Raise Marketplace Inc

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Raise's 100 day protection policy is illegal.
In 2009, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which set consumer protections for gift cards based on many state laws. The law provides that gift cards cannot expire within five years from the date they were activated.
Particularly, in Illinois where Raise's headquarter locates, per §505/2SS(c) The face value of a gift certificate issued on or after Jan. 1, 2008, may not be reduced in value and the holder of a gift certificate issued after Jan. 1, 2008, may not be penalized in any way for non-use or untimely redemption of the gift certificate.
That being said, Raise is obligated to protect the card they sold in five years. Furthermore, Raise forces their customers to use the gift card in 100 days, otherwise penalizes the customers by cutting off the protection of the gift cards. Such action is neither responsible nor illegal.
I insist on my initial request --- get my money back.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/08) */
Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXXX

Dear Mr. [redacted],
I have reviewed your complaint in its entirety and I have looked into every detail of this particular case.
Let me start off by saying I am very sorry to hear you have had any obstacle at all,...

but I am happy to have been able to help resolve this issue for you.
Due to the secondary nature of our marketplace, Raise does have a 60-day guarantee. We encourage all Members to have a planned purchase within the guarantee time frame. This would make any issue regarding your gift card one that can be more simply resolved. However, we understand matters arise outside that time frame and we are more than happy to assist you in resolving them, as we have in this situation.
Again we are glad this has been taken care of, and apologize for the dilemma. Raise exists for you to continue to save money, and we are glad that you have decided to stay an active Member. We hope to serve you greatly in the future.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Member Services

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After again reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we are, unfortunately, unable to provide the customer with a different resolution.
The 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee is in full effect for the first 100 days after the purchase date. This means that this order was guaranteed a refund or replacement gift card, if an issue was found, up until March 26, 2016. After this time frame, the order was no longer housed within the Raise Guarantee.
While the voucher itself does not show the worlds of the Raise Guarantee, this information is presented to all customers in their order receipt as well as order confirmation. It is also available to view on the Raise home page, and must be agreed to by customers in the Raise Terms and Conditions when signing up for an account.
We understand that this is an unfavorable situation, but are unable to take further action on the order due to how much time has passed since the Raise Guarantee lapsed. For this we extend our sincerest apologies.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Only after the Revdex.com intervened, I got my refund!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we were able to review the order and offer a resolution to the customer.On December 23, 2016 the customer purchased a Container Store gift card through the Raise marketplace with a value of $500 for a purchase price of $450.00. The customer’s wife then...

contacted Raise Member Services on August 18, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card did not work upon redemption. The customer did also call in on the same day and time and spoke with a supervisor on the Member Services Team. It was expressed by all serving agents, as well as the supervisor, that the gift order was so far outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee at this point, that a refund or replacement card could not be offered.As a longstanding member, who has received refunds in the past, Mr. [redacted] is aware of our 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee. That being said, this order fell outside of the Raise Guarantee as of April 1, 2016. Had the customer contacted us on or before this date, we would have been able to take further action on the order.The seller of this gift card is currently under review by our Seller Support Team and we want to assure the customer that action will be taken to ensure that the seller is properly reprimanded for the issue with this gift card. At this time we would also like to offer the customer an additional $75.00 in Raise Rewards credit, to equal $100.00 total in credit, as recompense for this issue.This credit is currently in Mr. [redacted]’s Raise account and will automatically apply to the next purchase made on Raise. We would like to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to better serving him again in the future.

After reviewing the customer’s response in regards to complaint number
font-family: Arial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[redacted] and the orders in question, it appears that a resolution has been provided.
Order [redacted] was placed on February 4th 2016 for a [redacted]Online Only) eGift card with a value of $200 for the purchase price of $154. Order [redacted] was also placed on February 4th 2016 for two [redacted]Online Only) eGift cards with values of $200 for purchase prices of $154 each totaling a $308 purchase price.
Order [redacted] was refunded in full as of February 4th 2016 and the customer has stated in an email as well as over the phone to an agent that she does see one of the refunds in her bank account. Order [redacted] was refunded for half of the total purchase price, so the price of one gift card, $154, as the customer informed us that one gift card was successfully redeemed from this order but the other was not.
We can see through our payment processing system that the refund of $154 on order [redacted] was successfully refunded to the [redacted] used to make the purchase. The reason that the member may not be seeing the funds as a refund of $154 on her account is because the purchase was made on February 4th 2016 and also refunded on that date shortly thereafter and because it was only half of the purchase price that was being refunded not the entire charge amount. Had the payment stayed pending and the refund hit the account while that was taking place the order total would only show as $154 with no refund for the same amount. The bank account may only be reflecting the $154 purchase price of the gift card that the member was able to successfully redeem.
Raise has been communicating with this customer via email and we encourage her to follow up with out latest email if she is still having trouble with the refund after being provided with this information.  
We would like to consider this issue resolved at this time and hope that the explanation will allow the customer to locate the funds that have already been released to her bank by Raise.

