Vanilla Prepaid Cards Reviews

My daughter received a Vanilla Gift Card as a gift. We went shopping and the card was declined. I tried to check the balance but received an error code. I then called customer service and was told there was nothing they could do for us. Unless we had a receipt or knew who had purchased the card. Unfortunately we knew neither answer as this card was among many cards she has received. They stated there was nothing they could do for us. End of story. They offered nothing. I feel this was very poor customer service and will discourage others from purchasing these cards.

50$ Card does not work. Tried to set up the card online and it kept saying that it does not recognize the number. Tried to call the phone number listed on the card and it says I have to set up the account first online. IT WILL NOT LET ME SET UP THE ACCOUNT ONLINE. I played with the keys while calling and it finally transferred me, but I just stayed on hold forever. Total scam! We all need to sue.

We are trying to contact this company to inquire why they declined the card when there is a balance. There is no ring or answer for 2 days. I need to take another card off of hold due to being lost. Very frustrating that their phones are not working for customer service. Walgreens needs to be aware of the problems that are occurring. I invested a lot of money in these cards. I am going to try again tomorrow.

I swiped my card and My Vanilla seized 75.00 of my money. I then canceled the transaction. The store clerk printed a receipt showing 0.0 transaction, meaning no money exchanged. I still have to wait 4 days to get my money released back to me. I do not have 75.00 for them to play with. This is wrong and something should be done by ftc or something to correct this. They are playing games with poor people's lives. I guess the lesson is to read tos over with a lawyer to understand the complete level you're going to get jacked around. I had 130.00 balance at the time I swiped my card.

A friend got me a gift card from Vanilla gift for my baby shower. She put $30 on it. I tried to go online to Kohl's and purchase baby bottles and a bottle brush for a total of $26 and some change, it wouldn't accept my card. It kept telling me to check my credit card information and try again. I can log onto vanillavisa.com and input my card number and it shows a $30 balance, but it won't work!! I have tried to use it in a store as well, and it just says denied there. I tried calling the number on the back of the card and it tells me to wait while I get transferred to a customer service rep, then it hangs up on me every time I call.

I purchased this, called a couple months ago, and really just had it to pay for little things here and there. I reloaded the card on August 7th with $50. Everything I attempt to use the card I get declined, but when I log in I see my available balance. I attempt to reach someone by phone and every time.. the line goes dead. Someone need to respond. I swear if I am lucky enough to get my money back off this card, my Vanilla will never have to worry about me utilizing their services ever again.

I have over $900 in my account and yet your system isn't allowing me to make a purchase. You ** people need to get your ** together. My stance is you are guilty of grand theft. Make me wait (1) one more hour to retrieve my money, then see what will come back to you.

I tried to use the $25.00 gift card I received as a gift. I used it for a $5.00 purchase and when I tried to use it again I was told there was no money left on the card. DON'T BUY VANILLA VISA GIFT CARDS!!!

My family and I took a vacation to Nickelodeon Resort. Loaded plenty money on card. Made reservation. Went to swipe card on check in - didn't work. Called member services. Spoke with rep and supervisor. See money on card. Acknowledge their fault but done nothing to accommodate. Piss poor customer service. Ruined my vacation. Not to mention children. Plus was stuck in Florida with no room and money I could not access. Cutting this piece of crap up soon as I get my money off.

My friend gave me a $50 Vanilla Card and I went to use it at the Lucky Store but it did not work. I tried a couple of times but in vain. Finally I had to use my credit card and it was really embarrassing. I have used many other gift cards and this was the worst and only negative experience. I hope the company is not fooling everyone and the govt knows about this scam. My advice is never use this card and never gift it to anyone cos you will be making people mad with this card!!!

I purchased a $50 dollar Vanilla Gift Card at Walmart in Clinton, MD. I used this card one time at Giant, to purchase a light lunch and used it again at Pizza Hut. I tried to use my card again to purchase gas from within Royal Farms the next day, it said that I was declined. The whole time, I was thinking that, I should have at least 35 dollars and some change on this card. I went online to see what is the reason behind this; someone else has used my card to purchase items from Armani Exchange (NY) and Playstation store (CA).

I received a Vanilla Gift Card for Christmas for $50.00. When I wanted to use it it said: no information/try later. I have given it to my daughter to try and she was not able to use it either in the store. I would like to know if it somehow was used before it was bought.

I recently used this gift card, among other Visa gift cards received for the holidays, to purchase clothing from an online retailer. Unfortunately, I had to divide up the purchase because those retailers' systems can't handle more than one payment card at a time. That meant that I had to divvy up the cost of the items between two gift cards, leaving money on each of them. The website of the card issuer says I can look up the remainder of what's on the card via their website. I input the information twice, checked it for accuracy and yet Vanilla won't recognize the cards as theirs.

Purchased no less than 3 OV prepaid Visa cards. NOT ONE will reload! I think the company is run by some cheapskate, lazy, lowlife ** who is taking that extra dollar out of you, for a new card instead of a reload. Definitely complaining to NY AG about this company. They need to go out of business forever. Wouldn't be surprised if One Vanilla was run out of mommy & daddy's basement, LOL. The scumbag CEO needs to go back to nursery school, since he's apparently such a failure at being a responsible grownup.

I made the mistake of attempting to use my gift card at the pump to get gas. Well I was charged a $74 "authorization charge." According to their frequently asked questions that charge will be refunded as soon as the gas charge goes through. Well the pump didn't let me get gas so I had to go in to pay. So now I am waiting weeks to get back my money even though my gas was already paid for. Visa says that it is all the merchants fault which is a big fat lie. I called the merchant and they were very nice helpful and informed me that Visa gift cards does this often and blames them for it.

I received two gift cards and after a few months decided to finally use them up. So I checked the funds because I didn't remember how much were on them. I entered the card information on the Visa gift card site, and they came up as having $35 on one and $50 on the other. So I attempted to make an online purchase of $10 with the $35 card, and a couple days later was sent an email from the vendor stating there was an issue with the card and the transaction couldn't be completed.

Purchased card for my daughter and she cannot use them anywhere - Not the gas station, not the market - nothing. And you call the 800 number and guess what? You get to hear a recording. So totally worthless. I just threw a bunch of money away.

My mom went on vacation and bought me a 200$ Vanilla Gift Card to use for food and gas money. After leaving I went out to eat and gave the waitress my card. She came back and said it didn't work. My friend had to buy my dinner. I called Visa and they said that Walgreens didn't activate the card correctly. After talking to Visa again they said they're having probably with cards not activating. After reading everyone else's same issues it seems like Visa is scamming money. If these cards are having problems Walgreens and everyone else should pull all Visa Gift Cards. I'm still waiting to hear anything and boy did I stress out having no money for 2 weeks. I would never recommend buying any Visa Gift Cards. Customer service is horrible. They care about no one but themselves. They have your money and running with it. I'm calling the Better Business Bureau.... This is insane to get away with scamming people out of their money.

I purchased one of these cards yesterday and tried activating it online. I had put 90$ into the card and when I found out it didn't want to activate I was mad. I called them and was put on hold. Since I couldn't activate it online they said I had two options, 1: send them all my information so they can activate it, 2: they can activate it there but I won't be able to reload it. I was mad. I picked the second one so that my money could actually be put to use. I do not recommend these cards. Waste of time and money. It's a scam.

I've had my card for almost 2 years now never had I've had such an issue with it!! I use this card for hotels and eating out. Now I loaded $200 on my card and I reserved a room which only charged me $60 (sales tax & $50 hold). I paid $100 cash upon for my deposit and paid CASH checking out!!! Now that hold was supposed to be released on June 13 when I seen that transaction was still on my account as a hold not just one but NOW 2 transactions holding up to $120! For what I have no clue. I called the hotel to find out what's going on. They said it could take up to 5 days for hold to lift BUT THAT THEY DIDN'T REQUEST ANY OTHER HOLDS... I waited my 5 days still nothing.

Rejected at nicer restaurants. Consequence was humiliation after a nice dining experience. Repeated two more times, but did not wait until after meal... I asked first. Sears took it, but did not really need tools. Gas stations attendants just stared at and then rejected. This is a migraine on a plastic chip.

I have Power of Attorney for someone is can not handle his business affairs. This is a valid, signed and notarized document show my validity. I have sent them every piece of information they have request... one request at a time. Now after 3 months of dealing with them and saying it was being reviewed but can you send one more thing. MY Social security card, which the attorney said they should not have asked for because my social has nothing to do with trying to move the money on one card to another one I have in my possession. Today was the breaking point. Now I'm being told that I am not on the account, well I blew up. I know I'm not, but I have power of attorney. I was so angry just now, I just hung up. Where do I turn.

Terrible, terrible, terrible company! The card I purchased today had 30$ on it. Would not work for any of my online transactions! Half the reps didn't know what they were talking about! They all told me different stories! The supervisor told me I was being charged for every time my card didn't go through which was a lie! Asked to talk to that supervisor's boss. Made me wait on hold for 20 minutes before forwarding me to voicemail. Asked if I could get refunded when they told me they could but I would have to wait 3-4 weeks! Now how is that going to help me for now? Clearly why I purchased the card today because I needed it TODAY! And now they have no other ways to help! Absolutely fed up with this company! And I would never recommend ANYONE to get their prepaid cards!

Purchased card at a CVS in Cape Girardeau and my son used it to make an online purchase. Was told card was not reloadable any longer. Son threw away after purchase. Returned item bought and they put money back on this card instead of giving store credit. Been trying for 4 months to get a replacement card for my kid. These people are thieves. That's all there is to it. I jumped through all of their hoops, made numerous phone calls, and spent hours on hold like everyone else. I've come to the conclusion they are just trying to steal my child's money. I told them I am reporting them for fraud. This is a horrible company with absolutely no ethics. Do not give them your money!

I bought a visa gift card in the amount of $95. I don't have very much money and I had a daughter in need of a bus ticket from 200 miles away. I have the receipt, I have the packaging in came in, I have the card... There is some dispute between Walgreens and Visa and I am caught in the middle. Visa says it didn't activate correctly, Walgreens says it did. In the meantime, my 13-year-old spent the night in the Oakland Amtrak station. I spent my entire day yesterday and am starting again today calling Walgreens, calling Visa.

My card was stolen before I even had a chance to open it. I called this stupid pos company to cancel and try to get a replacement. They cancelled the card based on my order number and told me if I sent a bill in my name and provide the unique number they gave me, they would replace it. I did that, and got no response for weeks. Then I call again and they said I'd have to get my actual card number from Wal-Mart.com customer service where I ordered it THEN they could replace it. Well I called Wal-Mart.com and it just so conveniently happens that they have a policy that says they don't even know the actual card number and couldn't give it out. So essentially, they screwed me out of my money. I advise everyone here never to use this piece of crap company again.

I got charged more than what I had on a gift card so they put the remainder of my balance on hold. I can't get in touch with customer service to clear this up. I call the number on the card and the automated system puts me directly on hold. I waited on hold twice for over 15 minutes. I don't know what to do.

I purchased a Vanilla Visa card at a Walgreens where I live. The store did not activate the card right. I called Vanilla Visa and they said they would have to open a claim. I would have to fax all this paperwork to them and it would take 3 to 5 business days to get a new card. What good would that be to me when I needed that money that day and Walgreens would not refund my money or exchange the card? WOULD NOT THIS CARD.

After losing a very substantial amount of money cards, (I still had receipts) first call to One Vanilla Visa I was reassured there would be a quick and flawless return of my money. After sending all the receipts, I waited, waited, waited. No calls, no email, no communication (at all). I lost thousands of dollars. I finally called them back and complained. 4-6 weeks later I finally got an envelope from them. I was so happy until I saw what they had sent. 475.00 on one card and a duplicate card that I still had in the amount of 11.64 cents. When I called back they wanted to start all over with me sending in all receipts etc. I said, "No thanks, I will deal with the authorities legally in your state". If anyone can help me, please do. I have never known a visa credit card company supposedly overseen by the federal government act as tho they were selling Cheetos. Just plain awful, wicked abuse and theft!!!

I purchased 3 gift cards all stating on the receipts that they were activated yet they are being rejected everywhere. I called and was told to send a copy of receipt and picture ID which I did immediately. It's been over 3 weeks. I have heard nothing back from Visa and the cards still don't work. One of the cards I have lost the receipt to so now I'm out of $50. I want my cards to work or a full refund. I jumped through hoops to satisfy their needs, now I want them to solve this problem in a timely fashion. I wish I would have read the reviews first because I would never have purchased them if I had. Visa is a big name, I expect them to stand by their product.

I tried to use my card at Merle Norman, card declined. I called customer service, they said they re-activated it. I went to Shoppers Drug Mart they tried 5 times, each time it was declined. The store clerk called Vanilla customer service, did not get an answer, called again was hung up on. She spent about 40 minutes trying to talk and get through to them. I called when I got home, awful customer service. I have never in my life talked to anyone in customer who really was not interested. You would think it was their money we wanted. Never buy Vanilla prepaid visa again.

I have a card purchased last year. I went to check the balance and for all cards beginning with ** as mine does, the link is dead and has been for many days. For some reason, the link to cards not starting in ** works fine. Can't check balance online.

This card was purchased for my son. Unfortunately the card was lost. Customer service told me to send a bill and a copy of the receipt. I did and now it is extremely hard for them to verify my information because systems are down or they can't contact their supervisor. They keep telling me to call back later.

I received a vanilla visa gift card and can't use it because they failed to activate it and will not fix the problem. Worst customer service and unhelpful!!!

When I tried to activate the card I kept receiving an error message that said to try again later. After receiving the same error message several times I called customer service. They stated that I would have to send in electronic documents to register with them. I emailed the required documents to the email address provided and immediately received an auto-confirmation to allow 3-5 business days for them to process my request. It has been 6 days and I have called in twice just to be told both times that they cannot get ahold of anyone in the verification department so I will have to call back later. I have asked for a refund and they refuse. All they will do is turn my card into a gift card with applicable fees, and that is not acceptable.

I literally cried trying to activate this card. It has taken a month and guess what guys I still had only a gift card no mastercard. Mind you, you can't overdraft on a prepaid credit card. I wanted netflix. I had a green dot but they charge me so much money whether it's used or not but now I see you get what you pay for. So I go to the store look at every prepaid card (not in the gift card section the prepaid credit card section) and lo and behold here is a $3.95 card that has little or no monthly charges so (let me remind you that the drivers bureau only needs your pic id your ssn and your address whether it be mail even handwritten rent receipt or a lease) they take my boyfriend of thirteen year's id and ss card and rent receipt with signature.

Purchased this card to pay a bill. Found out, could not pay bill. Had to register card. Ok, I can do it. No...called company. Had to change from smart phone to computer -- that was problem. No...tried many times. So waited three days so may accept it. No...try again. No...seen many others with same problems. Ok, just won't use this company. Shame this company can do this. Walmart has a card...You pay, then use it -- no problem. This Vanilla card is a scam.

Like many people I had difficulty registering and activating my Vanilla Visa debit card. By taking it back to the store, I discovered that you have to take the front seal off of card to reveal the 16 digit number I needed to register your card online. While I could not activate the card online, I was able to activate with a busy but sweet ** customers service. I was able to use my card online OK. This card has helpful records mgt. features in lieu of a bank account. Make sure you keep card active to avoid dormancy fees.

I made a purchase for 3 Vanilla Gift Cards at a CVS in California. The receipt stated that the cards had been activated. I had purchased them as gifts and believed it would be a nice gift, thus the reason for the extra $5 activation fee, totaling $15 for me. When the cards were used they were rejected, apparently they were showing as not activated. 2 of the 3 cards were not activated. This is embarrassing, to hand off a gift, have the person go pay with the card and then have it rejected was not good for me nor my friends. Thankfully I still had the receipt because if not I would have lost any chance at getting my money back on these cards. I am currently in the process of getting this corrected, customer service said it should take 3 business days.

