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How Giftcard Zen reacted when I had a problem with fraud

5th March, 2014 · Andy Prescott

zen

Giftcard Zen’s fraud guarantee put to the test

I was trying to save a few bucks by using my discounted giftcard trick recently at a hotel.  I had purchased a $250 gift card for $225 from giftcardzen.com and was pretty proud of myself for saving $25.  Unfortunately, when I went to check out the hotel told me that my card had no value on it.

This upset me for two reasons.  First, I was concerned I might be out $250.  Second, the article I wrote on gift cards is one of my most popular articles, and I would be pretty upset if I had given out bad advice.  But, I knew from the research I had done writing that article that Giftcard Zen had guaranteed their cards, so I really shouldn’t have anything to worry about.  Still, I was a little worried about how this would work out.

Customer Service

I have to say that calling Giftcard Zen was one of the more pleasant customer service experiences I have ever had.  My call was answered right away by a gentleman who was both friendly and knowledgeable.  I explained what had happened, and he told me he was sorry for the hassle, but that I could be sure they would make it right.  He then told me they would need to do an investigation and then figure out what the next step was, but that I would hear back from them later that day.

Less than 10 minutes later, I got an email telling me that they had completed their investigation and that they would send me an address label so that I could send the card back to them for a full refund.  A postage paid address label was emailed to me soon after that, which I printed out and taped to an envelope so I could mail the card back to them.  A few days later, my credit card was refunded for the full amount of my purchase.  The whole thing was really, really easy.

Tips from an insider

So I had decided to write a quick article about this experience to reassure ABC readers that the fraud guarantee on Giftcard Zen really worked when something funny happened.  Carlos from Giftcard Zen left a message on this website after I had mentioned them a few weeks back.  So I emailed Carlos to tell him I was going to write this article and ask if he had any tips for my readers.  Here is what he said:

1. If you want to buy gift cards from craigslist, or from a company that doesn’t offer a guarantee, avoid batches at all cost. It’s the easiest way to catch something that could go bad. For example, 10 Starbucks cards at $25 each is a huge sign that something is wrong.
 
2. The second thing, is simply to buy from a source that has a guarantee. We have one, and most of our competitors do (at varying lengths). The online retailers take the risk off your shoulders, so it’s a win win for the consumer.
 

What I learned

I understand that Carlos has a vested interest here, but I agree with him.  My recommendation is that discounted gift cards only be purchased from websites that offer a guarantee.  The other recommendation I would make is that I don’t think it’s a very good idea to hold onto gift cards very long.  I recommend buying them and then using them as quickly as possible because it seems to me that holding onto them for a long period of time only increases the risk that something will happen to the money on them.

I want to make it clear that I was not paid in any way by Giftcard Zen for writing this article.


Photo by Bermi Ferrer

Posted in Everyday purchases |
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Hi, I'm Andy.  I love saving money.  This website is my instruction manual on saving money every way I know how. Hi, I'm Andy. I love saving money. This website is my instruction manual on saving money every way I know how. Follow @artofbeingcheap

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