BEWARE: Raise.com Fraud

[ChuckSap]

For the 1st time I was trying to save a few bucks on our Disney vacation by purchasing target gift cards through raise.com at a 4% discount, then buying Disney Gift cards with my target card saving an additional 5%. Who doesn't want a 9% savings? This is where Raise.com has failed their customers. I purchased a $2000 gift card (at a 4.1% discount for $1918) from one of Raise.com's "verified sellers", the transaction went through and was processed. I added the Target gift card to my app and all was well...or so I thought. AFTER I purchased $1100 worth of gift cards from Target, they notified me that the gift card was fraudulent and would not be honored. I called Raise.com and they refunded me my $1918 but refused to honor the gift card. I explained to them that I made the purchases based on their guarantee of "varified sellers" and I believed they should honor the card. They refused offering me a $5 discount on my next $50 order.

To honor the gift card that was listed on their site would have cost raise.com $81. They refused. In addition, I now have to return a call from the Michigan State Police about this gift card fiasco.

USE RAISE.COM. AT YOUR OWN RISK. Their "verified sellers" aren't so verified and they wont honor fraudulent gift cards. Sorry to be the barer of bad news but as they say, if it seems to good to be true it probably is.

 

[J.Casto79]

Am I reading you correctly that at this point you are made whole? That's really all they owe you. You paid them $1918 and they refunded you $1918.

 

[Ngwira]

For the 1st time I was trying to save a few bucks on our Disney vacation by purchasing target gift cards through raise.com at a 4% discount, then buying Disney Gift cards with my target card saving an additional 5%. Who doesn't want a 9% savings? This is where Raise.com has failed their customers. I purchased a $2000 gift card (at a 4.1% discount for $1918) from one of Raise.com's "verified sellers", the transaction went through and was processed. I added the Target gift card to my app and all was well...or so I thought. AFTER I purchased $1100 worth of gift cards from Target, they notified me that the gift card was fraudulent and would not be honored. I called Raise.com and they refunded me my $1918 but refused to honor the gift card. I explained to them that I made the purchases based on their guarantee of "varified sellers" and I believed they should honor the card. They refused offering me a $5 discount on my next $50 order.

To honor the gift card that was listed on their site would have cost raise.com $81. They refused. In addition, I now have to return a call from the Michigan State Police about this gift card fiasco.

USE RAISE.COM. AT YOUR OWN RISK. Their "verified sellers" aren't so verified and they wont honor fraudulent gift cards. Sorry to be the barer of bad news but as they say, if it seems to good to be true it probably is.

I understand your disappointment but why would raise honor the gift card when they would be out money? They are a BUSINESS. They did the right thing by refunding you the entire amount. Personally I don't think they did anything wrong.

 

[Gillyrose779]

Did Raise say they would honor a fraudulent gift card in their guarantee? I doubt that- most guarantees mean- if a problem arises- they will make sure you are refunded your full amount... which they did.

 

[ChuckSap]

Am I reading you correctly that at this point you are made whole? That's really all they owe you. You paid them $1918 and they refunded you $1918.

When I purchased the gift cards from Target, I purchased them with the understanding I was getting them at a 4.1% discount. Because Raise.com did a poor job of verifying the cards for sale on their site, I am now required to pay full price for my purchase. Their error is costing me $82. I have not been made whole

 

[ChuckSap]

I understand your disappointment but why would raise honor the gift card when they would be out money? They are a BUSINESS. They did the right thing by refunding you the entire amount. Personally I don't think they did anything wrong.

Yes they are a business but part of business is customer service. It's not the consumer's fault that raise.com had shotty fraudulent merchandise available for sale on their website. I am just letting people know because it's not worth the hassle if raise isn't going to honor the cards.

 

[ChuckSap]

Did Raise say they would honor a fraudulent gift card in their guarantee? I doubt that- most guarantees mean- if a problem arises- they will make sure you are refunded your full amount... which they did.

Their guarantee states all cards are from verified sellers. This was not. It was a gift card purchased with a stolen credit card. Some cards are listed as much as 40% savings. Imagine making a purchase thinking you are getting a product at a significant savings only to find out the gift card is fake and you are on the hook for the full amount (I'm know you can return items but it's a major inconvenience). I'm just letting disney people know that it may not be worth the risk trying to save a what amounts to 100 or 200 bucks

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I would take it up with Target. If they found that your gift card was fraudulent then they should have just cancelled your order. How can they take full payment out of your Red Card without verifying with you first? Target is the problem. Not Raise.

 

[jahber]

I must be missing something. You were refunded the total amount YOU paid, but you want them to refund them the retail value of the cards you bought? I'm not sure I understand how are out any money. If you bought Disney gift cards using fraudulent gift cards, wasn't that transaction canceled? Or did they find a way to charge you for the cards? If so, can you cancel the Disney gift card transaction or ask for a refund from Target? Like I said, I must be missing something. There aren't any circumstances that are within Raise's control that would cause you to lose that $82, as far as I know.

 

[J.Casto79]

When I purchased the gift cards from Target, I purchased them with the understanding I was getting them at a 4.1% discount. Because Raise.com did a poor job of verifying the cards for sale on their site, I am now required to pay full price for my purchase. Their error is costing me $82. I have not been made whole

Again, unless I am missing something, yes you are.

