Amazon Gift Voucher Complaint Part 2

Bitter_Truth

Hello,

Newbie here. Sorry, I had to create a new thread regarding this Amazon gift card issue as I have the same experience as @bazza2000_2 and wanted to contribute.

I received two £50 Amazon gift cards in December as part of my leaving the work place gifts. My colleagues had pooled together to get me the gifts. Both cards were sealed as they should be. I went to redeem the cards six days later but the upon opening the card packaging the claim code on the paper card ripped off and so was unreadable. The same thing happened to the second card. I then visited Amazon's website for troubleshooting information and it said to contact them if the claim code is damaged, unreadable, or scratched-off. I called them and a customer service agent tried to help. She asked for photos of the cards and receipts which I shared whilst on the call but was unable to resolve the issue, so escalated it to the Gift Cards Escalation Team. Someone from the that team emailed saying

I contacted them again about a week later as I hadn't got an update from them and received the following email which left me confused, given the fact that at the end of the email I was told to enjoy redeeming and using my gift card which they claimed had already been used. 

I followed up informing them the response was unsatisfactory, but they didn't respond until yesterday. The response was the same standard template response @bazza2000_2 received.

I responded back today refuting their claim that the cards may have been redeemed been redeemed by a close family member or acquaintance. It is impossible as I kept the cards in a safe place until I was ready to redeem them and they were still sealed. Furthermore, no member of my household would indulge in such behaviour.

I've asked Amazon if the matter has been reported to the police or other authority for further investigation and if not, why not. I've also asked for their internal protocol or policy for handling suspected gift card fraud, including how investigations are conducted and how responsibility is determined, and what actions they are currently taking, both internally and in conjunction with third-party sellers, to prevent and address gift card fraud.

If the cards were redeemed as they said, it was not done by anyone close to me despite what their "available data" says. In my opinion Amazon are trying to fob people off by suggesting the fraud may have been committed by someone close to them as people will not want to pursue the matter further. I believe the fraud occurs at the retail side and might be quite significant, so perhaps Amazon isn't interested in going after these thieves. At the end of the day if they don't refund and the retailer doesn't either, that's money in their pockets and we the customers are out of pocket.

What I find concerning is that all the cases I've come across whilst researching this issue were linked to Tesco where the gift cards were purchased.

I'm also puzzled as to when the thieves know when a card they've tampered with has been activated.

Are there others who've experienced similar? 

Aylesbury_Duck

The trouble you have in trying to deal with this is that you aren't the consumer in this transaction, so you don't have consumer rights or the right to dictate to Amazon or Tesco what they should or shouldn't be doing about it.  Whoever purchased the gift cards has the consumer rights and those would be exercised against Tesco as the retailer.

There are others who have experienced similar problems, yes.  There is fraudulent activity on many types of gift cards and different retailers, but it's a very tiny proportion of the number sold.  Doesn't help when you're in that proportion, of course.

born_again

Bitter_Truth said:

Hello,

Newbie here. Sorry, I had to create a new thread regarding this Amazon gift card issue as I have the same experience as @bazza2000_2 and wanted to contribute.

I received two £50 Amazon gift cards in December as part of my leaving the work place gifts. My colleagues had pooled together to get me the gifts. Both cards were sealed as they should be. I went to redeem the cards six days later but the upon opening the card packaging the claim code on the paper card ripped off and so was unreadable. The same thing happened to the second card. I then visited Amazon's website for troubleshooting information and it said to contact them if the claim code is damaged, unreadable, or scratched-off. I called them and a customer service agent tried to help. She asked for photos of the cards and receipts which I shared whilst on the call but was unable to resolve the issue, so escalated it to the Gift Cards Escalation Team. Someone from the that team emailed saying

I contacted them again about a week later as I hadn't got an update from them and received the following email which left me confused, given the fact that at the end of the email I was told to enjoy redeeming and using my gift card which they claimed had already been used. 

I followed up informing them the response was unsatisfactory, but they didn't respond until yesterday. The response was the same standard template response @bazza2000_2 received.

I responded back today refuting their claim that the cards may have been redeemed been redeemed by a close family member or acquaintance. It is impossible as I kept the cards in a safe place until I was ready to redeem them and they were still sealed. Furthermore, no member of my household would indulge in such behaviour.

I've asked Amazon if the matter has been reported to the police or other authority for further investigation and if not, why not. I've also asked for their internal protocol or policy for handling suspected gift card fraud, including how investigations are conducted and how responsibility is determined, and what actions they are currently taking, both internally and in conjunction with third-party sellers, to prevent and address gift card fraud.

If the cards were redeemed as they said, it was not done by anyone close to me despite what their "available data" says. In my opinion Amazon are trying to fob people off by suggesting the fraud may have been committed by someone close to them as people will not want to pursue the matter further. I believe the fraud occurs at the retail side and might be quite significant, so perhaps Amazon isn't interested in going after these thieves. At the end of the day if they don't refund and the retailer doesn't either, that's money in their pockets and we the customers are out of pocket.

What I find concerning is that all the cases I've come across whilst researching this issue were linked to Tesco where the gift cards were purchased.

I'm also puzzled as to when the thieves know when a card they've tampered with has been activated.

Are there others who've experienced similar? 

As it is (who ever bought it's loss.) they would have to report it.

They will just keep trying.

Best to buy direct from Amazon & get posted out.

Bitter_Truth

Aylesbury_Duck said:

The trouble you have in trying to deal with this is that you aren't the consumer in this transaction, so you don't have consumer rights or the right to dictate to Amazon or Tesco what they should or shouldn't be doing about it.  Whoever purchased the gift cards has the consumer rights and those would be exercised against Tesco as the retailer.

There are others who have experienced similar problems, yes.  There is fraudulent activity on many types of gift cards and different retailers, but it's a very tiny proportion of the number sold.  Doesn't help when you're in that proportion, of course.

Totally agree on consumer rights and will definitely contact the person who bought the gift cards to ask them to take it up with Tesco.

It is absurd that Amazon's Gift Card Escalations Team didn't provide this advice in their response.