retailer, what would you do?

While we get you have lost a unknown amount, Consumer rights are with who bought the card. Amazon can not provide them with details of the 3rd party who used the card. Odds on police will not be interested in it. Going money claim route will not get Amazon to provide their details.
Fraudster has exactly the same rights under GDPR as you do. Not happy about that take it up with your MP.

Amazon might work with 3rd party retailers to educate sellers staff to check the cards have not been tampered with before they activate them, nothing more they can do. Other than that nothing Amazon can do other than stop 3rd parties selling them. But then they may fall foul of consumer regulations by blocking other retailers selling them 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for your response.

With respect, this isn’t about whether Amazon technically “did anything wrong” — it’s about accountability and fairness. When a company implies a customer or their family is responsible for redeeming a tampered card, without providing any proof or transparency, that’s a failure in process and communication, not simply “bad luck.”

The suggestion that “nothing more can be done” isn’t consumer advocacy — it’s resignation. MoneySavingExpert was created to help ordinary people understand their rights and challenge opaque corporate behaviour. If this forum begins from the premise that the consumer must be mistaken and the corporation must be right, we’ve lost sight of its purpose.

Tesco and others have already acknowledged cases of tampered cards and provided refunds in similar situations. Dismissing these incidents as unresolvable only protects the system that allowed them to happen.

screech_78

Gift cards sold in supermarkets aren’t activated until they’ve been scanned at the till and paid. So someone taking a note of the gift card number would achieve nothing unless it was paid for. 

Won’t comment on the rest as the OP isn’t listening. 

powerful_Rogue

I'll ask again, Are you saying Amazon are lying and they don't hold infomation that your gift card was redeemed either by a close relative or acquaintance?

TELLIT01

Amazon, and possibly others, have actually made it easier for cards to be tampered with by changing from a silver scratch strip to a peel off one.  It would be a comparatively simple process to peel off the strip and then use something like a Pritt stick to glue it back down.

As others have said, there seems to be a growing trend of this type of problem.

Aylesbury_Duck

bazza2000_2 said:

born_again said:

bazza2000_2 said:

For context, the MoneySavingExpert community was created to empower consumers — to help ordinary people understand their rights, challenge unfair treatment, and hold large companies to account. It’s concerning to see a shift away from that purpose, where discussions appear to defend global conglomerates rather than support those trying to resolve genuine consumer issues. Perhaps a little re-education on why this forum exists would help remind us all what “consumer advocacy” actually means.

Please take a step back. 
We are here to help & provide correct information.
We could all agree with you 100%, but that would not be "consumer advocacy”, or helpful to you in anyway.
Nothing Amazon have done wrong here. A gift card has been purchased & redeemed. Now someone else claims it is their card (no offence intended) If you were a retailer, what would you do?

While we get you have lost a unknown amount, Consumer rights are with who bought the card. Amazon can not provide them with details of the 3rd party who used the card. Odds on police will not be interested in it. Going money claim route will not get Amazon to provide their details.
Fraudster has exactly the same rights under GDPR as you do. Not happy about that take it up with your MP.

Amazon might work with 3rd party retailers to educate sellers staff to check the cards have not been tampered with before they activate them, nothing more they can do. Other than that nothing Amazon can do other than stop 3rd parties selling them. But then they may fall foul of consumer regulations by blocking other retailers selling them 🤷‍♀️

The suggestion that “nothing more can be done” isn’t consumer advocacy — it’s resignation. MoneySavingExpert was created to help ordinary people understand their rights and challenge opaque corporate behaviour. If this forum begins from the premise that the consumer must be mistaken and the corporation must be right, we’ve lost sight of its purpose.

People have given you information about your consumer rights.  It's quite simple in this case, you don't have any.  Those rights are held by your sister.  Her rights are to have received what she paid for: an unredeemed gift card from Tesco.

This is solely a matter between your sister and Tesco.  Whatever may or may not have gone on with the card before, during or after the purchase and before you received it, if Tesco try and palm her off to Amazon she needs to escalate it with Tesco.  If she still gets no joy, she takes Tesco to court, or at least threatens to.  Tesco will probably fold (if the voucher is for a relatively small sum) but if they don't, then the court will decide on the balance of probabilities who is right.  My money would be on her winning because why would a consumer go to all that trouble and court proceedings if they knew that they (or someone they knew) had done something dodgy?

If Tesco then want to review how they work with Amazon as a result of this case and any others, that's up to them.  They have no obligation to you or your sister to do so.

bazza2000_2

screech_78 said:

Gift cards sold in supermarkets aren’t activated until they’ve been scanned at the till and paid. So someone taking a note of the gift card number would achieve nothing unless it was paid for. 

Won’t comment on the rest as the OP isn’t listening. 

My best guess is that someone had previously taken the card off the shelf, opened it, noted down the redemption code, then resealed it and put it back. Once that tampered card is legitimately purchased and activated, the fraudster likely checks periodically until they can redeem the balance — usually before the card is even gifted, which could be within a few hours or days.  They also make the card number unreadable so it takes the person longer to either deal with Amazon or return to the store.

Aylesbury_Duck

bazza2000_2 said:

screech_78 said:

Gift cards sold in supermarkets aren’t activated until they’ve been scanned at the till and paid. So someone taking a note of the gift card number would achieve nothing unless it was paid for. 

Won’t comment on the rest as the OP isn’t listening. 

My best guess is that someone had previously taken the card off the shelf, opened it, noted down the redemption code, then resealed it and put it back. Once that tampered card is legitimately purchased and activated, the fraudster likely checks periodically until they can redeem the balance — usually before the card is even gifted, which could be within a few hours or days.  They also make the card number unreadable so it takes the person longer to either deal with Amazon or return to the store.

Yes, that's a plausible theory.  And that's why if your sister is certain something like that happened before purchase then she should take that up with Tesco.  If she bought a bottle of wine from them, gifted it to you and it turned out to be water she'd have to do the same.  It wouldn't be up to you to chase the vineyard for evidence.

bazza2000_2

Aylesbury_Duck said:

bazza2000_2 said:

born_again said:

bazza2000_2 said:

For context, the MoneySavingExpert community was created to empower consumers — to help ordinary people understand their rights, challenge unfair treatment, and hold large companies to account. It’s concerning to see a shift away from that purpose, where discussions appear to defend global conglomerates rather than support those trying to resolve genuine consumer issues. Perhaps a little re-education on why this forum exists would help remind us all what “consumer advocacy” actually means.

Please take a step back. 
We are here to help & provide correct information.
We could all agree with you 100%, but that would not be "consumer advocacy”, or helpful to you in anyway.
Nothing Amazon have done wrong here. A gift card has been purchased & redeemed. Now someone else claims it is their card (no offence intended) If you were a retailer, what would you do?

While we get you have lost a unknown amount, Consumer rights are with who bought the card. Amazon can not provide them with details of the 3rd party who used the card. Odds on police will not be interested in it. Going money claim route will not get Amazon to provide their details.
Fraudster has exactly the same rights under GDPR as you do. Not happy about that take it up with your MP.

Amazon might work with 3rd party retailers to educate sellers staff to check the cards have not been tampered with before they activate them, nothing more they can do. Other than that nothing Amazon can do other than stop 3rd parties selling them. But then they may fall foul of consumer regulations by blocking other retailers selling them 🤷‍♀️

The suggestion that “nothing more can be done” isn’t consumer advocacy — it’s resignation. MoneySavingExpert was created to help ordinary people understand their rights and challenge opaque corporate behaviour. If this forum begins from the premise that the consumer must be mistaken and the corporation must be right, we’ve lost sight of its purpose.

People have given you information about your consumer rights.  It's quite simple in this case, you don't have any.  Those rights are held by your sister.  Her rights are to have received what she paid for: an unredeemed gift card from Tesco.

This is solely a matter between your sister and Tesco.  Whatever may or may not have gone on with the card before, during or after the purchase and before you received it, if Tesco try and palm her off to Amazon she needs to escalate it with Tesco.  If she still gets no joy, she takes Tesco to court, or at least threatens to.  Tesco will probably fold (if the voucher is for a relatively small sum) but if they don't, then the court will decide on the balance of probabilities who is right.  My money would be on her winning because why would a consumer go to all that trouble and court proceedings if they knew that they (or someone they knew) had done something dodgy?

If Tesco then want to review how they work with Amazon as a result of this case and any others, that's up to them.  They have no obligation to you or your sister to do so.

Thanks for the clear explanation — it’s great to finally get some straightforward advice. It’s refreshing to read a response that directly addresses the situation without the negativity that’s mixed in with other bits of advice.

