American Express Gift Cards Reviews

These cards are effectively useless for any and all online transactions. I have tried it at no less than six online retailers, and it continually declines. When you call Amex Gift Card customer service they can offer no explanations or assistance, they just tell you to use it in a physical store.

Do NOT purchase an American Express gift card. I purchased a $200 card for a recent graduate a few weeks ago. The next day, there was a $78 unauthorized charge out of Chicago. We disputed the charge, but Amex denied it with no explanation. They're compromised, but won't acknowledge it. Stay away!

I bought the card and activated it at 7:43 pm. I went to make a purchase online at 7:48 and when I placed the order it said my order could not complete. After a few checks I realized that the card was already used at 7:45 to make purchases in Chicago. I live in North Carolina. How on Earth was someone else able to get hold of the card by the time I activated it??? This makes absolutely no sense. Please do not buy this card. It’s a scam.

I purchased an AMEX GIFTCARD and before I could even use it the balance had been depleted. When I reached out to customer service to dispute it, they stated they would investigate it. After a month they declined my dispute saying the merchant said there was no fraud on their end. Well duh they will say that. So I’m out of money and they do not care. I don’t even want to give them 1 star. They deserve 0.

You cannot trust the expiration date for the value of an American Express Reward Virtual Card!!! I had a value of $150 and made one purchase after activating of $45. Relying on the expiration date, I made no further purchases and checked the balance 2 years later, but still 4 years away from the expiration date, and found that the balance was $0!!! Because American Express had been taking $3 monthly for inactivity of the virtual card!! Customer Service told me that I should have read the terms of the Agreement or the back of the card, both of which I would have had to actively look for. So American Express took back over $100. I feel ripped off!!!!

DO NOT EVER purchase an American Express Gift Card!!! I purchased an American Express Gift Card and made a small purchase with it. When I attempted to make another purchase with it later that same day it was declined for insufficient funds. They told me I had to wait for them to do an investigation. After a month and a half I received a form letter via email stating I gave my card information to a third party by phone, website, email, in person or by any other means. Are you serious!? Could they be any more vague!? I did not give my card information to anyone in any way so they obviously did not do any kind of an investigation like they told me they would and now they are telling me that I cannot have my money back.

Absolutely horrible!!!! This the second American Express gift I got as a Christmas gift and I hope that I never get one again. Both cards I had nothing but trouble using. Apparently American Express wants to dictate where we use our cards. They say it is for security reason, or I like this one. The company doesn't accept American Express gift cards on line. That is bull!!! From now on if asked what gift card I want I am going to tell them Mastercard or Visa. At least then I will know I can buy my dogs toys at Chewy or perfume on line at Sephora with out getting it denied!!!!

Horrible. Never buy these gift cards. The amount was never loaded to the cards and I have been going back and forth with them for almost a year and sent proof of item they are asking for and still no money on the account nor my money back.

Horrible. Don't use them. Buy it from the store and mail yourself. I ordered the gift card 2 weeks ago, no tracking. They say it will arrive by next month, that will be 3.5 weeks. They would not refund me or change it to an email gift card or give me a refund for the card. What a joke, DO NOT USE THE AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARD SYSTEM through American Express Or online.

My dad brought me a gift card so I could buy an iPad and I cried because I thought that the checking balance website was a scam which I still think, my dad wasted his money and I feel so guilty. He was so happy to buy it for me.

I was gifted an American Express gift card and tried to use it and it wouldn’t work. I called them and they said they would have to send a new one due to suspicious activity. I received the new one in the mail and went to their website to activate it. Hackers can imitate their website which is what happened in my case and they took $89 of my $100. I tried to dispute the charge as it wasn’t done by me and waited 3 months to hear back that my dispute was declined. Save your money and give cash or try Visa gift cards. American Express will be a waste of your money!!

I called in to check on the gift card dispute I submitted and was advised of an email sent to me on Feb 28,2025. I checked my emails and saw the dispute has been "declined". I submitted this request back in December of last year after calling Amex customer service multiple times, after the funds were stolen from my card on 12-17-2024. The three transactions were made in Columbus, But I live in Florida. The card never left my possession nor did I buy anything with it. I was first told by an Amex customer service agent, the transaction would just reverse from the merchant, but that was a joke.