So I just received a scholarship for $2000 and I received it in check form. So I was excited because I had to get stuff set up for college and stuff. So I bought this card to put some money on to take care of something ($400) we tried to apply online but it kept saying "try again later". So we call the customer service line and they tell us that since I'm 18 and have no credit history I can't use MY MONEY!! We then tried to prove my address (because apparently you have to prove where you live to spend your own money) but the document I provided was not 'valid' (it was a check stub from a former job).

Over $500.00 scam from my Vanilla gift card - money down the drain. Vanilla did nothing to recover my money. They made me feel like who was the scammer. They ruled in favor of a company in China and Korea. A clear case of a scam by known big time scams on the web. So don't invest your money with this company. They scam the money away from the scammers.

I purchased a $150 vanilla Visa card that was not activated because of a "batch" of problem cards that were sent out. I was told it would take 3-5 days to investigate even when the merchant I purchased it from called to verify all the information. There is no one to help or resolve a problem when you contact the 1-800 #. Even with a receipt and a faulty card sold I could not have it replaced with a new one. I'm still waiting for resolution. A horrible experience.

I have bought quite a few of these prepaid cards as my cc won't let me purchase online on some sites. About 2 weeks ago, I bought one for 100 dollars. I went to use it online later that day... Card was declined. I call customer service and they tell me there is a hold on the card. Frustrated, I have to give them all my information and where I bought it from and they would get back to me in a few business days. A few days pass and I hear nothing. I go check the card online and they had activated it without my knowledge. Okay, fine. I let it go as a bad card.

I purchased a My Vanilla Visa card. I needed it as a registered card. The computer generated verification site could not verify me therefore I called customer service. Unfortunately I do not have a social security card at the moment (didn't need an SS card to get my passport). The company refused any other form of ID in place of my SS card. I am stuck needing my $175.00 to pay two bills and it has to be a registered card. I cannot get my money. I cannot use the card as a registered card. They have basically stolen my money unless I use it only as a onetime card and not reloadable. It says nothing on their packaging a social security card is required. A complete scam. They have no physical address. BUYER BEWARE!

I used my Vanilla card at a hotel. The hotel has since released a merchant release letter for my funds to be returned to my Vanilla card. I spoke to my Vanilla, they keep giving me the runaround and telling me to go back to the hotel blah blah. I have spoke to the hotel and even went to the hotel. Talked to manager face to face, called my Vanilla standing in the hotel and even let the representative of my Vanilla speak to the manager and still they won't add my funds back to my card. I am seriously mad. Think I'm going to hire me a lawyer, see what they say then.

I bought a My Vanilla debit card at Target with $50 on it. When we TRIED to activate it, the activation did not work. We had to call and we were angry. They said we had to send all our information and then they sent a new card. This Card we could activate. When we activated it, there was NO balance/money. We had to yell at the manager at Target. He didn't give our money back. It was a waste of our time and money. If it doesn't work, STOP SELLING IT. IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME. It's really dumb for Visa/MasterCard. 0/10 rating. 0 stars.

I bought and loaded a small amount of money on a MyVanilla Debit Card. Called the number to activate... That's what the other company's allow you to do. I was instructed to go online and of course that what I did. I had trouble activating CALLED back freaking out a little because I had to use my social and because the card was new to me... also thinking I may have lost my money. I also remember the cashier telling to hold on to my receipt, "I May need it" she says. Anyway call back instructed to try again after she ask me for the phone number on the account. So then I complete my activation and after a couple of small purchases I was nickel and dimed to death in fees. All of the complaints I read confirms my gut feelings. Now I am worried.

Just like the other 200+ reviews on here, I have been scammed out of money from the Vanilla gift card. I think this company should be shut down immediately. I received my $50 Vanilla gift card as a present from my in-laws for Christmas and when I went to use it.... you guessed it, it would not work. I did, like everyone else on here, and tried to get to the bottom of it with NO luck. My card was purchased at Walmart's and that is where I tried to use it. The Walmart staff was helpful and tried to help me as much as possible and even stated that they quit selling the Vanilla gift cards because of all the trouble they had with them. This company is ripping off millions of dollars from people. SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!!!

First night of vacation was fine - card accepted at the Yew Restaurant in Vancouver B.C. Total left on card after dinner was $95. Second night at The Keg, card was turned down. On inquiry with Visa Vanilla over the phone was told that I only had $72 left because Visa imposes a hold back fee. This would be returned to me after the Yew bill was cleared. What right does Visa have to withhold money on my card that was bought with cash and with an activation fee? Apart from the embarrassment of being turned down they now have my money, my money on hold. This is wrong and immoral. Something needs to be done to correct Visa's act of hold back.

Never buy a vanilla Visa card ever. There are tons of other cards like vanilla visa that are a million times better than vanilla visa and their Insane company policies like refunding your money a week later and only accepting a written and signed document by the company refunding your money to release your funds. They are the stupidest most worthless card company I've ever encountered. Do not buy these dumb cards from this moronic company. They charge .50 a transaction and charge you four dollars to load then make you wait a week, you get your money back. They are con artist hacks!

I purchased a vanilla visa card and put $361 on it. I activated the card. Tried to pay a bill but it kept declining the card. I called customer services, immediately she stated that I need to send in two type of documents verifying my address. I faxed the document and call back as instructed. I have talked to a totally of five people already each with different info. I was told that only the supervisor could access the documents and take the hold off. With that being understood, now they tell me you only allowed to stay on hold for a supervisor for two minutes and I was told to call back by each customer services rep each time I tried to check on the faxed document. This is nonsense.

I was given a bonus from a distributor for making qualified sales. $200 in $25 increments on Vanilla Reward Cards. After them sitting for a number of months, I checked the balance to be sure I could make my desired purchase only to find that "administrative fees" had eaten 90% of my money. From the $200, I got $20. How does a company take that amount of "administrative fees" from a sale? I'll recommend that my distributor no longer use this rip off company.

I purchased a $75 Visa Gift Card in March '15. When it failed I called the customer support # on the back of the card. After some discussion was told the card was suspended because it was thought to have been hacked. I gave them all the info (receipt, store, contact info) they asked for. They never even called me back. I called them and was given the runaround for a month and hung up on and verbally abused. I was asked for information I couldn't possibly give including the store clerk's cell #, the number associated with his store identifying it as their vendor and a journal print out from a Visa machine it turns out he didn't even own. I was asked to fax my receipt which I did. They claimed a week later not to have gotten it. They demanded another fax & ordered me to call immediately after faxing to make sure they knew it was sent.

I was given a Vanilla Gift Card as a gift for my birthday. We went to Florida and while there, went to a book store. It's a well known book store. I went to make a purchase but then found my mom had already bought the items for me so I wouldn't have to spend my money. I went back and got a refund (I had used the Vanilla Gift Card). The book store refunded the $75 on the card with no problem. Then when to use the card a week later I was told there were no funds.

Was able to activate the card and make a singular purchase of 16 dollars from the 50 dollar account. Waited a couple weeks for some shirts I wanted to go on sale and then had it come through declined. Checked online and turns out they decided to shut down my card after barely a month of use. 32 dollars gone to waste. I have little money as is. This is out and out theft. Absolutely no response from their customer service team. I am appalled at this service and will be going to great lengths to get my compensation.

I used this gift card company to supply an employee a bonus for doing a great job! To my shock my employee told me that the card was declined and not activated. After contacting the company they told me the card was under a fraud investigation with the store I bought it from. Ok things happen and my employee was understanding. So I submitted the proper paperwork that they requested and waited the appropriate time for a response from the company. No response came so I checked in with them and another customer service rep told me they needed another piece of information from me. So I sent that in. I checked in with them 2 days later when still no response from the company and another customer service rep told me they don't have any record of my documents.

Bought a Vanilla Card from Walmart, put $150.00 on it to pay an online insurance payment. Guess what? Card cannot be activated. Faxed and emailed over required documents to verify my identity. Called the company (12) times and no one could activate the card. I would strongly recommend no one purchase this card. I'm returning to Walmart and hope they will be kind enough to trade this card or refund my purchase. First review I've ever written all because of this ripoff company.

