Complaint Review: MetaBank Blackhawk Network California

During Christmas, 2018, I was gifted a Happy Lady Gift Card in the amount of $25.00.  I made an online purchase at Sephora in the amount of $75 and tried to apply the $25 gift card to reduce the balance, but it was rejected several times.  I contacted the customer service line on the back of the card about the issue.  They said that I was trying to buy $75 worth of merchandise for just $25.  I told them that I was trying to reduce the total price of $75 by $25.  They said that the only way you could buy something online was to buy something for exactly $25, which would be nearly impossible.  I asked them if that was also true if I came into the store?  They said that the card would work in a physical location.

I waited until March of 2019 to go into Panera Bread and buy lunch and try to buy less than $25.  The lunch was $19, but after the cashier used it twice, it was rejected both times.  Today, I called the customer service line again.  I explained what happened and spoke to someone named Orlando.  He immediately said that the card is not to be used online, which was not what I told him.  He was extremely rude and failed to understand the story.

 I was finally able to tell him, but he asked if I immediately called them to get it straightened out.  I told him that the situation was embarassing and I just paid for it myself.  He proceeded to ask me what the error code said on the reject message, etc.  I was not the one doing the transaction, so I wasn't behind the counter seeing what was going wrong with the transaction.  He also accused me of trying to use the card several times.  I asked him where I tried to use the card several times.  He told me about the Sephora incident.  After that transaction, I did not try to use the card again.  

I have checked the balance with customer service and they say the card is still worth $25.  I have never had a problem with a gift card like this, and starting to believe that this is a large scam operation where these cards are sold, but then none of them work.  I will continue to file actions against this company as they appear to be scam artists, rude and just scraping in a lot of $ and figuring that people will just give up and not bother with just a $25 bad gift card.