[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
