American Express Gift Cards Reviews

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.

SCAM CARD do not buy this. Minutes after buying one, the account was drained. The money was sent to India and they have no protection in place for the charge. Call Customer service for them to say this: "Your dispute is declined. We take the concerns of our cardholders very seriously. After a thorough review of your account, we are unable to approve your dispute. Your case has been closed." Which came back from: "giftcardresearch@incommcustomercare.com".

I received an e gift card from my employer. The instructions on the Amex Gift card site are that you are to use your own address at online check-out but does not give you an option to register that card to that address. When you call to try to get help you got to talk to someone rude who doesn't know what Nordstrom is and why it's absurd the card doesn't work. I cannot find a way to use this thing that I have had since MAY. No matter what it says on the website the chances that you can use this online are nearly 0. Scam.

I purchased an American Express gift card at a local drugstore. At a later date (well before expiration), I decided to apply it to my Amazon account and use it myself. This card was new. I removed it from the package and checked the balance, which was $100. Then I added it to my Amazon wallet. The vendor was denied payment, so I went back and found my balance to be $0.99. Well, there's a red flag.

Transaction was declined multiple times by card processor but eventually resulted in pending transaction (for a transaction I had to end up paying for via Visa) that customer service said would not return back to the card balance for a month. Customer service completely unsatisfactory resolution, no guarantee that pending payment (that was paid for via other means) still won't complete. Excuses were made that it was all done for the security of the funds...what a joke. They don't seem to recognize that rendering the card useless for the card holder because you think the funds are threatened makes the card worthless. CS is not US based and there's a huge language barrier and base agents can't do anything but talk, they can't do anything to help you with an actual problem. Transfer your card balance to a mobile wallet if you're smart, cut AMEX out completely if you can.

Literally can't buy anything! Not online. Not in person. Went to Target and was so embarrassed when my card declined. My card had money AND was active. I can't use it anywhere. Not Doordash, not Uber either. Nothing!

I can't use online. I tried many different website such as Amazon, Walmart, etc. It always declined. I contacted customer service. They are ** and hard to understand. They don't help much. They told me to try other website and different location??? Amazon??? I think I will lose money on this card because I can't use it anywhere.

What a waste. Amex gift cards are a nuisance and customer service is completely, i.e., 100% outsourced to a decentralized call center that is completely ineffective. There were two obviously fraudulent charges on a gift card of mine totaling $150. I was given two options, submit a claim and wait for up to 45 days for a response during which time my card would be locked, or order a replacement card and eat the $150 loss. Ultimately, I filed a claim and 20 days later my claim was denied and I was given no reason. People who work here should be ashamed. Especially management.

If I could give a zero I would! I am a loyal Amex card holder and bought my daughter gift cards online from AMEX. Don’t buy!!!! Card could not be used at Nordstroms.com. They told me to find a retailer that would accept the gift card! No! Nordstrom’s accepts Amex so they should accept the gift card! 31 business days and waiting for my refund! Now they tell me 7-10 more business days to wait?!? What???? I am on the verge of cancelling my AMEX after 21 years because of this customer service if you can even call it that). DO NOT BUY AMEX GIFT CARDS….

I was given two gift cards for retirement and have been trying to use them to purchase a musical instrument. The store is a large national retailer. Both cards have been activated and they show as having balances but yet not able to use them. Customer service told me this retailer does not accept the gift cards. However I spoke with my customer service rep and he said that is not true. They have taken these cards before. I have looked at review of these cards and there are major problems using these cards. So Amex Thanks but no Thanks!

Don’t use American Express. I got scammed from someone pretending to be Poshmark in my email. They ask me to get a gift card in the amount of $500 to activate my account. After doing so they got my card information and made unauthorized transactions. I reported the fraudulent activity immediately to American Express. First time I called they gave me no claim number. The second time I called they gave me a claim number but didn’t approve my claim. They’re just as bad as the person who scammed me. So yeah don’t use their card service.

I received a gift card as a bonus for work. American Express denied several transactions. When I called, I was read a script. I asked them not to continue from reading the script and to assist me. Eventually, I was told that I had one transaction pending, but if I called a week later that they could send me the balance. I called back, provided the requested information and was told that I would receive the balance in 3 weeks. I did not. I called again, they requested additional information. This has been an absolute nightmare. I would never recommend an American Express gift card. They will deny your transactions and then give you the runaround even after offering to refund you the balance.

Don't use American Express for any reasons. For gift cards use Vanilla or something else. American Express doesn't work on a lot of online sites and makes it extremely difficult to use your card. Its AI blocker doesn't even know what a silhouette is. I'm extremely agitated with the company.

One star is the lowest I can go. Since this thing is TOTALLY USELESS, I'd opt for ZERO stars. Consumeraffairs - this is not right - please help us. I purchased a $100 eGift card from AMEX. My google wallet does not recognize it and the card info I downloaded is useless because no merchant will now enter card numbers at the register. I've spent THREE HOURS on the phone with Amex and the best I can get is...."Try a different retailer...WalMart should work." It doesn't. AMEX STOLE $100 from me and refuses to help. They sold me a gift card that is unusable.

It does not work at any online retailers including Apple and Amazon. When I called they said "the balance has been checked on a bad website" and the card is now frozen. Opening a case would take 30 days but they can't because I don't have a US address (Canadian). Terrible.

DON'T BUY THEIR GIFT CARDS: I recently purchased two $200 gift cards for my grandchildren's graduations. They couldn't use them because someone else had somehow used them even though I had the cards in my possession. American Express refused to replace the cards and wanted me to call the merchants. I am so upset with this company. Don't ever buy their gift cards. They are not guaranteed.

Got a gift card from Artic cat for having to repair myself a recall on their 2024 sled instead of the dealer. Did work at all I went to use it at 2 different places. Took 8 calls to finally get threw American Express because it kept on saying it was not a good number. After 45 minutes and putting me on hold 3 times they said that someone else called after I activated the card. Impossible!!! They said it needs to be investigated and need a copy of my driver license and the receipt (no receipt as it was a gift card from artic cat) to proceed. It's obvious that they just want to cash in and not give those gift cards and make it impossible to resolve if there's any issues just like the others like me. It's fraudulent and they're stealing people's money and getting away with it.

Card is not accepted anywhere, customer service, keeps you on hold for ages, gives the runaround, tells you to turn on and off your phone and try again in 24 hours. There is no accountability for the customer service so they just try tire you out. On the email, it clearly says that it is accepted by Apple Pay but customer service says it's not accepted. Card is useless.

DO NOT buy American Express gift cards- Total Scam. Difficult to activate, and you go in circles trying to get someone who could help you- No one is capable of helping you. Embarrassing to buy these as gifts and they are NOT VALID.

This card is disastrous on every level. Without specifics it's worthless. Any company continuing to supply their workforce with this low grade service implies, they must hate you. Don't Expect much. You won't be disappointed.

I bought an AMEX Gift Card to budget my spending on food. It has been a great experience. The card is accepted at almost every store. The downside is you cannot add the card to a mobile wallet. Most online businesses do not accept it. However, I highly recommend AMEX gift cards for budgeting and making in store purchases. One thing I will also note is if you try to make an online order for food, it will get declined. You have to swipe your card in the restaurant. Also, I do not recommend you let a staff swipe the card for you because the gift cards do not have your name on it. So there's a small chance a dishonest employee could skim your card. However, that happens even with a personalized debit card so there's always going to be a risk.

They sell you a gift card that no one will accept and after multiple calls they refund only what the gift card cost, and they keep the $2.95 fee for an e-gift card that you cannot use. I contacted them 2 times and they wasted my time with this nonsense. I will never buy a gift card from American Express again. Lousy customer service, they kept transferring me to different departments.

American Express sells businesses reward virtual gift cards and they are not redeemable ANYWHERE!! I have called Amex 888-846-4308 and multiple times. They have never been able to do anything except validate the gift card # and amount. They say just try another merchant or they are experiencing technical difficulties. I have tried to use the gift card for merchandise only and all transactions declined: Amazon, Walmart, Target, BJ's, LLBean, Aldi, Etsy, Bay, Apple Pay... Total scam.

My son received an AMEX gift card for his 12th birthday and when he tried to use it, it did not work. I immediately contacted the gift giver and asked if they had a receipt, thankfully she did and she sent it to me. I then reached out to the number on the back of the card (mid January). I was told they would process my info and get back to me, they never did get back to me. I called back them and they said that they would escalate the request. A few weeks pass and I never heard back. I called at the end of January and they told me to submit another email to "consumed@incomm.com", I was to include images of the card as well as the receipt. I did this. I heard nothing back and every time I called them in Feb they kept mentioning "30 days.. give it 30 days.. we are back logged, you should hear within 30 days".