I purchased a Vanilla Visa Card in the amount of $250 at my local CVS on 4/17/15 because I was waiting for my bank debit card to arrive and find it easier to use a card for my purchases, rather than carry cash. Later that day, I attempted to use the card to purchase some groceries, but the card was declined. Let me stress that the card never left my purse and was sealed in its package until I opened it at the grocery store! I called the customer service number on the back of the card, and was the automated service said that the balance was zero! Sure that there had been a mistake.

I have been discriminated against because I would not provide my social security number because it has been compromise. I gave them my US passport card and that still was not good enough. They would not activate my card.

My boyfriend sent me $100. And he sent it on a vanilla pack! But when he went to the store and ask what cards can he purchase for "net spend," "Retro reload card?" They told him "vanilla" is one of them. I called "all" the numbers they gave me, and I'm still not able to get my $$$$$$! It's not far that they can do this!! The people even saying "vanilla" will no longer be associated with "net spend!" Now what kind of "crap!" is that? How am I suppose to get my $$$? You never know the "purpose" that someone might "really" need the $$$!! It's not right!!!!!

Due to the fact that several thieves cleverly use a method involving practically any gift card, people tend to find out "Hey, so somehow my card doesn't have any money on it, isn't actually activated..." This can be apparent if you go to the website and enter in the card information and the ever-helpful "Error" message pops up in red. I'm actually a sales clerk (Fancy way of saying cashier) for Walgreens, and believe me, money launderers, drug dealers, and thieves alike find their way into these cards. Although it's not by any means a simple task, people will pocket gift cards without paying for them (after all, who cares if you steal two unused cards, right?) Open them both up and switch out one of the cards with another, sealing them hopefully very well.

I purchased a Vanilla Visa gift card at CVS for $100.00 plus activation fee at the Pasadena, CA store on 10/18/2014 as a gift to my father-in-law. Several months later, my father-in-law tries to use the card and was declined. He called Vanilla Visa and they told him card was not activated at the cash register. He gave the card back to me sometime in March 2015. What is now upset is I went back to the store and the manager told me it happens but it is too long for them to look through the transaction.

If I can, I want to give it a negative $300.00. I went to 7-Eleven and put $300 on the card to be able to pay a bill and went to activate it and pay the bill, and it wouldn't activate even after I called and sent all my documents. Their system supposedly denied my identity and said it wouldn't accept my legal documents and said that I wasn't who I am. And the supervisor I talked to said that for some unknown reason their system wouldn't recognize me, and that they wouldn't give me the cash back that I put on the card. Isn't it theft by deception. If they take your money and say that you can trust them to give you access to the funds and when you try with no avail. After contacting them, sending legal documents of proof of identity, and everything it said, and they still won't give me my money. Who do I need to talk to, to sue them for theft by deception? Someone please help me.

I've been waiting since February 23rd for my $800 refund from Vanilla Visa. I called on April 1st & they said my initial request didn't have a signature... which wasn't true. They asked me to re-email the info & call back in an hour to make sure they received it. I did this TWICE on this day, calling back an hour later each time. They can't verify they received it. Asked me to call back the next morning, which I did... no record of me sending the information. I emailed everything again & will try to call again.

Paid for an item on ebay then the seller decided they wouldn't sell it to me. PayPal refunded my money. Now vanilla says it can take up to 30 days to see refund on my card. Every other card I have ever used it might be three days at most. I will never ever use vanilla again......

I was cleaning and found a couple Vanilla Visa cards in my drawer from Christmas 2014. When I went to check the balance, they were not registered. I called customer care, the man told me (after leaving me on hold for 3 or 4 minutes) that he could see where they were scanned, but an error at the register never activated them and they could not be activated without a receipt. I had already told him these cards were gifts from 2 years ago. I hung up and got thinking that if he could see they were scanned - then they must have received their payment. I called back and got another man who immediately said the card was never activated at the register (no putting me on hold this time) and that they had no record of these cards ever being purchased. One of them is lying and the bottom line is - my friend was charged $100 thinking he was giving me a nice gift, I got nothing and Vanilla Visa is $100 richer!

Bought Vanilla Pre-Paid Card. Went online to activate it and wanted to know ALL my information. SSN, DOB, DL# & expiration of my DL#. Wouldn't activate! I've never heard of a pre-paid card asking for this much information? I had to call to activate it. At least this way I could activate without giving so much of my information. I went directly to a store and used up what was on it. It seems really shady!!! Will never buy again.

The representative accused of me of stealing. Now I am a homeless indebted lady trying to make sense of why a complete stranger would give me a gift of its thought. Alone was caught me off guard and especially 50.00 dollars. Well I don't know this lady from the man in the moon. But it doesn't seem to be of misleading at the time.

On December 26, 2014 my husband purchased 2 VGC at Walgreens for $50 each. They were given as gifts to our sons. When our sons tried to use the cards they were declined. I called on January 11 to question why. I was told that on December 23 someone called and reported them "missing". I assured them that we had purchased them legitimately. The customer service person told me to send proof of purchase, copy of ID and pictures of the front and back of the cards. She gave me an email address to send them to. After 10 weeks and many, many calls back, there still has been no resolution. I have talked to numerous CS reps as well as supervisors. Each time I am told just a few more days. Most recently I was informed that the original CS rep gave me the wrong email address. I was given a new one.

My partner and I purchased a $200 Vanilla Mastercard as a Christmas gift for a friend and it has just now been activated after weeks of emailing/calling back and forth with customer care. Our friend could not use the card and had to return it to us to resolve the issue. On February 20th we called Vanilla Gift Card's customer care line to have the card activated. We were told to return to the merchant and obtain a record of the transaction, and then email them photos of the record and both sides of the card. We sent these photos/info on February 23rd. We received no response.

Two cards totally $1,000.00 were purchased using cash in January 2015 at a CVS store. When opened, the balance was zero on both! Money was spent on December 18, 2014 at a rite aid - ALL OF IT GONE BEFORE PURCHASED! CVS and Vanilla gave me the runaround; were incompetent, rude and shady. Not sure who is at fault but they put it all on me. Spent 5+ hours already trying to get my money and still no response from Vanilla, even to verify they received my paperwork! DO NOT PURCHASE!!

First of all they suspended my card for making an international purchase without notifying me. Customer service said they should of called and they stated it was their error. So I ask them what do I need to do because me and my 4 kids are stuck at a hotel with zero cash. I'm suppose to be leaving out of state for my new job that I now lost... So all the money I had went towards my new place in Idaho and moving expenses etc... They told me fax in picture ID. 48hrs. Max it would be reactivated. It's been almost a week. I call them every day and they can't tell me what's going on. I ask to speak to a supervisor and they tell me that they aren't available and I leave repeated messages no return call. I'm in a homeless shelter with all my belongings in a different state. Tell me what I should do because I basically lost everything but my kids. I'm not understanding what kind of business can do this. They should be shut down...

The Vanilla cards then forced to dealing with Incomm is THE WORST experience filled with more grief than a person should have to endure. They actually dictate how you're allowed to spend your $ and if they don't think it's appropriate then they just make your card Inactive (with no warning, email, phone call, nothing informing you). They do it in hopes you forfeit it by not supplying legible, past reload receipts & documentation.

I had my Vanilla Debit card swiped at a local Family Dollar and the money was never uploaded to my card. I sent several photos of the receipt and the front and back of the card, only to be told several times by various rude, incompetent customer service representatives that they could not see the photos. I know that the photos were not blurry. Finally, I was told that there was no supervisor was available to handle the photo that I sent for the fourth time and told I needed to contact them again. For nearly a month, I have been trying to get my money put on my card, to no avail.

Purchased gift card from Walgreens. Could not activate card, spoke with their customer service who said card was not properly activated at Walgreens. They want 3 days, my DL, SSC, and the receipt to review. This is a very common complaint and I feel this company is a scam! Why are these cards being sold??? File a complaint with ** to stop these crooks!

Update: I went to Walgreens and they reprinted my receipt for me. I informed them of the problem and they said that they had had issues with the vendor of the card over Christmas but didn't hear of any issues lately. I asked them if the vendor even told them that they were having technical difficulties and the manager said no. He printed out the receipt and I was able to get the teller number that was needed and the vendor did process the card a day later. I still would stay away from these cards as their electronic system obviously has problems and if you send the card, also send the receipt to help avoid issues. I ended up sending cash since the card took two weeks to get activated.

I purchase a gift card from Walgreens and the person I gave it to said it would not work because it only had .24 on it. I went Walgreens and they offered no assistance and referred me to the number on the card. I contacted "InComm, Inc." with the problem and they required me to mail documentation that I felt unnecessary to resolve the problem. Not a very good gift and the time delay mailing documentation renders it useless. I am mailing the requested documentation and requesting a full refund. We'll see if that happens...Stay away from these if you want a gift that will make someone happy. Their service simply sucks.

Purchased a Vanilla Visa Gift card, as have done in the past and for the first time am having an issue. Tried to register my card visa their website as you have to do before it can work and I keep getting an ERROR message and to try again later. Tried to log on for the past 2 days - same Error. Called them and waited over 1 hour on the phone for them to inform my husband that their SYSTEM IS DOWN! for 4 days???? So a big credit card company can't post on their website that it is down? Yet alone get it fixed in a timely manner? It's 1:30 pm on Feb 27, 2015 and it's still not working. I will NEVER buy this brand of gift card again.

I used a Vanilla Gift card that had $60 on it to hold open my Sirius XM account. I cancelled my Sirius XM account on 12/23/14. The funds went on the Vanilla Gift card instead of back to the card I used to pay my bill. Because the refund was ACCEPTED by Vanilla, Sirius could not reverse it to my other credit card. Then Vanilla finally told me, after 7 phone calls to them, waiting on hold an average of 15 minutes, 4 email documentation requests and 2 faxes that there was nothing they could do about the money!! They refused to release the hold on the gift card. I asked the rude customer service person if they were just going to keep the money and he said, "probably!". So not only am I out the original $65 gift card, but my $160 refund from Sirius! Do NOT EVER BUY A VANILLA GIFT CARD!!!

I received a Vanilla Visa Gift card as a Christmas present, 2014. I called to activate it and was told it was activated, I tried to use it at a three different stores on three different occasions, each time it was declined. Each time I called the phone number on the back and was told to do different things, such as have the merchant put it through as a credit, put a pin number in. It still did not work.

I received a "Be Healthy" reward from work and I chose a Visa gc thinking it would be more convenient. There is NO customer service to speak of and this is turning into a nightmare. My calls keep getting cancelled, it is a rapid busy signal, or if I think I'm getting through to a customer service rep, it gets disconnected. I hate this company and will tell everyone at my hospital not to choose it.

I purchased a gift card on Tuesday, February 24th from a Rite Aid in Long Beach, CA, and tried to use it via online - whatever transaction I tried to do, it was declined! So I went online, confirmed my balance - more than enough for the purchases I wanted to make. So I called their toll free phone number: 800-571-1376 - which either rang a fast busy or it picked up and then went to dead air!!!! I thought might be my phone provider - so I tried another phone - same phone issues. I would never purchase one of these cards again. I'm concerned that I will ever get my money out of this card!

I got this card to put minutes on my phone. I put $45 on it and went online to activate it. Because I got one question wrong now I can't active it. I called the card and the salesperson tell me they need thing I will not send to anyone like Id, s.s. card and stuff so now I'm out $45. That's how the card get you. I will never buy this card again.

I purchased $600 in Visa gift cards as Christmas gifts from Target (these are Visa cards which can be used anywhere not just Target). The first attempted use of one card was denied as not activated. I contacted other recipients and told them to call and ensure they were activated (information from Visa was that all was good). With the "not-activated card", it took the purchase receipt, my driver's license and Target faxing the information to Visa as well as phone calls x 4 to ensure they received the information and were indeed taking care of the problem.

I purchased a $75 Visa Vanilla card on February 8th, 2015. To use it for paying for my phone bill. I tried using it on the next day February 9th, and to my surprise the card was still not activated. I called the customer service line and was on the phone with them for over an hour, giving them all my personal details, including date of birth, and all the details of the merchant (Shoppers drug mart), as appearing on the receipt. The process was frustrating and not anywhere worthy the value of the card.

I received this as a good job well done from work. HA! I've tried at several different places to use my 25.00 gift card, each time it is denied. I try to see my balance on their website, which also doesn't work, and they want me to call their customer service number, which I imagine is a scam. Their card doesn't work. Don't spend your money buying these as gifts. The BBB should shut down vanilla visa. It is ridiculous to hold up lines at the store wondering why this stupid thing doesn't work, going to a website that also doesn't work, and only getting denied messages after swiping the card on the POS systems.

When I go in to get a card it need to say what this card will do on it. This Vanilla gift card will not let me get cash. When I tell me it a Visa debit card it mean I can get cash or go online and get thing. This card will not let you do that. This make me so damn mad now. I was not told when I get this card I could only use it online or buying thing. I can not get cash off it. When you pay for it says nothing on it till you get it.

I purchased this card 3 days ago to use while I'm out of town for work so I don't have to carry a lot of cash on me. I attempted to register the card on their website and it wouldn't let me because it wanted to use an address I haven't lived at since 2012. So I called the number on the back and and was told I needed to fax or email in a copy of my ID and proof of address. So I did, which by the way is the same thing the automated system told me as I was trying to get to an actual person. After I sent in my documents I get told I still can't do it because they require me to email in a copy of my social security card too even though both their computer and one of their employees told me I didn't need it. This card IS NOT worth the hassle that it takes to get it. They also tell you that if you just want your money back you have to pay an extra $10.00 on top of the $4.00 you spend to purchase the card.

I received a $150 card from work for doing a good job back in October 2014. I tried using the card a couple times both in a store and online with it coming back declined. I called Vanilla Visa and have been calling them since then with them doing nothing in regards to activating the card. Last I called was the other day the gentleman I spoke to asked me to fax the receipt. This is not the first time I have faxed it in. I did explain to him that the receipt is from October and it is barely legible at that time. He said if they can't read it there is nothing they can do.

I purchased a Vanilla Visa Gift Card a few days ago. The first purchase I made with the card went through successfully without any problems. The next day when I tried to make another purchase it declined the card. I tried again on another website and it also declined. After trying the card on many different websites I realized the card wouldn't process the payment on any of the websites! I looked up the reviews on this card and was disappointed! I tried contacting Visa's customer service but I waited and the phone line for around 10 minutes and gave up! This is ridiculous service! I expect more from a company like Visa. Never buy another gift card from them every again! This card is ** and I am going to have a problem with them when I finally contact customer service.

My daughter needed a debit/credit card to do some online Christmas shopping, her favorite time of year.. As soon as we purchased the card, returned home, quickly read over card activation info & immediately got a msg "an error had occurred, please try again later".. This cont'd couple of days until I phoned them & was also told by Vanilla Card Staff that we had to fax copy of my daughter's DL, SS#, & a bill w/ her name on it.. We did all this, almost Val's Day & card still not activated.. This is bull. THEY RUINED MY DAUGHTER'S CHRISTMAS, COST ME $10+ TO TRY & GET ACCESS TO HER OWN MONEY?? VANILLA CARD SUCKS!!! & I'm telling everybody!

I got the Vanilla gift card as a Christmas gift and it worked fine. I decided to get the prepaid card because I thought it would be hassle free but I was wrong. It denied direct deposits to my account in which I had to go through hoops to find my money. It also charges me .50 PER transaction made. I really wish I would have read the reviews before I got this card. I do realize people have different results but for me this card was garbage.

November 15 my daughter purchased a 400 dollar Vanilla Reload card at CVS. She works hard and doesn't have a lot of money, she was saving her Christmas bonus from work and part of her paycheck to get tires for her car. Within 37 minutes of purchasing the card, the money was stolen off of it and put on an American Express card. We have been bounced from CVS who takes NO accountability, to Vanilla Reload who have since stopped producing these cards because of the money being so easily hacked from them, and the stupid supervisor Maria tonight told me, "if your daughter had looked on the internet she would have known there were problems with these cards", REALLY? THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL SELLING THEM?

I was asked to email some information that was required of me in order to get a refund on a lost card, and I call back 2 weeks later and they say they needed some other needed information. Another two weeks go by and I get a call asking for more info.

I've had 10 of these and most of them never work online. I've registered them but you can never log in after you do because it always says the info is wrong. Customer service sucks. They must do this on purpose to steal the money that people lose with these cards.

Was given and $50 gift card from vanilla visa gift card for my birthday in November and was never activated. I talked to someone 7 times and even a manger and was never able to activate my card, even after several conversations I was told it would be activated. Sent over photos of the card my id and the gift receipt but still won't activate and was told by the manager they can't do anything about it. Worst experience ever and worst customer service and management. Will never purchase or recommend anyone purchase this product ever again. Great company!!! Haha!!! What a joke!

My husband wanted me to go and buy myself a fancy new jacket so purchased me 3 Prepaid Vanilla Visa cards from a local Shoppers Drug Mart. I received these cards at Christmas time and was super excited to use them. I went on January 2nd to make my purchase only to have the cards decline, they were never activated properly! I called the # on the back and realized they didn't give a ** and told me I will have to wait a 3-5 day period to have them manually activated. I spoke to a representative for over an hour giving her all of the details on the cards and all the information on the store receipt. I was so frustrated at this point, no one was able to say what happened and where our money was. There was no one taking responsibility, and they all made it seem like it was my problem.

My wife and I filed our taxes and decided to deposit the money onto the Vanilla card. The IRS sent the money to the account on the 28th and here it is the 31st and after being transferred from 1 person to the next multiple times, they are saying that the funds cannot be verified. They "sent an email to the appropriate department" to see if they can correct the issue. Once the IRS finds out they are messing with government issued checks, they will be dealt with appropriately.

I purchased several cards as Christmas gifts at Walgreens. So far none of cards have been accepted at area retailers. I will never purchase these cards again, and will recommend to others not to purchase them either. This is a scam. Not sure who is pocketing the money. Walgreens was unable to help, and said they were overwhelmed with people complaining about the cards as well.

My boss purchased one of these $100 cards for me last Christmas. It's been sitting in my wallet as the expiry was in 2017 and I was in no rush to use it. I've finally pulled it out of my wallet today to find that it's not working. I paid using different means and called the number on the back of the card for assistance. They told me that this card is inactive and they can't pull up any information without the original receipt of purchase. How can they possibly expect me to have a receipt that was given to me as a gift? Basically, these scumbags are going to enjoy my Christmas gift. Call it what you want, I call it theft. So to the person who gets my $100, better watch out for karma... It's real. ;) Cheers!

I bought 6 of these Vanilla Gift Cards from Walgreens for my employees and so far 2 of them don't work. When I called Vanilla Visa I got the run around and was told that my employees were not being honest about using the cards. Are they serious! Luckily I used an American Express to buy the cards and American Express said that they will take care of it. Valuable lesson learned! I will NEVER buy another one of these cards again. Vanilla Visa you can do better than this...

Ok, so I will explain what happened to me in detail. So, I saved up $150 to buy some computer upgrades. I went to Publix and bought 2 $25 cards and 1 $100 card. When I got home, I went on my computer and went to Amazon.com. I added the $100 card on Amazon as a payment option. Then, I added the 2 $25 cards as a gift balance. I bought 4 parts for my computer. 3 of them came in the mail. A couple of days later, I realized the last part hasn't come yet. So I go to Vanilla Visa payments to see if the order went through. Not only did it go through once, but it went through twice! My card was in $20 in debt! So I check Amazon to see what's up. And on the order, there says a note, "Please renew the payment option for this order!" Now, I am angry.

I received a $50 gift card from Vanilla some years ago, which is supposed to expire on 5/19. I checked the balance of the unused card online and found that it is $16.35, even though the card has not been used. I just found this card in an old purse. There have been no transactions for this card, yet the balance is $16.35. Apparently, this company does not use computers or calculators. Am I wrong or does 50-0=50? It seems that there should be a class action suit against this company. If there had been transactions or fees, they should show up in the account details.

I have read lots of reviews on how others had an issue using the cards after purchase... I have been buying the cards for personal use for over a year. I found that at times to get the card to activate at the retail store, you must, I say must, create a 4-digit pin (anything you desire) at first use! Then the transaction will go through. Be sure that the amount owed does not exceed the amount the card has on it as it will be declined! As the clerks do not seem to understand to split the transaction amount... to me it shouldn't be hard for clerk but you know most clerks no longer even know how to count back your change.. duuuhh.

My aunt bought me a 50 dollar gift card for Christmas and it doesn't work. She purchased it on a military base in Europe as she would not be home for the holidays. Unfortunately, despite having been supposedly activated at the register, the Vanilla Visa scammers say it is not activated. Their website is useless and when I called I got the run around for 10 minutes before even speaking to a person. The customer service staff is rude and uncaring, they have NO solutions to any problems, and they can't actually activate them for you. What a scam! Do not buy these and if you receive it make sure the person gives you their receipt (and first born) for when you have problems using it.

Before saying anything, I will say that once you do ANYTHING online, you should automatically expect something to go wrong. With that being said, read every small detail to ensure you know what you are doing. Because I could have been one of those people who got gypped too. But all I see is negative reviews on here. So I want to be an ounce of positivity today if nothing more. When I got my $100 card, I first checked the reviews. By seeing them, I grew quite skeptical, so I began looking for ANY possible card defects or anything. "How to spot a fake credit card" on wiki is a good source. I found one odd thing - the security code wasn't a match with any of the front numbers. But then I was told that isn't really a problem and that it'll work out.

My son received two Vanilla Visa Gift Cards for Christmas and he is unable to use them. I attempted to go on the website to register both cards and receive a message stating can't validate card. I entered the card number multiple times. He was trying to purchase online from Amazon and the card continued to be declined.

I bought this card on the 10th of this month, I tried to use it online and it was DECLINED due to address/billing issues. I talked to customer service and they said it takes 7 to 8 business days to get my money back. It seems I can't use this card anywhere. I will never ever buy another card again.

Someone use my card in a different state and is been a hell of a deal and no one can give reason how they got my info and I want to go to obstacles just to find out or give my money back and why do I have to do a dispute. What work do you guys do bedsides screw people over.

It is now over three weeks since I bought two Vanilla Visa cards for two people. They have not been activated, and numerous phone calls and emails have yielded no satisfaction. The people on the phone claim they can't do anything but send email to the proper department. I never hear back from that elusive department. I think I figured out the business model. They hold onto people's money and hope we give up. I'm sure some do. This probably accounts for most of the company's profits.

I received a $100 Vanilla Visa gift card from my aunt for Christmas. I online shop quite often from different websites. I was able to order something from one website without a problem. But when I tried ordering something from a different website it declined the card. I don't believe the problems were from activation the card, worked fine for one website but I don't understand why it is not working for the others. I wouldn't recommend getting this card for someone if it causes problems like this.

Never use Vanilla debit. Spent 7 hours on the phone with them giving me a run around between supervisors. I bought the card so I could use it to withdraw money, etc. I had bills due this morning and I'm unable to pay them. They said 3 different addresses I gave them couldn't be verified so I'm stuck with a $300.00 gift card. I asked for a refund and they say I have to wait 4 weeks... So there is no way to withdraw my money off the card, which you're supposed to be able to do. This is **. I am furious! I wish someone would go after this company as a scam. It's not what it claims to be. Any questions please feel free to ask me... They really robbed me as far as I'm concerned. Why would I buy a gift card? I need cash today and have no way to get it. They're scam artists 100 percent. Do not use... Use Greendot or something. Vanilla is a joke.

Cannot activate or use this card. Receive card from employer as a gift so I and my employer was rob. This is really bad and how is this company doing this in the USA?

I received a Vanilla Visa Gift Card for Christmas from some very good friends. Upon trying to use the card, I was always met with a "non-valid" or "not working" response. I tried to call the company several times and received no answer or a automatic response and no real help. I also email their company and received no response. I feel ashamed that a company can still sell products when so many people have been ripped off. Thanks to the internet, I found I was not alone in this frustrating matter. We have all been victims of Visa negligence. Action will proceed and funds should be returned with interest to each and every one of us. Vanilla Visa Gift Card has embarrassed my long-time friends, myself, my intentions, and attempted a character assassination on my dear friends by questioning their credibility. I feel abused, helpless, and used by Visa.

I bought two cards. One for $75.00 and one for $250.00. My reason for buying them was because I was traveling back to Malaysia and needed to register for college online using the Vanilla Visa. When I tried to use them they didn't work. I can't get the website to work so that I can find out my balance or what is wrong. I live in Malaysia so not easy to phone to get the run around. I was shocked because I didn't think this could happen in Canada.

I purchased a $100 gift card from Walgreen in Arlington Heights, IL. The activation fee was also charged. When the card tried to be used (this was a Christmas Present) December 2014 it was declined. I have been on the phone with Vanilla Visa, get the runaround rude customer service, rude supervisors. They demanded my drivers license and all my information, yet they can't even tell me if they received all the information via fax that they gave me. I have never felt so violated. No support from Visa Vanilla, no support from Walgreens and no gift card because it doesn't work. I have spent countless hours and days on this to no resolution. No wonder they are not listed on the BBB. They are scam artists and took my $100.

I purchased 2 Vanilla Visa gift cards with my Am Ex for my son and daughter and both are getting declined. We have called and set zip verification but the Vanilla Visas keep getting declined. I've given many of these cards to many people this year for Christmas and I am very concerned. I am calling my American Express and having them flag VANILLA VISA as FRAUDULENT MERCHANT and I am withholding payment to Walgreens which is where these were purchased. If anyone used a credit card to purchase these fraudulent cards please complain and try withholding payment.

Received a Vanilla Visa gift card for Christmas and have attempted to use it twice... both times came back declines. I can't find a way to contact this company to even figure out the issue I need to correct. I've tried the supposed website only to receive the "This page cannot be displayed" message. Hate to have to go back to my aunt to ask her for more information, but looks like that is what I may have to do. If you are looking to buy a prepaid Visa/MC/AmEx gift card for someone, STAY AWAY from the Vanilla Visa. I have purchased and received numerous AmEx gift cards and have never had an issue.

Purchased 2 $25 gift cards in July. Called in (which took over 30 min to get a rep on the line), was told the 2 cards were not activated. Told by rep I had to go back to original store to get electronic receipts, then call back. They would then research, which takes at least 3 days (meaning it could take longer) to get back to me about what they find out. I had this happen previously with the same results. Fortunately I had the receipts, however, it took over 8 months to get activated. I figured it was just a one-time occurrence and gave them another chance. I went to a different store. My bad. This happening once is understandable, however, this same situation happening twice is not a one-time occurrence. Now it will take me months to get my money back. I do not recommend using Vanilla Visa. BUYER BEWARE!

I received a Vanilla Visa gift card as a gift from one of my student's this year. For some reason the card upon purchase was not properly activated. I called Visa to tell them that the card was not working. They told me I needed the receipt. I do not have the receipt as it was given as a gift. They refuse to activate the card because of this; therefore they have taken fifty dollars from one of my parents and then will not redeem the card. I say they have stolen money from people. The corporate greed is saddening.

NEVER BUY - SCAM. Received this card as an incentive at work - the card was not active. When I called customer service they told me to send in the receipt and my dr's license which I did. When I followed up 3 days later I was told that I would need to provide the last 4 numbers of the 20 other gift cards purchased. I explained this is not possible as the cards were given out at my work place and I have no idea who has them, in addition the cards are in the hands of employees all over the country. This is a bullshit/impossible request. So in the end I do not receive my $100 incentive I earned via my company and vanilla gift card adds $100 to their bottom line. Never buy these cards, they are a scam.

They want copies of my grandmother's ID card and social just to activate it? Hell no. And for us to build a case? They are thieves.

This was my first experience with a gift card & the first time I felt it was important to let others know. A week ago, I was sending $150 each to my 3 nephews. On the way to the post office, I decided to purchase 3 gift cards in case something happened. It would give me more recourse. At the post office, I was told they don't insure gift cards. And as I feared the cards did not arrive. The post office shows they were delivered yet are investigating. So, I call Vanilla gift cards to find out if the cards were used & to report.

Bought this piece of junk on Dec 19th for my daughter for Christmas. What an embarrassment it caused both of us, made me feel very bad for her. Bought it at a 7-11, got and kept the activation receipt. $150 Vanilla Visa. On boxing day, she goes to a Boxing Day sale where she wanted to buy something for herself. Phones me and says the clerk declined it. I go and pick up the card and grab the activation receipt. I phone the number, just a big run around loop, "Enter card number, sorry card not valid" and no number to call to talk to a real person. I take receipt back to 7-11, clerk decided to replace card altogether. Grabbed ANOTHER $150 card, she activates it and says you are good to go. I almost walk out and then thought, no, I will try the new card right here, and bought a lottery ticket. She tried it... "DECLINED". She is confused since she herself just activated it right there and then... Then takes both cards and says her manager needs to look at this.

This company is a rip off. Got a gift card for Christmas and can't even use it because you have to call in with the receipt to activate it. I advise everyone to just use GreenDot because you can use the funds on their cards with no problems. I see a lawsuit in Vanilla's future.

I gave it as Christmas gift. The card was declined from several vendors. Do not buy those unless you want to throw your money away.

Vanilla One is a complete RIP OFF and a HUSTLE!! it's definitely not a good company to do business with. I went to use it for the first time last week, the card was declined. When it did work it said I had less than what I actually had. These gift cards are not worth it for the frustration of the spender. Now this week I lost my card. I had the card package and receipt of purchase, so I called the company and they couldn't help me at all (I needed all 16 numbers of the card). Hello! I lost the card! They could not track any information from the card package. They said I should have written the numbers down. Hello! Who does that? This company is completely incompetent and useless. I will never purchase this card again. I advise anyone else not to go through them either.

I purchased 2 $500.00 cards at CVS and received a receipt that said Activated. When we tried to use them they were declined. When we went online to see the balance, it stated error. When we called over and over and over we were told there was an error and to email them the original receipt, driver's license, front and back of the cards. It would take 3-5 business days to investigate. This is a total scam. There are hundreds of complaints about Vanilla Visa and all have the same issues. DO not buy these cards. Problem still not resolved - I call everyday and email and Fax the paperwork to them.

My Grandma bought a Vanilla Debit card, this came with the receipt & completely seal in original package. Like others I went to register online, this did not work so I called & guess what?! The lady told me that she needed a copy of my driver’s license & social security. NO WAY am I sending this to anyone for prepaid. Where does the $2.95 activation fee go? When it was even Activated! SCAM!!!

I purchased a Vanilla M/C at Walmart for $460 and I found out that it wasn't activated correctly at Walmart in Corona, CA. I went to Walmart for help but the customer service lady wasn't in good mood but anyway I received the information that I needed but it was partial correct when I contacted the customer service at Vanilla. In contrast, the lady at the other side of phone at Vanilla was pleasant and she was helpful. Now my card is under a review at Vanilla and it takes 3 business days to review and I am going to find out next week if I have permission to use this card. Be advised - do not destroy your receipt when you purchase prepaid card. I wasn't sure what to do if I didn't have a receipt when I was communicating with Vanilla.

My husband gave me a $50 Vanilla Visa card this past Mother's Day. When I went to use it for the first time this week, the card was declined. My husband and I attempted to verify the card's balance at Vanillavisa.com and repeatedly received a "system error" message. Went to the Facebook page, saw similar complaints. Also tried checking the card's balance -- which *should* have been $50 at ** , only to receive the message "details could not be found using the card entered. Please try again." Following these attempts, called 1-800-571-1376. Entered card number to check balance and was endlessly looped back to "enter card number" prompt. I would like to know where the point of failure is occurring. At the place of purchase? Or with Vanilla Visa Gift Card? I would also like to be able to use the gift my husband rightfully purchased.

I never write reviews but after reading some of the reviews here, I feel it only fair to post my positive experience. With my cards I admit that I had trouble with my first card. But CRS was patient and helpful. They stayed online with me until I resolved my issue, which was my fault for not clearly following the instructions. I have since bought several cards that I use for online purchases and buying gas with no problems. If you're having issues with a CRS, ask for another to help you.

I frequently purchase prepaid cards to use for online purchases. My prepaid card of choice is Vanilla Mastercard and I have never had a problem with Mastercard. Ever. And I've been using them for years; several cards a year. The two times I purchased Vanilla Visa (because they were out of Mastercard), both times I was unable to register (activate) the card online which means customer service has to activate it but can they do it same day? Nooooo! That seems to be too difficult a task for them. They say it takes 3-5 days but both times it's taken longer and I've had to keep calling them even though I was told a customer service rep would call me to let me know when the card was activated.

I was asked to buy a One Vanilla VISA card to make an anonymous payment. After reading all the reviews here, I was scared to death that I'll lose my money! Bought the card for $4.95 at CVS and put $300 cash on it. It was activated by the cashier and showed that on the receipt. I told the cashier I was nervous after reading these reviews, and still being at the store I opened the envelope and logged onto the One Vanilla website to verify the funds. They were there! I registered a ZIP code and today paid the vendor with no hassle. This is my 100% honest review about this card - your mileage might vary.

Today is Dec. 2nd, 2014. The time is 5:48 p.m. EST. I purchased a 35-dollar Vanilla Visa gift card at our local 7-11 store at around 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. At that time it was paid for and activated by the cashier at 7-11. I have bought this cards on a number of occasions. I prefer to use a prepaid card when I am doing any type of transaction online whether it be to make a purchase or to play at a casino. I use the Vanilla Visa because I feel that it is a safer way to use a credit card online because I do not have to use any of my own personal information to do so. On this day since the time I purchased and activated my Vanilla visa, the card has been declined online.

I received a Vanilla Visa Gift card for $150 for my wedding. Any prepaid credit card gift card is very difficult to use (very few retailers accept them - we struggled with MasterCard gift cards too). After getting rejected at a frustrating amount of retailers (the retailer can never give you an accurate reason as to why they are declined; because they don't know how to work the cards to begin with). I called Vanilla visa and they are saying that the card was not properly activated. The only way they can recover the $150 that was spent by the person who gave it to me would be for me to send them a copy of the receipt; which I'm sure is long gone. These gift cards are not worth it for the frustration of the spender. If you don't want to give a specific gift card; why not give Cash. A better deal for everyone.

People usually don't write reviews unless they had a problem with the product. If it works fine most people won't even bother. I bought a $250 Vanilla Visa cause I don’t trust using my real credit card online. Went to Visaprepaidcanada.com 20 mins after buying it and registered it under my address. Went to Newegg.ca and bought a 500GB SSD for $230 (Black Friday FTW) and it went through flawlessly. If you're going to use it to order something online remember to register it online with your address, and use the exact address under the card when buying something and it will work fine.

I'm so upset. I purchased a Vanilla Card today and can't activate it. All I get is an error message. I can't afford to lose the money I put into the card. What is going on?

I purchased a vanilla visa gift card for $100 and gave it as a gift. When the recipient tried to use it, it was not activated. I called the company and they couldn't help me at all - they couldn't tell me where I purchased the card (it was a couple months ago) or track any information from the card number. This company is completely incompetent and useless. I will never purchase this card again.

I'm so angry. I purchased to this so called pre-paid Visa Debit card as it says on the packaging as well as the card itself. However this is just a gift card. I tried to pay my car payment only for it to decline. I then started to get Gas from BJ's Wholesale and of course I couldn't because I'm not a member. BJ's now have a $75 hold on the funds for gas that don't exist. Then when speaking with CSR about the hold, he told me that if I had actually got gas it would have release in 24 hrs or less. But because I didn't get gas they will hold the funds for 4-5 days to give the merchant a chance to collect their funds. UMMM!!!!! WHAT FUNDS??? THERE WAS NO PURCHASE MADE!!!!!!!!! DUHHH!!!! UGH!!!

I used my Vanilla gift card to make a purchase; however, I tried to return the item because I found something else, scanned my card then it came up "customer contact bank". I called customer service and they were very rude to me and hung up on me. They do not care about customers. Do not buy this card!

Got over 20 visa and master cards in total in the past few years and in total at least 10 of them they have taken money because of issues I have had with simple typing errors or their mistakes in their computers and withheld my money and never given it back. In the past 3 years over 550$, today another 50 dollars simply because they put the wrong name on the card somehow but all the other information is mine. They won't give me the money I have on my card that was a gift. The supervisors and workers there are all ignorant rude morons who act as if you are trying to rob a bank when all you want to do is use the money that was given to you as a gift.

I purchased a gift card and because of a computer error on their part, it was not activated and declined several times. When calling them they were not helpful and they make ME pay for their screw up. Wasting my time. Do not EVER buy Vanilla Visa.

I received a Vanilla Visa card as payment for a survey I participated in for a water purification company. It took forever to receive the card but when I finally did, I didn't have any problems authorizing it or using it. In fact, when I requested a credit from another company, the credit appeared on the card. Dunno why so many peeps are having negative issues with the card, but for once I can post a positive rating for a company.

I am working with a debt consolidation agency to repair my credit. I thought that getting a prepaid Vanilla card was a good, responsible thing to do. Was I wrong!!! Twice now, I have been declined when there is PLENTY of money on the card and when I call to get more information, I am told that it's the merchants fault. Vanilla has nothing to do with it. I hardly think that all these merchants have a vendetta against me all in the same week. I am draining my card and transferring it to one that I trust.

They have the most incompetent, lack of customer service employees in the WRONG line of work. These people prob need any job & can't find job anywhere else so they end up here. And MyVanilla corp doesn't care what they hire, so they stuck with dumb people. "Britney" is rude rep & boss "John" is supervisor.

I received a $50 gift card as a gift and I purchased something from Walgreen then I changed my mind and I returned it. There is no money on my card. Walgreen can't find the transaction. It is like a refund never happen on my card but I return the item. And my card is empty. Thank you Vanilla gift card for being such a scam!!!!!! I'll call them tomorrow to see what they can do, but base on other reviews I don't expect great customer service.

I wish I'd read the reviews first. I had all the same problems. Unable to register online, problems with address. When I called CS there was nothing they could do but activate it as an unregistered/throwaway card and I can't help but feel as if there is some sort of scam here as they asked me to mail-in copies of drivers lic, ss card, passport and a copy of my most recent paid real estate tax bill!?! I will be reporting this organization to the attorney general's office in my state. I will NEVER do business with MYVanilla again and neither should anyone else.

I purchased a Vanilla reload card from Walgreens and loaded money onto the card. I was told at purchase to be careful when you scratch off the pin code because sometimes the pin number comes off and you cannot see all the numbers. Well not only can you not see some of the numbers, there were NONE on the card at all! I immediately got the manager of the store and he called Vanilla. They told us we needed to copy the front and back of the card along with the receipt and email it to them. We did this before I left the store. Then we were told that it would take "4 hours" to get a new pin number. I called Vanilla that afternoon and and was asked for a reference number. I wasn't given a reference number! I explained this to the person on the phone then requested to speak with a supervisor.

I bought a vanilla prepaid visa at a shopper's drug mart, and as I was trying to make a payment using the card, it says the card is unauthorized. I called the 1800 number at the back of the card and the customer service agent they will do an investigation and that the activation process will take 3-5 business days. Like really, why would I wait that long while in fact I bought it to make a bill payment right away.