Quick Update: Gift Card Zen Responds & What You Need to Know About Selling to Them

So, I complained to BBB and they are allowing GiftCard Zen to sit on an empty response without any ramifications for their accreditation. Speaking with the BBB Arizona lead complaint person, she suggested more complaints would need to be filed about the issue for BBB to look into it any further. While she understood the complaint, their policy is to file it away unless multiple complaints come in about the same issues.

If you have two minutes, visit the BBB Arizona website (search “GiftCard Zen”) and write a short complaint about your experience. I can only agree with Shawn’s sentiment that this doesn’t make them bad or good ONLY if they disclose their business practices very clearly. Again, in my experience, at the time they were rejecting my sell, they still were offering the same price on their website. That is BS and should be flagged as an ethically compromised business practice. You can read my complaint if you search “GiftCard Zen” on BBB.

So I’ll share my experience with GCZ.

This was my first sales experience with them. A little over a week ago I submitted a sale for 5 of the $50 TGIF cards bought off eBay. The next day, in the late afternoon, I emailed support asking what the status was for my order as I had yet to receive any update.

About 24 hours later I submitted another email seeking an update while also expressing concern with my order request as it seemed there was an issue as I had assumed I’d receive an acceptance (or denial) within 2 full business days.

Fast forward to the third day, mid afternoon, still with no update. I opted to call in to find out what was going on as I personally didn’t find it acceptable for a pending order to take 3 business days while also not receiving any email response whatsoever. A guy answered the phone and seemed friendly. I explained the situation and he calmly (as if it’s the norm) mentioned it usually takes 1-3 business days for them to respond but that occasionally when there’s high volume they may take longer and apologized. I got thy impression that this is where he was expecting the call to end. I politely (and calmly) voiced my displeasure with the the process and my lone selling experience with them. I mentioned I’m a bulk seller with three large resale sites and I’ve not experienced a sale that took this long to even be approved nor have I waited this long for an email response (to anything). I explained further that if this is the norm and what I should expect going forward then I’d unfortunately have to look elsewhere to buy and sell. When I said this he kind of changed his tune and said he’d look into it while I was on the phone.

He pulls up my order and the first thing he says is “ah, you got these from SVM right”? Kind of surprised, I clarified the order was for TGIF cards. He then said “oh yeah they’re TGIF, I was just asking if you bought these off eBay from SVM.” I laughed and said yes I did and that “the card numbers have been in no one else’s possession other than myself so you’ll have no problems reselling these to its customers.” He went ahead and approved the order. I sent them in July 3rd. Still waiting on an update and a check, but it’s too early for that.

He was friendly on the phone, but his tone suggested long waits are the norm. I do suspect that if I didn’t call in my order would’ve also been declined. Going forward I most likely will not use GCZ. This order was to test the waters (which I also mentioned to him) and the water was a bit cold. I’ve literally had a payment in my bank account from Cardpool less than 3 business days from the point of initiating a sales order. Granted they’re an hour from me, but the point is I want to liquidate these cards asap. It’s never a good idea to sit on gift cards unless you feel the reward outweighs the risk, which probably is a rare case. Although I should add giftcardwiki makes this more feasible as the data suggests trends that may indicate waiting is the best return for your money.

What a load of bs. I’ll make to avoid ever selling to Gift Card Zen.

Add me to the list of cancellation after 4 days. Not sure I’ll go the BBB route but they really need to respond within one business day if they want to stay relevant.

Depending on the facts, it’s possible this is a deceptive act and practice. Many states have similar consumer laws that turn on whether a business’ actions are either deceptive or unconscionable. In my state, violations are subject to penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. You may consider contacting your state attorney general’s office.

I received the same email that my TGIF gift card sale order was cancelled by Gift Card Zen after 4 days. I have both bought and sold gift cards with them for some time.

I like Nick’s idea to contact the BBB to launch a complaint since they are not honoring their quotes for no good reason. If they have an overstock of a specific brand of gift cards, that’s their problem that they should address upfront before making offers at a certain price.

never used Zen but I just sold 2 $150 AA electronic gift cards to Cardpool.com and it went without a hitch. Had confirmation in hours and check in about 4 days. it was the first time i ever sold cards but seems about as easy as it gets…

I just want to clarify that I submitted the sell order on Monday and it got cancelled today so it was 4 days. It felt longer though and I guess that’s still technically “almost a week”.

It may depend on the gift card offered. I offered Giftcardzen $1000 face value of Staples Gift Cards this morning. About four hours later they accepted all cards. They have had the highest price for these cards for the past week. This is my first encounter with them.

They send me the same e-mail as Shawn today. The last time I sold to them it took them over a month to pay me (and I had to remind them). But I think trying to get 5% more outweigh the hassle this time for me — all things equal it’s better to stick to people who confirm promptly and pay timely…

Gift Card Zen is awful from a buying standpoint as well.

They blocked two purchases I made due to them being paranoid about credit card fraud.

Gift Card Zen never bothered to call on the phone to verify my identity like the process I’ve had with both CardPool and Raise.com— nor would provide me with a phone number to do a verficiation process.

Gift Card Zen is a joke.

Shawn, I’ve submitted a complaint to the BBB of Arizona. They make the offer, they monitor demand, they can choose not to make an offer. To do business with them as we now have both experienced is them trying to have their cake and eat it too. If they make an offer, and I accept that offer (and the information is verified, of course), they should be bound to their offer. If they pulled the product completely, ok and immediately contacted me…I’m more open. But to continue to make the same offer ($40) through July 2nd and then lower the offer while claiming to have an “already high” stock is simply incoherent. Re-read the values page on their site, re-read “guarantee your satisfaction forever” on their contact us site. These are more than empty promises, they are like starbucks employees misspelling your name just to *uck with you. Thanks for the heads up, but I’d suggest more action to call out these types of business practices as insincere and “terrible”. I’ll let you know their response to the BBB complaint.

Yeah I totally agree with you. I sold GCs to them several times. The part I hate most is being kept waiting while they do offer quick response in customer service. Bulk seller could be a good choice. But is Giftcard Zen the one asking you to sell something like $5000/month?