I’ve now been to the Tesco store with my sister, and the store manager explained that they had a spate of issues around the time my card was purchased, so they expected several of these cards to be returned. They gave her a full refund for the amount on the card and also made a point of showing us that the cards have been removed from display while they investigate.

That said, I must say I’m deeply disappointed by the comments suggesting it must have been a close relative or friend who redeemed the card, or that Amazon somehow has evidence to support that. The reality is, Amazon doesn’t have any evidence, because there isn’t any. As clarified by the store manager, the issue is with the cards themselves, and any alleged data Amazon claims to have either has been misinterpreted or, at worst, fabricated to brush me off. These assumptions are not only wrong, but they’re damaging to the principle of supporting consumers in situations like this. Instead of speculating that the consumer is guilty, we should be advocating for them and focusing on the facts. This forum exists to stand up for consumers, not to blindly defend large corporations and dismiss legitimate concerns without proper consideration.

powerful_Rogue

bazza2000_2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

bazza2000_2 said:

born_again said:

bazza2000_2 said:

For context, the MoneySavingExpert community was created to empower consumers — to help ordinary people understand their rights, challenge unfair treatment, and hold large companies to account. It’s concerning to see a shift away from that purpose, where discussions appear to defend global conglomerates rather than support those trying to resolve genuine consumer issues. Perhaps a little re-education on why this forum exists would help remind us all what “consumer advocacy” actually means.

Please take a step back. 
We are here to help & provide correct information.
We could all agree with you 100%, but that would not be "consumer advocacy”, or helpful to you in anyway.
Nothing Amazon have done wrong here. A gift card has been purchased & redeemed. Now someone else claims it is their card (no offence intended) If you were a retailer, what would you do?

While we get you have lost a unknown amount, Consumer rights are with who bought the card. Amazon can not provide them with details of the 3rd party who used the card. Odds on police will not be interested in it. Going money claim route will not get Amazon to provide their details.
Fraudster has exactly the same rights under GDPR as you do. Not happy about that take it up with your MP.

Amazon might work with 3rd party retailers to educate sellers staff to check the cards have not been tampered with before they activate them, nothing more they can do. Other than that nothing Amazon can do other than stop 3rd parties selling them. But then they may fall foul of consumer regulations by blocking other retailers selling them 🤷‍♀️

The suggestion that “nothing more can be done” isn’t consumer advocacy — it’s resignation. MoneySavingExpert was created to help ordinary people understand their rights and challenge opaque corporate behaviour. If this forum begins from the premise that the consumer must be mistaken and the corporation must be right, we’ve lost sight of its purpose.

People have given you information about your consumer rights.  It's quite simple in this case, you don't have any.  Those rights are held by your sister.  Her rights are to have received what she paid for: an unredeemed gift card from Tesco.

This is solely a matter between your sister and Tesco.  Whatever may or may not have gone on with the card before, during or after the purchase and before you received it, if Tesco try and palm her off to Amazon she needs to escalate it with Tesco.  If she still gets no joy, she takes Tesco to court, or at least threatens to.  Tesco will probably fold (if the voucher is for a relatively small sum) but if they don't, then the court will decide on the balance of probabilities who is right.  My money would be on her winning because why would a consumer go to all that trouble and court proceedings if they knew that they (or someone they knew) had done something dodgy?

If Tesco then want to review how they work with Amazon as a result of this case and any others, that's up to them.  They have no obligation to you or your sister to do so.

That said, I must say I’m deeply disappointed by the comments suggesting it must have been a close relative or friend who redeemed the card, or that Amazon somehow has evidence to support that. The reality is, Amazon doesn’t have any evidence, because there isn’t any. As clarified by the store manager, the issue is with the cards themselves, and any alleged data Amazon claims to have either has been misinterpreted or, at worst, fabricated to brush me off. These assumptions are not only wrong, but they’re damaging to the principle of supporting consumers in situations like this. Instead of speculating that the consumer is guilty, we should be advocating for them and focusing on the facts. This forum exists to stand up for consumers, not to blindly defend large corporations and dismiss legitimate concerns without proper consideration.

Well you posted the reply from Amazon and I have no reason to doubt their response.

I think you've been lucky in this instance. Which ever close relative or acquaintance squnadered the gift card got away lightly this time.

