American Express Gift Cards Reviews

6 weeks. 11 phone calls. 162 minutes. 2 required documents. 5 representatives. 1 supervisor. That is the statistical representation of what it takes to process a gift card replacement; not to mention tons of patience. After having used an AMEX gift card to make a purchase online; the product malfunctioned and had to be returned. The vendor initiated a refund and the system automatically placed the funds back on the gift cards. By this point the gift cards had already been disposed of.

We decided to use two brand new American Express gift cards to pay for a visit to a restaurant while on vacation. The waitress came back and said that the cards were denied. She tried a second time, just to return with the same news. Four days later, I checked the website to find out the status of the cards to determine whether we still had the original card amount. According to the website, the card has $0.00 balance. After a week, I finally called Am Ex to find out what was going on. I spoke with someone who clearly could not answer any of my questions if they were not part of his script. He told me that there is a hold placed on the card for eight days! I asked to speak with someone about this, and he simply repeated that there is no balance on the card, and we have to wait eight days. I will NEVER buy an American Express gift card. And as soon as the hold is taken off the one I have now, I will use it (hopefully) quickly and get rid of it!

In short; I have been an American Express Prepaid Card Holder for 4 years now. Most recently, I called customer service to try to load funds via direct deposit (I am self employed). The male customer service rep (who barely spoke English), would not give me the information needed and INSISTED that I switch to a SERVE card. When I stuck to my guns and refused he raised his voice and refused to give me the information I needed for direct deposit; later fumbling and saying "UMMM you cannot get direct deposit because you are self employed." Nowhere in the terms of agreement was that ever stipulated. Furthermore, he sounded shocked that I was self employed. When I asked to participate in the survey... he promptly disconnected the call. I asked where he was from and he responded INDIA. Well maybe next go round, I will do business with a card company that values the American customer.

Received a gift card again from my workplace - these cards suck. Every place I've stop to use it decline it. It will only work at large department stores. Not your local gas station. Also went to a caf. Didn't work. Make sure you have back up money if you're going to use this card. Good luck.

I received an "e" card from American Express as a gift Feb. 2014. I have been unable to use this card with any "e" merchants to date. This "e" card can only be used online as payment to an American Co. Every time I try to use it it fails. I have contacted American Express customer service at least 6 times. Each time I contacted them by phone I've been on hold an unreasonably long time because no one seems to be able to connect the proper dept to help me. They have admitted that the "e" cards were discontinued due to problems with them.

It is so frustrating and basically (I think) against the law. My friend bought me a card so I can drive out to visit over the Holidays (for gas etc). It was a "gift' a year in advance, something to look forward to! I finally get ready for the trip, go online to check my balance --- $14.00... what? Find out they have been taking out "service fees" the whole time. So basically they drained the account. IT WAS PAID FOR. YOU GOT THE MONEY - you should not be able to bait and switch. THEY SHOULD NEVER EXPIRE OR HAVE A MONTHLY FEE. IT'S NOT A CREDIT CARD. I AM SO ANGRY! Seriously need some sort of class action or something (but then only the lawyers make out) phooey. DON'T BUY!!!!!!!!!

I purchased something at an office store using my gift card for partial payment of the product. I noticed after the transaction that they had overcharged me and asked them to correct the price. They refunded my gift card and my reg. credit card and redid the entire purchase. Guess what, even though the full amount was put back on the gift card the card showed a "0" balance. I called the 800# and spoke to Martha (very hard to understand) and she said it will take 8 calendar days to put the refund back on the card. I then asked for a supervisor, waited 20 minutes and got Gordon who told me the same thing. Not the service I have come to expect from AMEX. I ended up paying the whole thing on my reg CC - not my plan and will now hope that I get the balance put back on the card which I can’t use to pay my credit card!

My daughter received Amex gift card ($50) for her 16th b-day. Her wallet (with card) was subsequently stolen. We reported it immediately - card still had full value. We save all requested info and were told replacement would be sent. It was not. Called Amex - whoops error - they had failed to process request. "No worries," they said, "card now on the way." Weeks pass. No card. Then letter. No card until we send our purchase receipt. Call - Amex needs receipt for cards with over $200. "But ours is $50," we remind. "This case needs receipt." "What case?" No answer, then "the team decided you need receipt." We ask how do we produce receipt if it was a gift? Too bad. No receipt. No replacement. So now have had to ask family of daughter's friend to search for receipt from months ago... Amex staff - clueless, rude, dismissive...

Never buy American Express gift cards! I purchased a gift card to make an online order of an auto part. The parts company has a cutoff time for overnight shipping of 10am. I purchased the card at 9:30am and tried to make the order shortly after and it was declined. When I called American Express they told me that there is a delay of 1 hour after purchase before the card is activated. There was nothing on the card packaging to indicate this fact and I was not informed of this at the register. The only information on the outside of the package is, "Card has no value until purchased at checkstand". Because of this delay, I had to pay for a freight upgrade to get the part in time. Shame on American Express for deceptive practices.

I made a hot topic order, was never to be charged and was charged extra on my card for an out of stock item. After waiting past the amount of time I was supposed to, charge remained on my card. Finally hot topic sent me something else to fix the situation.

If you are reading this, let me tell you at the outset, do NOT use AmEx for your gift card needs. There are much better gift service out there. I personally have used giftcards.com that allow you to get custom gift cards, VISA and others and I have been very satisfied with their service. Now, let me tell you about my experience with AmEx. First of all, they do not have a local US based customer service team (at least it seems so to me). So, I ordered a custom AmEx gift card on phone by calling the customer service.

On after American Express is fraudmas Eve, I purchased a 50.00 gift card for my son for Christmas at Walgreens. A few days later while taking his girlfriend to breakfast he calls to tell me his card declined twice. We called the 800 # on the card just for the rep to say "you have a zero balance"! So I asked, what do I need to do? They replied with, "It's Walgreen's fault they did not put the money on your card." So of course I go up to Walgreens for them to tell me it's American Expresses fault as the money was put on the card.

I bought a gift using an AMEX gift card for $50.00. The store destroyed the card since it had a zero balance when the purchase was made. I later returned the gift and the store credited AMEX for the amount. However, AMEX will not issue me a new card...even though I have all the receipts showing the original purchase, the store credit for the return (with the AMEX credit) and the store Manager's information. I'm getting a run around from the AMEX representatives in India that process the complaints. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to resolve this?

I recently purchased a $50 AMEX gift card at Walgreens. When I went to make an online purchase 10 minutes after it was DECLINED. I called customer service (which was not helpful at all), they explained the funds are held for 70 minutes after purchase before being used. I was furious to find out because it does not state on the package or in the terms of agreement that this would be a stipulation. I know from other gift card purchases with Visa and Greendot that this occurs because it would be stated on the receipt or the the gift card packaging itself. It should be defined BEFORE purchase, not after when you need to use the card. SO now I having to wait an entire hour and ten minutes just to use this card. And on top of it all customer service is unfriendly and not useful at all to activate the card through their end. Never again will I purchase or use a card from American Express! What a total disappointment.

I receive an American Express Prepaid card, was given to me through a rebate deal. They charged you service fee after a certain month if you still have a balance on their card, which is stupid to begin with as it is a gift card and it should not expire or be charged for not using it quick enough. Anyhow, they charged me this fee before it was supposed to be charged! I called them and the person I spoke with, "Daisy", indicated that they will reversed the transaction within 2-3 business days. I asked for a confirmation number because I know some BS would occur and I would not receive the reversal.

I ordered a gift card of $200 to be sent to my son in Seattle. I had to call a couple of times because AMEX did not send me any notices nor did they charge my account. So I called AMEX only to speak with reps who do not understand English. After I spoke with 3 different reps, I was finally told that UPS dropped it off on the porch of my son's house. He DOESN'T have a porch! They stuck the card in the door and it luckily blew away to the flower patch next to the house.

I'll admit this is originally my fault, although really poor customer service is why I am writing this. I received a $200 American Express gift card for Christmas last year. I made a couple of purchases on it and received errors both times resulting in pending charges that reduced my balance both times. The first time, the total was over $100, so I couldn't even try the purchase again because of insufficient "remaining" balance.

I recently received a $10 Amex gift card as a rebate on a computer peripheral purchase. When I tried to cash it at Walmart, it was rejected. I phoned Amex and was told that I have to pay the outstanding amount first before using the card. Nobody knows that! I was told that I would have to deal with it at Walmart and have them reverse the transaction. For $10 I am not going to bother but I will NEVER purchase another item which has Amex gift card as a rebate.

I bought 2 $100 American Express gift cards at Target on 8/28/14, gave them as gifts the next day. When the recipient tried to use them, she couldn't. The cards were given back to me. I went to Target to discover the cause, was told they weren't entered properly, although I had the receipt, but no refund. Called the customer service no, turned case over to PRT Resolution Team; faxed them copies of the cards, front & back, my store receipt, my driver's license. Called a week later, DL unclear, faxed again. Called 2 weeks later, still not clear, faxed a 4"x6" copy of license. Called today, said my address was a business address (do have a home-based business), didn't receive lge copy of license, so how could they look up my address? They wanted a phone bill for proof of address, I said “enough!” I want cards activated, or money back. Manager will call today, doubt it. Will never buy another Amex gift card!

For my birthday, I received an American Express Prepaid Gift Card with a value of $100. I planned to buy Listia Credits (Listia is a website like eBay but you buy items with credits). I bought a $40 set of credits and a $20 set of credits. I attempted to buy another $40 set because I still had $40 on my card, but it said that it was denied by the cardholder. I then checked my balance and it said I had only $34 on my card! THEY CHARGE YOU 1 dollar for every time you try to buy an item! I tried 6 times in total, and now I cannot buy the item! Nice to ruin a birthday American Express... REALLY NICE.

We had 27 charges in one day at Exxonmobile in Florida (we live in California). These are not our charges. It put the card in negative and when calling the 866 # told had to put more funds to get out of negative. We only discovered this fraud on checking our balance on November 10, 2014 to make sure everything was okay. To our shock it was not. We were told 4 different times that an email form to dispute these charges will be coming. Two weeks later - still no email. We thought we better send in writing that we dispute these charges. Sent UPS next day air (costing us $37). We have a signed copy that they received this.

Received gift card branded American Express value 25.00 exp 06/20. Tried to use 11/07/14 and no value shown on card. So I called American Express and was advised 2.00 per month service fee used all the value of my card. I was not aware fees were permitted on gift cards so I was surprised when the agent I talked to just said, "Too bad that's the way it is." I won't be using any rebates showing American Express and encourage others also not to use this company's products.

I am filing this complaint against American Express Bluebird prepaid card. I have been dealing with the company on a refund that there seem to be a delay in. I filed a dispute with the card company on 7/27/14 and here it is 10/6/14 and still have not been reimbursed. The company have given me (4) four different days that I should receive a refund and every time there is an excuse. I feel that everyone needs to know about this company and something needs to be done about their business practices.

These cards are a joke. Never again will I buy one. Says can't be used to order outside of US and even when I did order in the US it still kept costing me a dollar for card to get declined.

I gave my rebate card to my mom and she misplaced after she try to use it and didn't have the balance on the card. When I found out, the card have been taking out fee but didn't have the message in spanish. My mother is no bilingual. She lost that money for something she didn't know.

I got one of these cards for my birthday with a balance of $100 in the beginning. Great. I went on Storenvy and bought items I have been planning to get and it went through easily, and I had $18.50 left on my card. So I decided to go on a different shop and buy some supplies I needed, and the overall total was $18.45. But guess what? It didn't go through. I tried it again and again, removing one item from my list each time, because surely it couldn't be the card. I had a window open on my computer that showed how much money was left on the card and it still said $18.50, so I reloaded it and re-entered my information. And would you guess?! It said I had $13.45 left on my card.

I've used prepaid gift cards to purchase things online for years now (mostly Visa and MasterCard) and have never had any problems. I recently made the mistake of purchasing a AE gift card for $135 with the intention of purchasing some shoes. I've done this many times before and the process is easy, efficient, and simple. BUT NOT WITH AMERICAN ** EXPRESS. First my payment was declined from one website. Okay, that's weird, maybe it's just an anomaly. I try another website but the payment is declined because my billing address doesn't match the address on the gift card.

I purchased a $100 Amex gift card from Walmart.com for my mother. When she went to use it @ Walmart (already at the till of course), she was told that it hadn't been activated through Amex & to call them. I called. They needed lots of information faxed to them. I faxed it and they never returned my money.

I ordered a $100 gift card thru AMEX and chose "overnight shipping" for $9.99, purchased on 6/12/14 for a total of $113.90. After purchasing I realized I put the wrong first name on the card and I immediately called customer service to fix. After being transferred 3x I was finally told 20 minutes later that it was already processed. The card arrived exactly one week later on the 19th. I disputed the overnight charge and they told me that it was purchased on the 18th and delivered on the 19th. I disputed again and asked that they check their call history records to verify. They then said I was never charged $9.99 for shipping. Why the heck was that option there? So, $13.90 in "order fees". And when you try to go back and read the notification of your dispute a second time... it disappears! Slippery and dishonest. Never again!

American Express gift card logo is--- Better than money.

I bought the gift card and when I came to use it but when the merchant passed it through an error message came. We called the customer service line and the amount processed that came "invalid" was in fact debited. I asked the customer service lady and she told me that there must be a mistake with the store's system. She assured me that the money will be back in the card within 8 business days. I tried to give it a try with the remainder of the balance but when I came to use it the second time it also came as "invalid". Horrible experience. I bought Visa Gift Card before and never had this problem.

I placed an order for 5 American Express gift cards and discovered that I forgot to use a coupon code. I immediately called AE within 5 minutes but the agent said there was no way to reapply the coupon. I requested cancelling the order, but after putting me on hold for 5 minutes, he said the order has already been processed and there was no way to cancel it. I told him that two days ago I placed an order for American Express gift cards and it took them 2 days to decline the order (and that was the reason I reordered), so how could the order be processed within 5 minutes this time.

I purchased 4 cards for Easter gifts for grandchildren and their parents. I watched Walmart cashier activate each card, sent them to NJ. Received text that one card was not activated according to number my daughter called. I called with the info on Sunday and guy stated that dept is on MST & I must call tomorrow between 11 am and 9 pm. I did and spoke to 1 guy who stated I must go to Walmart and have them look up info as it wasn't activated. I drove to Walmart and I got the receipt showing it was activated!

AmEx don't have any way to find out that they delivered card to the person or not. They can only tell you that they shipped it or not and balance. The only way to find out is to ask the receiver. I ordered a gift card as wedding gift for my friend. Now when I want to know whether she received my surprise gift or not, I have to call her only. There is no way American Express tell me that she received my card or not. It's really bad, now I have to call her and find out and by any chance if it was not delivered, it gave bad impression of me. (Seems I am making excuses and giving late) :( AmEx will not give any information about to whom it delivered to. Had bad experience. Also when I purchased the gift card through my AmEx card it was decline. Waste of time, will never use this service again.

When I attempted to use an American Express gift card at check-out, the card was declined. When I called American Express I was told that since the balance of the bill was in excess of the amount of the gift card, I had to pay the balance first. How can I pay the balance due if I do not know the value of the gift card? Further, even though the card was declined, the amount of the gift card was removed and I now have to wait 8 days before the amount is returned to the card. DO NOT GIVE AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS!

My husband received a American Express gift card from a friend. The card was declined at any location I tried to used it. When I called the customer service they've told me that the card is not activated and there's nothing they can do about it until I send them the receipt with a set of documentation about myself. Well, I don't have the receipt since it was a gift card. Never buy Amex gift cards, they are a complete joke. Now, that I read about other customers' experience with these gift cards, I'm not at all surprised, and definitely convinced about never purchasing Amex cards.

I received a rebate from MSI in way of an Amex prepaid reward card for $10. What I did not know is that after six months a $2 per month fee is charged so the card went to zero in nine months! I am to say the least pissed off and will never do business with MSI or American Express ever again. DONE

I had received an AmEx gift card, a year or so ago, amount $300, expiration 12/14. This last weekend, it was rejected in a restaurant in Malibu. Fortunately, I had a real credit card and paid the bill. I called the AmEx gift help line today, after multiple holds and talking to three reps, up to the highest supervisor I was able to reach, and 40 frustrating minutes, the answer was - that The card had not been properly scanned when issued, and that if needed to contact the person(s) who gave me the card to get the purchaser receipt.

American Express is making BOOKOO bucks off of undetecting Americans. Also, raking it in while not giving Americans the merchandise enclosed in prepaid money cards ... After purchasing a 60-dollar prepaid debit card, from yes, the UNITED STATES POST OFFICE, I attempted to use this card on a purchase for 50 dollars. It was denied and after calling the number on the back of the card... what was learned is that THERE IS NO WAY AT ALL TO GET MY MONEY FOR AT LEAST 10 more days (even the UNITED STATES post office, who has made themselves a representative of this company can not return money THAT BELONGS TO ME!). THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! It is theft. It is embezzlement !!!! They took my money under false pretenses, gained control of that money and are not giving my money back to me.... and contacted the resolution service at American Express (no respect for this company anymore, therefore, the "a" in American Express is non-deserving of a capital letter).

Please, please, don't buy anybody an AMEX gift card. You've just given money to American Express, and the card holder will probably not be able to use it. I received one as a gift last week. I tried to use it online, and it was rejected by the card issuer. So I decided I would charge the card through PayPal, so I could access the funds online. PayPal said that the card issuer rejected the transaction, so instead PayPal charged me $1.00 for every time I ran the card, meaning that now there's only $47 on the card instead of $50. Ridiculous. So I tried to call the customer service hotline at 877-297-4438, and got an automated response. There was no way to talk to a real human being about this card. This is the worst gift card I've ever seen. This isn't a gift, it's a bad joke.

I was presented a $100 Amex gift card. When I tried to use it, it was declined. After calling Amex India I was told that the card belonged to someone else. I was instructed to fax the front and back of the card, my driver license, and purchase receipt to the Amex prepaid resolution team. After more than a month, I received a new card. It was also declined when I tried to use it. I called customer service in India again and was told that the card did not belong to me. After a great deal of time they told me that a new card had been mailed to me the day before. That did not sound right. It was a lie.

Lost AMEX Gcard $200: We had the GC number on Receipt. Called number. Had unused card. Put on hold, 2 hours with 3 different agents that did not speak good English. Tell us 3 different ways on how to get a new card issued. They asked for Personal identifying information like SS number and copy of license to be faxed to them. Spoke to top Manager who took down name and info and promised a new card in 10 days (10/14). Never received card or acknowledgement of request. Called back 11/8 and more of the same. The service center doesn't know what they are doing. They don't speak English and are not from this country. You get several different ways on how to resolve but nothing happens. This is ridiculous! AMEX is supposed to stand for professional, security, American company that you can rely on. I think not! Word to the wise don't buy these cards.

Got hit with a possible fraud. At my store, the customer used an AMEX gift card to purchase items. Two months later, I get several letters in the mail that this sale is under investigation. Merchant services and American Express refuse to provide any information on this matter. A call to Merchant Services results repeating the "case number" several times followed by being placed on hold for 20 minutes. They can not even tell me what is going on except threatening letters that they will charge back the sale if I do not respond to their request to fax the sales slips (which I have done already after each request). This whole thing feels like a scam that American Express themselves is behind and I will no longer accept any American Express products at all. Shame on you the way this is being handled.

I received an $80 rebate from Hankook Tires. They no longer issue checks for refunds; instead, they sent an AMEX Gift Card. It stated that it didn't need to be activated and was ready to be used. I attempted to use it at a local gas station. You can't use them at the pump; you have to tell the cashier how much money is on the card and they will use it like a credit card. Well the card was declined! I called the customer service to get a balance and it reported a 0 balance on the card! I requested to talk to a rep. The customer service rep was hard to understand, AMEX obviously outsources their customer service responsibilities to India. I was told that the card was used at the gas station. I told the rep that it was declined. He stated that if there was nothing charged to the card they will refund the money; however, the funds are frozen for 7-10 days.

Around Aug. 13, 2013 I purchased a gift card to pay for my birthday gift. I read the instructions and it said no activation needed and the card was ready for use. I made an online purchase and the company declined the order saying the addresses didn't match. Shortly later I noticed the money had been taking off my card, immediately I called American Express and was informed in order to make an online or phone order the card would have to be registered. I asked him how would I have known that? The customer service rep asked me to make a conference call to the company. I told him that I didn't have 3 way and was unable to make the call. At that point and time he stated he couldn't make an outgoing calls, their phones only accepted incoming calls. He also told me my money would be on my card within 24 hr.

A customer used one of these cards which did not swipe and American Express charges additional fees for cards that will not swipe. Read the fine print with these guys and know what you're getting into. This customer got away with $400 of our lowest profit margin merchandise and because of fees and "non swipe fees" (can you believe this is legal!?) got one over on us and we either lost money on the sale or barely broke even (I didn't run the numbers yet but because the card did not swipe, the fee doubles. Are you serious?!). Never again, I'm through taking Amex it's for suckers.

The English of customer service agents is very, very poor. They are only authorized to apologize. Can’t help but apologize. I was told 9 different lies: (1) I was told because my gift card was suspended that a refund would not go on it. I did not contact the merchant in time and they processed it on the gift card. And yes, it went back on the gift card; (2) the gift card is still suspended. I cannot use my money. I was told that it will be refunded to the merchant as there was no matching transaction amount. What does the amount have to do with anything? If I buy three things and return 2 of them, there is no matching amount for that return either; (3) I was told the merchant had to request the transaction to be reversed; (4) I was told that it will be automatically reversed; (5) I was told that both 4 & 5 would be done in 3-5 business days; (6) I was told an email had to be sent to get the authorization and I need to call back every day for up to 14 days for my money to be un-suspended on my gift card; (7, 8, and 9) are a combination of all the above and now the guy on the phone from India said it is too late for anything to be done today.

On May 2, 2013, I called customer service and explained that I had received a $500 AmEx gift card and would like to have a check for cash instead of the card. "No problem," said the AmEx representative, "Your check will be sent by US mail within 20 days." I was told the card was locked and could not be used, and I was given a reference number (which is standard operating procedure for refunds according to the rep). On May 27, I called to check on the status of the check and was first told that there was no record of my call. I gave the representative (who spoke very poor English) my reference number, and was then told that because I was the recipient, not the purchaser, I could not get my funds in a check. If AmEx knew that there would be no check and also had my contact information, why didn't they give me the courtesy of a phone call?

These cards are not beneficial to consumers in any way. They only benefit American Express. I'm in college and my parents bought me four cards when I started college. I was using them to pay my prepaid mobile phone, so I knew exactly how much was being charged and how much was left. On my last payment, the card declined because after 6 months, they charged a $2 service fee every month so I was already $4 short and I only had the card for eight months. I need to find a way to convert the value on the last two remaining cards. Don't buy these cards. The service fee makes these cards a rip off. Also, be aware of the security issues that others on ConsumerAffairs.com have encountered.

My husband and I regularly purchase Am Ex Gift cards for our children and grandchildren but those days are over. I purchased 2 $100 Am Ex gift cards for my daughter-in-law on 2/15/13 and gave them to her the next day. When she went to use them in March, she was told that both had been spent on 2/26/13 in Tampa on gas and at a 7-Eleven. The cards never left the envelope or her purse until March and she lives 100 of miles from Tampa, Florida. When she called Am Ex to complain, she was told, "Too bad, someone pent them.” She finally had to tell us and we called American Express and they could clearly see that I bought them with my Am Ex at Publix on 2/15/13 along with the dates of the transaction of the expenditures in Tampa on 2/26/13.

A friend gave me an American Express gift card for my birthday. But when I tried to use it, of course it didn't work. When I called the number, a call center told me I couldn't use the gift card unless I had a purchase receipt. When I explained it was a gift and my friend didn't have the receipt, they told me I had to go through an extensive process to be able to use the card.

This is twice that I have had a perfectly valid American Express gift card refused. There's always some excuse: "The manager has to approve gift cards, and he's not here now." "We can't accept the full value of the card. It's our policy." I recommend avoiding these cards. They are close to useless.

Just to preface, I have been using prepaid gift cards (Visa, MasterCard, One, Greendot) online for many, many years. Yes, I have occasionally had a problem here and there over the years of using them. Most of the time, the problem is their website going down or reacting slowly, causing me to have to wait a day or less to be able to register my card so I can use it online (I buy these pre-paid cards solely for online use). The worst previous incident I've ever had was a month ago when I purchased a MasterCard prepaid card and the card number was different than what was displayed on the receipt (they should be the same ending numbers). A quick call to MC and they had me up and running with the card working in less than 5 minutes. I've never had a prepaid card not work on the internet until today with the American Express gift card I bought locally a couple days ago.

I ordered an AMEX gift card to be shipped to a friend, to arrive as an anniversary gift on their vacation. The card arrived late, which was not AMEX's fault. Since it went to a hotel, I was worried it would not get to them. So I called AMEX, asked them to cancel it and give me a refund to my AMEX card that I purchased it on. They told me it would take 15 days. After 30 days, the refund had not shown up. I have now made 5 calls and no one seems to be able to assist me. I have grown so frustrated that I have cancelled my AMEX card, which I have had since 1995.

I wanted to get gift cards for my employees for the New Year. Fist order was ordered online and processed. The next day, I got an e-mail that it wasn't processed (so that put the delivery off to after the New Year). Second order was made over the phone, processed, and 30 minutes later wasn't processed. On third order, I insisted on speaking to the manager. The order was processed and delivered. Next week, another delivery! Oops! Okay. I called customer service, which took three calls to get through. I got hung up on and was disconnected (and they didn't call me back!). I finally got it canceled after fighting with rep (who was very difficult to understand as well as all the previous reps. They have very heavy accents.) to get her to understand their mistake. Next year, for Visa gift cards, no more AmEx. I would have let AmEx know of this, but they don't have any e-mail contact on their site! Their loss.

Don't buy an American Express Gift Card! When you use your credit card to purchase American Express Gift cards, the transaction is considered a cash advance! Therefore, you are charged an advance transaction fee plus interest begins to accumulate from the moment of your purchase. If you go to a store and buy their gift card, using Target stores as an example, that is a purchase and there is no advance transaction fee, not to mention the upfront fee that American Express charges you to initially buy their gift card.

I bought a card for my husband. He is a truck driver. I thought it was a good idea. The advertisements said there is a good alternative on prepaid cards without any credit score. I loaded money and the next week tried to transfer money from my account. Loss Prevention locked the card. He called the next day and was waiting for one hour and fifteen minutes. They did not resolve the problem. They said I needed to get another card in order to transfer money to him. I went to Walmart, bought another card, registered and started to transfer money to his card. Everything was okay.

I "won" a $200 American Express gift several weeks ago. These cards supposedly could be used at any merchant who accepts American Express credit cards, including online retailers. Since most retailers don't accept American Express cards, when I finally found an online retailer accepting them, I tried to use it on a $137.87 purchase. The purchase was declined so I used one of my credit cards to complete the transaction. Thinking I still had $200 available to use, I attempted once again to make a purchase online - this time $89. The charge appeared to go through.

The fact that Amex can actually get away with gouging their customers $75 and even $300 a year for holding one of these things is really puzzling. Low self-esteem? If you need one of these things to feel important, you had better get some help. First off, merchants are loathe to accept them. Why? Because they're sick of being ripped off too. Most importantly, never use one of these lousy cards on the Internet. Contrary to popular belief, if your account number falls into the wrong hands and you dispute the charge, Amex will always "resolve" the dispute in favor of the scammer - 99% of the time - always. In fact, I have no doubt that if you were a victim of a mugger or kidnapper who accepted Amex from their victims and you disputed the charge on the card - you would lose with Amex. They would make sure you paid.

I have $25.00 in American Express gift card. I bought an item on eBay by using American Express gift card. After I check on my balance in American Express gift card, I lost $4.00; but the item only cost one dollar. And they wrote "PayPal Inc Mark - Purchase with AVS" purchase one dollar. I want to know what they are doing. Can someone help me? Thank you.

They have the worst customer phone service ever! I never have problems with Visa, as a person that uses gift cards all the time! Do not use American Express! I got hung up on over 9 times (1-866-207-7970).

I ordered a custom photo gift card on 10/14. I paid extra for 2-day shipping. I received an "approval" email the next day. I was concerned as they took a whole day to approve my order and it was not yet being processed. I called and the person told me I can expect it to be delivered on Thursday, 10/18. I checked my mail today (10/18) and it was not there. I am concerned because I leave for an out-of-state stay (where I needed the gift card as a present). I called them for an update. I was informed it was still processing. I mentioned how I was told I would receive it today and she confirmed that she sees the notes that I was told this, but it was wrong information. I asked if there is any way to get it shipped to me for Monday the latest at a different address since I need it on Tuesday (10/23). I was told no.

A company that I worked for had given rewards for extra services. When I redeemed the rewards, I asked for Home Depot gift cards - three cards totaling $225. I received the envelopes and put them aside, thinking they were Home Depot gift cards. When I opened the envelopes, sixteen months later, I found American Express Corporate Rewards cards that had expired three months earlier. Contacting American Express only verified that, due to expiration, all funds had been taken to cover "maintenance fees." $14.00 a month for "maintenance fees" is excessive when compared to other cards, and I consider it usury or outright theft.

My wife purchased a $1,000 gift card online to be delivered by United Parcel Service. The card never came, AMEX denied all responsibility and admitted the card had been used and all the value was gone. Then attempting to get satisfaction from American Express, she was basically told tough luck. Again, we never received the card. How a company such as AMEX can get away with leaving my wife out $1,000, I will never understand. But telephone complaints have not worked and a snail mail to American Express customer service has gone unanswered after more than a month. They are no better than any internet scam run by organized crime. They are thieves.

I was given a $100 gift card. When I went to use the gift card at a gas station, I had only used 37 dollars. The gas station took all hundred dollars off. When I called American Express, instead of them talking to the merchant, the first person put me on hold for over 45 minutes. Their reasoning was it was not their fault and there was nothing they could do. The second person that claimed to be a supervisor was extremely condescending. Both persons that I talked to were extremely rude and unprofessional. I asked the supervisor if there was anything he was willing to do to help me out and his answer was to apologize and that I didn't deserve anything for the person's mistreatment of my complaint.

I received the card as a gift and tried to use it to make a purchase which was over the amount of the card, expecting to pay the balance with my regular credit card. It was denied but the balance on the card was removed to zero. I contacted Amex and they spoke to the merchant and the balance was put back or supposedly so. I paid with my regular credit card to get my items. I went to use the card a week later and it was denied again. I called Amex again and they told me that the first transaction had the funds to the original merchant. My receipt clearly shows that the original purchase was paid by my regular credit card which the merchant confirmed.

I have received several American Express gift cards throughout the years and have discovered that after activating the card, you must use the card in its entirety once you have made a purchase with it. What I have experienced several times with these cards is whatever the remaining balance is on the gift card, somehow gets "suspended" by American Express. When I contacted customer service, I was told that the card has a remaining balance but is suspended. When I inquire on what basis the card is suspended, they cannot provide me with the reason. What seems to be happening is randomly, American Express suspends the balance remaining on customers' cards for no apparent reason! Fraud! Fraud! Fraud! How does the Better Business Bureau allow this? They are outright stealing money from consumers daily! I would love to start a class action suit against American Express and put an end to this scam and make them responsible to repay all the consumers they have ripped off!

I purchased a gift card to use for eBay, I got home and no money is on the card. So I called the number on the back to see what’s going on because I had just purchased and it wasn’t making sense to me why it wasn’t working. They handled the situation as if they didn’t care and I’m supposed to be ok with waiting 10 days to get my money. They weren’t helpful at all. I will never deal with American Express again.

I thought this might be a good thing to have this card as a way of saving some money. I went to the grocery store and spent a little too much. I needed some of my cash from my bank account. It wasn't available on my debit card or my so called American Express reload card. Due to an emergency at that time, I needed it. Five days to reload my card is absolutely nuts. People cannot afford to wait five days for their own money. You can be rest assured I'm done with this card! I’m not happy!

I received a gift card for my wedding for $200 and had it in my purse. When I was out one night someone stole my purse so I called the following morning to have the card cancelled. The thief had only used $60 on the card so I was told I would receive a card with the remaining balance in a few weeks. Weeks went by and I called to check on the status and I was told that I had called back two days later and said that I found my purse in my car and that I wanted the card reactivated. So they did. That means that the thief, who had my wallet with ID called back and gave them my name and address and had the card reactivated.

I received an AMEX gift card for Xmas from a good friend. I have tried using it at Amazon, Wal-Mart, newegg.com, and buy.com. Like the other people here, I quickly discovered that no one accepts it. This is a shame since the person who got it for me really does not have money to waste. I am not sure what to do. My next trick, I suppose, is to try to use it at the supermarket for food shopping. It's not exactly what I envisioned for a Christmas gift, but at least the money she spent won't go to waste. Just think about all the money AMEX rakes in as people buy these as gifts and the recipient isn't able to use them. I, for one, am not about to go back to the person who gave it to me to complain. AMEX makes out while we are stuck. Typical corporate nonsense.

I work at school and one of my 10 year old students bought me a $25 American Express Simon Gift Card for my birthday with her own money and nowhere will take it. I have registered it and it has $25 on it. I feel terrible this little girl spent her own money on me and American Express Simon Gift Card has just knowingly stole from her and as I can now read many others. This problem appears to be widespread. These companies should be ashamed! I will not tell this child her money was basically thrown out the window. It’s just a shame.

I purchased $400 (in $100 increments) gift cards for my kids a couple weeks ago. Nothing but trouble with these cards. Amazon.com does not accept them. Razor Scooters does not accept them. There are several other large companies that will not accept these gift cards and that to me just seems ridiculous. I grew up thinking AMEX was "the successful person's" credit card; hence, I thought these gift cards would be "the best" as well. How wrong I was. Buy a Visa or MasterCard gift card instead. Trust me, you won't regret that purchase like I did with my "American Express Gift Cards" that are pretty much worthless at this point since I am having to pay cash or use my own debit or credit card to make purchases for my kids and they are surrendering their "gift cards" back to me as payment. Crazy. It’s embarrassing and totally defeats the purpose.

My son bought four $50.00 AX gift cards for my grandchildren for Christmas. I paid an additional $4.64 per card to activate. The cards were bought at Wal-Mart (1st mistake). He gathered all the cards up and took them back to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart advised him, they were aware there was a problem with the cards, so they pulled them from the shelf. Wal-Mart blames American Express. American Express blames Wal-Mart. Hello! This is fraud, plain and simple.

I received a gift card for $100. I just tried to spend a partial amount from my remaining balance and the card was declined. When I went online to check the balance, it stated I made a purchase at a Smiths food store for an amount greater than what I spent by far! I want to know how I can file to get that money back that was charged that I did not spend. I have no remaining funds on the card due to the transaction charge.

If you want to make enemies, give people around you these frustrating cards. They don't work, not activated, they charge you fees left and right, and you have to spend a lot of time on the phone talking to people from India, who have no clue what they are doing, until you give up and throw the card away. Thank you American Express for this great gift!

I am having the same problems as all others on this site. I got a $100 American Express gift card for Christmas and I wanted to use it in St. Maarten only to learn it can only be used in the United States. I know all about the problem with using these gift cards in restaurants as I also had a Wells Fargo gift card and when I went to use it, it was declined because they add 20% for a gratuity even though I was paying the gratuity in cash. Now, I am learning through AAA there is an American Express global card available but can't seem to find where to purchase it. I called American Express and got the same run-a-round.

I received a $25 American Express gift card for Christmas. I activated it on their website and saw there was indeed a balance of $25. I tried to purchase an item on eBay, but it was declined because they could not verify the card holder's address. I tried a second time because I thought I had made a mistake while entering the numbers. I thoroughly checked each digit and the security PIN. The card was declined again. After much aggravation, I went back to the American Express website only to find out that $2 of the money had be debited from my gift card! I saw that it was debited as an AVS purchase. If my card was declined from making a purchase, then why is money being taken from my card at all? By the way, my Visa gift cards and MasterCard gift cards work just fine.

I received a $50.00 American Express Gift Card for Christmas. The giver paid a $4.95 fee to purchase the card. We tried to use it today towards an $89.64 meal at a Hillstone Restaurant in Coral Gables, Florida. The waiter told us he would charge us another 20% to use the card. Since we would still owe $39.64 plus the gratuity, this made no sense. We took our complaint to the association manager with no success. We called American Express Gift Cards and did not receive a satisfactory explanation as to why an American Express merchant would not accept the card. Can we ever use this?

There is no option for zero star rating. Received three Amex eGift cards. They all decline, $75, $50, and another $50. This is an American Express banking scam. They make these available on their website for quick purchase, confirm, and send but do not allow for these cards to be used online or in store. Every transaction was declined. I will do everything in my power to exploit this.

I received a $100 American Express gift card for my birthday. Although we have repeatedly verified that the balance is correct, three attempts to use the card to make a purchase have all failed. We have called "Customer Service" (in India of course) numerous times. First we were told that "their computers were down” and we should call back later. Eventually we were told that Amex would mail a new card. Now days have passed with no new card and no resolution.

Absolute worst experience ever with AmEx gift cards. Half the time, you try to use it for a purchase, it says declined, then not only do they charge $5.95 to activate the card, they take $2 a month off the balance. i feel if it's that much trouble for them to maintain your real balance on the card, then i guess they really don't want the trouble of my business. My brother buys several thousand dollars worth of gift cards each year. I will definitely tell him don't waste his money with AmEx, too much aggravation and so far on two cards, I have lost more money than was spent.

I received two American Express gift cards several years ago. Each time my husband and I tried to use them we were told the card didn't go through so we had to self pay. This went on for months and we did attempt to contact AmEx at that time. On the front of the cards it says they expired in 12/12, but on the back it says a $2 monthly service fee began after the first year. When I contacted AmEx again this year, we were told that only a $5 balance was left on both cards. I tried to use the cards again only to be refused. American Express said I had to buy something for the exact amount (you have to be kidding me) for the purchase to go through. The cashiers did not even seem to know how to do this. I wrote again to American Express only to receive no reply. I will never purchase an American Express gift card again and would advise others to follow suit. To me this is a corporate form of robbery.

My boss gave me AE gift card and it was the worst experience I've had. I tried to buy an Excel class online through a reputable source using AE gift card and it was declined. When I called AE, I was told that the transaction went through. They told me that I needed to call the vendor to verify that it didn't go through, then to call AE back so that they can put back the credit to my card. I did exactly that. But when I called back, they told me it took 8 days for the credit to appear. I told them why it took 8 days and that the sale will end. They then told me to have the vendor call them directly. All in all, they made everyone else do the work except themselves. I told them that I will let my boss know about this incident so that he will never buy gift card from AE again. I, myself, will never buy e-gift card from them.

I just recently won a contest, winning a $100 Amex Gift Card. I then went online and verified it was good. Everything's fine.

I had a $25 gift card that was purchased in April 2010, and given to me as a birthday gift. I have held on to this for an emergency. When I now try to use it, a zero balance is shown.

I had a $50 gift card purchased in December 2010 for my birthday from my daughter, a single mom with little money. I have held on to this for an emergency. When that time came this weekend, it came back as invalid.

Received an American Express $100 gift card. Used it once for $37. When tried to use it again to buy merchandise at Amazon, I was told that there was a problem because the purchase was for more than remainder on the account - about $63. Tried a couple of days later for different purchase. This time for lesser amount and was told there was now a "hold" on account because of improper funding of card at time of purchase?

I used an AMX gift card in Florida for gas. The charge was run through by AmEx twice, same day, same time. The vendor's records showed only 1 entry and billing to AmX. AmX wasted my time. They have outsource and language problems. They have no knowledge. They have arrogant supervisors. I got the total runaround. They blame it on the vendor. It's similar to others who were reporting how they were treated by AmX. The vendor refunded the money in interest of good will and said they were no longer working with AmExpress. I am closing all personal and business with AmEx as a result of their behavior.

I bought a $200 American Express gift card at Vons. When the person I gifted this to tried to use the gift card, it was unactivated. I had the receipt and all the packaging. I contacted American Express. They told me to fax all info (front and back of the card, all packaging, receipt and my information). I did what they requested. It took them 2 weeks to contact me and they said that the card activated was not the same as the card purchased. I explained that this was the card handed to me at the counter and this is the receipt I had. They told me that there was nothing more that they could do for me. I contacted Vons, who is still researching, and they informed me that a lot of cards where fraudulent during the holidays. I purchased this on Dec 19, 2010 and still have not seen a dime of the $200 and it is Feb 8, 2011. American Express refuses to help and also refuses to allow me to speak with a manager.

Do you really read these? I saw Rigo ** and am so disappointed that his 'warning' did not include the types of problems your complainants have written here. My beloved physician gave me a gift card for $50. I came here and saw the bad reviews and called to confirm its validity. I checked the amount (A-okay) and purchased something for $10. Then, I went to a gas station and my receipt there was for $7. I then went to CVS (mind you, it's pouring outside) and their self serve couldn’t process the request so I went to the register. There too it was declined. It's embarrassing to have someone tell you 'you'll have to call them'. Why? I called AMEX (big runaround) and now my complaint will be published here. But is anything being done to stop this, considering that it wasn't even acknowledged by your representative?

I had surgery in October of 2010 and I had gotten pounded back to back by infections and was depressed and weak. My mom who only has an AmEx charge card purchased products back to back trying to cheer me up. When I finally felt better, I decided to go overseas for a family event. Well, my mother decided to purchase American express gift cards for me to use on my trip and had thought that as it is considered "money" that I would be covered with about $2000 worth especially since she had a coupon to waive the fee when you buy one. Well, the coupon would not work. It was expired even though she had received it when she had purchased a $700 collar AmEx gift card for me to spend on my 1-year-old baby.

I received a gift card for Christmas and after several tries of using it during this year, I was informed that it was not valid. The card's value is $50.00. I also tried to call on this through the phone today and after 20 minutes, they tried to transfer me and I went to a site that sold **. The 800 phone number business line for gift cards also directed me to purchase **.

I purchased a $50 AmEx gift card at Walmart and soon after brought it to CVS to make a purchase. The cashier said the card was declined. She tried scanning the card and manually punching the numbers in to no avail. The cashier ended up calling the company and giving them the card number only to be told the card wasn't activated. Well, angry, I stormed back to Walmart with my gift card, receipt, and packaging. Walmart said there was nothing they could do and that I'd have to try contacting AmEx. Since some cashiers have found problems with AmEx gift cards in the past, I tried making a purchase from Walmart with it. It was also declined.

My 10 and 13 year old children received $25 American Express gift cards last Christmas as gifts. They went to use these and both cards had zero balance due to fees charged by children. I told them Amex is not trustworthy and that is why we will never do business with them. Since Amex has essentially robbed my children, they are banned from my house as is any AMEX products.

I have a complaint about their gift cards. First of all you have to pay $4 or $5 plus the gift card amount just to buy the card even though you still have to pay tax on each purchase. If you want to save the number for future reference or possible refunds after having used up all the funds, you have to register each card. Then no matter what American Express says about additional fees, there are just other fees depending on which merchant you may use. Visa gift cards are just as bad and I think they should be regulated so they cannot charge any additional fees other than the face amount of the gift cards.

I purchased a $100 gift card at my grocery store on 7/28/2010 as a birthday gift and mailed it out that day enclosed in the birthday card. As of 8/10/2010 it had not arrived at its destination. On 8/11/2010 I contacted the grocery store where I purchased the card to see if they could assist me in tracking down the card to see if it had been intercepted and spent by someone else. A grocery store clerk (Brittany) went as far as to contact the grocery store corporate office to get information to me because after calling American Express several times and speaking with a manager named Blanca, I was informed that unless I had the gift card 15 digit number they could not track down information. Blanca advised me to file a complaint. Furthermore the grocery store is only permitted to include the last four digits of a card on a receipt for security reasons.

I won an American Express prepaid gift card of $1000 but because I live in a small town, no one here accepts it. When I called customer service for a pin number so I could just withdraw the money, I was told "no, you have to use it at a merchant who accepts." I explained there aren't any. Well, I was told to use it online. Excuse me, that is not acceptable. If it is a prepaid gift card for $1000, what difference does it make whether you purchase $1000 in merchandise or just withdraw the cash and pay bills?

I put $400 on an American Express gift card for online ordering. I purchased a bunch of books from Amazon. No problem. Then, I tried to purchase some skin care from a different company. The card was declined so I tried again. And again. And again. It was declined each time. I went to check my balance and each of those tries had taken money out of my account! I called customer service in India. I was told that I would have to wait seven days for the monies to be reflected in my account. I asked to speak to the supervisor. He told me that I would have to wait eight days. I asked for the corporate office. He told me that I would have to file a complaint on their Web site. I checked the Web site and there's no place to file a complaint.

I purchased three (3) American Express Gift Cards from Office Depot. Two of the cards worked correctly, the third, valued @ $200.00 did not. I returned to Office Depot and was assisted by the manager. I was advised that once the card is purchased, if it does not function you can not obtain a refund. I was advised that American Express was a difficult vendor to deal with. I contacted the American Express gift card resolution department. Obviously the calls are outsourced to a foreign nation. I was instructed to fax a copy of the sales receipt, the front and back of the card, the front and back of the card packaging, a copy of a government issued ID, my name, address and phone # to their resolution dept. Someone would contact me in 10 business days by mail. I can tell you that trying to feed that much plastic through my fax was challenging in itself.

I use gift cards for online purchases. To this point, I had always used MasterCard or Visa gift cards, but the store I purchased them at only had American Express gift cards in stock. So I purchased a $200 Amex gift card for the first time. The cardholder agreement states that it can be used for online purchases. What it doesn't state is that, unlike Visa or MasterCard, these cards cannot be used for any sort of transaction outside Canada. I usually go through Paypal, but because they are based in the United States, Amex declines any purchase attempts even for purchases within Canada. I live in a rural area and the local merchants do not accept American Express. Since these gift cards are not returnable after purchase, it appears as though I might as well have thrown $200 + activation fees into the garbage.

My brother suddenly passed away on January 11, 2010. In his belongings was a $50 American Express Gift Card unopened. He had an unsuccessful kidney transplant surgery and has been very sick of going to dialysis three times a week. I am telling you this because he did not use the gift card for any purchases. My daughter gave it to him for Christmas 2008. We returned it to her, telling her to use it. When she went to purchase something she was informed that it was worth $8. I couldn't believe it. I am a senior citizen and did not realize that this could happen.

Purchased a gift card for my granddaughter's birthday. She never received it. I have the receipt and the package number. Also checked with merchant and compared their receipt to the one I got from the transaction. Called American Express, and they said they didn't have a record of that number. Conclusion: There are counterfeit American Express gift cards hanging on the shelves of merchants. Will never purchase another American Express Gift card again. I lost $$, American Express/Merchant made a profit.

Purchased a $25 gift card for my granddaughter's birthday on 5/19. Took her to Game Stop on 5/21 and she bought several items, the cashier opened the sealed gift card and scanned through and it came up $14.99, so I asked why he didn't use the whole amount so he tried again and said that is all that is on the card. I called your customer service department and was told that a purchase was made at a gas station in Kansas, MO .I told them I did not make that purchase and they said that if I wanted my money back I would have to go there. Well, it is about 1000 miles from Danbury, CT and the purchase was made the same day this card was purchased. I don't appreciate the fact that my granddaughter was ripped off because of an error on your part. I would never tell anyone to purchase your gift cards. Perhaps you should put a US map by your reps, who would drive 1000 miles to buy $10 worth of gas.

I purchased an American Express gift card for my grandmother for Christmas. When she went to use it three months later, they told her that it was never activated. Luckily (or so I had thought), I had also given her the receipt, so that if this ever happened we could replace it. When she called them to get this straightened out, they told her that she needed to fax a copy of the receipt with her driver's license, and the package, and the card. So at this point, I took over. My grandmother is 76, and had a stroke last year, so things aren't as easy for her, as they are for me.

During the past 6 months, I bought 11 AMEX $100.00 gift cards (ea). 10 worked fine, but when my wife opened the package and tried to use the last one, it was declined. I complained to the AMEX "Gift Card Resolution Team". They said, I needed to fax a copy of the package, a copy of the card, and a copy of the store receipt. My problem was, that I didn't have the receipts cataloged to match ea of the 11 cards.

American Express gift cards do expire. I believe this is illegal in CA. I cannot get a live person to answer my calls, I cannot send a question on the website without establishing an account. I have called the 800 number and was sent to an automatic response and then hung up. American Express sets its system up so that it is so cumbersome to resolve an issue. I believe this is the way this company does business, they expect us to give up! Thank you for your time and help!

A couple of years ago I gave my elderly parents two $25 gift cards. I found out yesterday that they had not used them yet. So I took them to the grocery store to buy them groceries to find that the cards would only come up on the register as $7.00 each. The clerk said I needed to contact American Express. So here I am. I originally paid $3.95 each for the cards plus $50.00 total. Of course I do not have the receipts because I assumed my parents used the cards by now. I do know that I purchased them at Safeway in Castro Valley California. They were still in the cardboard envelope when I went to use them at Lucky's yesterday. The date on the back of the envelope says good thru 10/10. Please contact me for the card numbers. The economic damage is $58.00, approximately.

Last month, my balance on my gift card was $30.02. I have made no charges on it and a month later it is $.02.

On 12/11/09 I purchased 8 gift cards. Four $100 and four $50 plus a $5.95 shipping charge for a total of $605.95. I have had many conversations with Amex and UPS (the carrier). To date all I have received are apologies and passing the blame. Each company says they are not responsible for my loss. According to the info I have my cards were stolen on 12/15 and used. They were stolen while in UPS custody. Please help! I am now out of $605.95 (no form of compensation in sight) and my family has yet to receive their Xmas and birthday gifts.

My brother bought my parents each $100 gift cards. When my dad tried to use it, it was declined. I checked the amount he got to use before this problem, it did not come to a $100. When I called, they gave me a list of three places it was used, and when I checked online, it said it was only used in one place. It's weird that there are two different accounts. Also when I was talking to them,the lady gave me one place as being Roger City, Miami. When iItold her it needs to be a city then a state she said the city was Roger City and the state was Miami I had to explain that there was no state called Miami. I actually had to tell her twice. This should scare all of us.

This is fraudulent in my opinion. You collected the money up front, experience no maintenance costs on the cards, and give nothing back. This purchase was all profit to you and all loss to us.

I bought a $100 dollar gift card and tried to book a hotel in Las Vegas and couldn't use it. I tried using it for an online game and it didn't work and I finally used it to pay for taxes on taxact.com and it didn't work. I called the company and they said it wouldn't work out of the country and I attempted to make a purchase outside of the U.S, I said no. They said the only solution they had was to reboot the card but I wanted my money back because after all I had been through, I knew it would never work. They said I had to wait 20 business days for a refund which equals 40 days. It is terrible.

I received a $100 American Express gift card and I'm unable to spend it anywhere. The first time I used it, it went fine. But I have tried to use it three more times and it has been declined every time. I called the gift card hotline and this is what they said to me. The first time it was declined was at Micro Center. They don't have a good excuse for this one. She just said, "AmEx didn't respond to the request fast enough so the vendor canceled the transaction.” Why didn't AmEx authorize fast enough? Who knows? It's a mystery. Will it happen again?

Used $25 gift card to make purchase at Sears. Found out card was only worth $17. I was told to complain to Westfield concierge. He, in turn referred me to American Express. Card was given to me as a gift in a Westfield folder with no caveat about service charge. You can bet my purchases or those of my colleagues at Westfield North County Fair will be few; ditto for Amex. What a ripoff!

I found out there is a charge on my American Express gift card because I had not used it for over 12 months. I understand this charge was eliminated on recent gift cards purchase due to significant customer complaints, obvious due to the dishonest nature of this product was recognized and rejected by the consumers. I was not given the same recognition from AmEx that they made a dishonest product. I don't care about the $10 but the big name institution would not own up to all its consumers. They made a bad product and retracted some terms but should own up to all its users, not just the ones who called them on it.

Right now, I am really mad! I don't have a credit card. So when I want to order something off the internet, I buy gift cards. This time I choose "the great" American Express gift card! It was a $100 card. I got $10 in gas at the pump and tried to make a $4 purchase at Wal-mart. It was declined! I checked my balance on the internet and they had taken $100 for a $10 purchase! I called their 800# and they told me that they took the $100 because they wanted to make sure that the money would be there when the $10 transaction gets there, but I will get my $90 back in 7, did you read that, 7 days. How stupid is that? Then sad, "I am so sorry for the inconvenience." Am I sorry? If I **, I believe the words would be much stronger than sorry. Now I will always use Mastercard. I have no problems with them.

My son purchased two gifts cards on December 19, 2009 as Christmas presents. One gift was in the amount of $50 and the other gift card was in the amount of $100. The gift card for $50 went through but the $100 gift card did not. I've called and faxed all the information that was required as of today, nothing is on the card, and it's been a month plus six days. I can't used the Christmas Gift plus $100 is lost. We want the money back.

I purchased two AmEx gift cards from Walgreens in Newark on December 23 and sent them to a friend in Georgia. They never arrived. I tried calling Walgreens and AmEx to see what I could do to get my money back or be issued new cards. There was nothing they could do to help me. It turns out that AmEx is saying that I should have opened the gift cards and taken the numbers off of them.

I just found a few gift cars in the bottom of a drawer at my house; one was an inactivated $100 gift card from American Express. I just tried checking to see what the balance was and was told by the customer service representative that if that type of card isn't activated within 6 months of purchase it has no value. Then she thanked me for my call and asked if there was anything else she could do for me. The other cards I found for other retailers were all still good.

I bought an American Express Gift Card. I tried to buy a Greyhound bus ticket with it; Greyhound clearly accepts AMEX cards, as indicated by the option on their online payment website. They did not accept my Amex gift card, even though Amex acknowledged that the card was correctly registered with my name and address, and had a sufficient balance. The exterior packaging acknowledges that the card is not to be used for international cruises, casinos, or ATM transactions, but a domestic bus trip from Tacoma to Anaheim hardly falls into those categories. Greyhound reports that Amex is declining the purchase, AMEX claims that everything is good on their end, "unless the merchant refuses to accept gift cards."

I am a young teacher who received $325 in American Express Gift Cards. I was given 3 cards. One $200 card, another $100 card, and a $25 card. The $25 card was the only one that worked. I was left with cards valued at $300 but had zero balance. I called American Express and they said the only way they can resolve the issue is if I have a gift receipt.

Amex gift card was received as a gift and when I attempted to use it, I was told the $50 card had a zero balance. In checking with Amex Gift Card phone number listed, I got the merchant's name and on speaking with them, I obtained the name of the person who had used the card. It was used along with another card sequentially numbered to purchase something online. Apparently, someone had used the scam of copying down the credit card number and PIN number and checking online to see when it was activated and then used them.

We were given a $100 gift card from my fiance's stepmother for Christmas. It arrived via the mail in a card. We opened the original packaging and went into town to do our last minute shopping as the $100 came at a most needed time. The store was closing in an hour and when everything was rung up, the card slid through and it was declined. After several calls to the company, the same script was read. We were hung up on and asked to bend over backwards to even get the hard earned money that was spent on the card.

I purchased a gift card that never arrived. It was sent with "signature only" for delivery. This information about the delivery was not made available at the time of purchase. My sister could not be off work to sign for this at home, so it was returned. Now, American Express tells me it has decided against my dispute, and intends to keep the $119 (including shipping fee) while keeping the gift card that I never received.

I received a gift card to the shopping mall and did not know there was an expiration on the back of the card. The value of the card was $75.00 and it is now worth $7.50. I do not think this is fair and as a longtime user of the American Express card, I am very disappointed. I would like the value to be reinstated.

I purchased five $100.00 AMEX gift cards and received activation confirmation on the receipts. Everyone who has attempted to use these have been declined and the automated system says that they were purchased incorrectly. Customer service says the same thing as a previous post. They want a copy of the gift card, receipt, driver's license, etc. Why do I and many others have to jump through hoops to use the gift cards we have paid cash for and are giving them business! They need to step up and correct these issues, not make their customers pay for using their services. I personally will spend whatever it takes to recover this - if it means a lawsuit, class action or whatever else. I will not stand for this kind of business practices.

I bought almost $5,000 worth of gift cards and the cards did not load. They are making me jump through unbelievable hoops, telling me I have to call them back over and over, promising they will be available when I call and they aren't, telling me it will take days to build a case file and activate the card because I am not the first customer in line. In other words, they have so many complaints. They have a backlog of 10 to 14 days. I bought the cards with my American Express card and they can't verify the purchase from their own company. Do not buy these cards. It is not worth the hassle!

I recently purchased a $500 gift card from American Express / Simon to do my online Christmas shopping. I was not instructed at the time of purchase that I needed to "register" or otherwise communicate with customer service prior to using the card online. I attempted to make a $128 purchase at Luggagepoint.com. The transaction was declined. I attempted to run the transaction again, which was henceforth declined. At this time, I called American Express and told that even though the transactions didn't clear because of a clerical error on AMEX's end, I would not be able to use that $256 for 7 business days. This is when the horror began.

I received an American Express gift card and did not read the print, which states that a $2.00 fee each month after 12 months. This card was for a 10-year old boy and he forgot he had it. He wanted to purchase a video game and only $12 was left from a $50 card. This is a ripoff.

I recently bought an American Express gift card worth $100.00 to give to my friend as a gift. The following day, he told me that the card was declined. So, I tried returning it to Ralph's supermarket, but they just ended up replacing it. I gave the new card to my friend, telling him that the problem should be resolved. He tried using the card online, but it was then again declined. So, I went back to the supermarket for the 3rd time to have it replaced. They replaced it for me. I tried using the card myself, and again, it was declined. I called American Express, and they can't tell me what happened. The customer service individual was outsourced from another country, and it sounded like he was reading a script while explaining to me what happened.

I received an American Express card for a gift, and when I went to use the card, it was declined. I immediately called the American Express number on the back of the card and spoke with Keith, who told me there was nothing that he could do. The dispute resolution department at American Express was closed, and I had to call back the next day. I told him I was at the merchant's place of business and needed it to be resolved immediately. It was to no avail. I called American Express the next day and spoke with Desiree of gift card resolutions who was helpful in having a new card sent to me but was very loyal and protective of the company and not the consumer. I told her there should be a better way of keeping the consumer from being embarrassed, and she said there was nothing that American Express can do to improve on this service. The good thing is the card is being replaced in a few days. I would never purchase one of these cards ever.

I bought two $200 American Express gift cards on June 25 at an Office Depot. On July 16, I opened the packets trying to use them online. One of them was declined and I called to find out that someone used it on July 8. The dispute/investigation department was closed. I called the next day, I was told that I would be reached within 3-5 business days. I got no calls and I finally called them again. They said someone used it on Orbitz.com and something like Siber Roboform (the representative had a very thick accent and I could hardly hear him spell). They said they couldn't do anything, that I had to call the merchants. After an hour of frustration on the phone, I still lost about $200. It cost me $206.95 to get the card and I am left with $6 and some cents left. American Express gift cards are definitely ripping people off!

My mother purchased a $100 American Express gift card for me for my birthday. I went to go use it and it was rejected at the cash register. I called the number on the card and customer service told me that the card wasn't funded and that I'd have to take the card back to Wal-Mart where it was purchased. Even with the receipt, Wal-Mart refused to do anything about it except supply a fax number where I'd have to send a copy of the front/back of gift card, receipt, address, driver’s license and then wait 10 business days for a letter regarding the situation. I've done that and now I just have to wait and see if I'll be screwed over like the rest of the people on this forum.

On 07/21/2009, I purchased an AmEx Gift card with a face value of $100. Later that day, I've tried to place an order with yourelectronicwarehouse.com. The transaction was denied because the shipping address didn't match the information on the card (a gift card is not nominal and nowhere on the terms and conditions does it say that a name and address can be assigned by calling Customer Service). The order was placed via Google checkout. Soon after the order was placed, I received an email from Google saying that the transaction was declined for the reason mentioned above.

"Never, never, never, never" are the words I am using to describe the American Express Gift Cards to my friends, acquaintances and anyone standing in line within the sound of my voice. Don't ever use these cards. I have been embarrassed numerous times trying to use these cards. Why do they bother to put an expiration date on the cards if they will not be adhered to? My experience has been similar to all those who have written before. The cards have been denied and even the cashier called and input the numbers and it was still denied. (This after I had just spoken with the representative who told me the amount of money I had remaining on the card and that I could use it.) As long as I have a mouth to talk, I am telling everyone to leave the American Express Gift Cards alone. They are not worth the hassle and embarrassment. Even a cashier in one of the stores said they had problems when people tried to use them. What an ugly mark on a company which has enjoyed a stellar reputation for all these years. The sight of their logo or mention of their name sends me into orbit.

On May 12, 2009, I ordered two American Express gift cards, $100.00 each, online. These were for birthday presents for my niece and nephew. These cards were never received, so on May 22, I called America Express four times, waiting on hold for up to 30 minutes each time. I was unable to speak with anyone who could replace the cards in over 2 hours of frustrating phone time.

In May of 2009, I purchased two American Express gift cards from the website. I was notified by email on May 14, 2009, that the cards had been sent to the two recipients and should be received in 7 to 10 business days. These were graduation gifts, and after more than enough time had passed for them to be received, I found that one had definitely not been received.

My husband and I were given 2 American Express gift cards as a wedding gift on June 24, 2006. In June 2009, we discovered the unused cards that had been misplaced. Upon trying to redeem them, I learned that the balance was reduced nearly 50% on the one with $100 original value and nearly 100% on the other of $50 original value. Upon contacting American Express, I was told that a fee was being deducted at a rate of $2 per month for each of them as a matter of policy while the cards are inactive. I have been trying to get my cards restored to original value. But each time I call, I am asked to call back at a later time when their new system is operational. I sense I may be the victim of a stall tactic, in addition to unfair selling practices. Your help would be appreciated.

My company regularly rewards its employees and business partners with American Express gift cards; however, we have found that the last batch we ordered had never been activated in American Express's system prior to their being shipped to us. Thus, the cards I received are worthless for what may be a few days or may be a few weeks. I attempted to use one of the cards to buy fuel on 6/26/09 and the card was not found in the merchant’s system. Luckily, I had cash to cover the purchase. I tried to check the status of each card online on the Amex website that evening and the site directed me to call the customer service team because the cards could not be verified. I called the customer service team in India to find that this was a known issue!

I've purchases AmEx Gift Cards for a long time with no problems until recently. I purchased two cards, one for myself and one for my son. Neither card works. Over two days, I called the 877 number, was put on hold for 30+ minutes, and was disconnected several times around the 30-minute mark. When I finally did get through, I was told that AmEx was having problems with its security code system and to try the card after 5 business days. We waited a week and a half and the security codes still did not work. After several hours of holds and disconnects (again), we were told the same thing and to try again in 3-5 business days. The people answering the phones are obviously not native English speakers and are quite unhelpful.

I bought a $200 gift card from American Express on their website. I never received the card. They do not answer my emails and I've spent hours on hold, without speaking to anyone at American Express. I'm out $200 plus fees and my niece never got her graduation gift from her favorite uncle.