I got a $50 gift card as a present. Forgot to use right away and did not notice the small print on the back of the card: "Servicing fee of $2.50 per month begins 7 months after purchase where permitted by law".
When I finally got around to using my card, I had a balance of $15.00 -- $35.00 down the drain. What a rip off!
Servicing fee for what?
Will never buy these cards.
I too ended up getting charged the "maintenance fee" on my Suntrust Gift Card.
I know that these types of fees and expiration dates on Gift Cards/Gift Certificates are illegal in some states, such as in mine (California).
I wonder if they are breaking the law?
I'm sure they've worded the text in such a manner that they can weasel out of any legal action...
Anybody have any idea how we can look into that?
I do have an idea how you can look into it... to begin, ask the person who gave you the card when they purchased it. ALL gift cards charge a "service fee" if the card is not used after a certain amount of time. Maybe... just maybe the person who gave the gift had it and gave you an "old" card that they didn't need anymore? These fees come from Visa and have NOTHING to do with the bank! AT ALL! So you should be complaining about this under "Visa".
Suntrust gift cards are SCAMS! I received a $250.00 gift card I registered it online and I called customer service to activate the card. I went to the mall spent $30.00 the cashier stated the card was declined. I was embarrassed! I tried to make an online purchased for $50.00 purchase was declined. I called customer service at [protected] they stated every time you call us for any reason we will deduct $3.00 off your gift card. I went to a restaurant spent $10.17 card was declined DO NOT EMBARRASS YOURSELF OR WASTE YOUR MONEY THIS IS A SCAM I REPEAT THIS IS A SCAM!
I received a gift card for two hundred dollars. Used it over the phone to make a purchase was denied. Spoke to operator before using and was told its okay. I was surprised to find out my order was denied. I will inform friends not to purshase same.
Received SunTrust Visa Prepaid Cards - two @ $100 each which means we charged $20, 000 on our Visa charge to get a measly $200 in gift cards. To add insult to injury, there is no date on the cover sheet the cards are attached to so you don't know when they were issued. When we attempted to use them, SunTrust had deducted $2.50 a month for every month after the 6th month! It plainly states on the AGREEMENT: "$2.50 This is a monthly fee that begins the 13th month after the date of last activity." Since IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOG ON TO THEIR WEBSITE, WE WERE FORCED TO CALL AND THEY ATTEMPTED TO CHARGE US $3.00 TO SPEAK WITH A "CUSTOMER NO-SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE". "Anthony" attempted to talk down to me and state that as a courtesy they would credit the monthly charge back to our card. IT WAS NO COURTESY BECAUSE IT WAS ILLEGAL TO DEDUCT THE $2.50 FOR SIX MONTHS WHEN WE ONLY HAD THE CARD FOR A YEAR! I felt it necessary to inform "Anthony" of the number of SunTrust accounts we have and that I WILL NOT HESITATE TO CLOSE THEM ALL -- I still may do so! Customers/consumers stand up for your rights! LEGAL ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN ON THIS ISSUE!
Talk about the perfect SCAM ! Start a gift card program, and then either bleed the money out of the cards before they can be used, or, in my case - just shut the program down altogether and refuse to honor it. I just got a customer service rep to admit that when they decided to close the Gift Card Program, they zero'd out accounts with a "deactivation fee" whether they had been emptied by the monthly fees or not. SCAM !
Was given a 100 gift card. Tried to use for an 85 bill at a restaurant. Declined. Told we add 20% to restaurant bill. Could not use 100 card on an 85 $ bill. Crazy. Will never ever use again.