"Cardpool used to be one of my first choices for gift cards but after enduring endless headaches with their "order verification" department, I think I am done with them.

We've placed at least a half dozen earlier orders with them with good service and no complaints. But starting in November, 2014 they seem to have gotten paranoid about customers ripping them off because we're suddenly enduring multiple intrusive order verification calls. If you answer when they call, at least you will get your cards. If they leave a message, you are not going to get your order. Their callback number is literally never answered. We've tried almost a dozen times in the last week and the only thing that answers is a phonied up voicemail box complete with "call is being transferred" and hold music. But the message and the music is pre-recorded and always identical, so once you hear it, you are going to voicemail. Nobody ever answers.

They don't return those calls either, leaving your order(s) in limbo.

It has become too much of a hassle dealing with them when they have so many competitors that deliver a better customer service experience. "

"I sold a gift card to Cardpool. I mailed them a $600 gift card and 2 days later they contacted me and confirmed my address and asked how I got the card. 3 days later I received a check in the mail. Very fast and very happy with their service. I did read the reviews, but took the chance and will use them again."

"I successfully sold two high value Apple cards to Cardpool without any problems. I was skeptical because of the negative reviews but proceeded cautiously. I elected to use my own shipping with tracking, so this cost me an extra two dollars over their free shipping but this afforded me proof of delivery.

I was contacted by email the day after delivery that my cards were received and approved. I received a paper check for the proceeds as promised exactly one week later. I would use Cardpool again. They lived up to their promises and paid the highest for the cards in the market at the time I sold the cards."

"I have done business with Carpool before and had no problem. I think they either get it right or very wrong. I ordered a $50 AMC gift card. I received an invoice for my $50 card with a $35.46 Walmart card. I immediately contacted customer service. They hide behind an e-mail portal. Since the beginning of the issue they have treated me like the problem is mine. Before they would do anything they wanted me to return the card at my expense. After arguing about that they agreed to issue some coupons for credit on future purchases. I have been back and forth with them for about a month. They kept saying they could not do anything until they received the physical gift card despite my pointing out there were many electronic solutions to the problem. I returned the card certified mail and they say it hasn't arrived. My Post Office contacted their Post Office to find that their PO Box gets a huge volume of mail and is frequently over full. In the end I disputed the charge with my credit card company. I just received an e-mail saying they would have refunded my money but can't now because the issue is in dispute. They ALWAYS have a reason why they will not fix the problem. If you wind up with an order problem you are doomed. There are other providers or resale gift cards. Use them."

"Run Forest Run
Stay away - Scam
They charged my account and no verification email or phone call occurred. They did not answer my phone call. Still no E-Gift card from Pottery Barn. You messed with the wrong person. Am disputing the charge

11/13/2014 Thursday
Ordered discounted Pottery Barn E-Gift card at 6:39 Pacific Time. Was promised that the E-Gift card would arrive within 24 hours.
www.cardpool.com

11/13/2014 charge was assessed 669.79
11/16/2014 CARDPOOL INC ***-***-**** CA $669.79
11/13/2014

AS of 11/17/2016 - Noone has called to "verify" information and still no E-Gift card

11/14/29014
6:00am
I emailed the company (there is no phone number) wondering when the E-Gift email for Pottery Barn would arrive.

11:47am
I emailed the company again stating that I had not heard back and that my expectation is I would have received it by now. I also stated that I wanted to put in an order at Pottery Barn and did not want to miss the sale. And that I was not feeling warm and fuzzy about the transaction

