Got Cheated on OzBargain Yesterday

Hi All

I wanted to share how I was cheated yesterday at Ozbargain. Scams are common on gumtree but on Ozbargain there is a bit more sense of community and decency.

Since 2012, I have purchased and sold lots of gift cards and other items with other ozbargain members worth thousands of dollars. Normally we might haggle on price but don’t try to cheat or misrepresent knowingly.

What has amazed me, is although face value of cards I bought is $550 but for $25-50 of discount, seller is willing to misrepresent and cheat. And has the audacity to ask me to do same to fellow ozbargainers.

I might sell things here but do it with full disclosure and honour my deals. I have even issued refunds to people when they mentioned they missed out on sale and couldn’t use the cards.

Story:

“makeorbreak” (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/263939) yesterday messaged me to sell $550 Gift Pay card for $500 with the following lines

“makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 16:39
You can redeem at Amazon, App Store & iTunes, Barbeque Galore, BCF, Best Restaurants, Best Spas & Beauty, Big W, Boost Juice, Bunnings, Caltex Woolworths, Catch.com.au, City Beach, Coles, Domino’s Pizza, Drummond Golf, eBay, EB Games, endota spa, Event Cinemas Movie Voucher, Freedom, Good Food, Google Play, Gourmet Traveller, Harvey Norman, Hoyts, Jetstar, Kathmandu, Kmart, Myer, OMF, OPSM, Plush, Priceline, rebel, RedBalloon, Snooze, Sony PlayStation Network, Spa.com.au, Supercheap Auto, Target, The Iconic, Ticketmaster, Uber, Uber Eats, Webjet, WISH, Woolworths, Xbox Live, Optus Mobile Recharge Voucher, Vodafone Recharge Voucher”

makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 16:39
Lol full disclosure

Based on above, I was keen as I could use at Amazon, Coles, WISH and Woolworths and paid $500 by payid. I got cards and tried to check them but they are not valid for any of the merchants I wanted to use at and was confirmed by seller, that they work at.

Within 4 minutes of receiving email, I asked seller that cards can’t be used at the places seller told me they will at.

makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:11
This is exactly the same question I asked Ron007, because he didn't disclose this in our communications.

The treatment I got from member “makeorbreak” is:

  1. He purchased cards from another member Ron007 (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/113467) and that I should deal with that person instead of “makeorbreak” who I purchased from and paid money

     (makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:25
      As what Ron007 said to me: "I cannot do I am sorry.. you can comment or do what every u want . I have a proof of selling u and gave u the $550 worth vouchers. 
      Nothing wrong from my side."
    
     makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:45
     Please deal with @Ron007 directly, and feel free to add a comment in the post
    
  2. Asked me to sell it to another Ozbargain member, misrepresenting and cheating in same way as he has done with me

        makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:26
         @kalakaar is interested to buy these vouchers though. Please message him.
    
  3. I told the person, I would be making a post making others aware of your conduct

           makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:28
           Go on and lodge a complaint, I am not issuing a refund. And here I am referring you to another buyer.
           makeorbreak on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 17:35
            I did not cheat you knowingly. I have done nothing wrong and I was disclosed what you have to know. I was a victim of @Ron007 to begin with. I will make sure 
            these are stated in response to your public post later.
    
  4. I tried to resolve with “makeorbreak” in private and gave him time, hoping sanity would prevail but he has blocked me so I can’t resolve this privately but compelled to make others aware of this behaviour for future

All of above can be verified by a moderator from my Ozbargain private messages

This is just a tale of caution for others in future.

Regards
A4444

Comments

    • +11

      Thought this would be a juicy relationship story; was disappointed.

    • +12

      I logged into my Ozbargain account to see why this had so many dislikes. You took 15 seconds of my life and I want them back…

      Oh, I'd only waste them anyway.

    • +7

      For a bunch of virtue signalling no speeding upright empathetic citizens here, I'm surprised at your lack of empathy for someone who just got cheated out of $500 buying a misrepresented product. Makeorbreak seems to be scum that's just passing the misfortune to someone else

  • +6

    Within 4 minutes of receiving email, I asked seller that cards can’t be used at the places seller told me they will at.

    Just for the rest of us following along at home. Where can you use these giftcards that you got? As you don't really say.

      • +2

        TRY THIS A4444.

      • +3

        Good find…..

        So based on this statement

        Based on above, I was keen as I could use at Amazon, Coles, WISH and Woolworths

        It looks like Coles is the only one that the OP wanted to use it on that isn't listed.

        I'm seeing Amazon/Wish/Woolies as options which the OP wanted. So not the end of the world I guess.

  • +89

    Achieving a sale by misrepresenting is deception and fraud.
    Inciting the OP to use the same tactics should result in the admins sending a "Please explain" to @makeorbreak.

  • +27

    Report him/her to a mod and ask that they be banned.

  • +54

    Not sure why you would gamble $500 with strangers to save $50, hopefully you can use the voucher atleast somewhere

    • +13

      Trust makes the world go around. I have had several transactions, and although one seller was a bit finicky - waiting two days after receiving the money, as apparently he thought that it could be reversed (and not telling upfront that there is a waiting period before sending the codes)- the transaction went through just fine.

      • +10

        Trust makes the world go around.

        Trust but verify beforehand. 😜

        • +2

          Da, comrade!

    • +2

      I bet there's other things that you 'gamble' on in life that most people here wouldn't.

  • +41

    And this, kids, is why we don’t send strangers money over the internet in exchange for imaginary money on random gift cards…

    • +1

      Yes I am also suspicious of all these “debit gift cards” websites when you search google.
      A family member wanted to get one for someone as a gift, after researching I told them to just transfer the money.

  • +14

    https://www.giftpay.com.au/egift/infowhere.aspx?gift=CG7ZMY8…

    Here is a link.

    It says: “Your Flexi eGift Card can be converted into any of the gift cards shown below.

    Amazon, WISH and Woolworths are there.

    By the way some of the parts in your post are in weird text and get cut off.

    • +2

      double click the parts and copy it elsewhere to read the whole part

  • +4

    I couldn't follow that.
    But anyway, why wouldn't the cards work at those stores?

    Thanks.

    • +5

      I think they will work, you just need to “convert” them (read comment above).

  • +6

    Can't read half of this post. While it is a dock move on the sellers behalf, shouldn't you check for yourself what the gift cards will do before purchase?

  • +4

    Good Job @TheBadmachine.

    Reading through the website link it seems that the Gift pay card cannot be directly used to make a payment on the websites mentioned but can be used to buy Gift cards for those stores which can then be redeemed against purchase at the store.

    Where can I spend it? FlexieGiftCard
    Your Flexi eGift Card can be converted into any of the gift cards shown below.

    Has the OP tried actually using it as mentioned on the website?

  • +1

    From this comment
    $550 were sold split over 13 giftcards.

    I checked the redemption woolworths is valid on the lowest $5 &$10
    Amazon only $20 &$50
    Looks like you’ll just have to hodge podge your redemptions converting them into 13 to 20/30 giftcards depending on the exact amounts.

    If the cards are valid it looks like more of not asking what denomination the $550 will be delivered in?

    • +2

      See I read that comment as they have already redeemed for certain stores gift cards, so it’s like a lucky dip of where you can spend them.

      Ps great username

      • +5

        Oh partial used giftcards, now that would be a new low.

    • +1

      No, Amazon/eBay/Woolies all have $50 there. They are of pretty good value for 9%+ off. Amazon GCs are the best as they are loaded to your account and to be used together easily later.

    • -1

      It says here: https://www.giftpay.com.au/egift/infohelp.aspx?gift=CG7ZMY8D…

      For smaller values, eg. $10, you may not get to split your card. For larger values such as $50 or $100, you can choose any combination of different gift cards up to the total available balance you have.

      Only says limiting splitting of cards (smaller amounts into more stores).
      So you can just combine all the giftcards into $550 worth of $50 Amazon Giftcards.

      • +3

        No that’s not what that clause mean. It means you can redeem a $100 gift card into say $50 +$30 +$20 gift cards, but you can’t combine smaller gift cards into a larger one. It’s like the prezzee swap cards.

        • Well my opinion is avoid these ‘giftcard’ companies.
          They will always have some way to trick you (or the person who tries to use them).

          • @thebadmachine: I have spent thousands of dollars with Prezzie and have had no problems.

            • @Yola: I think some Giftcards from real stores (coles etc) is ok if they are on discount I guess it’s ok getting.
              But I am talking about these 100’s of random websites online when you search google.
              Giftcard this Aussie Giftcard that, I find them very suspicious.
              I have never heard of “prezzie” or “giftpay” but someone else mentioned “giftpay” in the comments, so I guess it is a ‘real’ Giftcard company.

              Someone in a recent Amazon gift card @ TGG deal also mentioned terrible experiences. Something about they fail to send you any follow up email or reminder after buying & also fail to ship them, so they hope you forget about the giftcards you purchased and keep the cash.

              • +1

                @thebadmachine: Yes of course like everything there are good and there are bad. I am saying that Prezzee are good and I have only had good experiences with them and have purchased hundreds of GC's from them. You only need to look at their last offer posted here received 217 positive votes and no negs.
                https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/584300
                Yes if you look at deals from TCN or Pegasus you will see many complains.

  • -4

    Yeah these people happy to turn $500 into $550 need to get a real job

    • +8

      It looks like OP was not cheated. Just the 3 persons involved did not know Gift Pay well.

      • Yep. Didn't read the terms and now paying the price (literally). Seller could have mentioned those factors, if he even knew about it? Otherwise OP didn't ask about it enough: one card or many, using all at the same time etc. All seem to be at blame.

    • maybe this is their job…… making 100 of these and they would get 5000 a day, not bad, huh?

  • What a hassle.

    I love OzB but sometimes you juat have to fork out.

  • +1

    I have used Gift Pay many times.
    THere is just about always options for many retails, and always a major supermarket.

    Seems very odd you can only redeem for well not sure what, as its missing in your post

  • +6

    Why would you buy Giftcards online from a stranger just to save $50? Common sense people….

    I use giftpay quite a bit, as they are usually the payouts for surveys/test sites/group rewards and I've never had an issue. You just have to know and understand how it works. Some places allow you to stack them on your accounts as credit (ebay, Amazon…) and other places might allow you to use as many as you want per transaction like Coles and Woolies, others though only allow one or two gift cards per transaction which is the same way gift cards tend to work in general anyway.

    Not sure why you think you got scammed as you got exactly what you paid for. I can see Amazon, Wish, Coles etc that you wanted all listed there, so what exactly is the issue? You need to select the denomination you want to use to redeem the cards you just can't stack smaller cards into bigger redemptions (although you can use smaller ones stacked with ebay and Amazon and Coles and Woolies etc still). The only real issue is that some have removed smaller denominations, for example ebay which starts at $10 instead of $5 as it used to.

    Edit - Really trying to understand what the actual problem here is. Even if the $550 came in 110 x $5 Giftpay cards, you can still redeem those at Woolies and Wish among others…

    • +3

      I'm trying to understand the problem too. I assumed the OP got sold a fake or used card(s) worth nothing and the seller bolted.

      But the post by OP is not so clear. Maybe he didn't know how to use the card(s) properly and there's actually nothing wrong.

    • +1

      What if you had a giftcard that you didn't want? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to find someone who would take it off your hands for a modest discount?
      I expected more of this community.

    • Could you please tell me how to add GC to eBay. I have done it on Amazon but on eBay I got to payment options and only allows CC. When I tried to do it during purchase it said that it was already covered by another GC. Thank you.

      • +2

        On ebay, the remaining credit of each gift card is listed seperately in your account at checkout rather than as a total sum of credit. If you have enough credit in your account to cover your purchase, then there's no need to add it to your ebay account yet. Just think of it the same way you would other gift cards.

        If your purchase is already covered, then you can temporarily add more to your cart so that it allows you to add more gift cards to cover it, then you can remove the items. The credit will stay in your account but as mentioned, each card credit remains listed separately rather than a total credit on your account and you can select however many you need to cover your purchases in future.

        I currently have 4 on mine. Also, if an item is refunded, it is credit back to the same gift card on your account.

        • +1

          Thank you.

          there's no need to add it to your ebay account yet.

          I purchased some cards from TCN and trust eBay more than this mob. Presumably once I load it to eBay my funds are safe if they go under.

          add more gift cards to cover it, then you can remove the items

          this is a good strategy. I will try it.

  • +2

    Strangely enough, I've been selling gift cards for over a year to a member on here. I sell them at 10 bucks discount to face value. 99% of the time the user pays me first then I redeem from cc points. Couple of times I've sent the cards first. There are still trustworthy people about!!!

    Once I couldn't redeem because bank system was faulty so I sent back the money. Did the transaction a week after from memory!.

    • Interesting! Can I ask how this works and why it's of benefit to you? Are you saying the user pays you, then you use credit card points to buy a gift card and sell it to them for $10 off? So it's a win win? Would those amounts have to be quite big to get enough credit card points for a gift card? Thank you. :)

      • I have a small business. Sometimes I spend 100k a month on expenses with the credit card. Actually sometimes more.
        It works as you said, I see how many points I've got and see if I can spare some $100 vouchers. When the 90 bucks clears, I redeem and forward the e gift card.

        I suppose it's a benefit to me because its cash. I use it to supplement my wages lol (still early in business). We generally shop at asian groceries so we use the cash for that.

        • Makes sense - thanks for the response! Why don't you use the points to buy gift vouchers for yourself to use? Is it not as good value as exchanging for money? Or is it just because you mostly use cash?

          • +1

            @kyttiekat: We do a mix, sometimes cash is king. Coming into christmas, i'll use them for gifts. Just depends.

    • Have purchased many gift cards on here and sold also.
      Never an issue yet.
      Op unlucky, maybe gift pay site had an error, if Kmart is on there that would easy to offload if need be

  • My reading of the post is OP got screwed and if the user who did it didn't give back the funds OP will publicly humiliated him/her .
    Looks like the Scammer doesn't mind and simple solution just simply getting another a/c if that the case .

    BTW who in the ^# buys gift cards from a private message OP ?

    Not to much of a Smart Cookie in my books .

  • “Pyramid Scheme”

  • -7

    well why are you persisting in buying these cards? You are inviting this to occur. why are you complaining

  • +17

    WTF are commenters so negative about these sorts of things…. there is never an ‘ok’ reason to scam another.

    It was a scam and the seller clearly knew the problem and was trying to pass on his loss. That is cheating plain and simple, yet most of the dick posts here are about buyer beware, who cares about buyer beware, this is a simple case of deception.

    Instead of being hyenas out for attack on someone who made a mistake, try being human who feels some sympathy for others. You would expect the same if it was done to you or at the very least you would hope that the dicks who have nothing positive to say would stay away.

    BTW I have never been scammed by one of these situations and would never buy a gift card anyway as they are a pointless trap for losing $$ change (if I use it at all) ……. I just have a scrap of being human left in my soul.

  • +13

    Hi All,

    Thank you for taking time to read and your thoughts/ comments

    I agree that it is not the wisest move to send money to strangers over internet and I don't do it anywhere else but have done on ozbargain. May be times are changing and so should I.

    Yes, the gift pay website says it can be used at all those merchants but somehow the card links that I have received have only a select list of merchants where they can be redeemed. May be when they were issued those restrictions were imposed somehow. I'll call Gift Pay on Monday and check.

    Cards that I have received can be used at Australian Cancer Research, Beyond Blue, Boost Juice, Lifeline, Myer, Harvey Norman, Webjet, Iconic, Snooze, Red Balloon, Plush, OMF, Jetstar, Good Food, Freedom, Endota Spa, EB Games, City Beach, Best Spas & Beauty , Best Restaurants, Uber, Ticketmaster, Plush, OPSM, Kathmandu, Catch, Barbeques Galore, Spa.com.au, Priceline, Kmart, Hoyts, Gourmet Traveller, Drummond Golf

    I don't mind the number of cards, it's a bit of effort but I can live with that. I had agreed to pay a certain amount based on the assumption that I could use them at certain merchants (amazon, coles, woolworths & wish), normally these are sold here at a lower discount, otherwise I would only agree for a lower amount than I paid.

    I'll redeem at one of the other merchants.

    I am sorry, I don't want to humiliate anyone as it doesn't achieve anything but as the seller is unwilling and infact has blocked me, I just wanted to let others know so in future others can decide what would they like to do themselves

    Sorry, some of the post might look like cut-off but I had pasted private messages that I had received from seller so I that am not reiterating things in my own words

    I am not going to ask moderators anything, as ozbargain says classified are private transactions and done at your own risk

    Thank you and regards
    A4444

    • +6

      I think just redeem it ASAP as it has been handed around several times. Harvey Norman and Kmart are of the best value on your list. They can be normally acquired at only 5% off.

    • +1

      On the “contacts” page.

      https://www.giftpay.com.au/business/contact.aspx

      There is:


      Gift Card Recipient Support

      I have received a gift card and need assistance using it.


      I'll call Gift Pay on Monday

      Yes I think this a good idea.
      Maybe the gift cards were purchased many years ago (when the restrictions were different and the list of stores was shorter).

      I think there should be more ‘support’ for the actual “Gift card recipients” since buying them is the easy part.
      Hopefully they can convert what you have into large amounts & the stores you need.
      Maybe write a list of how much per card for each store before you call so you make the right decision.

  • +6

    Plenty of lessons to learn here but in a nutshell, OP has done the right thing.

    If someone wants to buy off the original seller or second seller and search their user name, at least they can see they have been involved in deceptive sales or at the least, not been willing to issue a refund/return when there was a miscommunication.

    This community is built on trust, we are not your eBay or scumtree buyers or sellers.

    Our user accounts and history provide the confidence we are genuine when dealing with users, especially in the classifieds (except if your name is Broden haha).

    • -2

      This first thing that the OP see if he/she/it would just click on the seller profile is the huge issue with the gift card being sold.

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/263939/comments

      They didn't do that.

      • +4

        You seem to enjoy putting the blame on the victim, instead of condemning the perpetrator. That's an extremely negative mindset to have. There are countless reasons why people get scammed and you should never blame the victim, as it may deter them from coming forward again. There will come a time when you need empathy and help from strangers for mistakes you have made, and you will be grateful they are not assholes like you

        • The perpetrator as in Ron, right?

          • +2

            @ATangk: I would say makeorbreak is just as complicit since he cried foul about Ron duping him, then went ahead and did the exact same thing as Ron after calling him out on it (passing on the torch). A true hypocrite if ever I've seen one

            • +2

              @Zarcady: I'd say makeorbreak is a bit scummier.

              1) He was a victim, so should have empathy. Rather he inflicts the exact same fraud on another member, knowing fully well how being a victim of such a scam feels like.
              2) He is more than willing to further perpetuate this scam by bringing references for OP to scam.

              A very vile act that speaks volumes about their character.

  • +1

    I didnt think Ozbargain was a Commerce platform

  • +7

    Even though ozbargain says classified are private transactions and done at your own risk, do we really want those types of people on ozbargain?

    • -1

      So is that means we can trade drugs on ozbargain ?

  • +1

    Where's the TL:DR?

    • +1

      Never trust strangers. Doesn't matter what website lmao. Always be cautious and paranoid that everyone might scam you.

      Pick up / Cash Only.

  • +3

    So basically the seller bought them from another user who made the same representations on where they could be used, realised they couldn't use them and onsold them knowing those representations were incorrect?

    I haven't bought or sold anything through private OzB transactions but based on the information provided, the seller needs a least a good questioning on their conduct.

    That said, I'm often confused at why people so often sell gift cards here. For example, with Amazon the max discount I believe you can get is 3% or so yet I see people looking for them at 3% discount or more. Apart from situations where the seller already has them but isn't looking to use them, what's in it for the seller to make them available at risk of being scammed?

    • Some people might not have access to those gift cards or have hit a limit. I.e. Suncorp limit is $500 month.

      I've sold surplus gift cards without issues. Incentive is to pass on the amount as I won't be needing it. I.e. I bought about $1500 worth of eBay gift cards only to f find that the aircond in my cart was out of stock.

  • +1

    Even though this case looks to be more drama than substance as usual, anyone who buys GCs from another person is asking for pain (eventually). Also despite popular belief, Ozb is not some trustworthy community. Just a bunch of anonymous randoms on the internet with a common interest. I would trust it no more than Gumtree.

    • I trust you

      • Hi do you use a one handed keyboard when you hack?
        And if so how do you type the missing keys, my guess is you have to hold down another key and you can type the missing keys.

        Thanks.

  • +1

    Thanks for posting, it raises awareness on a GC topic that not many of us might know about, yet will probably deal with at certain times when buying / selling.
    I think the seller was dodgy knowingly selling cards to you….but buying/selling is dodgy i guess.
    Glad to hear that at least you can still use them at some big name retailers.

  • +4

    Whilst I appreciate the risks with this sort of transaction really disappointed a fellow Ozbargainer did this to you & was seemingly aware of the misrepresentation.
    At the very least you would think they would have offered some sort of reasonable solution.

  • +1

    Trust….

    Nek minute - entire state goes into lock down.

  • +4

    Both ron and make are a bunch of scumbags, full stop.

  • -1

    Bikies for this one.

  • +1

    Don't waste your time buying gift cards. Especially on places with no buyer protection.
    Lesson learned

    Also it will probably be useless to get makeorbreak to refund you because he/she will probably just abaondon the account. You should try though

  • +4

    You can buy from Coles/Woolworth using the following procedure.

    Using this link https://www.giftpay.com.au/egift/infowhere.aspx?gift=CG7ZMY8… (thanks to @thebadmachine on 21/11/2020 - 22:42), you can buy eBay gift cards using your gift card. Then use eBay gift cards to do the followings:

    1) Shop from Coles eBay shopfront https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/colessupermarkets.

    2) Use that eBay gift card to buy Woolworth gift cards —- https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Woolworths-Supermarket-Gift-Card…

    Cheers

    • +1

      Sorry can you elaborate the first step "you can buy eBay gift cards using your gift card"?

      When I clicked on that link, it only show the list of gift card but I can't see how I can pay using my existing GC?

      Thanks

  • How about a feedback system ?

  • +1

    thanks for sharing. I also put a much higher level of trust in the ozb classifieds community than other sites, very disappointing

  • The risk and hassle is not work saving $50.

  • -1

    Scalpers are worse than scammers, one has control, the other reluctantly forgets what control is.

  • It is very disappointing to see this one by an OzB member. I have sold/purchased gift card numerous times and always trusted people here. Sorry OP, hopefully you can sort it out or buy a gift card that is of some use for you.

  • Sorry to hear this, OP. Not a good feeling to be scammed.

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