ATLANTA — A Cherokee County woman is still battling to get a replacement for a $200 Vanilla gift card stolen from the mail nearly a year ago.
Despite reaching out to InComm Payments, the company behind Vanilla gift cards, Cecile Peters has been unable to resolve the issue after more than 20 emails and phone calls.
“Every time that I’ve spoken to them, I try to go in with a positive attitude. And by the time the call is over with, my pressure has risen,” Peters told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
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Peters discovered the theft when she received a greeting card from her aunt, which included a gift receipt but no gift card. The $200 Vanilla gift card had been stolen while the card was in the mail.
InComm Payments, based in Atlanta, requires documentation, including the original receipt for the purchase of the stolen or drained gift card, to process theft claims. Peters provided this documentation with her claim.
In a statement to Channel 2 Action News, an InComm Payments spokesperson suggested that people mailing gift cards should add postal insurance to protect their shipment and report any mail theft to their carrier.
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However, USPS states on its website that postal insurance does not cover the loss of gift cards.
USPS did provide Peters with a check for $15, which covered the cost of the postage, but not the value of the stolen gift card.
Peters mentioned that InComm twice told her a replacement gift card was on the way, only for the claim process to start over again.
Peters’s experience highlights the challenges consumers face when gift cards are stolen from the mail, with conflicting advice from the postal service and gift card companies leaving victims frustrated and without resolution.
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