Consumer complaint received 2019-12-21
Company: Incomm Holdings Inc.
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Trouble using the card
Sub-issue: Trouble using the card to spend money in a store or online

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I purchased a VanillaVisa Gift Card from XXXX in XXXX with a face value of {$100.00}. I gave the card box to my mother on XX/XX/XXXX and we inputted the card number ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) on VanillaGift.com and it came up " invalid. '' We called XXXX ( number on back of the card ) and reported the problem and were given claim # XXXX. The representative from the call center told us she would send us a dispute form and alleged that the funds on the card were dissipated and there was a balance of XXXX on the card. We could not understand how that could happen since the card was in its paper box until minutes before we tried to check the balance and it was alleged to be Invalid. Therefore we went back to XXXX where the card was purchased and was given Claim No. XXXX. We requested a refund since the card was invalid on purchase. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX stated it could not provide assistance with the Visa Vanilla gift card it sold to me and directed that we contact Vanilla Visa. I completed the dispute form, attached copy of receipt, gift box and card and emailed it to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Since then, I have not been contacted by anyone from Incomm and have had difficulty getting through to an agent at Incomm or anyone from Vanilla Visa to discuss the dispute. In fact, on XX/XX/XXXX, my calls to Incomm ( XXXX ) were dropped five separate time after going through the phone menu, just after I was told I am being connected to customer service. I finally got through to a representative on XX/XX/XXXX and was told my case was closed. When I pressed the agent for a supervisor to speak to, she said that there was no one from " our back end office '' and that Incomm is a call center that is in the XXXX with thousands of representatives. The representative put me on hold for several minutes and came back and said my dispute is still being " investigated '' and that I have to wait 45-90 days before an investigation is concluded. She explained that there are " thousands '' of claims like mine and that I had to be patient. I asked who was performing the investigation and she said their Incomm office in Georgia. She could not provide me with a phone number of anyone I could contact in the Incomm Georgia office or from Vanilla Visa to discuss my dispute. The VanillaGift card states on the reverse side that for customer service, refunds, go to Vanillagift.come but when you go to that web site there is nothing that allows you to submit request for reimbursement. If you have a dispute, the only recourse that is provided is to contact the Incomm call center in the XXXX and get the run around. 
It appears that the VanillaVisa is selling unauthorized Vanilla Visa cards and making the dispute process so onerous that most people just give up or don't bother to pursue their reimbursement and if they do, Vanilla Visa profits from the funds during the long period of dispute. This sounds like a real fraudulent scheme that should be pursued.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation