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GiftCardRescue.com www.giftcardrescue.com, Gift Card Rescue Gift Card Exchange Website Ellicott City, Montana
This company is a joke. I wanted to sell to them a $500 gift card that I had no use for. They were going to pay me $325 for it. I sent it in and they received it on a Monday (per USPS delivery confirmation). Their website claims they mail out payment within 48 hours of receipt of gift card. Wednesdays rolls around and they email asking for me to sign some forms to confirm I obtained this gift card legally, they wanted a copy of my driver's license, plus they wanted me to submit to them a copy of the receipt showing proof of purchase for the gift card. How can I do that considering this was a gift? I provided everything else except the receipt (since I don't have one, which I explained to them). I don't hear from them for days even after sending several emails asking for the status of my order. The next Monday rolls around and after still not hearing anything I call their customer service, were I'm told they cannot buy my gift card since I cannot provide them documentation supporting the proof of purchase. If I would have known that was required, I wouldn't have bothered sending it in to begin with! Then the kicker is that they want me to send them a self-addressed, postage paid return envelope to get my $500 gift card back! This has been a complete waste of my time and money, considering I had to pay to ship my gift card there in the first place, now I have to pay to get it back. Beware of this company, they are a complete scam! No where on their website does it state they may require documentation supporting proof of purchase. It's absurd to require this, these are GIFT cards after all.
8 Updates & Rebuttals
skk123
Rockville,Maryland,
USA
Additional Information/Update
#9General Comment
Wed, December 14, 2016
I did provide everything you requested in a timely manner. Blaming the customer when I did everything you asked within the timeframe required just shows how unethical you are. In response to your assertion that you must be running an ethical company since you have been in business for five years falls short now that you had to close your company because your bank account was frozen due to you not paying your lender. I am still waiting on your basis for what the standard business practices are. I've used your competitors for cards with higher values and had no issue resulting from the fact that I didn't have a receipt, as these were gift cards. Keeping my cards as a donation to yourself when I explicitly did not give my consent is not standard business practices- it's stealing
skk123
Rockville,Maryland,
USA
Illegal and deceptive business practices
#9Consumer Comment
Sat, February 20, 2016
Stating that you "may" require a receipt is not the same as you "do" require a receipt for gift cards you purchase. You can't relying on common business practices when your terms of service state otherwise. You are being deceptive by using the term "may." When you are having so many complants, why don't you change that one word in your terms. You should know the law. You can't relying on common business practices when you have created your own terms of service. Your statement that it is "common business practices" to require a receipt for a high value gift card is incorrect. Please cite which other companies that require a receipt for a GIFT CARD. Your "policy" of not returning the gift card and kept it as a "donation" to GiftCardRescue.com unless the person sends you a self addressed envelope within 30 days of the rejection is illegal. Once you reject the purchase of the gift card, you don't have a binding contract to rely on. You are tricking people into thinking you have a contratual right to do that. For there to be a binding contract there must be an offer, acceptance, and consideration. There is no consideration on your end, and therefore no binding contract. You shouldn't represent to know the law when you are in fact not acting in accordance to the law. The fact that a class action lawsuit has not been filed against your company yet is surprising. Your place of business is located in Maryland and you are bound by Maryland law. I highly anticipate your response to this comment/rebuttal.
GiftCardRescue
Ellicott City,Maryland,
Rsp: TOS
#9UPDATE Employee
Wed, July 17, 2013
I understand where this may be confusing for some of our customers. I appreciate your feedback and we are looking in to getting this updated on our website. We would like to avoid any future complications and prevent confusion regarding our Order Verification process.
Thank you,
GiftCardRescue.com
Chris
Texas,Response to #3
#9Consumer Comment
Tue, April 23, 2013
I have to disagree. When you know the value of the gift card and you do not explicitly state during the transaction process that you need the documentation, that is deceiving. Your Terms state "We may also request purchase receipts for high value gift cards before we make payment." (http://www.giftcardrescue.com/terms-and-conditions). The word "may" is a conditional statement, it does not mean it is a requirement. You stated "Requiring order verification forms is standard practice when selling a high value gift card to our company." Do you not see the disconnect between what you state, what your terms state, and what the transaction process states? If it's a standard process, DISCLOSE that when the offer is made. But you don't, you allow the customer to send in the card without knowing whether they'll need a receipt, yet you know full well that you'll be requesting one....and yet here you are brushing it off as a "standard practice", when your terms don't even state that it's a standard process. That, in my opinion, is hiding behind your Terms. And it leaves one to question why you'd do this when it's so easy to put text on the screen saying "Receipt required" when a gift card is over a certain value. I used to build websites, I know how easy it is to code that condition into your transaction process.
gogreenspartans
Um OK....
#9Author of original report
Tue, April 23, 2013
That's fine that it's posted in the TOS, but since requiring a proof of purchase is standard practice for high value gift cards, it should be spelled out more clearly than within the FINE print of the TOS.
GiftCardRescue
Stevensville,Maryland,
Response to Chris
#9UPDATE Employee
Tue, April 23, 2013
Dear Chris,
Let me assure you that we are not trying to hide behind our Terms and Conditions. We've been in business for five years now and would no longer be in business if we were deceiving our customers. When entering into a transaction with our company, you are required to check a box stating that you have read our Terms and Conditions. If you do not check this box our site will not let you continue with the transaction. By checking the box this proves to us that you have read, understood, and accepted our Terms and Conditions. Requiring order verification forms is standard practice when selling a high value gift card to our company. This is to protect our customers and company from any potential fraud. We use this information to verify the source of the gift card and the identity of the seller. All of our policies and procedures are outlined before entering into a transaction with our company.
Chris
Texas,United States of America
Similar experience
#9Consumer Comment
Thu, February 14, 2013
Almost the exact same thing happened to me. It's obvious that requiring a receipt is standard practice, but they DO NOT disclose this during the offer process. When you challenge them, you're referred to their terms of service which states that they "may require" a receipt.
The admission here that it's standard practice, and the fact that they don't disclose it as a condition of the offer on high-value cards, is incredibly deceptive. This company invites consumers to enter into a transaction at the customer's expense which can never be completed if they don't possess a receipt.
You'll find my very similar account detailed here on RipoffReport.
GiftCardRescue
Stevensville,Maryland,
United States of America
Apology from GiftCardRescue.com
#9UPDATE Employee
Mon, January 28, 2013
I would first like to apologize for our delay in response.
We aim to provide exceptional customer service to all of our consumers, so we apologize that your experience didnt reflect our enforced goals. For situations such as yours, when selling high value gift cards, we require that
certain documentation be provided to successfully confirm that the gift card was legitimately acquired. This is a standard process that is conducted for all high value gift cards to verify buyer information and identity. We reserve the right to hold your gift cards until the follow up process is complete. All of these measures are outlined in our Terms and Conditions that were accepted when you promised to sell your gift card to us. We apologize for your unpleasant experience with our company, we hope to regain your trust as a consumer and
give our company another try!
Kind Regards,
GiftCardRescue.com