Vanilla Gift Cards review: not able to use 4

This card is the most horrible gift card I have ever recieved in my entire life. Never buy this card for someone else. You will be wasting your money and causing them trouble when they go to use it. When I recieved this card I tried to buy some items online that are within the U.S. so it should not have been a problem. Then it said that the card could not be validated. So i went to the website and entered in a zip code to supposedly validate it. Tried again, it still didn't work. So i called the number and then it said my balance was $23.00. The card was worth $25 dollars and they charged me fees to validate it to not get it to work anyway and to call the number on the card. Now i have this card that don't work and it makes me never want to trust visa again.

I got a gift care for christmas, got to use part of it, and had a balance, went to the store the following week and their is no balance. I called on the phone and was told their is no balance on my card. It is terrible you can't get your moneys worth on a gift card. Janice Arnold

DO NOT BUY THESE CARDS! This gift card program is unequivocally the most deceitful, greedy, abusive violation of a consumer’s trust in the Visa brand that I have ever seen. I purchased several gift cards for my 13 year old to take on vacation. She was very judicious about how she spent her money so she could use the money for other items when she returned from her vacation. As is typical for a 13 year old, she forgot about the cards and they sat in her wallet for some time. She pulled them out to Christmas shop for some of her friends and to our DISMAY AND ANGER the cards no longer had a balance. The entire balance was credited toward monthly fees. This monthly fee information is on the back of the card, barely legible due to the imprint of the card number. Intentional? I believe this is a calculated practice on Visa’s part to deceive the consumer and increase profits from the gift card program. Seriously, how many people read the back of the card? This service charge should be clearly printed on the hangtag in large type so the customer understands BEFORE they purchase the card what the fees are. Between the monthly service fee and the fee charged upfront just to get the card, the “gift” card is the most disingenuous program I have ever encountered. It actually cost me for this convenience. I would have been better off taking a chance that my daughter would lose the actual cash while on vacation. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again will I ever purchase one of these cards!

same problem today (same day, 12-26-09). Web sites appear shut down (both Vanilla Visa and myfastcard. com). Card declined at two stores and online. Toll free number on card worthless, no way to reach customer svc. Found old number on the Google-cached copy of myfastcard.com and spent 18 minutes on hold to be told, basically: "sorry, can't help you, your card has a XX dollar amount balance, there is no problem" etc, same thing I already heard from the automated robot voice. This card appears to be a total scam. Avoid at all costs.