Vanilla Gift Cards
Reviews and Complaints

Was given a $50 Vanilla Visa card for my birthday. When I opened it up today & checked the balance, Vanilla's system said my available balance was 94 CENTS! I tried calling their customer service line but was put on hold a LONG TIME. Never got through. I tried checking the card online & got a "system error" message. I believe there was a a big SCAM going on!

I am FURIOUS! DON'T BUY VANILLA VISA CARDS!

Received $25.00 vanilla gift card for my birthday. When I went to check my balance online it said the account had 0 dollars. I called the number on the back of the card, and was told the card had been used that same day. I could file a dispute online or by mail. I requested by mail and still (October 2022) have not received the form. They know the exact date the card was purchased and that it was used to buy something online, but not by me. SCAM SCAM

I was given a Vanilla gift card, two of them on Father's Day in June 2002. I went to use them at a store, one for 40.00 and one for 50.00. They could not be processed. I returned home and went online and found out they had been used at a Female store in Boston Mass. I got the information about the usage and reported it to Vanilla customer service. They gave me two reference numbers and was told in 90 days I would receive replacement cards. I received a new card for the 40.00 amount but nothing on the second card for 50.00. I recently spoke to customer service about the cards and gave the young lady the reference number for the second card and she hung up the phone after I informed her one card was replaced but nothing on the 50.00 card, she basically hung up the phone. I have been trying to contact them for over a week now without any success. I need help.

On 3/15/22 I filed a complaint that someone from Target ran a charge of $28.90 and one minute later ran a charge of $281.04. We weren't even in Target on the charge. I got a dispute #. When I followed up after 60 days, they said it could take up to 90 days. I keep emailing asking for a status. Every once in a while I would get a response. Finally they said my replacement card was mailed 8/1/22. They said to give it 14 days to get to me. 28 days later no card. I kept emailing every day asking for the money. They finally asked me to send proof my my address. I did so. 2 days later they asked the same question. This was 9/1. Now we are on 10/6/22 and no response or money has come my way. I am so frustrated and don't know where to turn. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i bought a gift card vanillaGift caed visa> the hindu man was rude and said my card was deacctivated after I questioned him about why he wanted all my personal info> well he got mad said i was a fraud and said my card was deactivated and hung up> i had 260.50 to pay my insurrance. so after numberous trys i wwent on their web site and was able to apon an account and found out my card was active> so i went to walmart and spent 9.60. well someone at 1.24 went and charge ebay goods than one after the other they ordered from bed bath and beyond 9 times only leaving me a balance of 5.65 in that area> the only people i spoke with was a hindu man and checked into their website> i call the number on the back of the card and waited till final someone answwer. i was told maltiply times there was nothing they could do I asked them to free the card they said they couldnt till after all pending charges have cleared and to call back next week. so i tried to get into my account my email was changed and said i put in wrong info. i kmow damn well i didnt and i didnt spend any money except $10. the rest was for my car insuraance, what a big rip off. im on a fixed income now im broke. why isnt anyone doing anything about these hindu scammers who rip elderly people off. where do i turn for help did anyone else get all there gift card money scammed from them> visa should be held responsible . where does anyone know how i seek justice against theses visa gift card scammer.

On 09/22/2022 my son purchased a Vanilla Gift card for me for my Birthday. The value of the card was supposed to be $162.00. I checked the balance and it said the card had not been activated. He took the receipt and card back to the Walmart it was purchased at and was told that the issue was with Vanilla cards and not Walmart. He then contacted Vanilla and they told him that they would send out a new card in 7 - 10 days. He received the new card on 10/01/2022, the card had a sticker on it stating that the card had to be activated. When I called to activate the card on 10/02/2022, I was told that the card was locked and they want to open a claim and it could take 45 plus days to resolve the issue. We have now spent over an hour on the phone with Vanilla customer service, which is in South East Asia, and all we have gotten is "I'm sorry" repeatedly. Now the claim is that someone has tried to claim the gift card. And again that we need to file a dispute. I would highly recommend that no one ever use this service if you want to ever see your money again.

We will be contacting Walmart as to their selling a fraudulent product.

I contacted Vanilla gift card about a disputed charge on my gift card of $34.? at 3 a.m. in the morning at Target. I told them I didn't make that charge and they gave me a dispute case number. I've emailed them 3 times to get an update (they told me it would take 45-90 days before the dispute would be resolved). They never responded to any of my email inquiries.

Today I call the 833 number, the lady who answered was wonderful and she informed they JUST STARTED ON THE DISPUTE INQUIRY ON SEPT. 6...REALLY...

I THINK VANILLA CARD IS A SCAM.

Received a$200.00 gift card from my employer.

Tried to use it on Amazon but it was declined. I have never had a purchase on it. I could not check the balance - it said error and call company.

7/8/2022 - I called and rep was able to see some transactions; Google $10.00 and Google $50.00. Balance $120. Makes no sense. I don't buy from Google.

She said she would send paper work for a dispute. NEVER RECEIVED.

Confirmation ID [protected]

I was given a Vanilla Gift Card back in December 2021 in the amount of $250.00. I just took it out of my safe to activate it and it states there is 0 balance on the card (it has NEVER) been used, and a charge for $250.00 was processed on 09/18/2022 to Draftkings. AGAIN-this cared was NEVER activated until I just went to do it. I would like a complete refund.

The card was given to me for my birthday in July 2022, with a $25 balance. I used it once on fast food for $7, then didn’t used it again until September 2022 and was told it was invalid, which was interesting because I checked the. Balance the day before and it was $20. That same day I was told it was invalid at the store. When I called the balance line I got the same response. I talked to customer service September 21,2022 and was told it was used at or by a Brenda Hall and it was my responsibility to clear it up with “them” and call Vanilla back in 8 days. The phone number they gave me doesn’t respond. Please just return my $20.13.

My husband received a gift card from work for $180 - when we

took the card out of the envelope that the card comes in the last

4 digits of the card number were unable to be read. I called their

customer service number, and the gal told me that I would need

to send them a copy of the receipt, I ask what happens if I don't

have a receipt and she said she would explain everything to me

shortly. In the meantime, she canceled the card without my

permission and then proceeded to tell me that they can't do

anything without the receipt, and I would be out of luck. I asked

to speak with her supervisor who proceeded to tell me the same

thing - she said once I have the receipt, I could send the info to a

certain email address but of course, she gave me the wrong

email address. I am not calling back as originally, I was on hold for

a very long time. When she felt like she was done talking with me,

so just hung up. I am asking for a new gift card of $180 as that

was what was purchased. I am attaching the envelope that shows the dollar amount

I bought a $100 Vanilla VISA gift card at a Walgreens. Gave it to my mother a couple of hours later. Next day, she signed in to activate, said there were no funds available. I was charged, and had the activation slip, which was provided to Vanilla's customer service (which took forever to get though). The card was used in Nepal, which wiped out the balance. Vanilla refused to help, Walgreen's couldn't do anything about it, and my credit card company is reluctant to protect me either. Bottom line -- stay away from Vanilla gift cards -- there are a ton of complaints here, and I'm adding this one to the lengthy list.

On September 3, 2022, I purchased a 500.00vanilla gift card at a 7 eleven store. I paid 4.95 for this card. when I called the number on the back of the card it was not to activate the card. what I was told by the agent, is card services do not activate cards he also stated that the store should have activated this card. the card was taken back to the 7 elven store and the cashier said they don't activate these cards. that vanilla card service does the activation. again I called vanilla services and informed them of this. at which time I was told that they were gonna create a case for me they provided a case number asked for an email address to send me a link to verify my claim asked to provide the receipt, front and back of the card front and back of my ID and to provide the case number that was given

I purchased a Visa Vanilla gift card for my daughter for Christmas.

She tried to use it recently and there is a zero balance. The only transaction on there is for BetMGM LLC for the exact amount of the gift card.

I have tried repeatedly to get through to Visa Vanilla, but their automated phone system does not allow you to bypass it and I cannot find any other contact information on their website.

purchased a $100 gift card at dollar general ... two hours later tried to use it to pay Landrys seafood- was declined. went to dollar general - THE DOLLAR GENERAL MANAGER helped me call vanilla - vanilla said the card had already been used at a different vendor nordstroms then i was trying to pay - i completed a dispute form - vanilla confirmed they received my dispute form - that was june 26... I have since had 19 emails requesting refund & or investigating results... NO RESPONSE

this is unacceptable - unprofessional - i can not afford to pay $100 for gift card & $ 99. and change for our meal at Landrys too... because they declined the card I had just purchased

I received a $50.00 Vanilla Visa debit gift card as a gift appx 3 weeks ago. On August 19, 2022 I used it to make a purchase of $13.89 in the morning at Macy's, at which time I created the pin number and it was accepted. Shortly after on the same day, I attempted to make another purchase at the same Macy's store about 20 minutes later, and it was declined. The original pin# I created was not accepted. I called Customer service later that day and explained the situation. The service agent told me the pin# had to be reset, which she did for me and told me the balance of $36.11 would be on the card.

On August 31, 2022, I attempted to use the gift card again with the new pin# at TJ Maxx, and it was declined again! It would not accept the new pin# nor the original one which I also tried. I called customer service AGAIN today (Sept 1, 2022)... and after I explained the situation, the agent told me I would have to reset the pin# on their website and offered no further help! I attempted to reset the pin# on the website and got nowhere.

This is definitely a scam and fraud! I will tell everyone I know to NEVER purchase a Vanilla gift card. I have heard similar complaints from other people about Vanilla Gift card before I received this one.

I received a $100. Gift card back in June. I made an online purchase in the amount of $47.55 leaving a balance of $52.45.

I was unable, in an attempt to use the remainder balance of $52.45 because the balance showed to be zero balance. I have made 4 calls to Vanilla gift card customer service and I was given a case number and on August 8th I was told that I would receive a "Package Of Dispute" by August 26th. Nothing has been done / no calls / no Dispute Package. Today, September 1st. I made another call. Information was taken (again) the call was dropped and I was unable to connect with anyone after making several calls. I'm extremely annoyed given the run around by this company. Hope you can help!

thank you — Carmen Perez

Purchased a $250.00 Vanilla Visa Gift Card for my daughter to go clothes shopping for school. She came back from the mall a few weeks ago saying it didn't work. I called Vanilla Gift Card and they said it was corrupted and sent me another one. My daughter once again went to the mall and ONCE AGAIN it didn't work! I've tried to get through to them but they don't answer. Now I'm reading all of these reviews and am coming to the realization I may just have to live with the loss. This sucks because we're experiencing the worst inflation in my lifetime and now my hard earned money is gone. I'm beyond tears and frustrated. SHAME ON YOU VISA!

I purchased a $500.00 gift card back in June of this year. When I went to use it, it did not go through because someone other than me, used it completely. I immediately call your customer service about the problem. They sent me a claim form to be completed by me and return to you. I did on the same day and emailed you the form. As of this date, I have not received a reply from you even though I had contacted you by email four times. Please take care of the situation and send me the $500.00...thank you...Jose Nieves, 2635 Kennedy Blvd, Apt 4G, North Brgen N. J. 07047,,,,,,[protected]

I purchased a Vanilla gift card August 4th, 2022. I took it home & it didn’t work. I went to Dollar General where I purchased it and the chaser spent over an hour and a half trying to get customer service to activate it. I talked on the phone with customer service and they said my card was deactivated for “security purposes”. I used it two more times then the card was Deactivated AGAIN, same excuse when I called them. They reactivated again so I was going to purchase my pain medication that can only be purchased online 08/29/22 and my card was declined. I checked the balance and it was $1.08! Someone who works for Vanilla Gift card used my card to order from Saks in New York for $125.00! Plus $3.88 more at Saks! Vanilla claims it can’t do anything about it and will help me dispute the charge. The thing is>> this goes against their own terms! Their terms claim they don’t do disputes; they replace the card with a new card with the remaining balance! They won’t even follow their own terms! If this is not resolved; I am going to put warning labels on all Vanilla gift cards so people know the risks! Plus they are going to get shamed on Tik Tok by my niece! They owe me $129.96 and I want a new card & I want it all back and I want the card to work so I can purchase gift cards from a HONEST company! No answer from Sutton bank after 2 days of messages left on their phone. Please help?