TheGiftCardCafe.com

Review: I had appreciated the service provided by thegiftcardcafe.com until I was told that my account would require a different credit card on file BEFORE mine had expired. In fact, that they would shut my service down BEFORE the end of the month that I had already paid for. I would totally understand not allowing the service to continue on the 1st of the month when my account could not be processed. I had paid for the service and they cut it off a week before the end of the month. They were holding my account hostage for future payment. At that point, I considered my contract over and I will not work with them. I owe them nothing. In fact, they owe me a week worth of my August payment $2.50. It is asinine to then send me emails saying "how are you going to make money" AFTER "your account is deactivated". Threats do not sit well with me. They have the nerve to "charge" another month's fee after turning my account off a week early! Then later tell me my account has been deactivated and they threaten to send the balance to collections.

When they stopped providing a service I had paid in full for, they ended my contract. I do not owe them anything, not even an explanation.

The following is the first email sent to me on the 17th of August. Below are subsequent emails. I may have missed some, but have copied the ones accessible.

It appears the credit card on your account is due to expire this month. You may not have any fees due at this time but we still require an active credit card on your account prior to our next billing cycle on the 1st of the month.

To avoid interruption of your online shopping cart services please login to your account and update your billing info within 5 business days.

On the 23rd of August

In case you missed the other two notices!

The credit card on your account is considered EXPIRED and even if you don't have a balance due we still require that you maintain an active credit card on your account.

Why do we say your card is expired when the exp date is 8/14? Because our billing cycle is on the 1st of every month so even though your card is technically active today it will be expired before our next billing cycle hits.

Unfortunately, this is the final notice before your account is deactivated. Currently your shopping cart is turned off and unable to accept orders but you can still fix it with just a few clicks...

Login here to turn on your cart: [redacted]

You don't want to miss a big gift selling opportunity, right???

If for some weird reason you no longer need this service please tell us. Just reply to this email to let us know what's going on.

September 1, 4, 6, 10, 16, 25

They ran my expired credit card.

September 1

We just tried to process your monthly subscription and per order fees based on your previous month's online sales, but your credit card was declined.

We'll try again in three business days.

This is the first time your card was declined for this month. We'll try to process payment again in three business days. During that time you'll have full access to your account and you can continue accepting online orders.

However if payment fails a second time then your account will no longer be able to accept online orders. To aviod this please provide an updated credit card as soon as possible.

To update your credit card on account login here:

September 4

We just tried our second attempt to process the past due balance on your account, but your credit card was declined again.

Your shopping cart has now been turned off. You will not be able to accept online orders at this time. To turn your cart back on just login and provide an updated credit card.

If you do not provide an updated credit card prior to end of this month your account will be deactivated. Please login or contact us for payment prior to the end of the month to avoid any past due balance from being sent to collections.

To update your credit card on account login here:

h[redacted] Have questions or need help?

Contact us at: [redacted] September 26

Last Chance...In case you missed the other three notices!

The credit card on your account is considered EXPIRED and even if you don't have a balance due we still require that you maintain an active credit card on your account.

Why do we say your card is expired when the exp date is 9/14? Because our billing cycle is on the 1st of every month so even though your card is technically active today it will be expired before our next billing cycle hits.

Unfortunately, this is the final notice before your account is deactivated. Currently your shopping cart is turned off and unable to accept orders but you can still fix it with just a few clicks...

Login here to turn on your cart: [redacted]

You don't want to miss a big gift selling opportunity, right???

If for some weird reason you no longer need this service please tell us. Just reply to this email to let us know what's going on.

September 27

How do you plan to make money with this thing turned off?

We sent several notices that your credit card rejected the charge

for last month's fees but we have not heard from you? The worst

part is that your customers are not able to order gift certificates

online until this is resolved.

Your Account #: ----

Amount Past Due: $ 9.95

Login here to resolve: [redacted]

If you are in a jam you can make a one-time payment with Paypal

to get your cart turned back on.

September 28

This message is to inform you that you have exceeded the allowable time period for an unpaid balance on your account.

Your account has now been deactivated and the unpaid balance will be sent to collections once the grace period has ended. Unpaid balances sent to collections can affect your credit score.

During the grace period you can still login and pay your past due balance online.

Login here: [redacted]

Contact us by email at: i[redacted]Desired Settlement: The policy needs to allow the client to have full access to the purchased service for the entire contract term.

If a client chooses not to renew by updating a credit card, the service should then be turned off.

Rude and taunting emails should be avoided. There are plenty of other companies offering the same service. I would and am paying double for a company that respects their clients and contracts.

They also need to send a check for $2.50 for the amount of service they did not provide between the dates of August 23rd and August 31st.

Business

Response:

We are very sorry, and shocked, to hear about [redacted]'s experience. If she had contacted us directly during the month in which her credit card was expired this could have been explained and resolved very quickly and easily. The emails that she describes as threats are just standard automated emails generated by our system when an account has a credit card due to expire. The emails are designed to be sent over several weeks to allow plenty of time for the client to login and update their card on file and avoid any delays in service.

There also appears to be confusion about our fees and what [redacted] had already paid. We charge a $9.95 monthly fee on the 1st of every month for that month's service in addition to per order fees. [redacted]'s credit card expired in August and so her $9.95 fee for services during the month of September was never paid. Her account was not closed until 9/28/14 so there would be no money owed to her according to our records. Again, if she had simply reached out to us via phone or email this would have been easily explained and resolved.

We will be glad to re-activate [redacted]'s account and waive our $9.95 fixed monthly fee for the current month so she can get back up and running.

Consumer

Response: