Unused Gift card with zero balance

[asfamouri]

I received a gift card with $100 on it for Christmas. It was purchase at a Kroger grocery store and when I went to use it, it had a zero balance. After calling the number on the back of the card, they told me it was used on Christmas which wasn’t from me. It happened to my sister as well. Looks like this a recurring issue with Sephora. Please help!

[sys3692]

I just had the same thing happen to me. So frustrated. We used our last $50 to buy my daughter a Sephora gift card for her birthday. She even waited it out for the friends and family sale to purchase the sol de Janeiro spray she’s been wanting for a year now. We get up to the register and the gift card has zero balance. The back had not even been scratched off yet. 
We purchased at a Kroger.

i can’t even dispute through my bank because part of it was cash. 
my daughter was heart broken. This ruined her birthday. I’m a rouge member and loyal Sephora customer and am so disappointed. This has never happened to me before

[LoCxx]

Hi everyone, Same issue here!! Zero balance on a brand new gift card. 

I am hoping Sephora will be able to resolve my gift card issue here. I bought my friend a $200 Sephora gift card for her birthday from my local CVS. When she went to use it 6 days later, she was told the card balance was zero. We met up and I called the 800# on the back of the card and it also said the balance was zero! I went back to CVS and spoke with the same salesperson and the store manager, and they said there was nothing they could do because my receipts show that the gift card is active and $200 from my credit card was loaded to the gift card. The manager provided a number to CVS corporate, and I called them to open a claim. After a week, they got back to me to say that everything was processed correctly, and it was Sephora’s responsibility to reimburse me or reissue a new $200 gift card because “there’s been issues with Sephora gift cards for quite a while”. I then called the 877# on Sephora’s website and spoke to a customer service rep. He was kind, but unhelpful and seemed to be reading off a script; just robotically repeated that he couldn’t do anything on his end, but I should go to the nearest Sephora store and “rest assured” they would indemnify the issue in-store.

I called my bank and printed out the transaction history and took all the paperwork, gift card plus the birthday girl and we walked to the Union Square Sephora. We spoke with a salesperson and the store manager; they were extremely sweet but told us to call Sephora’s client services as they would be able to help us best and handed me another 800 number to call.

At this point I’ve been volleyed back and forth between CVS and Sephora for weeks, $200 was charged to my Visa, yet my friend who is the kindest and most purehearted person you could ever meet, has a blank Sephora gift card for her birthday. I am beyond frustrated but more importantly very upset for her because she was SO excited to use it.

I am desperately hoping someone here can resolve this for us. I have been buying Sephora gift cards for family and friends for over 16 years - birthdays and holidays, and I’ve never had an issue. Please help!!! SEPHORA COLLECTION Sephora Stripe Gift Card $200 

[Melimel84]

I just had the same happen to me a $25 dollar gift card was purchased July 14th at a Jewel and was given on August 18th. When the balanced was checked the card had a zero balance. Called the number on the back and they said the card was used on the 24th of July. Whole time the card was at home waiting to be gifted.

[Bonnitabelle]

I just had the exact same problem. The manager at the Sephora store that I went to was dismissive and told me to just go back to Kroger. When I explained that Kroger said they can't help, and she told me that they couldn't help me either and was pretty rude about it. So I ended up leaving in tears and now I don't know what to do next. 

[LaurieBT]

@Bonnitabelle, I'm sorry to learn of your experience! It looks like your private messages are turned off, and you can adjust your preferences in your Community settings (on the browser only, not the app). If you would like to send me a private message with more information, I'll look into this. Alternatively, you may contact our live chat at https://www.sephora.com/beauty/contact-us or call 1-877-SEPHORA (1-877-737-4672). If the chat is unavailable, please keep the page open until the next agent becomes available. Thank you!

[LaurieBT]

Hi @LoCxx,

I'm so sorry to hear about this! I'll send you a message shortly.

Best regards,

Laurie 

[livdonnelly2003]

i just went in store today to use my brand new $50 gift card and was told it had a $0 balance..

[keelybt]

@livdonnelly2003 I'm sorry to hear that!  It looks like your private messages are currently turned off. Please send me a private message with your gift card number or you can contact us by phone at 1-877-737-4672 or through our live chat for assistance> https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service

[Bucky10]

i have the same problem, unused card bought at Safeway, still hold the receipt and the card, when I logged in it held $0.00 balance.  Where'd the money go?  I want a refund

[abonacci]

My daughter is having the same exact issue with a gift card she received for her birthday and just tried to use. Totally unused, yet when she entered the number she was told there is a zero balance. Can this be remedied? She is very disappointed.

[DaneeBT]

@abonacci Sorry to hear about this! I'll send you a PM.

[LaurieBT]

Hi @asfamouri,

I'm sorry to hear this! I'll send you a message shortly.

Best,

Laurie 

[QuackAddict]

I just had the same issue except I called Sephora customer service because my pin had rubbed off and they told me that my gift card had a zero balance. It also came from Kroger. Sephora refused to help.  

[CjoyS777]

Yesss!!!! This happened to me too! AND it was from Kroger as well! :((((((

[LaurieBT]

Hi @QuackAddict,

I'm sorry for the trouble and I'm happy to take a look further. I'll send you a message shortly.

Best regards,

Laurie 

[asfamouri]

Ugh I was worried about that. Mine was $100! And apparently it happens a lot with Sephora specifically

[jessh4]

I am currently having the same issue with a $50 gift card purchased from Kroger as well! Called Sephora customer service and they said there was nothing they could do to help despite it clearly being a very common problem with Sephora cards specifically. 

[CjoyS777]

Even the cashier at sephora told me it's been happening a lot! it was also just plain embarrassing bc I was trying to buy my son's girlfriend something w it.  

[QuackAddict]

I talked with moderator Laurie and they still refused to help me due to the card being sold by a third party. I guess Sephora is OK with third parties selling bad cards to their customers and dont see this as an issue as long as they get the money. 

[CjoyS777]

oh wow this is super disappointing. NEVER AGAIN will I purchased a sephora gift card. Can't believe how common of an issue it is!