Raise Marketplace Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/10/02) */
Dear Mr. [redacted],
I was able to further review your case and your Raise order. We were sorry to hear that you were unhappy about your experience with Raise.
I understand that your Denny's card was not delivered in a timely fashion and so...

you contacted Member Services for more information. Your order was placed on 9/5/2015 and our Shipping Policy states that you should receive your gift card by mail in 3-14 business days.
We received your first inquiry on 9/12, seven days after you placed your order. One of our agents informed you of our shipping policy and that we would refund you if there is no tracking after fourteen days. Unfortunately we cannot issue a refund until those fourteen days have passed, per our policy.
We were able to make an exception to this policy for you and issue a refund after only twelve days. A refund confirmation was sent to you on 9/17 when the refund was fully released by Raise. This refund was applied to your original form of payment.
Overall, I am glad we were able to resolve this for you. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we would be happy to serve you again in the future.
Kindest regards,
Serena
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/10/02) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
NOT HAPPY WITH THE WAY RAISE CONDUCTS THEIR BUSINESS?

After receiving and reviewing complaint number [redacted] and the order number in question, it appears that the current issue has been resolved.On January 26th 2015 the customer made a purchase on Raise.com for a [redacted] gift card with a value of $350 for a purchase price of $296.10, which was paid for...

by the customer using a credit card. The customer reached out to Raise Member Services via email on February 29th 2016 and stated that the [redacted] gift card in the order was unable to be used. The serving agent picked up the email just under three hours after it was submitted and was able to confirm that this gift card did have some kind of activation error. Upon confirming this message, the serving agent issued a full refund of $291.10 to the customer’s original source of payment. The $5 in Raise Rewards used toward this purchase was  also returned to the customer’s account to use on a future order.This information was addressed to the member in an email from Raise Member Services on February 29th 2016. Overall, we are pleased to have resolved this issue for the customer and look forward to serving her 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.
On October 23, 2015 the customer made a purchase on Raise.com for a Pier 1 Impports gift card with a balance of $150.00 for a purchase price of $114.18. The customer contacted Raise Member Services on May 6, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card did not hold the expected value. During the phone conversation the serving agent explained our policy and apologetically declined this customer’s refund request.
As this purchase is so far outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee, Raise is unable to take further action on the order. The 100 Day Guarantee is in place to protect the purchase price of an order for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. After that time, Raise is happy to look into any gift card issue but cannot offer a refund in the same way that we do within the first 100 days.
Had the customer contacted us within the first 100 days, we would have been happy to offer a further resolution. In this case, the order fell so far outside of the guarantee period that a refund could not be provided, and the customer was offered a promotional code and a $5.00 credit as recompense.
We would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience in this and would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order number, it appears that...

the current resolution is warranted.
On February 15, 2016 the customer purchased a [redacted] Subs gift card from Raise.com with a balance of $100.00 for a purchase price of $80.00. The customer then contacted Raise Member Services on June 13, 2016. At that time, the serving agent escalated the case to the Gift Card Support Team. This team addressed all orders outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee to assess if we are able to offer any further assistance on the order.
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 July 25, 2016. The customer was not offered a refund as the request for review was brought to the attention of Raise outside of the Raise Guarantee. The Raise Guarantee is in place to protect the purchase price of all gift cards for the first 100 days from the purchase date. After that time, Raise is happy to look into the issue, but a refund or replacement card is only guaranteed for the first 100 days. The Raise Guarantee does abide by a strict time frame, so we encourage members to use the gift cards within the Raise Guarantee period so that if an issue does occur, we are able to fully cover the purchase.
We understand that the customer waited an unacceptable time frame for a resolution, and we are actively working to minimize our response times for the Gift Card Support Team. Our sincerest apologies go out to the member for this inconvenience, and we would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding account information, it appears that the current resolution is warranted.The customer has been selling cards on Raise.com since August 8, 2017. The customer had completed all verification processes and had received...

all payments as intended. The customer had requested two payments, on August 16th and August 18th, 2017, respectfully. The payment that was requested on August 16th was for $89.52, and the payment requested on August 18th was for $128.12. As the customer chose [redacted] as a payment option, the funds take between 2-3 business days to officially transfer. The payment requested on 8/16 was scheduled to go out and officially process on 8/18 and the payment requested on 8/18 was scheduled to go out and officially process on 8/22.After confirming with our Seller Support Team, these payments did process as expected, but we would like to address the concern that the customer had in regards to not being able to request a payment between 8/16 and 8/18.At some point in this process, there was a demo requested for our Bulk Seller Program that automatically assigned the customer to one of our Sales Representatives. When this happened, the ability to withdraw funds was removed until either the Bulk Seller Enrollment Form was completed, or the customer decides that the program was not a good fit. Our Director of Bulk Sales had reached out to the customer, and spoke with the customer’s husband on 8/18 and confirmed that the customer was not interested in the Bulk Seller Program. Once this information was provided, the Sales Rep was removed from the customer’s account, and the ability to withdraw funds was available once more. The customer then proceeded to request their funds for $128.12 on 8/18.At this time, we would like to consider this case resolved as the full amount of $217.64 has been paid out to the customer via [redacted]. These came in two separate payments, with $89.52 being processed on 8/18 and $128.12 being processed on 8/22. We are pleased to have resolved this issue and we also want to extend our sincerest apology to the customer for the delay in a resolution and any confusion this has caused. We hope to better serve this customer in the future.

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
[redacted]

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we are able to offer the customer a resolution.The customer purchased three [redacted] gift cards from Raise.com on November 8, 2015 for varying values and prices. These purchases were made across three different orders all placed on...

that same day. The customer contacted Raise later in November expressing that the gift cards were not working for the purchase that he was attempting to make. The serving agent informed the customer that the gift cards still had a valid balance and that we would be unable to issue a refund. Raise terms and conditions express that we are unable to issue a refund for a gift card with a valid balance.[redacted], like all retailers, have restrictions for how a gift card is used, and all gift cards purchased are subject to the terms and conditions of the individual retailers. When the customer called again in January, still seeking a refund, he was told by the serving agent again that a refund could not be issued but that if he would like, he could resell the gift cards on the marketplace to regain some of the funds. Shortly after the agent notified the customer of this, the customer issued a dispute through the bank. When a dispute is issued the customer’s account is placed on a hold until the dispute has been resolved. In this case, the customer sold the gift cards while the dispute was active so he was unable to request the funds from his Raise account for selling the gift cards, as he could not be refunded for them and also paid out for selling the same gift cards.The disputes have been resolved in the favor of Raise and the customer’s account is no longer on hold. To retrieve his funds he will need to log into his Raise account and go to My Account > My Listings > Available Funds. From there he can withdraw the funds back to either a physical check, paypal or direct deposit. We encourage the customer to call back in or send us an email to [redacted] if he has any questions regarding the withdrawal of his funds.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.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11102877, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Timothy [redacted]

After again reviewing the customer’s response in regards to complaint number [redacted] and the orders in question, we can confirm that a resolution has been provided. Order [redacted] was refunded in full as of February 4, 2016 through our payment processor and would have shown on the customer’s account within 1-3 business days. The second order [redacted] was only refunded for one of the gift cards that also had a purchase price of $154, the same amount refunded for order [redacted]. Because of the total purchase price for order [redacted], the refunds appear differently. Since the refunds occurred on the same day as the purchases order [redacted] will appear to have been charged for $154 and then also refunded for $154. Order [redacted] was initially charged for $308, but because the funds had not been captured from the customer’s bank by our payment processor before the refund was completed it shows as a reversal for the payment processor. What this means for the customer is that they will only see one charge for $154 instead of a charge for $308 and then a refund for $154.This information was confirmed with our payment processor as of February 15, 2016 when a supervisor from the Member Services Team contacted them regarding these orders initially.We hope this information has been helpful in explaining how the refund is reflected in the customer’s account and 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:1. They have initiated a refund, yet to get that.2.  The fundamental issue is the card registered to someone should not be sold to someone else. I consider this fraud, and there is no way someone can tell me this is not fraud. If this is a clean transaction, the gift card must not be registered to anyone else.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/12/09) */
In Response to Revdex.com complaint # [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]
I have read your complaint in its entirety and explored all details to ensure I understand the issue you have dealt with. I'm sorry you had to experience this...

situation. I sincerely apologize, and ultimately I was glad to come to a great resolution with you.
We do ask that when Members purchase [redacted] gift cards, that the Members don't merge them with any other cards or accounts. This is because due to the secondary nature of our marketplace, there is always a small chance an issue may arise with a gift card. If it does, keeping cards separate help resolve any issue quickly and simply. I am sorry that [redacted] refused to give you your funds back, but I was happy to be able to help restore the funds you lost from them.
Again I am very sorry about this, but I am glad in the end we could help resolve it.
Sincerely,
[redacted]Member Services Manager

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we were able to review the order and offer a solution to the customer.Between December 12, 2014 and March 4, 2015, the customer purchased 4 Bloomingdale’s gift cards totaling $350 in value. These 4 cards spanned across 4 Raise Order Numbers ([redacted]...