The card is accepted NOWHERE! Merchants do not accept the card anywhere. Why such a scam is acceptable? Why is American Express aware of this issue unwilling to remove those card from merchants. This is crazy! I have two cards with a balance of 300$ that I can't use.

Amex rewards card kept $55 of my money when gift card expired even though website says funds really don't expire for 9 yrs. That's only true for some gift cards not all. Very unethical to keep $55 out of $100.

Purchased $100.00 gift card for Christmas gift. Card did not work. It is now February 14th. I've called American Express 13 times and I've emailed requested documents 7 times, and they keep requesting that I re email documents. I Feel that I've been Scammed out of my$100.00.

AMEX gift cards are a hoax and should not be allowed as an option for 'rewards'. I have attempted to use at over a dozen merchants and all were declined. The cards sent as rewards were activated. I have attempted to call and complain but to no avail, as no human is available to speak to me and all of the troubleshooting is useless.

Wow. After 650 reviews, they have received 1.1 stars. For a company like American Express, that's deplorable. I received this gift card from one of my clients and I went online to purchase something mundane. I rarely shop online but I believe I was paying for a food order that totaled about $10. Somehow, some scam website phished my card number from that site and proceeded to run a charge for the remaining balance on the card, which was $80-some.

Don't use these gift cards. They are all scammers. My niece purchased an Amex gift card for Christmas for $100.00. The card I was issued could not be used because it had a 3-digit security code instead of 4-digit security code. I was informed I needed to make an inquiry, so I did. I received a letter in the mail stating they would send me a new card. I received a card with an available balance of $50.00. They now claim the original purchase was for only $50.00 after originally acknowledging $100. Beware of Amex gifts, go with Visa Vanilla.

I had an awful experience with a gift card that I received for $200.00. Someone made purchases with the gift card without my knowledge and charged things to Amazon. I reported it and was expecting to get the full value of the card back. They instead, sent me a balance of $25.72 on the card. I emailed about the situation and did not receive a response. I then called their 24-hour customer service (terrible idea) and got the runaround from them multiple times. I was advised to email "the backup team" to get this resolved. I sent numerous emails to: giftcardresearch@incommcustomercare.com and never received a response about why I was declined the full amount of the gift card. American Express needs to be held accountable!

Purchased a gift card for my grandson and website states that it takes 5 to 6 business days to arrive. Ten days later and no card, company says that it might take up to 15 business days. 3 weeks, before they would cancel the order. I suggested that they put a hold and send an egift, but they refuse to do that. Nowhere in their site tells you about the 15 business days to receive. Adding insult to injury, Amex card will not get involved. Don't buy a gift card from them. They are ripoff artist.

Trying to get a refund for several months for the gift card which doesn't work. I asked for refund on August 24, 2024, and was promised it will be processed. November 5, 2024 call. Will be resolved in 3 days. Never got any response. December 6, 2024 call. They sent check and returned - allegedly because of wrong address. But they have the correct address. Name of employee: Pori. Asked me to call back in 48 hours. I called again on January 3, 2025. Call got hanged up after 15 minutes. It seems they are creating obstacles on purpose so you can never get the refund. AMEX doesn't seem to care about horrible reputation they are getting with this treatment of customers. I will be very careful to use AMEX credit cards for any of my businesses and will make sure to spread word.

American Express is the most awful gift card to get someone. I recommend you guys don’t get it for your family or holidays. They will take forever to unlock your card and you will be waiting for months, prefer you guys to buy Vanilla gift cards or any other type that won’t take you through hell like America Express.

Let me tell you about American Express!! When I say they SUCK I mean it!!! I purchased an American Express gift card for $500. As soon as I activated the card. It was FRAUD!! They took my money!! I have been fighting and trying to get this resolved with them for over 4 weeks. They refuse to give me a refund and continue to give me the runaround. I have called over 10 times. I have been placed on hold for more than 1hr, they won't transfer me to a supervisor and they tell me it's going to take over 90 days for them to "investigate" and determine if I should get my money back.

American Express is the worst gift card to receive; I have asked my company to stop sending us these cards as they are nearly impossible to use. I have three years' worth of cards and have only been able to use one card, which wasn't for the total amount. If you order something close to the limit of the card, it will be declined, meaning American Express doesn't charge fees for the card use; however, they get at least 5% of the card as it is unspendable.

My 85 year old mother received a $150 gift card from her friends. All retired teachers, assistant teachers and cafeteria workers. They chipped in so that they could give her a joint gift. When we opened the sealed packaging, the card's last digits were scratched out. American Express has indicated that without the receipt from the store where the card was purchased, they cannot do anything. We of course didn’t get the receipt with the gift, we don’t want to tell the gift givers, as they would feel the need to replace the gift card. American Express has opened an investigation, however we were told by the representative that without the proof of purchase receipt, we will get nothing. An online search has revealed that this is a “thing”. I can’t see why people would purchase these gift cards knowing that American Express doesn’t stand by their product. I have been an Amex customer for 40 years…

I received a 100 American Express Gift Card for Christmas. I made a simple purchase at a gas station and CVS which totaled $20. When I went to buy gas the card declined. It was a simple error because I did not tell the guy at the pump the exact amount and we all know that gas stations like to put a hold on your card. Obviously, it was more than the $100 so it declined. Then I told him just put in $10. It still declined. When I called Amex they had put a hold on the card and deactivate it and will send me out another card in 7-10 business days. This is crazy because it not the regular card for one and I can see if I called and said those charges are not mine. Then the customer service agents in South East Asia was rude as hell!!! I will never ever get anything of American Express and I hope you don't either!!! I which I could give a negative star in the 1st question!!!!

I purchased $5500 of American Express Gift Cards using my American Express (37 plus years of membership) in increments of $25 physical/plastic gift cards. Those gift cards were given as gifts. However, the gift cards are not being accepted online for merchants that otherwise accept American Express. Moreover, American Express and AmExp Gift Cards are apparently separate entities, and neither can provide a reasonable solution or answer. American Express Gift Cards simply said that they need each gift card number (on each gift card given as a gift) to hopefully provide a solution. (The wait on the phone for a rep at American Express Gift Cards was well over 20 minutes.) Of course, I do not have the gift card numbers because THOSE GIFT CARDS WERE GIVEN AS GIFTS.

Purchased gift card on Thanksgiving day. Tried to buy something. They put a hold on it. Called & eventually they sent another card. Took 14 days. ($400.00) Finally received the replacement, went to buy a LEGAL product & they put a hold on it for some reason. Called them, now I have to send a copy of both cards, my drivers license & they tell me it will take 30 days to get MY MONEY again. $400.00 is a lot of money for them to keep putting a hold on. I want MY MONEY.

I have had an awful experience with American Express Gift Card Customer Service. I have over $2000 in Amex Gift Cards and at 3 different businesses all 3 cards were declined from online orders. I then called all 3 businesses and tried to do purchase over the phone verbally. The cards were declined again. I called the phone number on the back of the gift cards and was on a call for 45 minutes with the person not understanding how to spell my name and address. I had to tell the person the information at least 6 times before the information was understood. My gift cards had to be cancelled and then reissued. It will take 7-10 days to get the cards which is unacceptable as I had activated the cards and needed to use them for Christmas to order the items in time to have them in time for Christmas or even to have them still in stock. I could not talk to anyone in the United States or escalate the call.

I recently received an AMEX virtual gift card, and the entire experience has been a nightmare. This is not the first time I’ve faced issues with AMEX gift cards. A similar problem happened with a previous card, which wouldn’t work online or add to Apple Wallet. Back then, after some effort, a representative finally transferred me to the tech department, and they resolved the issue. With this card, I wasn’t even hoping to use it online—I just wanted to add it to Apple Wallet directly. Unfortunately, this time, the customer service was completely unhelpful and downright frustrating:

This is the worst card ever!!!! I was given a $1500 in AMEX gift card. I have kept them in a safe place and finally decided to use it and found out that it's empty. I called customer service and they told me that I gave out the numbers so they can't help me which is ridiculous because it was in my wallet the whole time. I never took it out. They just refused to help me with fraud charges. THIS IS THE WORST GIFT CARD. I WILL NEVER BUY IT AGAIN.

Absolutely useless!! Cannot use the card anywhere! Got a $2,000 gift card and cannot use it online at all. Their 100% useless customer service number will not get you to a live person and only tells you to try and use the card in person or at a different website. Tried Amazon, Home Depot and many others and all failed.

I was given 500.00 gift card on October the 15th. I went to go make purchase and it would not accept the transaction. I called the number and it said it deactivated the card due to fraud. I was like huh I'm at the grocery store. They said they would send me a replacement card expedite 3-5 days the card was SUPPOSEDLY shipped on the 17 of October and i was suppose to have it by the 25th. Well no card by that time I called and requested the tracking number for this supposed FedEx package with my card and they refused.

I was given over $1500 in AMEX gift cards over the past several years, I have kept them in a safe place and finally decided to use them for some purchases online, the merchants met all of the criteria as they clearly stated they accept AMEX and the cards state that they can be used anywhere AMEX is accepted, this is far from the truth, I have not been able to use these anywhere, I contacted the support center (in Asia) and was told that the merchant did not supply them with all the required information which is untrue as I typed it in on their sites multiple times with multiple cards. I even tried to call the merchant and sullied a live person with all of their required information and still could not get them to work. Issue was not resolvable by customer care as I was told it was the vendor's fault repeatedly.

This is the worst card ever!!!! I had two cards one with $200 on it which they closed that case and I lost $200!!! Another card with $450 that been on hold for weeks. Every time I call them they make up excuses. This company should get closed down. They are scammers!!!

I got the run-around, spent about 3 hours today, trying to resolve an issue with two gift cards purchased in late 2020. I've lost count of how many people and departments I talked with today and a week or so ago, told the saga numerous times. I received notice 3 months ago regarding two unused $50 gift cards. I completed the form and spent almost $20 mailing it back to the Mesa, Arizona office. Tracking indicates it was received. But I heard nothing. I've was disconnected several times while waiting on the phone with a customer representative; no one called me back. I spent another hour on the phone and someone in Customer Service was unable to help me.

Can’t use the card anywhere! Basically stealing money because the cards can’t be used. I’ve received these multiple times and I actually hate them because it’s such a pain to try and play a game of where/when it will be accepted so I just don’t use them. BBB needs to review their program.

I have three American Express Gift Cards that I have saved. All three were $1000 cards purchased through American Express by an AMEX cardholder. All cards were unused. Two in sealed envelopes. Two had charges ranging from $760 to $988 in charges. One was reassigned by Amex to someone claiming to have lost the card. The AMEX help is a call center in India requesting a copy of my driver's license and date of birth before they would open a claim. Name, address, email, phone# were not enough. I found this unsettling and would not share information that could likely lead to further fraud. American Express has already demonstrated that their security for these cards is lacking if it exists at all.

Bought a Hilton gift card for $175.00. Tried to use it at a Hampton Inn. Was limited to $150.. by AMEX. Tried to follow up at 888-846-4308 and was told my balance is two dollars. Of course, it has to be $25.00. Cannot speak with a real person. I have itemized paperwork showing that the hotel charged only $150.00 to my card. Where is the rest of my money? How is this not simply theft?

I had put $200 on an Amex gift card at a local CVS and I tried get stuff for my daughter's clothes for school. As soon as I tried to make a purchase with the card it kept saying the card company kept declining the transaction… So I called these people to see what was going on with the gift card for the past 2 days because they kept sending me to a robot… I finally got a hold of them and they tried to gaslight me about the card talking about it’s active and should be working at any in person and online merchant when in fact it didn’t and I had to keep explaining this to him. He couldn’t grasp the fact that there was an actual issue with the card. He kept telling me my balance as if that was being helpful. Yeah I’m very aware I have a balance of $200 and it’s active but what’s the point of telling me that if I can’t use the card.