Raise Marketplace Inc

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.

Dear Mr. [redacted],After receiving your complaint, we were able to review your
order and gift card in question. On November 16, our Gift Card Support Team determined that
the [redacted]’s card in your order R725270811 was indeed closed by the brand and therefore
a refund was needed. This circumstance is...

covered by our 100 Day Guarantee and
your purchase price was refunded. The refund was processed the same day and the
funds ($264.05) were released from Raise. When you contacted us again to let us know the refund had
not been reflected on your bank account, a Member Services agent confirmed the
refund in our payment processing system. This system allows us to see exactly
when and where a refund was processed. Your refund for $264.05 was processed to
your [redacted] ending in 1013 at 4:31 p.m. CST. From there, it is up to
your bank to ensure that these funds are reapplied to your account. If you
still have not seen a refund after it has been released from us, you will need
to contact your financial institution to inquire into the status. This is what
our Member Services agent suggested as a next step on 11/23. In conclusion, your gift card purchase was covered by our
100 Day Guarantee as stated on our website and your refund was fully processed
by Raise. We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage you to contact
Member Services with any further questions or concerns.

Overrun by fraudulent sellers
Raise is the [redacted] of gift cards. The major flaw in their model is its susceptibility to physical gift card fraud from very shady sellers who close gift card accounts after shipping them.
I'm officially done with Raise after dealing with FOUR different cases of seller fraud in the past few months. In one case, the fraudulent seller closed the gift card account using their original receipt weeks after I received the card!
Although Raise's support team is great and have issued full refunds for all fraudulent transactions, it's clear that Raise management is arrogant and reluctant to make changes that will tackle the seller fraud issue. At the end of the day, an online marketplace is only as good as the trust that can be established and verified between sellers and buyers. Raise naively thinks it can solve the seller-buyer trust issue on its own, so you don't have to worry about a seller's reputation before buying anything.
You wouldn't buy anything on [redacted] without knowing with whom you're dealing. So why would you buy a gift card from a totally unknown third party?
My advice is to stay away from Raise until they prevent sellers from closing gift ca
rds, provide seller ratings, and/or acquire official gift card providers (i.e., merchants, issuers). Raise cannot guarantee any of the gift cards will work even weeks after you receive them. Saving a few bucks on a discounted gift card is clearly not worth the risk or the hassle - especially during the holidays. Prepare to be embarrassed when you try to use a closed gift card.

Raise received the customer complaint number [redacted] and greatly appreciates the opportunity to respond.  On August 2, 2015, the customer purchased two [redacted] Theaters eGift cards with a $15.00 value on each card.  The purchase price for each card was $11.31 to which a promotional code...

was applied.  The customer’s credit card  was charged $21.49 for this order.  At this time, the balances had been verified to have their full $15.00 balances.  As Raise is a member to member marketplace, we verify gift card balances at the point of listing and sale to ensure a  successful transaction for all of our members.   Raise Member Services received a call from the customer on December 24 in regards to trouble redeeming his [redacted] gift cards.  Unfortunately, the gift cards were now confirmed to have $0 balances.  The customer was notified of  the 100 day guarantee that Raise offers on every purchase.  This request would be sent to our gift card support team to determine if a refund could be offered, as the date of purchase falls outside of our 100 day policy. Regrettably, our team was unable to update the customer within the initially stated 3-5 business days.  We sincerely apologize that the customer was not notified that our team would be taking longer than anticipated to resolve this  issue. On January 15, 2016, our team was able to refund the customer’s credit card $21.49 outside of our policy.  His Raise account was also credited $5 for the inconvenience he had experienced. Raise sincerely regrets any inconvenience this issue may have caused.  In order to ensure the best possible customer experience, we are expanding our team as Raise grows.  Considering this issue resolved, we ask the customer  to please feel free to contact us directly at [redacted] if he should have any additional questions or concerns in this matter.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10977905, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Jason [redacted]

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we were able to review the order in question, and it appears that...

the current resolution is warranted.
Orders [redacted] and [redacted], were placed by the customer on Raise.com in January of 2015, about a year prior to inquiring, and orders [redacted] were placed on Raise.com by the customer in April of 2015, about 9 months prior to the inquiry.
The customer initially contacted Raise Member Services on January 14, 2016 inquiring about all of the aforementioned order numbers. At that time, all of the orders were sent to the Gift Card Support Team for further review as they all fell outside of the 100 day guarantee. The Gift Card Support Team has reached out via email to inform the member that because all of the orders fall so far outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee, no further action can be taken by Raise on any of the orders.
While there is no expiration on the gift cards, the Raise 100 Day Guarantee does only guarantee a refund for the purchase price for the first 100 days after the date of purchase.
We understand that the wait the customer incurred before hearing a response 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 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. We look forward to serving this member again in the future.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order number, it appears that a resolution has already been offered to the customer.On October 11, 2016 the customer placed two orders for NFL Shop gift cards. As mentioned in his summary, one order was placed to be...

used, but when it did not work, another order was placed. Unfortunately, when the customer contacted Raise Member Services, the serving agent was unable to find an issue with the gift cards and the concern had to be escalated to the Gift Card Support team. For escalated issues such as this, it can take 7-10 business days to fully research the issue through contact with the brand. The customer again contacted Raise as the second set of gift cards seemed to have the same issue and it was escalated again to the Gift Card Support team. While the service response time says 7-10 business days, the Gift Card Support team began looking into this customer’s issue right away, and through contact with the brand was able to determine that while we could not see an issue from our end, as they recently updated their gift card number provider and the numbers changed from one alphanumeric set to a serial number and PIN, the system was having trouble recognizing the numbers when they were entered. After that information we presented to the Gift Card Support team from NFL Shop, all of the gift cards that the customer was unable to utilize were refunded back to his original payment source.A member of our Voice of the Customer team gave a call to the customer after this information was discovered and apologized as well as gathered his feedback in order to improve situations like this for our customers in the future. We would like to sincerely apologize to the customer of this inconvenience and would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

Purchased a [redacted]s gift card from Rasie.com on 1/1/2015. The product description said the card "Does not expire". When I tried to use the card at [redacted]s, the balance is still there, same as when I purchased it, however, the card has a"security hold". I contacted Raise customer service, but they were not willing to provide any options or solutions, just kept saying the purchase is out of their 100 day refund policy. I don't want a refund but a solution, so that I can release the "security hold", but Raise is not doing anything to help their customers!!!

After receiving and further reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we are, unfortunately, unable to offer the customer a different resolution, but we are happy to offer the customer a credit now that she has expressed that she would be open to accepting it. Raise has already offered to return all of the gift cards within policy for the customer so that she does not have to use the website going forward, as that is what she has asked for us to do. The Raise 100 Day Guarantee does not offer refunds for valid gift cards that are no longer wanted. This was a courtesy offered to the customer because of the experience that she had. We are happy to offer the customer a Raise credit of $20.00 to use toward a future purchase. At this time this is the largest credit we are able to give the customer as we are already refunding for all of the gift cards that are to be returned.We would like to consider the issue resolved at this time and hope that the customer finds a refund for all of the gift cards that are being returned and complimentary credit a suitable settlement.

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

the current resolution is warranted.
On July 26, 2015 the customer purchased a [redacted] gift card from Raise.com with a value of $200.00 for a purchase price of $155.40. The customer then contacted Raise Member Services via email on April 16, 2016 to express that the gift card could not be redeemed when attempted in an [redacted] restaurant. [redacted] gift cards can be interchanged with any of their participating restaurants. The serving agents informed the customer that the order was so far outside of policy that no further action could be taken on the order.
The customer called in after receiving this email response and the same information was relayed by a supervisor on the Member Services team during the phone call. The Raise 100 Day Guarantee is in place to protect the customer’s purchase price for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. Once that 100 day period has passed, Raise is happy to look into a gift card that has a problem, but a refund is not guaranteed in the same way that it is in the first 100 days.
In this case, the order falls so far outside of the Raise 100 Day Guarantee period, that no further action could be taken on the order. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience and consider the issue resolved at this time.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we have reviewed the corresponding order number in conjunction...