[redacted]. The total purchase price of all 4 orders combined was $293.40.The customer contacted Raise on April 21, 2017, stating that all 4 cards were showing up as invalid. As all 4 orders fell outside of our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee, the supporting agent informed the customer that, unfortunately, we would not be able to refund the purchase price. This call was then escalated to a supervisor who relayed the same information to the customer. As an extension of our apology, and for the time that has passed since this order was placed, the supervisor also provided the customer with $50 in Raise Rewards that was immediately added to the customer’s Raise account. Our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee is in place to protect the purchase price of any card purchased from Raise for a full 365 days from the purchase date. We are unable to provide a refund for any cards that are passed that time-frame. While there is also no expiration date on the gift cards, The Raise Guarantee does only guarantee a refund for the purchase price for up to 1 year.In addition, our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee can be found in numerous areas throughout the checkout process such as at the middle of our main homepage (www.raise.com), right above the “Review and Checkout” button before proceeding to your cart, at the right hand side before actually completing the purchase, at the bottom of both the card delivery email, and the order receipt email. While we appreciate the customer’s business, we are unfortunately unable to provide a refund for these 4 orders due to the amount of time that has passed since they were placed. The $50 in Raise Rewards will automatically apply at checkout and we hope the customer will give us another chance to make things right. 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. Any follow up questions can be sent to [redacted].

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we were able to review the order and offer a different solution to the...

customer.
On January 25, 2016 the customer purchased a [redacted] gift card from Raise with a value of $225.00 for a purchase price of $144.00. The customer then contacted Raise Member Services on August 8, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that she had been unable to use the gift card until then, and when she attempted to use it in store, the card only had a total of $6.00. At that time, the serving agent informed the customer that the order fell outside of the Raise Guarantee and for that reason, could not be refunded.
The Raise Guarantee is a guarantee for the purchase price of the gift cards that spans 100 days from the date of purchase. Any issue the customer has with the gift card, as outlined in the Raise Guarantee, such as an incorrect balance, will be fully covered within the first 100 days from the purchase date. After that 100 days, Raise does not resell the gift cards, and the gift cards do not expire. Once the Raise Guarantee lapses, the only change that occurs is that the order is not fully covered if there is an issue. All of the gift cards coming across the marketplace are previously owned by other members and some are partially used. This being the case customers are encouraged to utilize the full balance of the gift card within 100 days so that any issue that may occur can be fully covered.
In this particular case, due to the hardships that the customer has faced that caused the Raise Guarantee to lapse before the customer was able to utilize the funds, we are happy to offer the customer a courtesy refund for this purchase. As the order is being refunded the credit offered in place of a refund has been removed from the customer’s account as the refund has been completed at this time. This is a one time courtesy refund and has been issued back to the customer’s original source of payment. The refund should be available back on that payment source in 1-3 business days, depending on the card issuer.
We are happy to have been able to resolve this for the customer and look forward to serving her again in the future.

We were able to further review Revdex.com complaint number 11018641 filed by the customer in order to offer an...

explanation of our verification process.
The customer placed on order [redacted]) at 12:18 PM CST on December 30th, 2015 for two Walmart electronic gift cards with an order total of $241.00.  She was notified via email eight minutes later that in order to complete her order and have the gift cards electronically delivered to her account, our Processing Team would need her to call in for further verification.
Shortly after, the customer phoned in and spoke to a processing agent.  As a standard procedure, the first-time customer was asked selected questions that are generated from public domain information.  This information is kept secure and is used strictly to verify the information of the customer, as well as protect the integrity of the Raise marketplace.
As a member to member marketplace, the security of our users’ information is of utmost importance. For this reason, our verification process is used to ensure high value orders are indeed placed by the member. Raise will use commercially reasonable efforts to limit access to your personal information to employees, agents, and officers of Raise, and only provide what is required to perform their job duties.  When the customer was asked to confirm the last four digits of her social security number, the agent was not allowed access to her full number, only the last four.
As stated by the Terms & Conditions: “Raise reserves the right, but has no obligation, to verify your information through whatever means it may deem reasonable.”
We respect a customer’s decision to refuse completion of the verification process and wish to let the customer know that we sincerely apologize that we could not process her order.  At the customer’s request, her account has been closed. As previously stated, the verification process is used to protect the integrity of the member and the marketplace. We would be happy to serve this member in the future, as she is more than welcome to open a new account at any time.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we were able to review the orders and offer a solution to the customer.The customer contacted Raise Member Services May 7, 2016. During this conversation a [redacted] gift card was addressed directly. This gift card was purchased from Raise.com on...