12:03pm
I emailed the Parent company Blackhawk Network who owns cardpool after I had done some research. I also cc'd support@cardpool again.
12:12pm
Blackhawk returned the email stating that cardpool had 24 hours to email the E-Gift card from Pottery Barn. (Alexandria Rogers CR Blackhawk)
3:16pm
Received email from ****@**** (Theana) that apologized for the delay in responding to the email. Through research on the Internet, this is a common ploy they used. They also stated the following:
"
We apologize for the delay in responding to your email as our support center has been handling a much higher volume of requests than normal. Our records show you should have received an e-mail shortly after placing your order with the subject "Verification Required For Your Cardpool Order."
In order to prevent identity and credit card theft, we sometimes require a one-time verification process for accounts. In that e-mail, there are instructions on how to verify the order.
If you do not believe you received the verification e-mail, please let us know and we can opt to have one of our verification specialists call to verify your order. "

T - I had not received any email from them asking for verification and I was receiving their canned response emails just fine.

3:51pm
I sent ****@**** an email stating that I had not received no verification. I also gave my phone number to call and they did not.

3:56
Through research in viewing customers complaints on this company, I found a phone number ***-***-**** and left a voice mail. Noone called me back.


4:00pm
I sent another email giving another phone number for them to call me. They did not

4:08
I sent another email to BH Customer Service ****@**** and cc'd ****@**** and stated that they might want to check their system on why it is not sending out emails. I also stated that my expectation is I receive this by 6:40pm on Friday 11/14/2014, that would have been 24 hours and noone called.

11/17/2014 8:33am
As of today, noone has called to "verify me" nor have I received the E-Gift card from Pottery Barn.
11/16/2014 CARDPOOL INC ***-***-**** CA $669.79
11/13/2014

I am disputing this charge and want it removed. Did not receive
Do not want to hear any excuses from cardpool.com, everyone has already heard them already.

If I could give a negative review I would"

"Purchased two more gift cards on 10/29/14. This was third time I used Cardpool.com Rec'd a 14% off Outback and a 20% off AMC discount from face value. The cards arrived fast and when balances were checked - all was as stated. I love this sight so far and haven't had any problems. What's not to like, saving money at my favorite stores. I am going to purchase lot's of Home depot soon so I can purchase my washer/dryer there soon at a big additional discount."

"STAY AWAY!!!! I placed an order from this scam outfit on 10/25. On 10/26, was told that I was not authenticated and they did not charge my card. On 10/28 I saw not one, but 2 charges on my card from CardPool. They are now not responding via email, there is no way to get a hold of them via phone. I did get a phone number of ***-***-**** from my credit card company and I was told by the guy there that it can take a few months to get my money back. I think they are strapped for cash and floating on rejected orders money to keep the lights on. Thankfully, my credit card company is handling this for me. I hope they go out of business soon!"

"I traded in a Pottery Barn $100 gift card for $85 in Amazon credit via Cardpool. I was a bit fearful after reading the reviews, but I had no issues whatsoever. They emailed me a valid Amazon gift code within a week of shipping them my gift card. I can't comment on buying gift cards from them, but the gift card swap/sale went very smooth. A+"

"I have ordered egift cards for a couple of years with Cardpool and never had a problem. Just recently one HD gift card had a balance much lower than what I purchased. I don't like not being able to call Cardpool but did use their email system. I was responded to within 2 days and promised a credit. The credit was processed as they said and all was good. I will give them 4 stars since I couldn't call and one card was incorrect but they did honor and fix that problem."

"Where do I begin....
First of all, I ordered a gift card and I received a confirmation email stating my electronic gift cards will be emailed in 1 business day. Well 1 business day passed and no card. I received a call 2 days after my order was placed and I missed the call because I do go to work during normal business hours. I try calling back, and the office was closed. They have really bad hours, I believe 10-5. I never received the emailed card nor another follow up call however my credit card was charged the same day I did the order. I finally found time during their business hours to call and they said they didn't email me the card because they need to verify my identity even though my credit card was charged. Don't you verify identity before you charge a credit card??? The person on the phone was rude, wouldn't pass me to a manager because she said they are only open for another 2 minutes. So I told her that means you are still open. She refused to connect me to a manager and well supposedly i will get a call back from a manager in 24 hours and receive my card in 24 hours as well. Overall horrible experience. I placed my order on 10/18 and still don't have my e-card. STAY AWAY!! Order your gift cards on raise.com. I have never had issues with them. "

"STAY AWAY!! SCAM!! STAY AWAY!!
i can't even begin to express my level of anger and frustration with this company. I sent in 3 Shell Gas Cards (2 x $100, 1 x $25). I received an email stating that they "could not verify the amount on my cards and therefore were sending them back to me". I received the cards back.. LESS THE $25.00 CARD !!!!!!!!!!!

Furthermore, all you have to do is go onto the website on the back of the gas card www.rpggiftcards.com/checkbalance .. and any idiot can see the current balance on the cards. I just did it for both of the cards returned to me and low and behold, both $100.00 cards show a balance of $100.00.

Cardpool is a complete scam.. take your business elsewhere.


It's not about the money... it's the principle."

"After seeing ALL the negative reviews on the net about this site, I was very concerned about my unresearched purchase of two gift cards. I took the first timer's "identity verification" online Q&A session and thought I would get my cards the next business day. However, the following business day, I get a call from someone saying that I need to verify my identity again, and that my cards would not be delivered until the next business day. I was VERY irritated as the item I wanted to buy on the retailer's website went off sale that evening, causing me to miss the sale. Okay okay, shame on me for waiting until the last minute, but I didn't think it would be a big deal. I asked the representative why my Q&A session wasn't approved the first night, and all she kept saying was "that's not my department"....hmmm....fishy! At any rate, the second business day after ordering the cards, I got the card numbers and PINs and they worked just fine. However, I did wind up missing the sale. Not too happy about nit saving as much as I could have!"

"Horrible company, just short of an illegal scam. Non-existent customer service & their support portal & many provided links are bad.

I learned a $300 lesson from this near criminal enterprise, listen to the complaints, their is a reason the bad comments out number the good 99:1. I am now convinced that the positive comments are paid for via sites like fivrr.com, where you can purchase positive reviews for $5 or less."

"Purchased $500 in Home depot cards. Worked."

"Placed an order for a combination of gift cards totalling about $130 in value with the idea that it would take about one business day to receive the gift card by email.

Okay, fine by me.

One business day came and went. Not a big deal, but I sent an email asking what was up. I received an automated reply, and the next morning, a representative emails me and informs me that their "risk assessment team" has determined not to accept my order.

Why? It wasn't my card, because I surely had the funds in the account that backs the card. And it wasn't deactivated by my bank for any reason, because I was able to buy my morning coffee with it the following days after I've ordered.

I reply to the representative's response, asking for an explanation and a resolution. All I got from the representative (and this is verbatim, as in copied and pasted from my email) was this:

---

Hi,

Thanks for contacting us! We're always looking to improve our site and provide the best shopping experience around. We appreciate your input and will think how we can incorporate it into our service. Thanks for choosing Cardpool!

Best Regards,
L***a
Cardpool.com

---

If you've read the above snippet, it *clearly* has no mention of an explanation or an offer to fix the problem, just a canned, universal response. Just a "we appreciate your input" and "will think how we can incorporate it into our service". No mention of my specific problem: why my order was cancelled either. No "I can't do anything myself, but I'm forwarding this issue to a manager or to the customer escalation department".

Thanks for caring.

I was planning on using Cardpool to buy some cards with bigger denominations in the future, namely for Lowes/Home Depot/BestBuy/Sears/etc. for my upcoming renovation projects to shave a few bucks off, but I guess they don't value me as a (former) customer to resolve my issue. I'm getting them somewhere else. And the funny thing is, I was a new customer, this was my FIRST experience with them!

I automatically disassociate myself as a customer of a company if they don't make an honest effort to resolve their mistakes or issues when they arise.

Cardpool didn't even bother to give me the dog-and-pony show of "pretending" to care like many other companies do. That should be a red flag there."