Aylesbury_Duck

bazza2000_2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

bazza2000_2 said:

born_again said:

bazza2000_2 said:

For context, the MoneySavingExpert community was created to empower consumers — to help ordinary people understand their rights, challenge unfair treatment, and hold large companies to account. It’s concerning to see a shift away from that purpose, where discussions appear to defend global conglomerates rather than support those trying to resolve genuine consumer issues. Perhaps a little re-education on why this forum exists would help remind us all what “consumer advocacy” actually means.

Please take a step back. 
We are here to help & provide correct information.
We could all agree with you 100%, but that would not be "consumer advocacy”, or helpful to you in anyway.
Nothing Amazon have done wrong here. A gift card has been purchased & redeemed. Now someone else claims it is their card (no offence intended) If you were a retailer, what would you do?

While we get you have lost a unknown amount, Consumer rights are with who bought the card. Amazon can not provide them with details of the 3rd party who used the card. Odds on police will not be interested in it. Going money claim route will not get Amazon to provide their details.
Fraudster has exactly the same rights under GDPR as you do. Not happy about that take it up with your MP.

Amazon might work with 3rd party retailers to educate sellers staff to check the cards have not been tampered with before they activate them, nothing more they can do. Other than that nothing Amazon can do other than stop 3rd parties selling them. But then they may fall foul of consumer regulations by blocking other retailers selling them 🤷‍♀️

The suggestion that “nothing more can be done” isn’t consumer advocacy — it’s resignation. MoneySavingExpert was created to help ordinary people understand their rights and challenge opaque corporate behaviour. If this forum begins from the premise that the consumer must be mistaken and the corporation must be right, we’ve lost sight of its purpose.

People have given you information about your consumer rights.  It's quite simple in this case, you don't have any.  Those rights are held by your sister.  Her rights are to have received what she paid for: an unredeemed gift card from Tesco.

This is solely a matter between your sister and Tesco.  Whatever may or may not have gone on with the card before, during or after the purchase and before you received it, if Tesco try and palm her off to Amazon she needs to escalate it with Tesco.  If she still gets no joy, she takes Tesco to court, or at least threatens to.  Tesco will probably fold (if the voucher is for a relatively small sum) but if they don't, then the court will decide on the balance of probabilities who is right.  My money would be on her winning because why would a consumer go to all that trouble and court proceedings if they knew that they (or someone they knew) had done something dodgy?

If Tesco then want to review how they work with Amazon as a result of this case and any others, that's up to them.  They have no obligation to you or your sister to do so.

Thanks for the clear explanation — it’s great to finally get some straightforward advice. It’s refreshing to read a response that directly addresses the situation without the negativity that’s mixed in with other bits of advice.

I’ve now been to the Tesco store with my sister, and the store manager explained that they had a spate of issues around the time my card was purchased, so they expected several of these cards to be returned. They gave her a full refund for the amount on the card and also made a point of showing us that the cards have been removed from display while they investigate.

That said, I must say I’m deeply disappointed by the comments suggesting it must have been a close relative or friend who redeemed the card, or that Amazon somehow has evidence to support that. The reality is, Amazon doesn’t have any evidence, because there isn’t any. As clarified by the store manager, the issue is with the cards themselves, and any alleged data Amazon claims to have either has been misinterpreted or, at worst, fabricated to brush me off. These assumptions are not only wrong, but they’re damaging to the principle of supporting consumers in situations like this. Instead of speculating that the consumer is guilty, we should be advocating for them and focusing on the facts. This forum exists to stand up for consumers, not to blindly defend large corporations and dismiss legitimate concerns without proper consideration.

It's more nuanced than that.  The forum doesn’t exist to stand up for consumers.  It's a place where (largely) unqualified individuals voluntarily offer advice and opinion on people's consumer rights matters.  Sometimes the consumer is wrong or their arguments need testing.  If you want clear, legally accurate advice without opinion, speculation, etc. then you probably need to pay for it.

What people think of Amazon's stance on this is irrelevant to your sister's consumer rights, and I think it's a premature conclusion that the problems is definitely with the cards themselves just because a Tesco manager said so.  Likely, yes, but you can't be certain.  Not that it matters, anyway.  If you don't trust Amazon because of the way they dealt with this, the simple solution is to deny them your data by closing your account and shopping elsewhere.