I purchased a gift card yesterday to be able to purchase Microsoft word online. Only to find out that you can't use the card for online purchases. No where on the packaging does it state that you cant use the card for such purpose. Since this was my first assignment needless to say I didnt get it done. And failed my first assignment. Doesnt look good on my school record already. Then when I tried to find out the balance on the card it told me the card had never been activated, when it clearly states that the card is activated at the register and immediately available for use. This card is useless do not every buy one for anyone or any purpose..You can guarantee that if i ever get my money back from this that i wont ever be purchasing another one...

As it is once more nearing Christmas time and others out there may be considering “gifting” these VISA prepaid cards, please be forewarned. They would be more aptly named as VISA RIPOFF cards. The one overriding common denominator that users are experiencing with these cards is that they are NOT user friendly. “Vanilla Visa” is one of the worst.

I have received several of these in the past, and it was like stumbling through an obstacle course trying to expend them. It took several unsuccessful attempts to use the cards, several phone calls to the card company’s customer service number (when I could ever get through), diligence, and lots of patience before my prepaid VISA “gift” cards were finally expended and even then, I as the customer had to dole out instructions to the store clerks regarding how to process them. If the purchaser is attempting to purchase something that costs more than the value on the gift card, the store clerk must calculate the cost difference in ADVANCE and collect the difference in cost from the customer BEFORE scanning the Visa gift card. If the store tries to scan the card FIRST (applying it against the total purchase price) and collect the cost difference from the customer second, the card will be declined. Despite the fact that store merchants who sell (and are supposed to accept) these cards have a written contract in place with VISA, supposedly instructing them on how to process these stupid things, most store clerks are clueless on how to go through this ridiculous exercise. Climbing Mount Everest is easier than trying to use one of these cards in a restaurant.

The companies who market these cards are counting on the fact that once purchased, most of the people who were “gifted” (more like stuck) with these cards will give up using them out of sheer frustration and that only adds to the profit the company has already made on the sale of the card itself. Additionally, the credit card issuers get to deduct ridiculous monthly fees from the value of the card when not redeemed over a certain length of time. It is better to gift either cash or a specific store gift card that can be applied toward purchases in a NORMAL fashion without having to go through the confusion and absurd nonsense that most of these VISA prepaid cards (as a whole) inflict on unsuspecting customers.

Received Vanilla Gift Card for Christmas, declined at store. Tried phone number on back to to check balance and get message unable to complete call at this time. Tried website and it will not display. What a rip off. Someone spent good money on the card to five to me.

My mother bought my brother and I our own $50 Vanilla Visa gift cards for our birthdays from CVS. We soon found out they were declined everywhere we tried them. I called the number on the back of the card and the customer service people just gave me a run around about how I was just doing it wrong. I tried everything they told me, but I finally got fed up. I went to the website and ordered another one myself. I got it in the mail, and this one didn't work either! When I activated it, the website told me I still had a $50 balance, but when i called it told me there was no money on the card! So my mom just wasted $100. Not to mention my sister-in-law looked this company up on google, and there have been tons of people with this problem. It has to be a scam.