I've been advertising to buy Amazon gift cards on here for a while, and I've bought many. I was approached by a new user, JohnPanatau, at the end of September. He offered to sell me gift cards for a ridiculous price, $75 for every $100 Amazon gift card, and then sent the cards before I paid him via Paypal invoice. I called Amazon and they said that if the cards were applied to my balance and worked I had nothing to worry about. I applied the gift cards, they showed up on my Amazon gift card balance, then paid the guy.
Today I noticed that $100 was taken away from my gift card balance. Apparently one of the cards was bought with an account which has since been closed and is now being investigated. The purchases were rescinded, and I've lost that gift card. I may lose the others as well, depending on if they were from the same account. The investigation of the account happens in phases according to the Amazon rep, and other purchases from the account being investigated may be repealed. Even if the other gift cards were bought with different accounts, I may lose them if they were somehow purchased in a similar manner by the guy.
Johnpantau has already been banned on this forum for offering to sell gift cards via PM, but I wanted to warn everyone. I thought that if the cards were able to be applied I had nothing to worry about. A representative specifically told me that if they were able to be applied to my account I had nothing to worry about and could not lose them. Apparently that isn't the case.
EDIT: Amazon is going to send me an email. However, they don't explain the situation at all. They will not verify when I applied it to my account, or why it was taken away for privacy reasons. Here's what they wrote.
"I'm very sorry to hear about the trouble you've had trying to use your gift card. I've checked our records, and the claim code you included in your message is indeed not available for use. I recommend contacting the person who bought the gift card for more information. If they feel this is an error please have them contact us directly with this matter."
Today I noticed that $100 was taken away from my gift card balance. Apparently one of the cards was bought with an account which has since been closed and is now being investigated. The purchases were rescinded, and I've lost that gift card. I may lose the others as well, depending on if they were from the same account. The investigation of the account happens in phases according to the Amazon rep, and other purchases from the account being investigated may be repealed. Even if the other gift cards were bought with different accounts, I may lose them if they were somehow purchased in a similar manner by the guy.
Johnpantau has already been banned on this forum for offering to sell gift cards via PM, but I wanted to warn everyone. I thought that if the cards were able to be applied I had nothing to worry about. A representative specifically told me that if they were able to be applied to my account I had nothing to worry about and could not lose them. Apparently that isn't the case.
EDIT: Amazon is going to send me an email. However, they don't explain the situation at all. They will not verify when I applied it to my account, or why it was taken away for privacy reasons. Here's what they wrote.
"I'm very sorry to hear about the trouble you've had trying to use your gift card. I've checked our records, and the claim code you included in your message is indeed not available for use. I recommend contacting the person who bought the gift card for more information. If they feel this is an error please have them contact us directly with this matter."
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