If you buy a widget for 10% off and that widget is defective. If you return it to them and they don't have a replacement widget, you only are owed what you paid. They don't give you full retail so you can go buy it somewhere else.

After the refund, you are back to the same state you were before you purchased the gift card from Raise, yes, no?

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I decided a long time ago that buying from Raise or any other grey market gift card reseller wasn't worth the hassle. There are numerous other ways to save 4% off clean gift cards. Sounds like Raise lived up to their end of the deal by refunding your purchase price.

 

[Ngwira]

When I purchased the gift cards from Target, I purchased them with the understanding I was getting them at a 4.1% discount. Because Raise.com did a poor job of verifying the cards for sale on their site, I am now required to pay full price for my purchase. Their error is costing me $82. I have not been made whole

Huh? They didn't cost you $82.00 because you didn't spend $82.00. The $82.00 was a bonus you were hoping to obtain. It's not raise.com's fault that the seller was a FRAUD. Your anger is misplaced.

 

[Marionnette]

For the 1st time I was trying to save a few bucks on our Disney vacation by purchasing target gift cards through raise.com at a 4% discount, then buying Disney Gift cards with my target card saving an additional 5%. Who doesn't want a 9% savings? This is where Raise.com has failed their customers. I purchased a $2000 gift card (at a 4.1% discount for $1918) from one of Raise.com's "verified sellers", the transaction went through and was processed. I added the Target gift card to my app and all was well...or so I thought. AFTER I purchased $1100 worth of gift cards from Target, they notified me that the gift card was fraudulent and would not be honored. I called Raise.com and they refunded me my $1918 but refused to honor the gift card. I explained to them that I made the purchases based on their guarantee of "varified sellers" and I believed they should honor the card. They refused offering me a $5 discount on my next $50 order.

To honor the gift card that was listed on their site would have cost raise.com $81. They refused. In addition, I now have to return a call from the Michigan State Police about this gift card fiasco.

USE RAISE.COM. AT YOUR OWN RISK. Their "verified sellers" aren't so verified and they wont honor fraudulent gift cards. Sorry to be the barer of bad news but as they say, if it seems to good to be true it probably is.

Did you bother to read their return policy/guarantee before you made your purchase?
https://www.raise.com/return-policy

The Raise Guarantee covers the purchase price of the gift card, not any savings or discount the buyer received.

IMO Raise has one of the most liberal guarantees in the gift card resale market. Some resellers won't even cover electronic GCs at all under their guarantee. Others will set a maximum lifetime limit of $1K in claims for bad GCs. You received a GC with the exact amount on it that Raise claimed it would have. They don't "varify" or verify their sellers. They verify the amount that is on the GC that you purchased.And when your GC was drained of its value, Raise returned the money that you spent on the purchase of that GC. They honored their guarantee. They do not owe you the face value of that GC. Period.

The only fraud going on here is on the part of the original GC owner who obtained that GC via fraudulent methods. You've been made whole. Raise doesn't owe you the additional $81. Period.

 

[MrInfinity]

Am I reading you correctly that at this point you are made whole? That's really all they owe you. You paid them $1918 and they refunded you $1918.

I agree, you got your money back with a call. I would not expect them to give you $81 more. They already took the loss of $1918 upon themselves while they pursue the funds back from the seller.

When I purchased the gift cards from Target, I purchased them with the understanding I was getting them at a 4.1% discount. Because Raise.com did a poor job of verifying the cards for sale on their site, I am now required to pay full price for my purchase. Their error is costing me $82. I have not been made whole

Huh? How are you required to pay $2000? You can just not go thru w the transaction. I don't see how it's costing you anything except maybe the gas money. Just get a new card from Raise.

If you buy a widget for 10% off and that widget is defective. If you return it to them and they don't have a replacement widget, you only are owed what you paid. They don't give you full retail so you can go buy it somewhere else.

Could you imagine if you could buy things at a discount, find they're broken (or break them) and return them for full value? That would be insane.

 

[revdisney33]

Could you imagine if you could buy things at a discount, find they're broken (or break them) and return them for full value? That would be insane.

If it worked that way, I would buy cars when they have huge discounts and be retuning weekly....haha

 

[Albort]

Im confused, OP wanted a refund and the gift card amount as well?

Raise is about to go rampant since paypal no longer has protection on gift cards. I think im gonna stick with gyft.com

 

[Alesia]

Im confused, OP wanted a refund and the gift card amount as well?

No, she wanted the full retail value of the cards that she bought. She was given the full amount that she paid for them.

 

[Marionnette]

Im confused, OP wanted a refund and the gift card amount as well?

Raise is about to go rampant since paypal no longer has protection on gift cards. I think im gonna stick with gyft.com

PayPal will not be offering SELLER protection on cash equivalent items such as GCs effective June 25, 2016. It appears that buyer protections are still in place.

 

[ellie05]

Raise doesn't owe you anything else. I am confused why would you think you are entitled to get the $81? You got the money that you paid for it and that is all that you are entitled.

 

[Shanti]

Am I reading you correctly that at this point you are made whole? That's really all they owe you. You paid them $1918 and they refunded you $1918.

I agree, but think the OP's main point was that Raise's verified sellers are sometimes fraudulent.