Vanilla Visa Gift Card

Bought a Visa gift card for 50 dollars for my daughter. She tried to use it but the store would not accept it because it was declined.

Called Vanilla Visa and was told that the card was active and had a balance of 50 dollars.

Tried using it again but the store rejected it.

Called Vanilla Visa again and this time tried to talk to customer service. The customer service lady was rude and pretty much told us that the card was active and she could not help us.

Not sure how to resolve this.

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Ok, let's just say the Vanilla gift card prepaid is a scam to consumers, My wife and I recieved a $50 gift card for Christmas. I just tried to use it, first time, for a $19 resturant bill and would not go through. The manager checked the balance on the card, at my request, and came up with no response. He suggested to contact or logon to their web-site. I just went on-line and to my surprise found there was only a balance of $20. After further review of the card activity I found that monthly fees totalling $30 was assessed for maintenance. My thougths are, after reading all the complaints, they are robbing the common person again, not at gun point but like a thief in the night. All the hidden agendas that are not fully disclosed at time of purchase to to the purchaser or the recipient of a gift card. Let's just face it, they are no better than your street corner loan sharks. They though are protected to operate this way with all the bureaucratic backing of laws supported by our own elected officials and their special interest groups. So who and what protects us, it's like we have to be our own big brothers and big sisters and warn each other about the lame gooding-for-nothing scum bag big bad wolves out there. As long as they exist they will try to sink their teeth into us, so tell your friends and family not to buy a Vanilla Gift Card to save them the aggravation of what you, I, and others like us have gone through.

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Just so everyone knows, the Silverton Bank of Atlanta, Georgia has closed and the FDIC is managing them now.

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Guys, Its not that it doesnt work. You have to go onto vanillavisa.com and register your card. And after you buy it you have to wait 4 hours to make the transaction.

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I (and several other family members) had the exact same problem occur (just after Christmas) with this ripoff card. After calling Vanilla VISA Customer Service and FINALLY getting an actual customer service rep on the line, I was given a little more information explaining the continual card "declines" I was experiencing.

The first time my Visa gift card was declined, the company blamed it on IT technical issues they were apparently experiencing at the time. THEN I found out that if the purchaser is attempting to purchase something that costs more than the value on the card, the store clerk must calculate the cost difference in ADVANCE and collect the difference in cost from the customer BEFORE scanning the Visa gift card. If the store tries to scan the card FIRST (applying it against the total purchase price) and then collect the cost difference from the customer second, the card will be declined. Even though these merchants are supposed to have some kind of contract in place with Visa instructing them as to the exact sequence to process these transactions, the problem is that MOST store clerks are CLUELESS as to how to go through this ridiculous exercise.

Despite several tries to use my card, up to this point I have still been unsuccessful. The process should not be this difficult and the burden should NOT be placed on the customer to have to dole out instructions to store clerks in order to have this stupid card accepted for purchase.

As far as I am concerned, these VISA gift cards (and others like them) are a ripoff and a scam. If the givers of these cards really care about the recipients they are trying to gift, stay away from these cards. Better to give cash or an actual store gift card that will be applied against the purchase price in a NORMAL fashion, without having to go through this ridiculous hassle.

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CALL 1-800-277-2265. The card is actually issued by Silverton Bank of Atlanta Georgia. They pay Visa for the right to use the Visa logo. Anyway, I had the same problem that everyone else is reporting. After several calls to the 800 number on the back of the card, I was never able to speak with anyone. I confirmed a balance of $25 and reconfirmed it on the website, yet I was still unable to use the card. So I called Silverton Bank in Georgia at 1-800-277-2265 and boy did they seem surprised. I asked why my card wouldn't work and the lady seemed speechless. Then she said that they were having "system issues" and took down my card and phone number and said she would call me back. I'll keep you posted.

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Me too! Used the $50.00 card 3 times right before Thanksgiving...still had over $15.00 left on it. Went to the same store I had just used it at a week and 1/2 ago. It was declined. Tried to call the 1800 number on back- no such number. What do you do?

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Been trying to use my card for the last month, was told that I have to have the exact balance of the card (to the penny) in order to use it. When I tried the website, it won't take my card numbers off the card; when I called customer service this morning, the # is disconnected!

So I now have a gift card of $50, of which over $25 has been stolen. Who do we report these thieves to?

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Ditto! We tried to use this card multiple times, was sent a new card for a fee so we could use it after it was inactivated, still would not work. Was given a huge run-around by customer service and was finally refunded up to the original $50 amount (which was down to $30). Tried to use it again multiple times without success and called a week later only to be told we had a $30 balance again. With some arguing, we were able to get the full $50 again and were very happy to be done with that. What a headache. And the giver of the gift card will never know.

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the thing with gift cards is that they do not have to be excepted every were hint the word gift card weather it says visa or something else try to read the terms of agreement that comes with card or try to find it online before placing money on card.

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What a great scam this Vanilla Visa is...

Wait, let me start by saying something positive...my two $25 Visa Vanilla cards that I received as a gift worked twice (once each) at Chick-Fil-A. Unfortunately, that's all that I can say positive.

In life you're taught to follow the rules, but not only has Vanilla Visa come up with the perfect way to steal money (and yes, their business model amounts to stealing), but they change the rules at will...

Printed on the back of the card reads "a $1.50 service charge will be charged after the 13th month", so, after the first uses at Chick-Fil-A, I put my card aside, knowing that to get full value I would have to use it up in a year or so. When I was ready to use it again, I checked the balance and $15 of the original $50 had been consumed in fees. On their web site I read that the service charge had increased to $2.50 per month and now it's after the 7th month. When I called, I was told that they can change the rules any time they want.

I don't think of Vanilla Visa as a regular credit card; normally Visa provides the service of lending money. And yes, their rules can change and you can decide whether to continue to use the card subject to the new rules or not. With a prepaid card, the card is backed by prepaid cash and bought on the basis of the rules on the back of the card, no lending involved. As with any contract, Visa should honor their agreement printed on the card but they do not. May be a class action lawsuit here.

If a company could come up with a way for people to buy a prepaid card with real cash, and then not only drain that cash unbeknownst to the card holder (Plan A) but and at the same time limit the places the card could be used (Plan B), they would have created a wealth of free cash. By limiting the places the card can be used keeps the prepaid balance as high as possibly for as long as possible, so that company can use the prepaid funds to lend to others or to just accrue interest. Then by increasing the time that funds are not "in use" by the consumer, they can also continue to drain fees (Plan C). Vanilla Visa has created this exact business model.

Multiply my $15 by the number of cards sold by Vanilla Visa - all of those people thinking they are giving a gift of $50 are really giving considerably less.

And as a gift you're probably not as "attached" to the money as if you own bank were pulling this scam on your personal debit card, and Vanilla Visa knows this, indeeds relies on thie fact.

Last point, the rep on the phone actually said that I may be able to take the original receipt back to the store where the card was bought to see if the store will reimburse me for the lost fees. I didn't believe her for a second but I'm certain that this line (or some better variation) came directly from their training manual - they know that I probably got the card as a gift and don't have the original receipt and they know that I'm probably not going back to the person who gave the gift to ask for the receipt.

So my conclusion, if you give a Vanilla Visa, know that you're probably giving less that the face value of the card - so don't give a Vanilla Visa just write a check, and if you receive a Vanilla Visa, use it up immediately.

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i was given a vanilla gift card last

christmas by my daughter and tried to

use it at a gas station, truck stop

and several other places and was told

the card was declined i called the no.

on back of card and was told since i

did not use the card right away there

was a 2.50 month charge debited from

the card. so the card is useless

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I am now having the same problem with this worthless piece of crap gift card. I took it back to CVS and they called the Customer service number because they could not refund my money. Customer service gave me tons of stipulations, this is very frustrating and I WILL NEVER purchase one of these again. What is worse, the manager told me that they, CVS, does not even accept these types of cards!!! Go FIGURE!@!!!!! I'm so frustrated...

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I had the same experience. I purchased a $50 Vanilla Visa Gift Card from CVS pharmacy for my nephew. Shortly after he received the card, I sent to him in the mail, he called me stating that he tried to use the card but could not. I went back to CVS and explained what happened and was given a telephone number for Vanilla Visa. My nephew contacted a customer service representative who told him that there was an amount of $50 on the card. My nephew asked what he should do and received absolutely no help whatsoever. He was told that "they" couldn't do anything. I asked him (nephew) to send the card back to me and I took the card back to the place of purchase, CVS. The CVS employee told me they could not do anything, that Visa was responsible. I was irritated and asked the CVS employee to contact the Visa Company, which she did. Vanilla Visa informed the CVS employee that the amount was on the card and basically told the employee that the magnetic strip might be damaged. I will keep the useless card and send my nephew a check. Needless to say, I am very frustrated...what should have been an easy and useful gift has become an expensive inconvenience.

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I recived a 50 dollars visa gift card.

try to use it at Red Robin and it was

rejected and when i called their was 50

dollars in it. So I had to use another card. I would not give anyone a gift card

for a gift.,and I will tell all my friends

and family also.

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I've had this same experience. I received a $50 Vanilla Visa gift card as a present. I tried using it at a gas station, convenience store, and restaurant. It didn't work anywhere. I called their customer service and they said it would issue me a new one. They said it would take 7-10 business days to get it. I never received one. I called again and the same thing happened. I am very frustrated!!!