I purchase an Amex gift card to pay for insurance online. The insurance kept declining the payment. I contacted Amex Gift Cards, which took almost 1 hour with no solution. They said I could not use it for insurance, but I could try another merchandise, and if it declined, try another one. Basically, they have no idea which merchandise can accept their gift card. The customer service is horrible; they put me on hold whenever I ask them a question. Eventually, I requested a refund since it was their fault that they failed to declare where the gift card could be accepted. They said they needed at least 2 weeks to open an investigation before refunding me the money, but without the processing fee. I like Amex, but this gift card thing is a big scam and a disgrace to Amex.

DO NOT buy American Express Gift Cards. As you can see from all the reviews on this site (wish I had discovered it before purchasing my Amex e-gift card)....It is the biggest money making SCAM online! They made $150 from my un-usable, un-refundable gift card!! Amex Gift Cards assign NO NAME to the gift card....So it is immediately declined everywhere you try to use it. The fact that American Express allows third party to use their name/logo and sell Amex Gift Cards to rip people off....Places them at the top of list...For the most corrupt business bar none. #BoycottAmericanExpress!!

How embarrassing to give someone a gift card only for them to call you and say it's been used. I took this card directly out of the envelope it was mailed in. I removed it from the paper that is was attached to and gave to my friend. I am not sure what the issue is, but this makes me skeptical to keep buying these cards. That was in November of 2023. This is January and I am still waiting on a replacement. Did I mention that it was not an issue of the card having been used, they only load $5 of the $25 I paid for. I have been calling and emailing for months now. Having to send the same information over and over!!!! I think they do this in hopes that people will give up and they just keep the money. This company needs to be investigated!!!!

Do NOT buy these AMEX gift cards for yourself or as a gift. They do not get accepted by major online retailers including Amazon. I received a virtual AMEX gift card as a gift, and it is getting declined everywhere. In addition, as a virtual card, you do not receive a physical card that can be swiped/tapped/inserted at a brick-and-mortar store nor at the gas station pump, so it cannot be used in many stores either. This is false advertising as they claim it can be used in many places online and in stores.

I get a virtual gift card as a gift and it states in the card use online or in-store. I tried three different online stories and the card was declined. They are all popular online stores, including Walmart and Amazon, no one would take the card. I called customer service to assist with the declining card and they said to remove from wallet, which I did, then try again, which I did and still declined. I was on hold for over an hour with customer service for them to tell me, they could not help. No options, no way to send a physical card in the mail, no way to approve online purchase I'm just out of luck and out of money. Worse service ever, most other people try and find a way to send a physical card instead of virtual, but NOPE, not AMEX. I will make sure the person who gave me card never uses AMEX again.

We bought our son an AMEX giftcard and he has been unable to use it anywhere. He called AMEX, we called AMEX. They verified the amount was on the card as well as the numerous places he tried to use it and it was declined. Supposedly, they will refund my purchase price to my AMEX account within 2 days. This from the company that used to say "don't leave home without it".

I had received a gift card recently and attempted to use it online at Macy's. This was declined so I then attempted to use it at Amazon. This too declined. Contacted Amex customer service and was informed that their "safety measures" prevent the card from being used for online purchases. What kind of gift card is it if you cannot use it for online purchases? The answer is, a horrible one. Save your money and look for another gift card to provide.

This card is trash. I had something I wanted to buy and like urgently but I couldn’t cause this card wanted to have my card on pending transaction. IT WAS 10 CENTS, it made me so mad knowing I couldn’t get it anymore, like I saved up so much but now I can and this card is useless cause I can’t use it anymore.

Purchased four (4) American Express gift cards valued at $500 each and have not been able to use them. I am able to view the balance and transaction history of one of them and it shows a balance of $.65 and two transactions at some online boutique named Harley Lilac in Ottawa Hills OH. I have never purchased from this retailer! As for the other 3 card numbers, I was not able to view balance nor see transactions because I receive an error instead. I tried the numbers several times and always get same error. Called American Express and after a very frustrating call trying to understand broken English they said the cards are blocked and all had less than a $1 balance. They won't give me new cards or my money back. My only option is to try to work with my bank used to purchase the cards.

I tried to make a purchase on Amazon and the card will not go through. I called Amazon customers service and they advised me to contact the card services. I tried 3 different numbers and was always looped back to the "check your balance online". That's clearly not my issue. I have money on the gift card and finally figured out (after reading 3 pages of 'card conditions') that the card must be used at a merchant that asks for the code on the back to be verified. So, all in all, with no help from these idiots, I realized this card is practically worthless to me. Thanks Amex, for literally nothing. You are actual garbage. Merry Christmas.

This gift card by AmEx is an absolute joke, as the other reviews have all mentioned. I have always had a positive experience with AmEx customer service for my normal credit cards with them, so was quite shocked at the awful experience I had with their gift card department. It's absolutely a different department than their Credit Card one, they must outsource it because it feels like a different company altogether. I received an AmEx Gift Card from my company and was excited. I activated it and saw that it was marked as "ACTIVE" with a $100 balance. I tried using it on Amazon and Apple (both using the full security code, correct expiration dates, etc and under the $100 value) and both transactions were declined.

I bought a gift card for my daughter for Christmas, she has tried to use it multiple times and each time it said it was declined. We tried for different amounts at different stores, different days and it said declined each time. I called customer service and I talked to a man that sounded like he was drunk! He was no help and didn't want to transfer me to a manager/supervisor. I will never buy another gift card again!

Do not, I repeat DO NOT buy these as a gift. Although I’m afraid by the time you are reading this you probably have been gifted one of these USELESS cards. They aren’t accepted anywhere basic (like Walmart, Target, Home Depot)!! I was gifted this from my employees and I’m sad they used their hard earned money for such trash. It’s a shame a company like Amex who treats celebrities and billionaires like royalty with their ridiculous black cards can’t get gift cards right for us common folk. And don’t even try to call customer service, they’re more useless than this stupid piece of plastic. They’ll tell you your balance multiple times but it’s like an ice cream cone in the desert, a facade.

I can't believe these gift cards are really part of American Express. My company gives several thousand dollars in AMEX gift cards to employees every year. Last year, about 10% of them were already depleted on activation. To their credit, AMEX issued new cards to replace them. BUT - this year their "solution" is to decline transactions on every major online retailer, including Amazon, eBay and Walmart. That's how AMEX defines "security", but that's how I define "useless". I'm done with these cards.

I was gifted an American Express Gift Card. I used it and the merchant released the funds. At first American Express said the funds will be released in 8 days. Now they are saying 45 days. They can’t even tell me why. They keep saying merchant but they won’t call the company name because they know they are lying. Then they told me there is no way to put in a complaint. I found the information and the Georgia dept that governs it!!!! I wish I had an attorney to start a class action suit. But I will do everything in my power to get this reported. I did read a review that said the same thing happened to them.

Wow, they really make you jump through hoops to use this gift card. In order to activate it, you have to add it to a digital wallet and use it in-store that accepts tap to pay. Then you have to wait a full business day before you can use it online. Even then, you are only permitted one online transaction per business day, all others get declined until the next business day. A gift card should not be so horribly complicated to use. I do NOT recommend buying this for anyone! What a horrible experience.

American Express are stealing money from gift card. My colleague and I received an American Express gift card and he was able to purchase from Amazon. When I try with my card they declined my purchase. I also try at Walmart and also was declined. I called American Express and they told I have to use my card somewhere else because those merchants don’t accept my gift card. They are restricting people from using this gift card to keep the money on their hands for a long period.

I am small business owner who has been purchasing Am Ex gift cards for staff for 20 years. They now have this "extra security" where it is being declined at major merchants. Customer service was not helpful, they kept reading from a script and could not answer questions.

I recently bought two American Express gift cards totaling to $60 and they don't work anywhere. I have called their "customer service" and they couldn't refund my money. So I have two cards I can't use anywhere.

I wish I would have read these reviews before I ordered from Amexgiftcards.com. I ordered 3 gift cards I needed in four days and paid extra for the 2-3 rush shipping. The order never processed. I called in multiple times and received no help. The call center is obviously a call center in another country because they are clueless and no help. Don't waste your time here.

Do NOT use Amex gift cards. The card is declined for no reason other than security which is fine unless you want to make a purchase! I thought the security 4 digits on the card was used for this reason. So I have a $100 gift card that is essentially useless unless I find a business that will accept it. Total lie that you can use wherever AMEX is accepted.

I received an AMEX Gift card as a gift from my wife. Within days it was hacked and used on line at Target. I have the card so the number was hacked between the purchase point and AMEX. Apparently, this is a common every day problem. AMEX knows, but does nothing. Being several months (Sept to Dec) Amex (India) continually stalls with excuses. Amex (US) refuses to get involved other than transferring my calls to India. DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH AMEX.

I bought an AMEX Gift Card this morning and within 30 minutes it was depleted by some Colorado Company. I have $.10 left on it. American Express won't do anything to stop the "PENDING" transaction. I have to wait a week for the transaction to go through. Next I'm supposed to contact AMEX and submit a complaint. I contacted Tom Thumb grocery store where I purchased the card and let them know it was a used card. There is nothing they will do either. I'm so mad! I lost $400 to a fraudulent transaction within minutes of purchasing the card!!!!

$300 ACTIVE gift card that declines everywhere I try to use it!! I even did a transaction for $10, well below the balance and it declined. I don't have this issue with VISA gift cards. FYI this card does not work everywhere AMEX is accepted.

This card is horrible, if you buy it for yourself, you will regret it. And if you gift it to someone, you will receive complaints. This is because of how whether payments go through or not is pretty much random and your card will decline sometimes regardless of your balance. Buy a Visa or gift card for a specific app or service like Steam or Amazon, please don't buy this for your own sake.

Amex will accept some online transactions and then arbitrarily disallow others when all the info including exp date and security code is correct making these cards inconsistent and unreliable and unusable. Worse - customer service is completely unhelpful on resolving issue or even telling you specifically why transaction is being turned down. I recommend using Visa prepaid gift cards instead. Less **!

As many reviewers have noted, these gift cards have become frequently unusable for online purchases in recent years. The fact that Amex doesn't even mention the issue – let alone work to address this systemic problem – speaks to their utterly inept management of the gift card program. The Amex site states:

I received an AMEX eGift card as a bonus from work. I have tried to purchase goods on several sites and nobody will accept this payment method. Cannot even view card balance on AmexGiftCard.com. DO NOT GIVE THIS AS A GIFT! Buy a physical gift card from Visa or Mastercard, or send money through PayPal, Venmo, Zelle etc... Shame on AMEX for selling this horrible product.

I received $4000 in American Express gift cards in 2021. I checked the balance of each $250 gift card to validate their balances at the time I received them, and all were good. I kept the cards in a secure place with the intent of using them for a future purchase. When I checked the balances of each $250 card in May 2023, because I intended to use them, I discovered ten of the $250 gift card balances ($2500) had been used/stolen! I immediately called American Express gift card customer service to report this theft/fraud and a case was created. I called within a month to check on the status of my case, and was told the case had been forwarded to their fraud department and they had 45 business days to investigate and e-mail me the results and resolution.

The issues I've had with the card are identical to every review I see here. No need to explain my reasons that show the product is almost useless to the people that end up receiving it. Gifts, bonuses, incentives....whatever. 90% of us ended up with these cards for was of a genuine and positive nature. I just can't understand American Express and their role in flat out bad business. If problems with this card started to show up they weren't expecting, they were who had to fix them. But it looks like they are ok letting the cardholder sort through what works or doesn't work. That's crazy bad and since when did financial institutions say their product does multiple things it doesn't do. I'm shocked with this.

Purchased a prepaid gift card for online purchases. No matter what I do, talk to customer service or register card online, any and all online purchases are declined. Amazon has had my account put on a temporary hold now for over a week. This card was a complete waste of money and is not a good investment. I highly suggest you steer clear of this card.

I give negative 5 stars. Whoever is in charge of the gift cards should be fired. I was gifted a gift card to pay my bills as I am an injured and ill single mom. I am unable to pay rent nor utilities with it to major corporations. Electricity is being shut off tomorrow and my child is in online school, among other discomforts of having no electricity. We are facing eviction now. I cannot sell this card as no one wants an AE gift card as it is well known they do not work. I call AE customer service and it is like sociopathic robots work there. They just repeat " You can try it at another merchant." I speak with a supervisor after waiting on hold for 20 minutes. She says the same thing. No, "sorry" - nothing.

If I could I would give this no stars. I received this gift card for my birthday. It has been nothing but a nightmare to try and use it. It started when I tried to buy an Amazon gift card with it. First, what they don't tell you is they take out a 10 cent fee for any purchase you make so you won't be able to use the full amount of your card. I don't care about the 10 cents so I adjusted the gift card accordingly and still got declined. I call their customer service line which if you even want to speak to an actual person you have to report the card as stolen or lost.

Gift cards stopped working late 2022. No one takes them and AMEX customer service can't do anything. I finally got my refund by submitting complaints through the US CFPB. This is a widespread problem for AMEX gift card holders but the company is not resolving it. If they are holding your money, submit a complaint to the CFPB. Only a federal agency will get you a refund. Unbelievable.

We recently received 2 virtual gift cards. One VISA, that we easily set up and used and an Amex gift card that is a nightmare to use. For over a week now, We have tried to add the Amex e-card to Apple Pay, PayPal, Amazon, anything and it does not work. We call the Amex card phone number on the back and they told us that we cannot use the full amount because of fees that Amex charges. To try not to charge more than 80% on a purchase and to read the fine print. I think an ethical company should be able to tell you that their e-gift cards are very restricted and that there are several fees. VISA on the other hand was easy and convenient. I do not recommend giving Amex virtual gift cards to your college children because they are pretty much useless and expensive.

Bought card at Walgreens. 2 hours later there’s a pending transaction. Call Amex CS. Told them the pending transaction on gift card is unauthorized so she took my report, put a hold on my gift card. l then said call merchant, how can I, I have no clue who they are, they do not provide me with information on how or who the fake merchant is. Told me it take 3-4 days for pending transaction to go Thru but since it’s on hold because I report fraud activity. It’s frozen. Sure next day money was wiped out. Merchant don’t exist with what’s online.

So this review should actually be for the company Incomm Payments, but American Express is complicit nonetheless. Card is nearly impossible to use with 95% of my transactions being declined. The only success I had was with a random coffee shop and a nearby AMC. Since then it is declined everywhere else. It cannot be used online (as stated by the customer service rep and contrary to Amex's statements about the card), and it is declined via digital wallet in brick and mortar stores. I followed all of the recommendations laid out to me by the repeated discussions with customer support and nothing worked.

So my client was issued an AMEX e-giftcard card with a 'balance' of U.S. 1,318 on it after he got paid out from a scam purchase on eBay. He was unable to use it anywhere, including triple A credit rated entities such as Amazon, etc. Amazing to me since the claim that Amexgiftcards makes is that they block purchase attempts for your safety. I was told this from an actual CS rep, as well as this ineffectual rhetoric being repeated frequently on the Q & A portion of their website. So I make the call.

I received a $750 gift card from my company. I activated and registered it on the gift card website. I confirmed my balance and my contact/address information. It was declined on Amazon, Chewy, from being added to PayPal, and a retailer for curtains called Curtarra.com. As I can see on here, several other people have been having the same problem. It's a little bizarre that Amex gift cards seem to be companies' goto for sending employee bonuses or similar monies and coincidentally most reviews with this complaint, received their cards from their employer or a company. I doubt my employer will re issue me the money in another form. Thanks Amex... I don't know how you're still in business.

Received an Amex gift card for $2500 last December from my employer as a bonus and have not been able to use it anywhere. Received all of the ** customer service canned explanations that everybody else has gotten and no matter what they say THIS CARD WILL NOT WORK. I've tried Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Kohls, Paypal, Venmo, numerous restaurants and others and all have been declined. How does a giant company like this get away with this? Why do they continue to deny that a problem exists? Will be canceling my accounts with them.. unfortunately and sadly for me it seems to be my only recourse. FRAUDS!

From personal experience and research, I have concluded that the Amex gift card works for one entity, Amex. If nobody can use their card anywhere, who ends up with the funds? The issuer. A class action lawsuit needs to happen. I received one of these as a wedding gift and have never been able to use it anywhere. If I go on their site and enter the card number, it shows a full balance. I bring this useless piece of plastic junk everywhere with me and try it before anything else in the off chance it will pay out. It never does. Reddit, Consumer Affairs, etc are all full of complaints about this "gift" card. In some cases people need it for genuine expenses and are left hanging which is criminal. This has been going on for well over a year. Think of the money staying in Amex pocket. With an expiration date of 2031 on the cards you wonder how long they will keep conducting this profitable scam.

I have never written a review for something, but this is the absolute worst product I've ever used. There are a select few retailers that take these gift cards. They also have a bug for Apple Pay and a bug for accessing the cards online to retrieve information. So basically, you buy the gift card and can't use it. This a huge scam - look out for a class action lawsuit.

I received an American Express gift card from work. I have tried for a month to use this card but everywhere I shopped the card was declined. I tried to purchase something on amazon with the card and amazon locked my account and would not allow me to retrieve my account. I tried to call amazon but the AL told me I had no account. I had to request my account to be closed via another site. I tried to sign up on Amex but they asked for my social security number and birthdate... I was NOT about to give a gift card site my information. People needs to STOP buying these gift cards because they are scammers. I lost my 10 year amazon account due to American express scam product!!!! I am also going to place a complaint thru BBB... I urge everyone to do this to stop American Express.

I can type my entire experience BUT it looks like I am not alone. I have a $500 eGift card and used $30 of it before stopped working. It seemed to stop when I tried to use it online for the first time, anything after that, will not work. I have spent over 7 hours talking and being put on hold for a worthless support center to read from cue cards and resolve nothing. And they tell me the card is fine. Which clearly it is not. Worst part, the issuer had me fill out a W9 for this, so NOW I am taxed on money I cannot use. I am pretty sure I will get rid of my AMEX Charge cards now. I am in disgust over this company.

I have been trying to use this 1K gift card, and they tell me it's declined for my own protection. I cannot get a live person to speak to. ALL retailers I have tried to use have been declined. They refuse to tell me what retailer I can use. Update: I reached customer service and they say I can only use this as in my phone "wallet" I used that and the card will not validate. Scammers!!!!

I had a little over $100 on my gift card that I received in December of 2022. I tried to use it for a $35 purchase and got declined. I called Amex and confirmed I had $111 on the card They told me to try again in 24 hours. I did that and got declined again. After my 6th call to Customer Service, they told me they have blocked several merchants: Total Wine, Kappy's Liquor, Walmart.com, Amazon.Com, Trader Joe's. I was told it was for my protection. Seriously??? Protecting me from what? Spending my money on something I want? Customer Service is non-existent and you can't understand a word they are saying. This is just wrong. Additionally, they did not inform the merchants and it was an embarrassing situation in the store. I am contacting the Attorney General in my state and urge anyone with the same problem to do the same. We need to start a class action suit against these scammers.

I was given an Amex Gift Card in Dec 2022 for $1500 from my company. Every place I have tried to use it it has been declined. When I call the number on the card, I get sent overseas and after waiting at least an hour I am told I cannot use the card for my own protection. Please tell me how this is legal? It was a gift that I cannot use and American Express is pocketing thousands of dollars per the number of reviews I have read where people have had the same experience. I have asked to be transferred to a supervisor and I am put on hold for hours, then disconnected. I have asked for an email address or mailing address where I can send in a complaint. They say there is no address or any way to contact them other than the phone number where no one can help me. I have called several times and it is always the same experience. I don't see how this is not fraud.

On July 23rd I tried to use the AMEX gift card to get gas, the transaction was denied. However amex held 180 dollars with no explanation, I called customer service and the unprofessional amex agent said to wait a week. There's nothing amex can do, so now I wait and pray my hard earned money be returned, in meantime my family struggles to get by after this awful incident that amex can't explain and representatives super unprofessional.

I do 90% of my shopping online. These cards cannot be used on any of the online sites I tried. The sellers always require an address for verification purposes. But these cards are anonymous. So they systematically get rejected. I tried to get a refund or apply the funds to my AmEx balance. American Express rejected both approaches citing the Gift Card legal position.

I received a $200 gift card as a reward from work. I used $80 of it and then the card was placed on hold for an unknown reason. I was directed to call the number on the back. The first time I called I was on hold for over an hour when finally someone answered from a foreign country. I could barely understand them. They were asking me to give them an 11 digit number from the back when there isn't an 11 digit number. They then hung up on me. I called back and after another hour someone answered and they were more helpful but the problem was that the card was put on hold for a protection from fraud. So the person advised they would need to send me a new card. After trying to order me a new card they said they couldn't and that they would need to transfer me to a supervisor. I was on hold another hour and then was disconnected. I think they do this to rip off people.

I received a gift card from my job. I tried to use it several times online and it didn't work. I called to see why I couldn't use it online, and I was told, "To protect your funds, we didn't let it go through," and If I wanted to use it online make sure the site asks for the card date and security code. I tried another online store and it didn't work. I purchased some food online. It appeared to have worked, but when I went to pick up the food; I was told the card was rejected. Do you have another card with enough to cover the balance. That was a very embarrassing situation. If the cards can't be used online, then you don't need to be in the gift card business.

I received an American Express Gift Card for $50. I tried repeatedly to use it and couldn't. I recently checked and all the money was gone. Every month they took a $3.00 fee. Absolutely ridiculous! Now there's a charge I don't recognize for the remainder. A lousy $16. I will never use American Express Gift Cards again. First and last experience with these gift cards and never again! Beware of this monthly fee scam.

Amex has blocked usage on Amazon "for security reasons". There is no way around this. They obviously just don't want you to use a gift card in exchange for buying an actual useful gift card that you can use to spend not the EXACT amount. That was the workaround previously for the fact that most retailers will not accept a partial payment with an amex gift card.

I received a $100 gift card from my company as a reward. Tried using it several times for online purchases and it is always declined. Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Door Dash, etc. I called the number on the card and finally talked to a live person. They stated there is an issue with using the card for any online purchases. They are working on the issue with no ETA. They want me to print out and take it into a physical store for purchases. Tried that and the stores won't accept them. Since our company literally purchases thousands of dollars monthly as rewards, I let them know and they quit buying them.

I spent $100 to not be able to use it. I tried to spend it on Grailed, Ebay, adding it to Paypal etc... and they all say they CAN'T VERIFY it. I even tried to buy a new gift card with it online and it won't let me (Buy Vanilla visa gift cards). Maybe it works on some small sites, but for me, I shop big sites and it WON'T ACCEPT. Honestly waste of money and my time trying. I CAN'T EVEN USE IT it. I can't get help to verify it 'cause there is just a robot talking. 0/10. What has happened to Amex? Just last year of me using Amex, nothing has gone wrong. Now their cards CAN'T BE VERIFIED or ACCEPTED. Maybe it might just be me but before buying, make sure not to spend $100 and rather spend like $20, or just invest in some better gift cards, I DO NOT recommend getting an Amex gift card. I put my time and efforts into this, and I hope you guys are making the right decision, DO NOT BUY AMEX.

I have used Amex gift cards in past for on-line purchases. My latest card was rejected by Amex when trying to purchase from Walmart and Amazon - was told by Amex that they do not work here?! I asked for a physical card because those are the only two on-line places I use. They said they could not credit or give me a physical gift card!!! This eCard is useless to me and Amex lost a customer. BEWARE of Amex eGift cards not working at many on-line places. Customer service was NO help.

I can't express how disappointed and frustrated I am. I got a few gift cards from my company and tried to use it at some of the biggest retail chain, (Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon) and it all declined. I call multiple times to customer service and they tell me they can't do anything about it. Because these retailer need a billing address that match, but these cards you can't activate it w those info. Lastly, I then tried to go to their site to buy A REPLACEMENT physical card and PAY ANOTHER FEE TO THEM. This is the funniest part, they DON'T EVEN ACCEPT THEIR OWN CARD. This is A JOKE!! THEY DON'T ACCEPT THEIR OWN CARD. I then called in AGAIN to asked them to send me a physical card because I can't use the E-Giftcard. They said no. Now I'm stuck trying to find some place that will accept their useless card. PLEASE AVOID BUYING THIS FOR ANYONE AS A GIFT. THEY WILL NOT APPRECIATE THE EXPERIENCE.

Amex Offers regularly has promos that offer $20 back on a $300 Amex gift card, and I finally gave it a chance. I wanted to use it for online purchases -- Hyatt, Marriott, MoMa gift shop and a smaller company called Theory11 -- and it got rejected every time. Yes, I tried with small amounts. Then, the link to the e-card stopped working, so I no longer had the security code. I called the customer service line, waited an hour to talk to someone and we tried all kinds of fixes, including reissuing the card. No luck. Also told that the "fine prints" says lots of businesses don't accept the Amex gift card. Then the agent suggested I write the info down on a sheet of paper and ask retailers to manually enter the number, hoping they don't ask for the security code. I said no way and demanded a refund.

What a major hassle. Won a 50.00 Amex Gift Card. Had to go thru lots of unnecessary hoops to activate. Once used for a 20.59 purchase card zeroed out. Tried to purchase gas for remaining 29.41, WAS DEBITED but did not actually get to pump gas as card was declined. So, a 50.00 card was only worth 20.49.

Employers oftentimes use these gift cards for bonus to their employees. I receive one for Christmas bonus, this card cannot do any purchase, neither online or in person. Yet the card has the full balance. Called customer care at American Express, they refuse to replace the card.

I received a $25 AMEX gift card and was able to use it once. There's a little over $18 left on it (I checked balance before I attempted to make sure I had enough $). Said I did but when I used the stupid thing it was declined. Checked balance again..still same amount.. What gives?!?

Recently purchased an American Express gift card at Duane Reade. A day later I tried using my gift card on my Uber app, the transaction declined. I called American Express giftcard to verify funds were loaded and card was active. This was confirmed. The rep told me that Uber was declining the transaction and I should contact Uber. I contacted Uber and Uber said American expresss was declining the transaction. I didn’t know who to believe. I tried using my card on my Lyft app and the transaction was decline. I then used my card at a local restaurant to pay for dinner and the transaction went through fine. The next day I purchased breakfast and the transaction went through fine. While on lunch I stopped off to purchase a meal at and the card declined.

I acquired a 1000 dollar and two 200 dollar gift cards through my company's employee rewards program and they have been more hassle than they are worth. They do not work for nearly any online service as the charges are rejected as suspicious by the merchant or American Express. Their support line is a robot and the only way to get a human is to say you have a dispute about terms and conditions. The small transactions retailers make to check cards fail on all 3 cards. My balances reflect correctly but since no merchants in person or online accept the cards it doesn't matter.

I received an American Express gift card for Christmas and have not been able to use it anywhere online including the largest retailer in the world, Amazon. I made a purchase on Amazon using this gift card. It seemingly went through and then got declined after purchase was made. After hours wasted on calling Amazon and American Express just to find out that Amazon doesn’t accept American Express gift cards. just give people money. Don’t waste their time and energy on these stupid gift cards.

For many years I have purchased A/E gift cards to give for Christmas and birthdays for the year. In 2022 I purchased about 30+/- gift cards. So far 3 of the cards already had purchases on them. One even had a purchase against the card number before I had even purchased the card. Card was purchased in 2022 and had a charge against it from 11/2021.

These gift cards never work. My partner receives them as work bonus and we've tried using them online, in person, in restaurants, to pay bills and buy airline tickets--all transactions that should be approved according to their FAQs, but we have never had success. Customer service is abysmal, 30 mins to get to a person and now 30+ minutes with a person who is telling me that we need to try to use the card in person only, except we just did and it was declined. $400 wasted.

I cannot use my $50 Giftcard ANYWHERE. Tried Amazon, AliExpress, Playstore. Called thrice, 1st time was not at all helpful. Just said that some amazon merchants just don't accept gift cards, it doesn't make any sense because I used AMEX gift cards on Amazon SEVERAL time for the past 3 years. Every website I try to order from declines, declines, declines. They all explicitly state they accept prepaid gift cards, yet AMEX does not work. 2nd time I called, I got HUNGED UP before I could even explain my issue. 3rd time was at least slightly helpful. They told me there was an ongoing issue with customers being unable to purchase gift cards online. I ask when will it be resolved, they said they do not have any updates. I then asked if it is possible to request a replacement card. They said it is only possible if I use it in physical stores first (to see if it works). Will have to try that later, but I have my doubts.

American Express gift cards are not able to be used where ever American express is available. Even after an agent tries to unlock it for you. Have been told "Too bad" twice. Don't ever recommend this. Hypocritical.

I feel bad because someone bought me this card as a gift, and I can't use it anywhere. This card is not accepted by any online store I have tried (and I've tried several) because there is no name or address associated with the card. When I called AMEX customer service I was initially hung up on twice. When I finally managed to talk to someone I asked if I could put a name and address on the card so that I can use it, and they said no, it's not necessary and hung up.

I was given some of these by my employer. They are pretty much impossible to use. Most online retailers won't accept them since there is no name and address on them. Using them at a retailer in person is a hassle. A staff member will have to enter the number for you and it still doesn't work most of the time. I guess it is a brilliant business decision by American Express. Sell cards that no one will use because they can't. Maximize profits!

Orders tens of thousands of dollars in gift cards through a business for Christmas gifts. The cards were put directly in a safe and distributed. Some of the cards have been drained and holds put on them. Amex puts you on hold for hours to resolve. Hang up on you. Will not refund the money and from reading online this is clearly a case of their data being exposed. Can’t believe this isn’t a class action law suit yet.

I have a Amex Gift card and for whatever reason the magnetic strip did not work and I could not use it. Called CS, went thru the whole process, I was told it would take 4 weeks to get a replacement card (seems absurd since you can buy and receive a new card in 4 days), waited, did not receive the card. Called again. Went thru the process (could hardly understand the person on the phone). Again told 4 weeks, 12 weeks in and still no results. Just want my money back at this point.

The company finally did offer compensation which we were happy with.

I won a American Express gift card.. And can't seem to spend it anywhere I've tried to use it it's been blocked. I call customer service it's in another country.. They say wait 24 hours. I try in 26 hours is declined again. I call again wait 24 hours. I tried a purchase on Amazon.. Lol they're in every country.. Declined.. Called American Express just to wait an hour and a half for the supervisor of the individual in another country to hang up on me.. How am I suppose to spend this gift card.. American Express is trash.. No United States customer service.. If there is the make easy money because no one from the other countries they employ send any calls to the United States of America. I've tried twice with no good outcome.. American Express I dare you contact me and make this right..

I am an unfortunate egift card holder. The first online purchase I made is still pending after a week. With the second purchase, I had a problem with an apparent double-billing by Amazon to the gift card and my credit card. The Amazon rep said that the charge had been denied by Amex so they charged my default credit card on file. They referred me to Amex. When I finally got through on the right Amex customer service line, I was told there was nothing they could do as the charge had already been made. I responded, "So there is no support for the gift card?" And then the woman hung up on me. She was the third rep I talked to, and the others were also rude, accusatory, and uncooperative.

Like many other reviewers, we are deeply disappointed with the American Express gift card program. Our small business purchased over 70 gift cards to give as holiday gifts to our employees, but we discovered that a significant number of the cards had a balance close to zero due to charges made in other parts of the country before our employees even received the cards and opened the envelopes. This was not due to any internal breach on our end, but rather an apparent security breach within the American Express gift card program. Despite numerous phone calls and long hours on hold, we were told by AMEX that they would not refund the stolen amounts because the cards are treated as cash, leaving us to bear the financial loss.

If I could select zero stars, I would. My husband's company has been sending American Express gift cards as a reward to customers for decades. Now, we are getting report after report that the cards have been used. We decided we should check their balance before mailing them out. After going through eight cards, we found three had been used. The website only allows you to check about ten before you're locked out of that feature. When calling customer service, they only allow you to check 20, and they did not want to help us with this issue. Further, how can we be assured that they will retain their value even though they have their full balance upon mailing them? We buy them directly from American Express, and they arrive to us in sealed envelopes. Currently, we have over $20,000 in gift cards. We paid American Express, and they failed to deliver. Fraud.

Spent $200 on an Amex gift card on 3/31/2023 and the next day it had $.32 on it. Called Amex Customer Service while the transactions were still pending and they told me it was my problem. They would not cancel the transactions and was told to call an online sneaker company named StockX that has no customer service #, nor have I ever done business with them before. Amex customer service did not care. I asked why anyone would ever buy their cards and was told by the customer service rep that it wasn’t Amex’s problem and that he wouldn’t recommend buying them either.

After seeing other reviewers who have had almost the exact same fraud on their gift cards I felt I needed to share my experience as well. We were gifted a number of gift cards for the holidays from a very generous company that does this for their employees/colleagues. After having the embarrassment of trying to use one which had no balance left, I started looking up each Amex gift card that was given to me and my Husband. We found that 4 of them with $5,000 worth of funds was all scammed and used in a few month window. Most of the purchases happening the same day. The majority were through a company called Meta and paypal. A few from Target but the overwhelming through the paypal and meta.

I ordered gift cards for my employees Christmas in November 2022. They were supposed to be emailed. Never got them. I have called numerous times and each time they say they will take care of it. Never got a call back or my giftcards. I can't believe a company like American Express does something like this.

Won't release my funds, I am so hurt by the results I got from customer service. They do not value their customers. I was spoken to so rude and I will not ever use this service again. I work hard for my money and refuse to use it with a company who don't care about their customers.

I attempted to purchase a gift card for my son's birthday. After entering all the info and clicking on purchase I received the dreaded spinning wheel. The purchase would not go through or cancel. I'm on a never ending hold with customer service. Shop elsewhere.

I was trying to use an American Express gift card that’s worth $200 that I purchased myself, in my possession at all times, and never used. And guess what, when I tried to use it, I found out there’s only $2 dollars in balance. I called AE, only to find out the card was used three times in exon mobile in somewhere in California, where I’ve never been in my life. The agent on the phone refused to investigate further, even though it was an obvious case of fraud to me. And she asked me to call exon mobile to sort it out, without a number call. The problem is that I still have a handful of other AE gift cards at hand to gift. So my plan is to use up all my remaining cards immediately, and never to purchase another AE gift card again, unless this gets resolved.

My daughter received an Amex gift card for her birthday in May. She did not open it until February 16 when she had to buy something at Michael’s. She was told that her $50 gift card only had $10 on it. We looked it up online, and came to find out that there were two separate charges for $20 each made in December in Irving, TX. (We live in NY and have never been to Texas!) I called customer service THREE TIMES and have never gotten through. I will never use Amex gift cards again!

I received a gift card of $750 for my work at a doctor's office. When I tried to use it, I found out that someone by the name of "ARIEL L **" had made 7 daily PayPal withdrawals of $100, leaving a balance of only $50. When I tried to notify AMEX of this fraud, they blamed PayPal. And vice versa. It's disgusting behavior by AMEX and the government agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should bring some heat onto AMEX for allowing this to continue so long.

I purchased a gift card directly from American Express. Had it personalized via Amex. The card was delivered and presented as a Xmas gift. The giftee then secured it in his home to be used for a special occasion. When they went to use the card, it was already depleted! It was used in stores across the country. Countless letters and calls to Amex amounted to nothing. Only to be told, Amex has licensed their gift card business to another company and is therefore not responsible. All monies are lost. If I and the countless others on this board had known, I'm sure we would not have purchased it. Spread the word. These cards are NOT secured via Amex and it is better to not use them and gift via a check or cash!

I was given a $3000 AMEX gift card. I was able to use it for a little bit and then it stopped working. I've tried calling their customer service over and over again and haven't had any luck getting my issues resolved. I am currently on hold again for over an hour now. This would be my 5th time calling. The past 4 people, including a supervisor that I spoke with, promised me that they will email me a new e-gift card within 24-48 hours. My first call was on 1/31. It is 2/17 (3 weeks later), I am still trying to get that number. Worst part is, every time I speak with someone new, it's like starting over with my claim. No one seems to be doing anything with my calls. How do I get this resolved? That is a lot of money! It sucks to keep calling and not get anything resolved!!!

I've been an Amex Platinum owner for 15 years and have been thrilled with that product, service and benefits. Recently, I purchased the Amex Gift Card as a business contact for the first time. The CARD DOES NOT WORK! The recipient has followed the directions to activate it and tried multiple times to use it, and it's be embarrassing to them when it doesn't work. Further, she's called into customer service 6 times, and after being on hold for much longer than Amex wants to know, she's been hung up on twice and unable to get the rep to provide a solution.

I received a giftcard from my employer for $100 I tried to buy some air Pods on apple and apparently, the charge didn't go through. Well someone used $99.97 of $100 on my card 4 days later. The company told me that it was a Chinese restaurant and they charged 99.97 on my card and that I need to personally look them up and issue a chargeback with the merchant so that I can get my gift back. The Chinese restaurant and the address that they gave me doesn't coincide, the restaurant doesn't exist or has ever existed in Chicago.

We purchased $30k worth of gift cards for our employees. Several cards were used before we even opened the Fed Ex box they were mailed in. This is an internal fraud with AMEX and they hold zero accountability. The physical cards are not necessary to purchase gas, Amazon purchases, Wallet transfers etc. The numbers are stolen off of the cards before customers receive them. AMEX says once we purchase the gift cards it's out of their hands. We give them $30k and they do not have the necessary controls in place to prevent the numbers from being stolen. No more gift AMEX cards for us.

My sister gave my wife and I each a $250 Amex gift card for Christmas last year. We saved them for a Disney vacation this year. When we tried to use them we found that nearly all of the money was gone. These card have been on my dresser sealed in the metal tins they were purchased in since we received them. Both cards have several charges from PayPal accounts. We had about $40 left on one and $20 left on the other. I cannot get any action from Amex. we have just lost our vacation.

Amex Gift Cards seem to be great gifts, right. I used to love them. Big revenue generator too for Amex. I received two $500 gift cards for Christmas 2021 which I kept in the original sealed envelopes. I recently took one for shopping (in 2022 for what I thought would be a Christmas treat) and went to pay and was surprised to find out the card had less than $5.00 on it. Someone had stolen the number and made multiple charges on Amazon from a location in Seattle (I live on the East Coast and have not traveled to Seattle).

I was given a American Express gift card around Christmas time 2022! I opened the gift card from its original package and noticed the last 5 numbers on the front of the card were scratched off! Called the number on the back and was informed that I would need to send over copies of the card, receipt and my identification. I was told I would receive my card within 14 days. It’s been a month and I have got nothing but the runaround from these people! I cannot talk to "the back office" personnel they claim to be waiting on! I feel like they have taken my money and there’s nothing I can do! American Express should be ashamed of themselves!

I have ordered several 3K American Express gift cards. Completely unopened unused cards have been used by some criminals. I assume this is an internal job within American Express and suspect they are aware of this in reading other ratings here. The customer service line says they have no responsibility for this and that I have to dispute with the credit card I used to pay for the cards. Ironically that is also American Express and they state the issue need to be resolved with AMEX Gift card customer service. Two departments of the same company neither taking any responsibility is massive FRAUD.

The security on these cards is an absolute joke and waste of consumer's time. But hey, American Express got their money so why would they want to waste their time or money to make the customers whole again. The money was gone before I even activated the card. My experience is as follows: I was given an Amex Gift car for $150.00 for as a gift for the holidays from my workplace. I tried to activate the gift card online but was informed that I would have to call the phone number instead. Not a big deal. I called the number and they advised me that the card was inactive due to suspicious activity. I waited for 20-30 minutes to speak with a customer care associate and they went over the charges with me. I had just gotten the card so none of the charges were mine. They told me that they would mark the transactions as fraudulent and send me new card via the mail.

I received an Amex gift card from one of my bosses for Christmas. I used the card twice and then after that I was not able to use it. The message said there was an issue with the card. I called the customer service number and waited 30 minutes for an agent. The agent did not speak English and I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor took my info and then proceeded to tell me his system was down and I had to repeat all my info again spelling everything twice. I hung up. I tried calling customer service all day…waiting 60 minutes each call and nothing. What is going on with Amex. As one reviewer said, we should file a class action complaint against Amex. They are terrible!!

I purchased $2000 in gift cards in diff denominations and kept them in my safe. Turns out that many gift cards were depleted. Unlike other Visa and MC gift cards which the card#s are sealed -not American Express. All the numbers and 4 digit code are exposed which I am suspecting how many people saw this card before it was sent to me by AMEX. I called AMEX and they are saying it is prepaid gift card and as such, treated like cash. I would have to dispute with the merchant. AMEX needs to do better with their prepaid cards - scratch off code. I lost over $500 and now using them before the fraudsters :(. AMEX's brand is tarnished as far as I am concerned.

I am member of Amex for 16 years and have platinum card, so I decided to use e gift cards for this Christmas for some of my colleagues. I purchased it and sent it. When we back to work after Christmas and found out from those colleagues and those cards does not work and give error when they try to open the e-gift link. First this was an embarrassment for me. I asked them to send me the screenshot so I can send it to Amex. However when I went to e-gift website, I found out that there is NO. Email address in contact session!

And then there is the non-existent customer service. As I am writing this I am on hold with customer service for 1hr 28 minutes and counting - still waiting for someone to answer the phone. And I tried filling out the contact form on the website. Yeah - that's no good either. Fill the whole thing out, click submit, and I get a banner "Unable to send Unknown error Please try again later." Like I said worthless and unusable.

I will never ever buy gift cards from AMEX again. This is my strong opinion. I believe there needs to be a class action lawsuit. Amex gift card customer support take 30 minutes to 2 hours to reach a customer service rep (in the Philippines) who says they cannot help us. They tell us to take the fraud up with the merchant, which has no recourse. META Pay is often where the funds on my cards have gone too. I have experienced thousands in losses from Amex due to fraud with their gift card program. They are given away as gifts every year. There is an obvious data breach (or internal fraud) which has left thousands of people across the country with their gift card balances stolen. What a nightmare for the gift card giver, and the receiver!

On 12/1/22 I ordered 9 American Express Gift Cards - 5 customized $25 and 4 generic $50. I received the cards on 12/6/22 but the Fedex envelope was torn and open and the card envelopes were open. On 12/6/22 I called customer service, the cards were cancelled and I was told that I would be contacted within 48 hours about the replacement cards. I did not receive a call, so I called on 12/8, and was told the same spiel about being contacted within 48 hours. No call and I called on 12/13 and was finally contacted on 12/14 stating that the cards were mailed.

It is true that wait times are long but I persisted and finally received a case number, emailed the CEO of Amex and he immediately replied saying they would investigate. I was fully compensated, thanks executive team!

I was given American Express gift cards as a company gift. When I tried to use the gift card, the transaction was rejected. Turns out the gift card was already used by somebody at an outlet shop as a fraudulent transaction. Amex is now completely trying to put this on me and denying any responsibility. Seems like fraud protection is something they should be responsible for? Don't ever buy Amex gift cards.

AMEX gift cards are a worthless. Card was fraudulently used to make purchases. Called AMEX customer service and was transferred overseas to a foreign call center waiting over 30 minutes to speak to the first rep and and additional 45 minutes to speak to a second rep and waited and another 30 minutes to speak to a manager who was unavailable. Bottomline don't buy AMEX gift cards as it is possible you will be giving your money away to thieves who have access to AMEX gift card information.

On 12/16/22 I posted my problem with American Express gift cards here. When I didn’t get a response from sending my complaint to corporatesecretarysoffice@aexp.com and chairmansoffice@aexp.com, I found American Express CEO: Stephen (Steve) Squeri email on line (a little hard to find and Consumer Affairs will not show it here). I sent him a copy of it and he responded the same day.

We held a gift card from late last year and found that it had been nearly completely drained of the $1,000 when we went to use it. It had been purchased 11-23-2021. On 11/30/22 someone made a $106.05 purchase at SP GLD LLC in Pittsburgh (A hip hop jewelry establishment). On 12/01/22 another charge was made there of $ 776.35. It had never been out in public before 12/10/22 when my wife made an $80 purchase at a record store. When she checked the balance she saw the earlier transactions and an additional $30 charge was made at Wheels Ride in Style in Hollywood.

