Amazon.com I am not allowed to use my Amazon gift card balance without entering a credit card. Internet

30th of Nov, 2011 by User394208

Today, when I attempted to place an order on Amazon that would total slightly less than 99% of my Amazon gift card balance, I was unable to do so. When I placed my cursor over the continue button, I received a message saying "Your gift cards or promotional codes do not cover the full cost of your purchase, please enter another form of payment to continue." I could see from the order total and gift card balance listed that this was incorrect. Since one of the items in my order was a Lightning deal, I needed to quickly solve this problem so I canceled an item I had preordered and completed this order. I then attempted to reorder the item I had preordered and received the same message even though the total was 99.99 and the gift card balance was $101.49. I had Chosen Super Saver Shipping on both orders, and both had Massachusetts as the shipping address so there was no sales tax. I then contacted Amazon customer service by chat and found out the reason. Amazon now requires you to enter your credit card when your order is over $60 and the total is 60% of the gift card balance. This policy change is not listed in the terms and conditions on their website and I never received notification of the change. Previously, I have never needed to enter my credit card to purchase products on Amazon because I was occasionally given Amazon gift cards as gifts and regularly used Amazon's textbook trade in. Now it appears I will need to if I am to continue to make purchases on the site. While this is not a significant problem for me, I imagine it will be a substantial burden for those without debit or credit cards who purchase Amazon gift cards so that they may shop online. Below is the transcript of the conversation: You are now connected to Rohit from Amazon.com. Me:I am having trouble using my gift card balance to pay for items on Amazon. When I attempted to check out, I was unable to pay with my gift card balance even though my total, including shipping, is less than my balance. I am shipping to a state that does not collect sales tax from goods sold online. I had to cancel an item I had preordered so that I could have a high enough balance to be allowed to check out. Now, I am attempting to re preorder the item and I am having the same problem, I am unable to pay with my gift card balance even though my total, including shipping, is less than my balance. Rohit:Hello, my name is Rohit. I'll be happy to help you. Me:ok Rohit:I am sorry about this. Please allow me a moment. Let me check this. I request you to please place the order and I'll edit the payment method. Me:I am unable to place the order. It says I don't have enough of a balance for me to be able to do so even though it says my balance is 101.49 and the item is 99.99. I also don't have my credit or debit card with me right now so I can't add them to make the order proceed. Rohit:Please place the order using any card I'll edit the payment method now. Me:As I said, I don't have my credit or debit card with me right now. If Amazon will not let me pay with my balance, I cannot place the order tonight Rohit:Thomas, please allow me a moment. Me:ok Rohit:May I know the address where you want to ship this order?. Me: Rohit:I got the reason there is no credit card in your account. I request you to please add a card in your account and then you can use this I assure you we'll not charge your credit card. But this is necessary for authorization only. Me:As I have already said, I do not have my credit card with me. I already placed an order tonight without this problem, and I had preordered the item before without any problems, but had to cancel it so my order tonight would go through. Why do I need to enter my credit card for authorization? Rohit:This is verify your account that this order is placed by the real person or the correct person. This is for your account security purpose. I request you to please add one does not matter there is balance or not. Me:yes, but my question is why do I need to enter it today, when I have not had to enter it before, including earlier today. I don't think any of the gift cards I have received before have specified I needed to enter a credit card to use them. Rohit:You can add the card when you want to place the order. This is not specific that you have to add this before. Me:I do not mean that I needed to enter a credit card to enter the gift card code. I mean that I don't think the gift card terms and conditions specify that I need to enter a gift card to make use of the balance on them. regardless it still does not explain why i didn't need to enter a credit card number to make an order go through previously and it does not explain why i was able to make the order I placed earlier tonight go through by canceling the order of the item I am now attempting to reorder. Rohit:This is because of the order total if the order total is 60% of the Gift card then there is no Credit card required. Me:but I was able to purchase items previously that were more than 60% of the total gift card balance. And the terms and conditions here http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=3122091don't make any reference to this policy. what you are saying would make it impossible for someone to ever fully use their gift card balance without using a credit card because at some point the item they are buying would be 60% or more of their remaining balance Rohit:I am sorry but this is amazon policy and this will apply more then $60.00 order. If I would place this order then the system would not allow me to do this. Sorry for inconvenience. Me:but your policy is not specified in the terms and conditions of the gift cards. You cannot have a policy like that that without notifying people. Where is the policy posted? Rohit:I am sorry about this. I'll pass this feedback to the concern department. Me:how do I file a complaint? Rohit:I've already filed this. And you will see these changes soon. Me:what changes? Rohit:The same on the help page or the policy related changes. Me:but you can't hold people to policies you have not posted yet Rohit:I am sorry but system would not allow me to do this. Sorry for inconvenience. Are we still connected? Me:yes Rohit:Is there anything else I can do for you today? Me:no Rohit:Thanks for visiting Amazon.com. We hope to see you again soon. Goodbye! Rohit from Amazon.com has left the conversation. For reference, the terms and conditions, as they appear today are below: Redemption. Gift Cards must be redeemed toward the purchase of eligible products on www.amazon.com, or its affiliated websites www.endless.com, www.myhabit.com, and fresh.amazon.com. Redemption of Gift Cards on our affiliated websites is subject to change in our sole discretion. Purchases are deducted from the Gift Card balance. Any unused balance will be placed in the recipient's Gift Card account when redeemed. If an order exceeds the amount of the Gift Card, the balance must be paid with a credit card or other available payment method. Amazon.com may provide Gift Card purchasers with information about the redemption status of Gift Cards that they purchase. To view Gift Card balances, visit "Your Account" on Amazon.com. Limitations. Gift Cards may not be redeemed for the purchase of products at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.ca, or any other website operated by Amazon.com, its affiliates, or any other person or entity, except as indicated by these terms and conditions. Gift Cards cannot be used to purchase other gift cards or applied to any order containing another gift card. Gift Cards cannot be used to purchase Prime Membership. Gift Cards cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account, except to the extent required by law. Unused Gift Card balances in an Amazon account may not be transferred. Risk of Loss. The risk of loss and title for Gift Cards pass to the purchaser upon our electronic transmission to the purchaser, recipient or delivery to the carrier, whichever is applicable. We are not responsible if a Gift Card is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without your permission. Fraud. Amazon.com will have the right to close customer accounts and bill alternative forms of payment if a fraudulently obtained Gift Card is redeemed and/or used to make purchases on amazon.com or www.endless.com. Limitation of Liability. ACI GIFT CARDS, INC. ("ACI") AND ITS AFFILIATES MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO GIFT CARDS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN THE EVENT A GIFT CARD CODE IS NON-FUNCTIONAL, YOUR SOLE REMEDY, AND OUR SOLE LIABILITY, SHALL BE THE REPLACEMENT OF SUCH GIFT CARD. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS. Disputes. Any dispute relating in any way to Amazon.com Gift Cards in which the aggregate total claim for relief sought on behalf of one or more parties exceeds $7,500 shall be adjudicated in any state or federal court in King County, Washington, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts. General Terms. Amazon.com Gift Cards are issued by ACI, a Washington corporation. When you purchase, receive or redeem an Amazon.com Gift Card, you agree that the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern these Gift Card terms and conditions. ACI reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time in its discretion. All terms and conditions are applicable to the extent permitted by law. Previously Expired Gift Cards: The expiration date for Gift Cards issued after October 1, 2005 are waived and may be redeemed for eligible purchases notwithstanding any stated expiration date. Any Gift Cards issued prior to that date expire in accordance with their terms. Expiration dates also do not apply for such Gift Cards issued in CA, CT, LA, ME, MD, MA, MT, NH, ND, OK, RI, VT, WA. Expiration dates do not apply in any other state solely to the extent as prohibited or limited by law.

Track this Report 0 Comment | Post a Comment