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Please refrain from buying any gift cards from this most unethical company whose customer service blatantly lies to cover up their bad technology and business processes. ( Their website for the card registration is http instead of https, so lacks basic security)

I got a $50 gift card as a birthday gift, the card said to register on a website (sambastart.com) which i did and it confirmed the card balance as $50. But when I presented the card for redemption, I was informed by the retailer that it had only $30. Although I was puzzled as I have never experienced a decline in a gift card value without using it, I proceeded to redeem the $30. On contacting the company for their help in tracking the missing $20, I am first told that the gift card did have a beginning balance of $50 and an ending balance of $0 but they do not keep record of any in between transactions and I must have spent the entire amount and not just the $30 I was claiming as having spent thus implying that I was lying . On asking for help with escalation, I am connected to a manager at black hawk network who tells me that he cannot access the transaction log. Then suddenly he tells me that the account balance is zero because the card was never active and I need to take the card with proof of purchase to the place it was bought from and have it activated. The fact that I have used the card successfully for $30 is totally discounted by him so that he can make me run around when I have already told him that I do not have any proof of purchase as it is a gift. I then contact the customer service at samba days via email and attach picture of the receipts showing the card balance as also a picture of the card back with all the numbers on it ( activation, redemption, bar code). But they tell me that the retailer must have taken a loss and shown Goodwill by accepting the card which according to them is now suddenly showing as never activated in their system and a zero balance all along.

The fact that they provide such bizarre and illogical responses proves they must hold themselves and their customers in very low esteem.

This is a scam disguised as a company that forces it's unsuspecting customers to bear losses with no recourse to any kind of ethical customer service.

Their customer service reps say whatever suits them to cover up their money siphoning activities.

No retailer accepts a card that is not activated and does not have a balance on it. Instead of helping trace where the $20 disappeared from the card, I am being told that Studio movies and Grill (the retailer for which I had the $50 gift card) took a loss on my account.

Seriously, then they could have just as well taken a loss for the entire $50! Why only $30??

If the card was not activated, how did it show an initial value of $50, as also let me redeem it for $30...I have the receipt for that amount that I sent them.

Also, the CSR confirmed the beginning balance on the card as $50...how is that possible if the card has not been activated?

This is a company full of liars and scamsters. Please do not spend your hard earned money on buying anything from them. The simple act of registering the card on their website took away $20 from the card since that was the only action taken between receiving the card and using it.

My contention is that why does the card ask to register on the website, especially since it is not a secure website (it is http and not https)....what benefit is Sambastart offering customers by asking to register on the website. I have never had any issue with any gift cards in my entire life and this is the first time i have experienced a gift card losing value even before it being used. The company has indeed successfully provided an 'unforgetable' experience albeit one that is highly negative and frustrating!

Location: Lewisville, Texas

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