I was the recipient of an AMX gift card in the amount of $2,200 last year from sales contest that I won. I put the card in my safe and have been hanging on to it to buy something special for my wife and I. The other day I attempted to use it and it was declined. I logged into the AmexGiftCard.com website to check the card and found that the card was fraudulently used in early October 2022, 80 times over 7 days, until the card was depleted. I called the number on the back of the card to dispute the charges with American Express. After waiting 30 minutes to get a customer service representative, I was told they can’t do anything for me and to contact the merchants. I asked for a supervisor. After being on hold again for 30 more minutes another customer service rep answered and I asked if they were a supervisor and they said they were not and would transfer me. I waited on hold for an additional 50 minutes and was disconnected.

My company purchased $15,000 of gift cards in 2021 Christmas. One employee never used his until Nov of 2022. He went to use it and it has been used by someone on a site called Paypal M Etapay in November of 2022. I called AMEX to report fraud and they refuse to honor gift card. Don't waste your money.

As many of the previous consumers reported, I purchased Amex gift cards and when attempting to use them they have been fraudulently used and already blocked and flagged by Amex themselves. They deny data breach and their solution was to send me to deal with merchants without ANY specific transaction data or contact... SHAME ON THEM. DO NOT BUY ANY GIFT CARDS. FURTHERMORE IT IS A PARENT GIFT CARD COMPANY AND SAME REPORTS ARE FILED ABOUT THEIR VISA GIFT CARDS. The call center is in Asia and another in India.

We purchased Gift Cards for our employees as Christmas Gifts. In a sealed (unopened) envelope the cards were distributed. The first person went to make a purchase and found out the card had been used to make PayPal purchases. One after another many of the cards have been compromised. 2 separate days on hold w/ Amex. Says, "Sorry about your bad luck Chuck. Not our problem. Contact the merchant where the purchases were made." PayPal yeah. Good luck with that.

American Express gift cards are an absolute scam. I use them for business and 18 clients have called me to tell me the card I gave them had already been used. $925 lost so far and counting. American Express will do nothing about it. They said it's up the card holder to call all the merchants and dispute the individual charges. I'm going to tell a gift recipient they have to dispute charges on their own gift? That's terrible.

I received a $500 e-gift card from my company as a thank you in August 2022. I attempted to use the card November 2, 2022 for an online purchase and was declined. When I called Amex Customer service, a representative told me that the card had been cancelled due to unspecified "suspected fraudulent activity" but that the full balance of $500 remained. She said she would send me a physical gift card in the mail, but that it could take up to ten business days. Given that I was looking to make a purchase that day, I inquired if she could just re-issue an e-card. That is when the nightmare started. She said she needed to inquire with a manager and I was put on hold for over 30 minutes. The manager then told me they could not issue an e-card OR a physical gift card because they needed to "open a case" and launch an "investigation" and that someone would call me back within three business days. No one ever called.

Was given a $250 gift card that was still in a sealed envelope. I called to just double check the balance and there was only $27 left. Spent an hour on hold then was told they can do nothing about this and that I would have to contact vendors to refund. The fraud with these gift cards is rampant and AMEX does NOTHING to help consumers. I've been a AMEX card holder for 31 years and going to cancel my card to protest and suggest everyone do the same. They need to take responsibility.

In reading the reviews on American Express Gift Cards, I can say that I am another consumer that had the funds stolen off a new gift card before I even opened it. I concur with all the other reviews, AMEX does NOTHING but run you in circles. I did everything they said, contacted the merchant (PAYPAL), contact where I bought it, etc. Final conclusion, where the card was purchased concurred that it was activated, they agreed to refund me the funds, but then it was denied as AMEX already paid the funds out to PAYPAL. It is a vicious cycle. No one cares, and obviously this is a common occurrence. I will never buy an AMEX gift card, or any gift card, "off the shelf".

I received a $1,000 gift card from my employer. When I tried to make my first purchase it got declined. Seems someone stole the card number and depleted the funds. No clue how. There is a lengthy process to get a replacement card including sending in a receipt which only my employer has and on top of all that they will only give me $60 that was remaining on the card when I called instead of the 1k I was supposed to get. They also froze the card. DO NOT BUY AMEX GIFT CARDS, VERY EASILY STOLEN AND YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE MONEY.

I purchased many $500 for gifts for the holidays last year. I have many left and when I went to use one it had a balance of approximately $5 left on it. I opened up the rest of the envelopes, under video, and then had to have them locked. Found almost $4000 of charges made throughout the year. I followed the T&C, but AMEX did not as they had a data breach of some sort. I knew that they were supposed to be treated like cash, but AMEX did not protect the card holder, at all. Others that I donated some cards to had the same issue and I had to make them whole. I am out over $10000 on a purchase of $75000 in gift cards. I hope to find a legal leg to stand on. I am tired of criminals!

I have purchased 10.000$ in gift card and when I gave it as a gift the balance was zero. They all were activate with a balance of 5$. I've called Amex and they haven't helped me at all. Do not buy Amex gift cards.

American Express does not take responsibility for the gift cards they’re selling that have been compromised before you buy them. It’s fraudulent practice and it needs to be addressed. DON’T BUY AMX CARDS! American Express told me I had to call 7Eleven where the card had been used. Absolutely bizarre! A $300 gift card never used, kept in our vault since January when I went to use it yesterday, it had a balance of $10. Everyone is told the same thing when they contact AMX tough luck!!! AMX has a responsibility to correct their computer glitches so that the consumer is not being taken. We have been cheated out of $290. And AMX could careless. I also feel that it’s high time these companies stop the outsourcing. The person I spoke with could barely speak English, they are not ** though they use fake ** names. They’re laughing at every call they get.

I already left a review earlier but wanted to make sure that this company is checked out b/c they stole $300 from me, never got to use my American Express Gift card, Black Eden Photography and InComm payments stole the number. I live in Colorado and it’s obvious when you look at the transactions on the gift card that it’s a SCAM… BEWARE.

Bought $100 American Express gift card, went to use it and it had no balance, I was scammed, had to be a data breach or inside job. They said, "Sorry, nothing we can do." DON'T BUY American Express gift card. I called customer service And after being on hold for a half an hour the representative talk down to me, pretended we had a bad connection, and lied to me. This person told me the card was charged in Minneapolis Minnesota. I’ve never been to Minneapolis. And then I called again and someone else answered and they told me it was charged in Brooklyn. I got this person was rude and not helpful.

I went online to buy a gift card, the advert looked and said American Express Gift Card. I clicked on it only to find out it’s a company g2a.com who do gaming. I don’t do gaming. I asked for refund. Got a rude reply. I lost money here and got nothing in return. I see many people have complained about this. I’m disappointed and will advise people not to buy American Express gift cards. Too much fraud.

Stay away, and don't buy gift cards from American Express! This merchant is grossly negligent in their handling of gift cards. I purchased two $150 gift cards from them; when I tried to use them the first time, they had a value of less than $5 left. All fraudulent transactions occurred at Target.com Brooklyn, MN; AMEX gift card customer representatives kept deferring the issue to get it fixed with Target. This company has a significant breach happening with how they manage cards, and customers are left holding the bag. Don't do business with this company; let your family and friends know.

I had $3000 American Express Gift card that was issued in Feb 2021 with the Exp date of Jan 2030. I kept it safe in my locked drawer. When I tried to use it today 9/25/2022, I found out the balance only $45 left. I checked the balance of my gift card online, I saw there are 3 transactions on Aug 2021 that I didn't do. The transaction history shows the card was used for Amazon.com $523, AMZ.Frafrance.net. $723, AMZ.shop Marriott $1707, I called Amex and they said to call the merchant. I called Amazon, they tried to look up the transactions ID but they were not able to find it.

Purchased 4 ($500) gift cards in December of 2021 and gave them as gifts to our children. One of them attempted to use the card this month (Sept.'22) and discovered that it already had unauthorized charges of $465. I alerted my other children to check their balances and they found that their cards also had unauthorized charges. All of these unauthorized charges happened within the last 4 weeks. I called customer support numerous times and was read the T&C and told to contact the merchants.

American Express Gift Cards are a Scam. Went to pay at a restaurant with my $25 American Express Gift Card. It was declined. I went online and checked my balance. I had $25. I lost my card and they will not replace it, seeing that I have the balance. They asked for my card number. I don't have it. I lost it. I have the packaging it came in. That's not enough. Bet, they hope everyone loses their card... To the person that's thinking of purchasing an American Express gift card for someone. Just don't give them anything. You'll be saving them a huge headache and a lot of mental anguish...

After reading so many comments, I think I can no longer be silent. My experience is the same as that of most of the people in the reviews. I purchased a 1000 dollars gift card on American Express official website in November 2020, I kept it in a safe once I received card and it never been used until last week when I tried to use it in Madison Ralphlauren store, I was told it doesn't works, the ending is the same as everyone else here, AE card company does not take responsibility or provide enough information for me to try and attempt to get the money back, their security system vulnerability becomes OUR PROBLEM. As a consumer, it is impossible for us to win the rights we should have. I wonder if there is a lawyer firm who can fight for us to sue this irresponsible company that cheat on us and stole our money. The only thing that we can do now is for more people to see this and NOT BUY their gift cards.

I purchased over 50 (fifty) AMEX Gift Cards that were sent DIRECTLY by American Express by overnight mail. Those gift card range from $25 to $1000 worth per card. I personally stored in a personal safe to which nobody else had access. The cards were given out over time to various people. 3 recipients complained that the card provided already had charges from the SEALED envelopes provided by Amex. The card value is $100.00, $1000.00, and $3000.00. I called Amex and the representative basically said:

I purchased American Express gift cards during 2019 Holidays and never used. On 09/03/2022, when I planned to use and checked the balance on my 3 gift cards, I found out that there were unauthorized transactions of around $1350 in Aug 2022 to load cash to the fraudster's 7Eleven wallets in Irving, TX. When I called Amex customer service, they just keep saying "We cannot dispute those transactions and cannot do anything, you just call the merchants to request refund!" and on the other side 7Eleven customer service is asking me to work with Amex and they cannot do anything or refund the money.

I believe government or authorities should sue ban American Express from selling worthless gift cards that either have no value in them, the actual value has been dropped, or same card has been used by others and we find out when trying try to make the first purchase. In my case the card did not work at all. Calling them....lol...no one answers. I will complain to BBB. I think everyone should. This is fraud and theft. I was told by a few friends about the American Express and visa, MC gift cards not working for many people and didn't believe it until my birthday came. Such a pity that huge organizations have to steal middle class money in a bright day light and no one is holding them accountable. This is how they became billionaire, through me and you.

I had $1000 American Express gift card. One day, when I checked the balance, I found out that there were $609 unauthorized payment between Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, 2022. on ** and Goold Offerup App. When I called customer service, it was really hard to contact with right department regarding this issue. To make matters worse, they just keep saying "We cannot do dispute those transactions and cannot do anything, you just call the merchants to request refund!" I can make sure American Express is so irresponsible and does not care security although customers' gift cards numbers are leaked! So I strongly recommend never buy an American Express gift card.

I received a $100 AMEX gift card from my boss for going above and beyond and I have not been able to use this anywhere I have tried thus far. It had been useless and I find it insulting that I get this crap card that is only received by a select few vendors. NEVER DO THIS TO YOUR EMPLOYEES! AMEX IS NOT A REWARD. IT IS A BURDEN!

Open the envelope in front of employee when making a purchase to find out there was only $7 left of the $100 gift I had received just a few day before. It made no sense to me or the lady ringing me up as I open a sealed envelope in front of her. I came home and looked the card up online to find out someone had charged $31 three times in the same day to their PayPal months before I even received the card. Customer service was no help in replacing the money that had already been taken. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THESE GIFT CARDS. USE A MORE HONEST COMPANY. My husband's company buys these cards for all their employee for every holiday and we had to tell him our experience on how customer service will not help or replace so that he can switch and stop using American Express. So disappointing.

I also purchased several American Express $100 gift cards from AE directly and stored them in a safe where no one had access to except myself. I purchased these to give as gifts or use for travel. I went to use it today for the first time and found out that it only had $3.32 on it. I was floored and contacted American Express who quite frankly does not care and was told that they cannot dispute a charge. You must contact the merchant who in turns does nothing. The Merchant will not release any information nor will they investigate the matter since it was used online and they received their money.

I purchased a $75 Amex Gift Card. There was an error at the register. It still said it went through. Gave me a confirmation at the bottom of my receipt. Most definitely charged my bank acct. I thought oh well it’ll get resolved, right? After an hour of tracking down their actual customer service number I finally get someone. They ask for me to email both sides of the card, a copy of my receipt, and a copy of my driver’s license. The customer service rep said it could take up to 3 days which makes sense because I purchased this with my debit card so they needed to make sure I was actually charged.

I purchased a group of AMEX Gift Cards that were sent DIRECTLY by American Express by overnight mail, and then stored in a personal safe to which nobody else had access. The cards were given out over time to various people. One recipient complained that the card provided already had charges, which was embarrassing as it was a business gift. I took a totally SEALED card from within my safe that ONLY ME AND AMERICAN EXPRESS could ever have handled. I went to place an order for approx. $49 on the $50 card and sure enough the card was declined. Went to check and there are two previous charges on a card that had been in NOBODY else's possession before besides AMERICAN EXPRESS itself.

I received a $100 Amex gift card as a gift. When I tried to purchase an item charging more than $100 and used it to pay, it rejected "insufficient funds" and placed a charge of $0.10 on the account. Other gift cards of $100 can use up all $100 and let me use another way to pay the remaining balance. I tried to use it to pay another item of $50 then I cancelled it immediately. I placed another order of $50. It rejected again due to insufficient funds. I called the vendor and the vendor never charged on my card. The card showed the charges for weeks $0.10, $50, $0.10. Finally 3 month later I find out those charges are cleared. I could never use up the full funds because of such "Insufficient funds" rejections. American Express has been stealing my money! Tell me how could I use up the exact full funds!

The gift card (especially e-gift card) doesn't work, you will be in line for hours if you decided to call their phone line. Customer service doesn't know anything. I would have declined the offer if I knew it was an American Express card- Always give you a headache that is greater than the money. AVOID AVOID AVOID. Knowing the card is not working for me, they refused to replace the e-card with an actual card, and the lady I spoke to was literally talking to herself and put me on hold for a long time when I ask to speak with the supervisor.

I was given an Amex Gift Card by my work as a wellness incentive (which means it was taxed as taxable income on my paycheck). The card was in a sealed envelope. I went to use it and found the amount of $300 was drained to only $30. I called and found out that two fraudulent purchases were made with it on Amazon. I reported the issue to Amex and they said to get in touch with the retailer to recoup funds using the transaction order numbers, amounts purchased and dates purchased. I called Amazon and they could verify that the transactions were made and not associated with my account, but couldn't provide any more information.

Do not give or attempt to use AMEX Gift Cards. I was given a generous gift card from a friend. I attempted to use it on two occasions and was soundly denied. ("We don't honor those cards.") Further, I asked AMEX to cancel the card and give me the cash instead. Again, I was refused. When I called AMEX, I was placed on hold for 19 minutes. The operator was not understandable (language issue) and certainly not helpful. Is this a scam? It certainly is very poor customer service. I won't be doing business with Amex again.

It didn't work on Amazon, for payment on a future cruise, or my electric bill. I called customer service and wasted an hour of my life. They will not allow you to get a physical card - even for a fee. Just give people a check or cash and stop making their lives more difficult. Using these things also means I can't get points, miles, or cash back from my own cards that I would prefer to use.

I tried for 3 days to place an order for 2 gift cards on https://www.amexgiftcard.com/. When writing out the gift message, the site continuously said that the field did not allow special characters (I used NO characters at all - only letters) and would not allow me to place the order at all. The phone number provided for help only offered an automated message to check a card balance, so I called the number on the back of my Amex card - Spoke with about 10 people, but NONE were willing or able to offer me any help at all. I am sooo disappointed with AMEX these days - was always my fav co when they provided real customer service, but they obviously don't care about their customers or their satisfaction any longer (This is not my first customer service issue with Amex in more recent times).

This company is a bunch of crooks. As soon as the card was activated they stole my funds right off the card and they refuse to give me a refund for the money. I spent over 10 phones call on them to accomplish nothing. I am very upset and terms and services suck badly.

Here is my experience with my first AMEX gift card SCAM - 3/15/2022. Phone Call # 1 – Outgoing at 9:44am EST. I called in to inform AMEX team of fraud - She took down all the info, then said someone will contact me. When I requested that I should be speaking to fraud dept, she put me on hold then eventually hung up. Total call time 30 mins. Phone Call # 2 – Outgoing at 10:14am EST. I called again regarding the fraud/dispute. Pressed lost/stolen prompt. Gave the new lady the same info. She stated I needed to call PayPal. Gave me a transaction ID # and that I needed to call PayPal to resolve my issue. Then she put me on hold and hung up. Total call time 12 mins.

Do not BUY American Express Gcards!! Purchased American Express Gcards to two different stores. Walgreens. It says activated but once you check the balance it is empty. Someone had used it, at Apple location in Dedham MA. I called Walgreens, nothing they can do about it because I authorized the purchase, yes because I pay for the card. Advised to contact Amex. After 5 or 6 times calling and being put on hold and get hang up, finally spoke to a supervisor who says nothing she can do because it is treated as cash and advised to call the merchant. Called Apple store where the card was used. Advised to contact the police and file a report. Police cannot give me my money back.

I ordered gift cards for my employees for their hard work through a busy season. I chose to make personalized cards because I figured they would've more appreciated. It took quite a while to finish the order and thanks to a website error, I had to do it over again from scratch. After I re-completed making their cards, the order went through with my confirmation email. About a week passed and I got a shipping notification that also said that part of my order "could not be processed". It also said that I should direct my questions to the 800 number. I called and went through the computer prompts and was put on hold. A person came to the line asked me for my order number and when I gave it to him, he hung up. Oooo-k then. I call back go through the prompts and this time after holding, it goes straight to hanging up on me. Same thing for a third time.