[See update at end of post.]
[Update 4/9/19: Readers are still reporting issues with Cardpool. Reposting as a headsup.]
We’ve been hearing lots of grumblings about problems with Cardpool recently. People are reporting not getting paid for over a month now, and I haven’t heard of good customer service replies to the issue. Someone even set up a Twitter account @CardpoolScammed. (To be clear: the fact that someone set up a Twitter account means absolutely nothing, but it’s an easy place to follow along with what people are saying.)
When people asked me about this initially, I brushed it off saying that Cardpool is owned by Blackhawk, a publicly traded company, and that made them – in my view – probably the most solvent company from all the exchanges, and the one I’d worry least about running away.
There is one rumor that there was a recent change in ownership. I don’t see any indication of that – the Cardpool site still has Blackhawk mention on the bottom of the page – but I guess it’s possible that it just happened or is in the process of happening.
Members of our little community are pretty wary of being left holding the bag on gift cards after what happened to a few other exchanges. Enough people reached out, I figured it’s worth putting this out there as a place for people share their experiences and knowledge on what’s going on.
Update:
Cardpool was sold a couple of weeks ago, and somehow in the transition things are going slowly.
https://www.facebook.com/cardpool/posts/10156169252617358
Weird that they all the sudden started having processing issues, hard to know exactly what’s going on there. More importantly, Cardpool is now owned by a private company, so not as secure as before (though still not worse, on that account, from other exchanges).
Interestingly, the new owner, David Jones, was apparently a previous employee of Blackhawk, so I guess Blackhawk wasn’t happy with the business and he offered to buy it. Also odd that there’s still mention of Blackhawk on the Cardpool website.
Twitter user tsilver_apex found a report that Cardpool was sold to CPL Acquisition LLC for an undisclosed amount.
I can't find any info about this on google but I see it on my Bloomberg. Weird… pic.twitter.com/RKNmZzVYFO
— Tyler Silver (@tsilver_apex) February 8, 2019
I tried to sell some WM gift cards a couple of years ago through Cardpool. They cancelled my transaction, never explained why, and I thought that was the end of it. These were gift cards without sequential numbers, not bought in a retail store, and they kept their value for two years — it’s highly unlikely that they would be hacked. I kept them in my wallet waiting to use them later. Back then Cardpool was still owned by Blackhawk, so I thought my information was safe.
Earlier this year I was surprised to see ALL those gift cards drained circa February, each of them in a different store across the country. It seems that Cardpool kept the GC information from my attempted sale, and then sold them without my authorization.
They’re completely unreachable now. Website is still up, but no contact information works. Not sure what I can do to get my money back, or even file a police report.
I sold a card to Cardpool and it got approved. They sent me a check for the sale, but when I deposited it, they stopped payment on it and said there was no funds on the gift card. They said there was funds on it when they bought from me but when they sold it to someone else, there was no funds. This is for Saks Fifth Ave and their stores have been closed so only online shopping was allowed so we can find out who used the card, but Cardpool refuses to answer their phone.
I sent them the information for my gift cards and never received payment. They do not pick up their main phone number and they do not answer their email. I finally got a response from their facebook page and they gave ne this number â€(925) 353-4694‬. They didnt not answer the first 5 calls and then they finally answered and said Dominos Pizza, what can i get started for you. I called again and they answered Carpool. But it was the same person and number.
Well now apparently at least in Seattle WA there aren’t any more working cardpool kiosk. The people at Fred Myers are saying it’s due to the bankruptcy issues they won’t be working with cardpool anymore. And they just disappeared out of all the Safeway stores overnight. Not sure about Target though.
I “sold” a gift card to Cardpool in April of 2019. I e-mailed the company multiple times with no response, before I finally filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in July. The BBB was unable to get any response from the company to resolve my complaint. This is no longer just a company that works slowly, it is a total scam.
I sold them a Walmart e-gift card over a month and still haven’t received my Amazon credit. I’ve emailed Cardpool 3x since June and have yet to receive a single response. On a side note, another GC exchange (CardKangaroo) hasn’t been buying gift cards as they’ve been showing the following message for a few weeks: “CURRENTLY WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING GIFT CARDS WHILE WE ARE MAKE INTERNAL CHANGES WITHIN THE COMPANY. THANK YOU.” I reached out to them last week asking if/when they’ll be buying gift cards again and haven’t heard back yet (the “Contact Us” page mentions they’ll respond within 48 hours).
Does anyone know what’s happened to Giftcard Mart? Their website https://giftcardmart.com/ has been showing a sign for a month, that they’re not accepting orders.
It might be worthwhile for DoC to have a general post on whatever GC Exchanges are still in business.
Hmm, I don’t know, I didn’t notice that until you just mentioned it.
I listed a gift card, which was sold after couple of months. Got an email, that it was sold, never received payout. Emailed their CS and no response. What are my options?
Tried to list gift cards. Walmart submitted on 4/10 is still in review.. I guess I will sell it on other platforms.
Purchased several hundred in American airlines gift cards, half of them are used. No way to contact cardpool. Tried all avenues. Filing a chargeback and hoping for the best