We were able to further review Revdex.com case [redacted]n addition to the customer’s order and Raise account. The customer placed order [redacted] on November 17, 2015. This order contained one [redacted] eGift card with a value of $43.55. A support ticket was opened on January 29, the same day the...

customer filed her complaint.Our Member Services Team responded to this ticket on February 4, and confirmed that this [redacted] card had an inaccurate balance. Per our refundpolicy, the Member Services agent then submitted a partial refund for what the customer was unable to use. The same discount that she initially received on this card was applied to the balance she was not able to use. Therefore, a refund of $19.57 was credited to the original payment source.In addition, the customer was given a promo code for the inconvenience she experienced with this order. This was communicated via email. Overall, we are pleased to have resolved this issue and look forward to serving the customer again in the future.

After receiving the rejection to Revdex.com complaint [redacted] and upon further review, we are still unable to provide a different resolution to the customer.
In cases of potential unauthorized purchases Raise cannot legally give out the information pertaining to the order in question. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience in this causes, but the customer is welcome to file a dispute in this case and we will be happy to work with the customer’s bank, as the order can contain sensitive information.
Raise is again unable to refund the purchase as the Order Processing Team was able to determine that the charge was legitimate, but would accept the opportunity to continue to resolve this through to customer’s bank.
We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to continuing to serve the customer in the future.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order number, it appears that the current resolution is warranted.On December 7, 2015 the customer purchased a [redacted] gift card from Raise.com with a balance of $74.46 for a purchase price of $61.06. The customer...

then contacted Raise Member Services on July 8, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card did not work. At that time the serving agent informed the customer that the order fell outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee, and offered a promotional code as well as a $5 Raise Rewards credit as recompense for this issue. The Raise Guarantee does hold a strict 100 day time frame, and we ask that customers contact us within that time frame in order to receive the best assistance on orders. While some brands have information more readily available for us to retrieve, this is not the same of all brands, and to be uniform in all instances, that is in part, why the Raise Guarantee spans the 100 day period. At the time the customer made the purchase on Raise, we can confirm that the gift card did have the full $74.46 balance available for use. We understand that this is an unfavorable situation, but are, unfortunately unable to provide the customer with a refund or replacement card as so much time has passed since the lapse of the Raise Guarantee for this order. We will continue to ensure that Raise policy is adhered to and properly communicated. We feel that this issue has been resolved in accordance with the Raise guarantee and apologize for any inconvenience.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: as of 3/4/2016  6:19pm, the credit has not posted to my credit card account.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After again reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order number, we are, unfortunately, unable to provide the customer with a different resolution.
As previously mentioned, not all gift cards can be checked before heading into the store, and for this we sincerely apologize. This is the choice of the merchant for that type of card, unfortunately.
The Raise Guarantee does not allow for refunds on a valid gift card, but if the gift card were to be of any trouble once redeemed in the store, we are happy to cover that under the Raise Guarantee.
As the customer has been through an extended amount of communication we have placed $10 in her Raise account to use toward a future purchase. The credit will automatically apply to the next purchase made on the Raise account.
At this time we would like to consider the issue resolved and look forward to better serving the customer again in the future.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/08) */
Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXXX

Dear Mr. [redacted],
I have reviewed your complaint in its entirety and I have looked into every detail of this particular case.
Let me start off by saying I am very sorry to hear you have had any obstacle...

at all, but I am happy to have been able to help resolve this issue for you.
Due to the secondary nature of our marketplace, Raise does have a 60-day guarantee. We encourage all Members to have a planned purchase within the guarantee time frame. This would make any issue regarding your gift card one that can be more simply resolved. However, we understand matters arise outside that time frame and we are more than happy to assist you in resolving them, as we have in this situation.
Again we are glad this has been taken care of, and apologize for the dilemma. Raise exists for you to continue to save money, and we are glad that you have decided to stay an active Member. We hope to serve you greatly in the future.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Member Services

Complaint: [redacted]
 