December 18, 2016. While the gift card is outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee, the agent forwarded the request to the Gift Card Support Team for further review. The Gift Card Support Team has a 10-14 business day response time, and this order was addressed in the order in which it was received. The [redacted] gift card was refunded in full as of May 10, 2016, and the customer has been notified via email that it could take 1-3 business days to see the refund on the original payment source.The other two orders in the complaint have also been addressed. These two orders each contained two [redacted] gift cards. The first order was placed on December 22, 2014 for two [redacted] gift cards, each with a balance of $25.00 and a purchase price of $20.00. Unfortunately, as of today, the order is 504 days old and so far outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee that further action cannot be taken on this order.The second [redacted] order was placed on January 24, 2016 for two $50.00 gift cards, each with a purchase price of $35.98. While this order was also outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee, the Gift Card Support Team further reviewed the order and has completed a refund for $71.96, the full purchase price of the two gift cards. The customer was notified via email as of May 10, 2016.Overall, we are pleased to have resolved two of the three issues for the customer, and apologize that we are unable to refund the third order outside of policy. 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, we are glad to...

provide the customer with a different resolution than initially offered.
On December 24, 2015 the customer purchased an [redacted] gift card with a value of $200.00 for a purchase price of $150.00. The customer contacted Raise Member Services on August 21, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that she had tried to use the gift card for the first time, and it did not work for placing an online order with Aerie. At that time, the serving agent informed the customer that the order fell outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee so no further action could be taken on the order. The serving agent did offer the customer a promotional code as well as a $15 Raise Rewards credit as recompense for this issue.
At that point the customer requested to speak with a supervisor on the Member Services Team. The request was met and a supervisor reiterated to the customer that the Raise Guarantee no longer covered the order due to the amount of time that had passed since the order was placed, so the $15 credit and promo code were again offered.
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. Though that is the case, we are happy to offer the customer a one time courtesy of $75.00 in Raise Rewards credit to use toward a future purchase as well as a $75.00 refund back to the customer’s original payment source. A combination of Raise Rewards and refund are being offered due to the Raise Guarantee having already lapsed for this order. This credit will automatically apply to the next purchase made on Raise without the use of a promo code, and the refund will be back on the credit card within 1-3 business days.
We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this order has caused and are happy to have been able to provide a resolution for the customer.

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. Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Bought a subway gift card for $50 and I transferred the funds to my existing subway card. Week later, I got a call from subway stating that the $50 card was bought using a fraudulent credit card. They froze my account which had over $70 in funds before the transfer. Now, I lost $70 + $50 .. a total of $120 .. I need my money back immediately otherwise am going to go to small courts for claims.

Complaint: [redacted]
 
I am rejecting this response because: The business' response, while partially factual, is quite disingenuous.  I requested more information regarding their bulk seller program and without warning my ability to withdraw funds from my account was suspended.  I sent several support requests via email and received automatic responses from Raise.com indicating that they had received my requests.  However, they failed to respond.  Finally, my husband received a call from a gentleman at Raise that was trying to push the bulk seller program on us.  My husband indicated to him that not only did I never apply for the program (only requested more info), but that I was also no longer interested at all due to all of the problem that arose with withdrawal of funds.  The gentleman stated that he had to speak to me and my husband passed me the phone.  At this point, the caller from Raise muttered some obscenity and hung up on me before I could even say a word.  I contacted Raise about this issue via Facebook and was given some bogus response indicating there was a "technical issue" with the phone call.  False.  He hung up on me intentionally for no reason other than my husband's indication that I did not want to participate in the bulk seller program.  In any case, I did eventually receive all funds owed to me.  I received the last payment on 8/22/2017.  I simply wanted to clarify the facts before you marked this issue as closed.  I would caution other sellers to avoid the bulk reseller program due to the problems with withdrawals and the nasty attitude of the the gentleman in charge of that department. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

This company has no concern for its customers! I purchased $1000 worth of gift cards for [redacted] from them. I specifically made sure they were e-gift cards because I didn't trust the by mail option. I used the first one and all went well. However the next time I went to use the card it said it would be shipped via [redacted]. I figured I would give them a month to send me the cards. The cards never came! I attempted to call their customer service to find out what happened to my cards but I was 25th in line! I did not have all day to sit on the phone in order to speak with someone. After that experience I completely forgot to call back as I was 7 months pregnant and had other things to worry about. I just called today and was told by customer service that because it is past their 100 day policy there is nothing they can do! What happened to my money?! Clearly someone has it, therefore I should receive the product I paid for! This is the worst customer service I have ever received!