with the complaint.
On September 27, 2015 the customer purchased a [redacted] eGift/voucher from Raise.com with a value of $146.79 and a purchase price of $134.06. The customer contacted Raise Member Services on April 24, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card did not work in store. At that time, the serving agent informed the customer that [redacted] changed their policy, earlier this year, regarding merchandise credits in the form of eGift/vouchers and they were no longer accepted in that format.
Upon this policy change made by [redacted], Raise reached out to the sellers of the gift cards for orders within the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee to have the physical cards sent out to the buyers. Orders that fell outside of the 100 day period at that time were not requested as they were already outside of the policy time frame.
When the customer contacted Raise, the serving agents reached out to see if the seller did have the gift card available to send in. Sellers, like buyer’s, have a 100 day time frame, and they are required to hold the physical gift cards that are converted to eGift/vouchers on the marketplace for a minimum of 100 days.  That being the case, the seller of this particular gift card was no longer required to hold onto the physical gift card at the time of the [redacted] policy change and may have destroyed or discarded the physical card.
As a member to member marketplace, the transactions are made between buyer and seller, and Raise acts as the platform through which this can be done. That being the case, we do not work directly with [redacted] and will be unable to reach out to [redacted] to have a replacement issued.  
We regret to inform the customer that we were unable to retrieve the physical gift card from the seller, as the order does fall outside of the Raise Guarantee. For this we would like to offer our sincerest apologies, as we are unable to offer a refund or replacement card as this order falls so far outside of the guarantee period.
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 hope to better serve this customer in the future.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because I reiterate:  The company received all pertinent information from me as the seller on a timely basis.  The company received their money from the purchase almost immediately upon the purchase of my card, the purchaser received their money (card information) almost immediately after effecting this purchase.  The only person being screwed here is me, the seller of said card.  This is truly ridiculous.  as I stated before I did one other sale with Raise and within one week of the sale date, I had my check and it was cashed.  I do not accept this as I am out my money and am being seriously inconvenienced.  I would have used my card if I knew I had to wait 45 days.  This is purely ridiculous and so not fair to me.   No, I do not accept this answer at all.  They can waive the $30 fee and issue my monies now.  The reason why I sold this card is because of my need for funds and not to simply wait 45 days for someone to issue me a check.  Clearly the company would not wait 45 days for my card information or for me to pay for the card if I was a purchaser.   This is not acceptable.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the...

corresponding order number, it appears that the current resolution is warranted.
On December 18, 2016, the customer purchased a $100.00 valued [redacted] gift card for a total purchase price of $95.90.
The customer contacted Raise via live chat on December 19, 2016 expressing that the gift card was showing a zero balance the first time they attempted to redeem this gift card. The supporting agent verified the balance through the brand’s balance checker and it was still showing as the full $100 value. The customer had informed the agent that the gift card was showing a zero balance both in store and online. The supporting agent informed the customer due to the card showing $100 on our end, Raise would need to send this card to our Gift Card Support Team for further review.
On January 5, 2017, our Gift Card Support Team reached out to the customer that the refund would not be processed due to the redemption information provided to us from the brand.
The customer contacted Raise for the second time on January 9, 2017 reiterating they attempted to use the card again, and were told in store this card had a zero balance. The supporting agent informed the customer that this would need to get sent back to our Gift Card Support Team, due to the conflicting information that was provided. Typically, this process will take 7-10 business days and the customer would be notified via email regarding the final outcome.
Regrettably, our Gift Card Support Team was unable to respond in a timely fashion. The customer was notified via email on January 30, 2017, that the refund had been processed and would appear on the customer’s bank statement in 3-5 business days. There was also a special promotional code good for $10 off a $50 or more purchase that was sent in the email as well.
We understand that this is an unacceptable time frame for a customer to wait for a resolution and due to the mismatch in the card’s value at the initial point of contact, it was unable to be resolved immediately.
We would like to consider the issue resolved at this time and hope that the customer finds a refund and complimentary promotional code a suitable settlement. Any further questions can be sent to [redacted] and we’d be happy to further assist.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number 11794604, we were able to review the order and have already offered a solution to the customer.On October 30, 2016 the customer placed an order on Raise for an [redacted] gift card, and as the customer mentioned, two gift cards for [redacted] had initially been on the...

order so that a new user promo code for $10 off an order of $25 or more could be applied. Unfortunately, the second card did not process in the order so that the promo code did not successfully apply. Our Development team is looking into why the order page did not inform the member that the promo did not apply and still processed and as this is not the customer’s fault, we have issued $10 in Raise Rewards credit to the customer’s account to apply to a future order, which has been applied to a new order as of October 31, 2016.We would like to apologize for the inconvenience in this and look forward to better serving the customer in the future.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint [redacted] and the corresponding order numbers, we were able to review...

the orders and the customer’s account.
The customer purchased two [redacted] gift cards from Raise.com in February and contacted Raise Member Services in April and May regarding these orders.
On May 2, 2016, the customer spoke with a supervisor regarding these two orders. The customer confirmed that both of the gift cards were successfully redeemed for the intended merchandise from [redacted] and the merchandise has been received. At this time, the customer’s [redacted] account is also fully active.
The supervisor offered the customer to have all of the physical gift cards that she purchased, and have gone unused within the 100 day guarantee period, refunded once they are returned to the Raise office. The one eGift card that the member had unused within the 100 day guarantee period is in the process of being relisted onto the marketplace and will be refunded once it has sold on the marketplace.
Raise does not normally offer returns on valid gift cards, but we understand that the customer had an unfortunate experience so the supervisor extended the courtesy of having all of these aforementioned gift cards refunded.
We would like to extend our sincerest apologies for the experience this customer has had with [redacted] and are going to continue to work with the customer until all of the offered refunds have been processed. We would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

Some of the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Sent me a blank zero balance [redacted] giftcard and have held my $3,000 (yes, 3K) hostage for two months while they "processed things." I've spent hours and hours with them, trying to get my money back and have only got the run around. Now I have to get [redacted] fraud involved. Not only would I not recommend, I've actively warned people about this company.

After receiving and reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] and the corresponding order number, it appears that the current resolution is warranted.The customer made a purchase, February 12, 2016, on Raise.com for an American Eagle Outfitters gift card with a value of $200.00 for a purchase price of...

$140.00. On May 28, 2016 the customer contacted Raise Member Services and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card had not worked for his purchase and that there were no longer funds available on the card. At this time, the serving agent expressed that the order could not be refunded as the order fell outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee. 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. This order fell outside of the Raise Guarantee as of May 22, 2016, and while the customer only contacted us a few days outside of the guarantee period, it is a strict time frame. For that reason the order cannot be refunded. Had the customer contacted Raise on or before May 22, 2016 a different resolution would have been reached due to the terms and conditions of the Raise Guarantee. We would like to sincerely apologize to the customer for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to better serving him again in the future.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10967828, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Kelvin **

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

the current resolution is warranted.
On January 23, 2016 the customer purchased two [redacted] gift cards, each with a balance of $200.00 for a purchase price of $154.00, from Raise.com. The customer then contacted Raise Member Services on July 23, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift cards showed a $0 balance when checking the balance on the cards. At that time the serving agent informed the customer that the order fell outside of the Raise Guarantee. For this reason the agent was unable to provide the customer with a refund or replacement card.
During this phone interaction, the customer’s call was escalated to a supervisor on the Member Services Team. The supervisor reiterated the same information, that the order has fallen outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee, and no further action can be taken on the order. A Raise Rewards credit of $30 was also offered to the customer as recompense because a refund, unfortunately, will not be applied.
The Raise Guarantee is in place to protect the purchase price of all orders for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. After the 100 days has lapsed, we are happy to look into a card for a customer, but refund requests received outside of 100 days, will not be honored.
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.

After reviewing the customer’s rejection response in regards to complaint number [redacted]  and the order in question again, Raise is unable to provide a different resolution, but we are happy to further explain our process.
When a review is completed by the Gift Card Support Team, for security reasons, the transaction history is not always given out. That information is accessible to the customer through the brand as they are the owner of the gift card.
In regards to the order for this member, we know that the address on the Raise account is in Texas, though as previously mentioned, the customer confirmed a portion of the gift card had been used by them and that merchandise, as well as the merchandise purchased with the other portion of the gift card that the customer claimed to be unauthorized, were sent to the same address in Florida. It is not a requirement of Raise to use the billing address from the Raise account when using the gift cards to purchase merchandise.
We hope that the provided information is helpful in understanding the process that was taken by Raise to resolve the concerns for this customer and would like to consider this issue resolved. We do hope to better serve this customer again in the future.