Raise Marketplace Inc

Raise not only failed to notify me that a gift card I purchased would no longer be available to use as an electronic gift card, they proceeded to not refund me for my $100 purchase instead offering a 5% coupon on my next purchase. Horrible customer service and lack of concern to make things right. I have been purchasing gift cards for years through raise... To get treated like this shows the culture of the company and their leadership.

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

number.
The customer purchased a [redacted] gift card, along with 7 other gift cards, from Raise.com on January 24, 2016 with a balance of $25.00 for a purchase price of $22.16. On January 11, 2016 the customer called in and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card had not arrived. As the gift card had tracking details showing that it had been successfully mailed out, per Raise policy, we must wait 30 days from the date of purchase to consider a gift card that shows tracking details lost in the mail.
The order was escalated to the Gift Card Support Team as the balance on the gift card was no longer full when the status of lost in the mail should have occurred. The Gift Card Support Team determined that the gift card had been successfully used in the customer’s area and the refund was initially denied as it appears that the member did receive the gift card and was able to successfully redeem for multiple purchases.
The gift card was then refunded in good faith that the member had not been able to use it. This decision was overridden when further investigation determined that the [redacted] gift card and another gift card that had been considered lost in the mail, were both use in the customer’s area.
At this time, we have again provided a member with a refund for the [redacted] gift card which she should see on her original payment method within 1-3 business days. While the Gift Card Support Team determined that no refund would be provided due to the likely receipt of the gift card and redemption in the customer’s area, we have provided this refund as a courtesy for the trouble and inconvenience this customer has incurred due to the back and forth with this order.
We would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused the customer, and at this time, consider the issue resolved.

I purchased one gift card. The amount was very small and saved $5 in purchasing the gift card from this company, but the time it took for verification--both on the phone and online--was not worth it. I have never had to go through such an extensive process with any other online company.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we were able to review the order and offer a solution to the customer.On June 1st, 2016, the customer purchased a [redacted] gift card valued at $50 for a purchase price of $44.50. This was a physical gift card that was to be sent to the customer’s...

shipping address in 3-14 business days. All cards that are listed on Raise are verified twice, once at the initial listing and once at the time of purchase to ensure a valid balance.The customer contacted Raise Member Services on October 11, 2017 via email stating that the card was invalid. The customer had attempted to use it and was told that the card was canceled. Our Member Services team took a closer look and replied back to the customer the next day, October 12, 2017. The supporting agent offered $20 in Raise Rewards since the order was outside of our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee and a refund was not able to processed.All cards purchased on Raise are protected by our 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee. This is in place to protect buyer’s purchase price in the rare event a card is closed, invalid, or shows an inaccurate balance for up to 1 year.After further review into this order, and the customer’s account, we would like to offer the customer an additional $22.50 in Raise Rewards to make up for the full value of the purchase price. This is a one time courtesy that we would like to offer the customer. At this time, we would like to consider this issue resolved as the customer will have $44.50 in Raise Rewards that they can use at their earliest convenience. 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 this has caused. If the customer has any additional questions, an email to [redacted]@raise.com is welcomed.

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.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  Raise.com is acting like they were so willing and able to handle this problem.  This situation got out of control and the supervisors that I spoke to acted like they couldn't care less.  When someone finally goes to the Revdex.com, they have reason to be VERY worried.  WE were terrified that we lost $4000. and no one from Raise.com cared for 2 months.  They put the burden on the customer to figure out and PROVE whether they ripped me off or not.  They had no desire to investigate this situation until the Revdex.com report came to them.  I was a hair away from filing a grand theft civil lawsuit against them.   The situation was that I bought $4000. worth of cards of which ALL OF THEM were bogus cards.  When I called Raise.com and told them that 12 of the cards had no balances and that I would assume they all didn't have a balance left on them since I randomly checked 15 of them (out of 87 e-cards), and I demanded an entire refund.  Instead, they insisted that I go to [redacted] and have each and every 87 cards scanned and:... document the store, date used, the balance, as well as asking me, their customer, to take a photo of each and every screen shot from [redacted].  [redacted] WOULD NOT stand there and scan these ecards, in fact, they said they are fraud, and they dont accept these ECards.  They also said they had no ability to scan an e-card since it was not the Hard Copy (Which is what Raise holds on to).  Rather than Raise.com staff taking the hard cards to [redacted] (which there is one every 5-10 miles), they refused to accomodate their customer and hope put the burden on me, (which I had no ability to do since they still had the Hard physical copy of the cards).  So, I just want the public and any other customers reading this, that Raise.com no way had any intentions of helping me in this situation.  I will never buy from them again, too much money to lose, too little caring by the company if there is a serious problem, and too much work and time for me, the customer, to bare the burden of proof that what I bought was BOGUS.  Raise had no right to ask their customer who spent in excess of $15,000 with them in less than a year to perform this kind of chore for a product that they sell!!  Not worth any discount to go through this kind of stress.  NO SIR!!!  
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Terrible customer service. I contacted them via phone two times and email four times without a resolution to my problem. I had a gift card for $284 that stopped working and they would not do anything to try to fix it. Just pretty much blew me off with a $5 off $50 coupon. Will never purchase another gift card from them again.

Complaint: 11018641
I am rejecting this response because: I, as a consumer, am purchasing a product from you, as a business establishment.  I cannot understand why you are accessing a consumer's personal information. I am fortunate to know that you accessing this personal information should be on a need to know basis, in the event of a loan or a line of credit, neither of which I was requesting from your business establishment.  I go to the store or order items online, never have they asked me to verify my name, date of birth, social security number, and previous addresses in which I have lived. It appears as though you were fishing for personal information to run a credit report on me or to gain access into my credit history. If this is your policy, then so be it, but I encourage anyone who reads this complaint to be aware that with all the personal identity theft occurring, this type of information should not be required from a reprobable business establishment to purchase a single item.
Sincerely,
Autumne [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/16) */
Dear Ms. [redacted],
We were able to further review your account and case with us, and a supervisor at Raise Member Services has attempted to contact you to discuss this matter further.
An attempt was made to purchase gift cards on your...

existing Raise account. However, this attempt was intercepted by our processing department and a notification was sent to your email on file.
I assure you that the authorization on your debit card did not go through and the integrity of your personal information was not involved in the process. Although you may have seen a debit on your statement, it was merely a pending charge that was never authorized by Raise. This should be reflected in your bank account.
In addition to reviewing your account, we have also reviewed the phone calls that took place when you called in to alert us. The phone calls do not reflect the level of explanation and customer service that we find appropriate here at Raise and I assure you this will be communicated to our team.
Please know that we are consistently working to detect unauthorized orders and keep our marketplace safe. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We're happy to help you in any way we can.
Kind regards,
Serena

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we were able to review the...

order and offer a solution to the customer.
On January 1, 2017, the customer purchased an [redacted] gift card valued at $5.00 with a purchase price of $4.55.
The customer reached out to Raise later that day via email stating that he attempted to redeem the card and it was showing as an invalid card, which he stated, was also confirmed by the [redacted] manager. A supporting agent reached back out to the member on January 3, 2017, informing the customer Raise was unable to refund due to the card still showing a full active $5.00 balance. The agent also suggested for the customer to relist the gift card on our marketplace due to the card showing an active balance. The Raise Guarantee covers gift cards that are not active, or that show an inaccurate balance. (https://www.raise.com/return-policy) The balance was confirmed via hotline by our Trust & Safety team.
Later that same day, the customer responded back via email stating he was not satisfied with the resolution and requested to have his Raise account closed, as well as take further action in regards to this order.
On January 5, 2017, a supporting agent reached back out to the customer via email further explaining the Raise Guarantee, what it covered and why the initial request was denied. The supporting agent also expressed to the customer that as a courtesy, Raise would be able to refund the customer for the full purchase price for the [redacted] gift card.
Overall, we would like to consider this issue resolved and hope that the customer finds a refund as a suitable settlement. We also want to extend our sincerest apology to the customer for the delay in a resolution. We hope to better serve this customer in the future.

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

the requested resolution has already been provided to the customer.
On July 30, 2016 the customer purchased a [redacted] physical gift card from Raise with a value of $100.00 for a purchase price of $84.77 for which the customer paid $79.77 after a promotional code had been applied. The customer emailed in to Raise on August 5, 2016 to which a Member Services agent respond on August 8, 2016 at which time a refund was applied for this order. Unfortunately, our email response time is approximately 72 hours at this time, something that we are working diligently to lessen.
As of August 8, 2016 the customer was fully refunded for the out of pocket purchase price of $79.77 and on August 9, 2016 the promotional code that the customer used was returned to the customer’s account in the form of Raise Rewards which will automatically apply to the customer’s next purchase. A new promotional code has also been provided to the customer as our way of apologizing for these issues.
We would like to assure the customer that all gift cards are verified at least twice before being processed into an order. They are first verified when entering the marketplace, and again before the order process is complete. As a member to member marketplace, the gift cards are coming from other members across the marketplace, and as there is the possibility that there could be an issue, Raise has a 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee to cover any issue that may arise in that time. We also have a Seller Support Team in the office that address the seller directly any time that a gift card is purchased that has an issue.
We are glad to have been able to resolve the issue for the customer and look forward to serving him again in the future.

Purchased a [redacted] $80 gift card on 12/13/2015. Checked the balance upon receive and balance was right at that time.
Didn't get a chance to use.
7 month later, on 7/25/2016, tried to order something but the balance is only $3.49.
Emailed Raise.com right away, but was told the next day that they can't do anything about it as it has passed 100 days.
Would not recommend it to friends.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I don't feel that if the vendor cancels the card and it was purchased from Raise that the consumer should be responsible for the damage. That's something Raise should work out with the vendor or put a disclaimer on their website warning that gift cards may have no value after 100 days. Based on Raises policy, gift cards can be active for 100 days and can be immediately deactivated at day 101 with absolutely no responsibility from Raise. This is misleading to the consumer as Raise's website claims gift cards never expire. Gift cards being "deactivated" vs "expired" shouldn't be a technicality that Raise leans on to absolve them of the consumer experiencing the exact same outcome (an unusable card which was paid for in full).
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After again reviewing Revdex.com complaint number [redacted] we are, unfortunately, unable to provide the customer with a different resolution.As the Raise Guarantee for the [redacted] gift card has lapsed, we are unable to have further investigation done on the order. We do understand that this is an inconvenience to the customer and would like to extend to him a $10 Raise Rewards credit to use toward a future purchase. This credit will automatically apply to the customer’s next purchase and does not require a promotional code to be used. We would like to again apologize for this inconvenience and would like to consider the issue resolved at this time.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: This still doesn't solve the issue- I understand that I have to wait for you to issue a new check (which I'm guessing was never actually issued since there is no tracking number or check number available) This also seems to be a practice that has continually been done by Raise as there are many complaints about this very thing throughout Revdex.com and [redacted] reviews.
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 order on Raise.com for a [redacted] gift card with a value of $100.00 and purchase price of $89.45 on September 30, 2015. Another...

purchase was made by the customer on Raise.com for a [redacted] gift card with a value of $14.99 and purchase price of $12.73.On May 18, 2016 the customer contacted Raise Member Services and expressed to the serving agent that the [redacted] gift card was not working and he had been unable to use it for the full balance. At that time the serving agent explained to the customer that the order fell outside of the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee and a refund would not be provided for the order. The customer contacted Raise Member Services again on May 19, 2016 and expressed that the [redacted] gift card was only used for $8.00 and no longer had the balance available. In this instance the customer was also notified that the order would not be refunded as the purchase date fell outside of the Raise Guarantee.The Raise Guarantee is in place to protect the customer’s purchase price for the first 100 days from the date of purchase. Any kind of discrepancy brought to the attention of Raise within that time frame will be absolutely resolved for the customer.  In this specific situation, the customer contacted Raise well outside of the Raise Guarantee period, and for that reason, not further action can be taken on either of the orders. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience and 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 customer has received the requested resolution. On May 13, 2016 the customer made a purchase on Raise.com for a [redacted] (In Store Only) gift card with a value of $350.00 and a purchase...

price of $269.50.The customer contacted Raise Member Services on June 24, 2016 and expressed to the serving agent that the gift card did not work as intended. A portion was utilized and the other portion was frozen on the gift card according to the customer. At this time the order was escalated to the Gift Card Support Team due to the confusion with the balance that had been utilized. As of July 8, 2016 the customer was refunded for the amount of the card that was unable to be redeemed. We apologize for the length of time that it took for this issue to be resolved and are working to improve response and resolution times ac[redacted] the board.We are happy to have been able to resolve this for the customer and look forward to serving them again in the future.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: You can have all the good customer service you want but when your clearly doing illegal and fraudulent activity there is no excuse for this. While it is not the customer services fault that they work for a company that is doing illegal activity. 
I have a friend who purchased 3 cards- none of them ended up working- again while they may originally work they then empty the balance to zero- this is clearly an inside operation inside raise - otherwise they would not still be in business. There are hundreds of people who clearly have been tricked and I will report this to the chicago police business investigative unit.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We were able to further review Revdex.com case number [redacted] as well as the customer’s Raise account. Overall, we are pleased to have been able to addressthis customer’s concerns.The customer placed order [redacted] on October 29, 2015. This order contained 25 physical [redacted] gift cards. On December 4,...

2015, the customer sentan email to our Member Services Team after finding some of the gift cards from this order were invalid. Unfortunately, our team was unable to provide a response in an appropriate time frame.On January 8, our Member Services Team sent a follow up email confirming which of the 25 gift cards had an issue and told the member that the order would be forwarded to our Refund Team for them to review. Again, our Refund Team failed to give the customer an update in the timeframe promised in the initial email. On February 5, our Refund Team was able toconfirm that ten of the 25 gift cards in this order had encountered an activation issue. A refund for $399.50 was then processed back to the customer’s original payment source. They were advised that it may take 1-3 business days for their bank to credit their account.We are extremely sorry for the length of time it took for this matter to be resolved. As we continue to grow, we are actively adding support to all of our teams to better serve our customers. We encourage the customer to give us a call at [redacted] if any other questions or concerns arise. We would be happy tohelp however we can.

After receiving Revdex.com complaint number [redacted], we were able to review the order in question. Order [redacted] was placed by the customer on September 29, 2016 for two gift cards, one for Starbucks Coffee and one for [redacted]. The total purchase price for the [redacted] card was $42.00 with a value...

of $50.00.The customer contacted Raise on October 3, 2016 by both phone and email notifying us that they desired to cancel this order as they did not realize the [redacted] card was only applicable for online use. The agent informed the customer that due to the gift card having a full balance, we were unable to cancel the order for misinterpretation of how a particular gift card is redeemed, as stated in the 100 Day Money-Back Guarantee (https://www.raise.com/return-policy). The customer reached out to Raise again on November 6th, 2016 and November 10th, 2016 to notify us that they were not able to use the [redacted] gift card online as it was showing as invalid. Regrettably, our Member Services Team was unable to respond in a timely fashion and this inquiry was responded to on November 16th, 2016. The agent informed the customer that the gift card was still indeed valid, as it was showing a full balance online. The balance was double checked in a test order to ensure validity. As a result, we have requested an image of the error message, to better understand what the issue may be and offer further assistance.We are working to minimize our overall response time as we understand the extra time taken is an inconvenience, and it is our greatest priority to improve our communication with members. Again, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience this has caused for the customer and are happy to continue to work with them through email to make sure the issue is resolved.