BBB Warning: Online gift card reseller has numerous complaints

Milwaukee, Wis. – Reselling gift cards and buying pre-owned gift cards is now common practice, especially during gift-giving holidays. If you want to sell your unused gift cards, trade or buy pre-owned gift cards, several companies will facilitate this process for you.

One Texas-based gift card marketplace, Cardpool, LLC, currently has an “F” rating due to almost 2,200 complaints filed against the company in the last three years and failure to eliminate the pattern of complaints and unresolved complaints. Although Cardpool, LLC, has been responsive to complaints, the online gift card seller has quickly become one of the largest complaint generators in the 29 county service area of BBB Serving North Central Texas. Complaints originate from all 50 states, including 31 from Wisconsinites.

Complaints against Cardpool, LLC, allege failure to issue payment in a timely manner after gift card was submitted and confirmed received by business or non-payment for cards sold. Additional complaints allege that gift cards purchased from the website had a zero balance or the gift cards rejected from being purchased were returned with a zero balance.

A Milwaukee man filed this BBB complaint in January 2019: “I had three $100 gift cards that I wanted to sell because I can’t use them. They were for Google Play Store. I have no Google devices to use them on. I won them at work Christmas party and decided to try and sell them for around $85 each on Cardpool.com. I scratched the numbers off the cards and input them into the Cardpool website. I received a confirmation email about them getting posted for sale. Then, I received an email about 2 of them getting sold, then got an email that Cardpool canceled the transaction for no specific reason. I quickly checked the balance on the 2 cards that sold, and they have been cleaned out.”

BBB notified Cardpool, LLC, of a pattern of complaints involving these customer allegations and the business has failed to provide a response to our communications.

If you choose to patronize a company that provides this service, Better Business Bureau warns customers to be cautious. “There are so many potential pitfalls if customers are not careful what company they choose,” says Jim Temmer, president/CEO of BBB Serving Wisconsin. “When a gift card is not new, you also run the risk of not receiving what you bargained for.”

Make sure to research the business before you buy, sell, or trade. Visit BBB.org and find out the company’s rating. Read the complaints of any online gift card reseller that you may be considering.

1. Make sure that the company is responsive if things go wrong and has easy to find contact information.
2. Make sure that you understand what the business’s policy is regarding refunds.
3. Use a payment method that will allow you to dispute the charges, if you believe you have become the victim of fraud.
4. Immediately check the balance and any passwords or pins of any cards that you purchase.
5. Once verified, use the gift cards quickly to make certain that they continue to function properly.
6. If problems arise, contact BBB. We can walk you through filing a complaint. Visit the BBB directory to find your local BBB.

For More InformationWhen a store goes out of business, their gift cards do, too. Learn more about what to do with your gift cards if a store goes out of business.

Read more about gift card scams.

For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2019, people turned to BBB more than 183 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.8 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Wisconsin which was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.