Raise Marketplace Inc

On November 16, 2014 @ 9:29pm, I bought a $25 [redacted] gift card from Raise.com with the intention to make a purchase on [redacted]com. But unfortunately, that item sold out. I figured I could hold onto the gift card and use it later. Fast forward a year later, I tried using that same gift card today to make a purchase in [redacted].com and the balance on that gift card happens to be--ZERO. Should my balance be ZERO? I'm very disappointed that Raise.com would practice in the business of gift card fraud. Never again! I got scammed once by this company, I will not get scammed again twice. I guess at the end of the day, this is just the world and society we live in. A bunch of scammers and DISHONEST people everywhere!

I placed a gift certificate order and when it arrived, we checked the balance on the [redacted] website and there was $0 on the card. I emailed both [email protected] and [email protected] a week ago and have not received a reply regarding being charged for an empty gift card.

I listed, sold, mailed to buyers, and market as shipped in exact accordance with instruction provided by Raise.com. These cards totaled approximately $400. Within a day of attempting to withdraw the funds owed my, which was after discounts and fees, Raise.com cancelled the withdrawal and sent me a lengthy list of questions. I responded in detail and demanded that they release my funds. They did not, and made my account inaccessible. A person, or entity's, honor or integrity is only as good at the amount it takes to scam someone. Raise.com's integrity is worth something less than $400. Avoid this site. I'm sure there are legitimate sites out there to transact gift cards. This site is NOT one of them.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding rejection, we have again reviewed the order and will continue to work with the customer until he has been fully refunded.
The escalation to the Gift Card Support Team took an extended period, and we understand why a dispute was filed by the customer. When a dispute is filed, Raise loses the ability to organically refund a purchase and has to go through the banking institution.
When a customer contacts Raise within the 100 day period, we go from the first point of contact and if that is within the 100 days, the entire correspondence time is covered within the guarantee.
We are working with our payment processor to make sure that the customer gets his refund whether is comes through his banking institution while the dispute is active or if the dispute is dropped or resolved not in the customer’s favor, then the refund will come through Raise directly.
We would like to again apologize for the inconvenience and want to work with the customer to make sure that his money is returned.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we were able to review the orders in question.
id="docs-internal-guid-a864be5b-1bfd-f1df-dbcc-99172c5dfd0e">The customer placed four orders on Raise.com on February 15, 2016. Each order contained at least two [redacted] eGift vouchers. On February 23, 2016 the customer contacted Raise Member Services and relayed to the serving agent that all of the cards in three orders no longer contained the expected value. The customer again contacted Raise Member Services about another order that was not working on February 25, 2016. Both serving agents relayed to the customer that the orders would have to be escalated to the Gift Card Support Team due to the high value of the gift cards.
Regrettably, our Gift Card Support Team was unable to respond in a timely fashion and, as mentioned by the customer, a dispute was filed on two out of the four orders. The two orders that were disputed have been resolved in favor of the customer and the refund of $2562.60 that they are receiving will come through their banking institution.
In regards to the orders that were not disputed, we have issued a refund for one of the orders and are continuing to work with the brand to come to a resolution for the customer for the order with the purchase price of $1950.00. To complete our conversation with the brand, we have reached out to the customer and will need a response from them before we can get this expedited and completed. We understand that this is an unacceptable time frame for a customer to wait for a resolution and we are actively working to minimize our response times for the Gift Card Support Team.
We would like to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused for the customer and will continue to work with the customer and the brand until the only outstanding order has been resolved.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com rejection response for complaint number [redacted] we are, unfortunately, unable to offer the customer a different resolution.While this is a different circumstance than the usual with a gift card marketplace, the Raise 100 Day Guarantee is in place for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. After that time, Raise cannot offer further action in the same way we would within the first 100 days. In this specific case, the order purchased on August 10, 2015 fell outside of the guarantee period as of November 18, 2015. [redacted] did not change their policy until after the new year in 2016. The eGift/voucher in the Raise wallet did change to appear as physical as that overall product source was changed by our Development Team, so it looks different in the wallet. At this time, the product source has been changed back for this specific gift card and the customer again has access to the card number. This eGift/voucher was delivered on August 10, 2015 as a merchandise credit, which has not been changed, the only change that was made is in regards to [redacted] policy and how they accept the cards, which, unfortunately, Raise does not control.We would again like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to serving this customer again in the future.

We were able to further review complaint number [redacted] and the order involved to offer the customer a resolution.On June 6, 2015, the customer placed an order for three physical $50 [redacted] gift cards for which he paid a total of $121.12.  The $50 gift card in question was sold for $42.50....

 These cards would be shipped to him via USPS directly from the seller.  The customer emailed Raise Member Services on December 15 in regards to one of the cards containing a value of $25 rather than $50.  We were able to confirm that this card was intended for another customer.  Due to this shipping error, the customer that paid for a $25 gift card may have received the complainant’s $50 gift card.On December 17, 2015, a Raise Member Services agent reached out to the customer via email to begin to resolve this issue.  As this order is outside of the Raise 100 day guarantee, a request was sent to our gift card support team for resolution.  The customer was informed that he would be updated within five business days.  Regrettably, our team was not able to offer an update within the timeframe promised.We were unfortunately unable to obtain the gift card that the customer had originally ordered.  As he agreed to keep the $25 card, we were able to offer the customer a partial refund of $21.25 to the credit card used.  This amount is based on the original 15% discount at which the $50 card was purchased.We sincerely apologize that this matter was not dealt with within our typical time allotment.  Our team is currently working to ensure resolutions and updates within the time specified.  We would like to encourage the customer to give us a call at 888-­578­-8422 should there be any issues or questions that need immediate resolution in the future.  At this time, we would like to consider this issue resolved, as the customer has indicated that he is satisfied with the solution offered.

After reviewing the rejection to Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we want to continue to offer assistance to the customer.
While a dispute is a lengthy process, we are happy to keep a line of communication open with the customer until this issue has been resolved. A dispute remains active until it has been fully resolved and this does mean that communication will stay open between our finance team and the customer’s banking institution.  
An email has been sent to the customer to keep that line of communication open directly with him where he can respond to us, and we can keep in contact regarding the status of the disputes.
We would like to consider this issue resolved for the time being and are happy to keep working with the customer to have this fully resolved.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[redacted] we were able to review the order in question, and at this time a resolution has already been provided.
On January 22, 2016 the customer placed an order on Raise.com for five Taco Bell physical gift cards. Each of the gift cards held a value of $150 and were purchased for $104.85. A total of $524.25 was charged to the customer’s credit card.
The customer reached out to Raise Member Services via email on February 2, 2016 and stated that the gift cards did not have balances. At this time the order was escalated to the Gift Card Support Team due to the volume of gift cards in the order. The customer was notified that the order had been sent to review and would hear back shortly.
It was determined that the member was unable to use the balances of the gift cards, but regrettably, our Gift Card Support Team was unable to respond in a timely fashion and this inquiry was resolved and the customer was notified via email on March 5, 2016. At this time the customer has received an email confirmation that the full refund of $524.25 has been returned to their original payment method and those funds will be seen within 1-3 business days.
We understand that this is an unacceptable time frame for a customer to wait for a resolution and we are actively working to minimize our response times for the Gift Card Support Team. We appreciate the customer’s patience while we resolved this matter and would like to consider this issue resolved at this time. We look forward to serving the customer again 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.
The customer purchased three [redacted] gift cards from Raise.com on July, 24, 2015. On May 7, 2016 the customer contacted Raise Member Services and expressed to the serving agent that the gift cards did not have the expected balance. During the phone conversation the customer spoke with an agent as well as a supervisor in the Member Services Team. It was relayed to the customer that because the order is so far outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee, no further action could be taken on the order.
While there is no expiration on the gift cards, the Raise Guarantee does only guarantee a refund for the purchase price for the first 100 days after the date of purchase. The customer has been offered $5.00 in Raise Rewards as recompense for the issues with these gift cards.
We would like to consider the issue resolved at this time and would also like to extend our sincerest apologies to the customer for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: the 100-day was not specified in the gift card. On the contrary, it says it will never expire
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order numbers, it appears that the current resolution is warranted.The customer placed an an order for three [redacted] Coat Factory gift cards on May 21, 2016. After this order processed he called into Raise Member...

Services and spoke to an agent regarding an order placed on his account on May 20, 2016, that he expressed was not his order. There are very strict procedures for unauthorized purchases here at Raise, so the customer’s account had a hold placed on it until it could be reviewed by our Compliance Team. Once under review by the Compliance Team and after a thorough investigation, it was determined that the gift cards were indeed purchased by the customer. This was determined by the location of the order being placed and the device it was placed on had been used to place previous orders on the customer’s account. While Raise does not refund for valid gift card purchases, if the customer not longer wants to keep the gift cards once they arrive in the mail, he is welcome to call into the Member Services Team again or send in an email to [redacted] and the agent will provide him with a return shipping label. Once the gift cards arrive back in the Raise office, the customer will be refunded for the purchase. In cases when an account is claimed to have an unauthorized purchase, as mentioned previously, it is taken very seriously. The account is placed on a hold so that no future purchases can be made until the investigation has been completed. While the customer was trying to access the [redacted] gift cards, the account had this security hold. This particular kind of hold does still allow access to prior purchases for the customer, but not through the mobile app. As the customer was told by all of the agents he spoke with on May 21, 2016 as well as on May 24, 2016, he still had access to his purchases but would need to use either the website from a computer or even on the mobile browser, but just not through the app. At this time, the customer is in the process of having the hold taken off of his account as the investigation has been completed. Once he completes the steps asked of him by the Order Processing Team he will have full access to his account on the mobile app and again able to make purchases. We are happy to offer the customer a resolution for the gift cards that he may no longer want, and would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

After receiving and reviewing the rejection to Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we are, unfortunately, unable to offer the customer a different resolution. We would like to provide the customer with additional details about this experience.Every listing on Raise is verified by our Trust & Safety team twice, once at the initial listing and once at the time of purchase to ensure a valid balance. At the time all of these cards were initially listed, the balance was verified at the time of approval, and then verified once more right before the customer completed the transaction. If a card ever shows an inaccurate balance at the time of order processing, the order will get canceled and the buyer immediately gets refunded. Thus, these cards were sold with a full, valid balance and the order successfully processed.As mentioned, we see that 6 of the 11 cards were successfully redeemed as they now show a zero balance. 5 of the cards still showed a balance that equaled $42.00.Although these orders are well outside of our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee, we are able to provide the customer with a courtesy refund for the cards that still have a balance showing. We understand the frustration this experience has caused, and we would like to make it up to the customer. This refund will come in the form of Raise Rewards and will automatically apply at the time of checkout. The amount of $50.00 is available in the customer’s account currently and can be used at their earliest convenience. We would like to once more apologize to the customer for the inconvenience this has caused and we would like to consider this issue resolved. Any other questions or comments can be sent via email to [redacted]@raise.com.

Dear [redacted]We were able to further review your complaint as well as
your Raise account. We appreciate your further communication regarding your
payment as well. A check for $20 was sent to you on 8/29/15 for the [redacted]
Center gift card you sold with Raise. We received an email from you on...

10/9/15
stating you had not received your check. Unfortunately this alerted us that
your check was most likely lost in the mail. A stop payment has been issued for
this check and we will be sending you a replacement. We also discussed other, quicker payment options for future
reference. The new check will be sent by the end of the day tomorrow. We
apologize for the delay. Kind regards,The Raise Team

After reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] for a third time, we are unable to change the resolution offered to the customer.The Raise Guarantee is in place to protect the customer’s purchase price for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. Similar to a warranty, this is a strict time frame, and no further action can be taken on an order outside of that date. The Raise Rewards credit was offered to the customer as a courtesy as we have been unable to apply a refund for the requested order. The Raise Rewards credit is in the customer’s account to use toward a future purchase, and any purchase made will be covered, as this purchase was, for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. We understand that this is an unfavorable situation, but the Raise Guarantee is unable to honor requests received outside of that time frame. Our sincerest apologies go out to the customer for this inconvenience.

Purchased multiple ecodes for [redacted] Play from the Raise Marketplace. Received an error redeeming. Upon contacting [redacted] directly, they said all the codes were deactivated and to contact Raise for a resolution. During the conversation with their support, they suggested I place a second order even though I suggested to them their entire batch of codes is likely not activated. Turns out I was right and my next order had the same problem. Raise customer support tried to blame me for the problem and essentially called me a liar about the issue. I spent well over an hour trying to explain that [redacted] told me directly that the codes were invalid, but they kept blaming the issue on me saying its on my end, denying me a refund on BOTH orders. Shameful company with shameful practices.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we were able to review the order in question.On November 01, 2015, the customer placed an order on Raise.com for twenty [redacted] eGift cards. The three gift cards that the customer inquired about were all purchased with a value of $100 at a purchase price...

of $99. For the entire order the customer paid a purchase price of $1881.04 which was paid for by credit card.The customer contacted Raise Member Services via phone on February 6, 2016 and notified the serving agent that he was having trouble with three of the eGift cards in the order. The customer was reached out to again by the serving agent and it was requested that he send in images of the error messages, which the customer did quickly, and for that we are very appreciative. Due to the volume of the inquiry the order was then sent to be reviewed by the Gift Card Support Team.Regrettably, our Gift Card Support Team was unable to respond in a timely fashion and this inquiry currently has not been resolved. The customer did however issue a dispute on this order as of March 3, 2016. Because a dispute was filed, going forward the inquiry will be resolved between the customer’s credit card company and our payment processor.  We sincerely apologize for the delay that the customer has experienced and look forward to serving him again in the future.

After again reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we are, unfortunately, unable to provide the customer with a different resolution.The Raise Guarantee is in place to protect the purchase price on all orders for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. Outside of the 100 day time frame, refund and review requests received will not be honored, per the Raise Guarantee. Our Seller Support team is notified of any continued issues with a particular seller to take any necessary action. The guarantee period for this order lapsed as of March 16, 2016. Had the customer contacted un on or before this date, Raise would have been able to fully cover the purchase. As the request came in after this strict time frame, no further action could be taken on the order. We would like to again apologize for any inconvenience and would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/08/17) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]
After further correspondence with you, I was able to fully review your case as well as your order history.
You had placed six high value orders with us on July 31st, which required further verification from you. We had...

asked you to call in to verify these orders and we were unable to speak to you in a timely manner.
Since then, you were able to speak to our verification team to get these orders processed and the pending charge off of your credit card. Because some orders to require verification we ask that you allow at least one hour for processing, but some orders may take up to 24 hours.
Overall, I'm glad we were able to discuss this further discuss this matter and resolve it for you. If you need anything in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'd be happy to serve you.
Kind regards,
Serena
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/08/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

We were able to further review Revdex.com case [redacted] as well as locate the order in question. We were made aware of an unauthorized charge on January 30, 2016. The payment used in this transaction was a prepaid [redacted] gift card, which was charged $405.59. Unfortunately, as this is an issue with...

the [redacted] gift card itself, the customer will need to file a dispute with [redacted] and Raise will be more than happy to work with their fraud team to get this resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience.