Non accessible Gift card Redemption code

[wilke9739]

I purchased a gift card, I went to scratch for the redemption code and apparently scratched the code off. I chatted with a representative which was not helpful at all, she was asking for the very thing I could not retrieve the redemption code. So that chat rendered  no results, as we know you cant get anyone on the phone. Does anyone know of another method to contact eBay?

[bonjourami]

Without the redemption code, idk how you could trace the card, do you have the receipt?

[eburtonlab]

Here is what the eBay gift card FAQ says:

https://pages.ebay.com/giftcard/faqs.html

[simba6]

There could be more to that. There are cases there a scammer will copy down that number and remove part or all of it. They can buy replacement scratch off strips and make the card look untouched.  They then keep checking to see if it's been sold . They can then spend it as they have the number. by removing it, there is no chance you can use before they do.

Another in a very long list of reasons to NEVER buy gift cards.

[wilke9739]

Yes I do have the receipt as well as the activation receipt. I also went back to the store where the gift card was purchased, all sales on gift cards are final they instructed me to contact eBay.  

Thanks for your concern.

[wilke9739]

The retailer takes no liability because all gift card sales are final. This is the information I should be able to send to eBay to verify my purchase, but because of the way eBay is set up it seems to be slightly impossible.

Thanks for your concern. 

[wilke9739]

If a scam was taking place it would have had to been with the manufacture, the strip on the gift card was good .

[soh.maryl]

Have to ask:  What were you planning on buying with the card?

Have to confess that I know very little about gift cards.  So I guess the numbers aren't anywhere on the receipt?

[eburtonlab]

If a scam was taking place it would have had to been with the manufacture,

Not necessarily. It would not be out of the question for an organized criminal enterprise to shoplift or otherwise obtain a large number of non-activated gift cards, scratch those cards to gain the PIN, create a database of valid card numbers with PINs, deface the PINs to make them unreadable, then use the proper machine to reapply the scratch-off security layer over the defaced PINs.

Then all the criminal needs to do is surreptitiously place the gift cards back in the stores so that they can be purchased and activated by unwary victims. The scammer checks the database of valid codes against an online gift card balance checker to determine when a card has been purchased and activated. The defaced PIN prevents the purchaser from using the card right away, allowing the scammer time to use it instead.

the strip on the gift card was good .

The fact that you were apparently not able to scratch off the security coating without defacing the PIN would seem to indicate that the strip was not actually "good". At best you can say it looked good but did not perform its actual function correctly.

How much does the machine that prints the scratch-off security strip cost? An investment of a few thousand dollars might be worth it to the right criminal enterprise. Or a motivated art student could likely think up a dozen ways to create a new coating that was virtually indistinguishable from the actual coating to most observers. It is not necessary that the coating even be removable without destroying the PIN underneath, so a coating of metallic silver paint might fool most people.

Not saying that this is what happened in your case or that there are groups doing this, but it is entirely possible to do something like this without cooperation from the manufacturer of the cards.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@wilke9739 wrote:

I purchased a gift card, I went to scratch for the redemption code and apparently scratched the code off. I chatted with a representative which was not helpful at all, she was asking for the very thing I could not retrieve the redemption code. So that chat rendered  no results, as we know you cant get anyone on the phone. Does anyone know of another method to contact eBay?

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Were you purchasing something from someone who advised you to buy gift cards? 

I ask because as a new 0-feedback buyer, you could be a target.