Please simply refund the entire amount paid to my credit card. Thank you.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After receiving complaint number
rgb(255, 255, 255);">[redacted], we were able to review the order and offer a solution to the customer.
On March 3, 2016 the customer purchased two Bed Bath & Beyond gift cards. Each of the gift cards was purchased with a value of $300 for a purchase price of $273.90 for a total purchase price of $542.80 after a new user promotional code had been applied to the order. For this purchase the customer paid by credit card.
The customer contacted Raise Member Services on March 6, 2016 when the cashier from Bed Bath & Beyond called with the customer in store attempting to use the gift cards. The serving agent informed the customer that an error was seen on our end and that the resolution process would be started and sent to the Gift Card Support Team to be reviewed due to the high value of the order.
At this time the Gift Card Support Team does have a 10-14 business day timeframe for reviewing all of the orders that they receive. We understand that this is lengthy timeframe for a customer to wait for a resolution and we are actively working to minimize our response times for the Gift Card Support Team.
The Gift Card Support Team has completed the refund process for the customer and an email confirmation has been sent to their email address on file with Raise. Within 1-3 business days the customer will see the funds returned to their original payment source. The $5 off new user promotional code, that was used on the order, has also been returned to the customer’s Raise account to use on a future purchase. It will automatically apply to the customer’s next purchase that is $6 and above.
Overall, we are pleased to have resolved this issue for the customer and look forward to serving him again in the future.

We were able to further review Revdex.com case number [redacted] as well as the customer’s Raise account. Overall,...

we are pleased to have been able to address
this customer’s concerns.
The customer placed order [redacted] on October 29, 2015. This order contained 25 physical [redacted] gift cards. On December 4, 2015, the customer sent
an email to our Member Services Team after finding some of the gift cards from this order were invalid. Unfortunately, our team was unable to provide a response in an appropriate time frame.
On January 8, our Member Services Team sent a follow up email confirming which of the 25 gift cards had an issue and told the member that the order would be forwarded to our Refund Team for them to review.
Again, our Refund Team failed to give the customer an update in the timeframe promised in the initial email. On February 5, our Refund Team was able to
confirm that ten of the 25 gift cards in this order had encountered an activation issue. A refund for $399.50 was then processed back to the customer’s original payment source. They were advised that it may take 1-3 business days for their bank to credit their account.
We are extremely sorry for the length of time it took for this matter to be resolved. As we continue to grow, we are actively adding support to all of our teams to better serve our customers. We encourage the customer to give us a call at [redacted] if any other questions or concerns arise. We would be happy tohelp however we can.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. [redacted],After receiving your complaint, we were able to further
review your order R255807058 and the Home Depot gift card in question. We are very sorry to hear you had a hard time placing the
order for this gift card in the first place. Please know that our verification
process...

is used for your protection to ensure that it is indeed you who placed
the high value order. Furthermore, our Gift Card Support Team was able to get in
contact with Home Depot in regards to the status of your gift card. Although
you initially encountered an issue when trying to use this gift card online, a
Home Depot employee was able to confirm this gift card was used in full at the
Home Depot in Totowa, NJ. The card was used for the full $1,000 on November, 19
at register number 90. Because this Home Depot location is three miles from the
address you provided us with, it appears you were able to redeem this card
after all. For this reason, we are unable to provide a refund for this Home
Depot card. Again, we sincerely apologize for the initial issues you had
encountered while working to have your order processed. We have sent you an email
detailing our response to your complaint as well. Please do not hesitate to
reach out with any other questions or concerns you may have.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After receiving the rejection response to Revdex.com complaint number [redacted]  we again reviewed the order in question and Raise is providing the customer with a different resolution than initially provided.
Raise offers a 100 day guarantee to cover orders for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. In cases where Raise is contacted outside of the 100 day period, we do offer to look into the gift card, but do not guarantee a refund the same way as we do within the first 100 days.
For this Whole Foods gift card, the customer was offered a review for the order as it was placed outside of the 100 day period. The Gift Card Support Team did determine that no refund would be offered at that time. While that is the Raise policy and no refund could be offered outside of the 100 day period, as a courtesy, Raise has refunded the customer’s original payment source for $210.54, the amount of the gift card that was unable to be used adjusted by the initial discount.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and would like to consider this issue resolved at this time and hope that the customer finds a courtesy refund a suitable settlement.

We were able to further review Revdex.com complaint [redacted] as well as the customer’s Raise orders and account....


Both orders ([redacted] and [redacted] were placed during November. On January 16, the customer called into Member Services to let them know they were no longer able to use this gift card in an electronic form. This was due to a change in [redacted] policy which required gift cards and merchandise credits to be used in store with the physical gift card. Because the cards were unable to be shipped, the agent then started the refund process for three cards total.
In order [redacted] the gift card ending in [redacted] was refunded in full ($175.19). Because the gift card ending in [redacted] was partially used, a partial refund ($41.34) was processed. Both of these
In order number [redacted] a partial refund was issued as well. The member was able to use $198.08 of this gift card. A refund for $172.02 was issued on February 24.
We apologize that these refunds were not processed in a more timely manner and we are working hard to improve upon our response time. We sincerely appreciate the customer’s patience and hope to serve them again in the future.