AT&T Wireless Rebate Visa Gift Cards Are A Raw Deal
AT&T Wireless Visa debit gift cards that come as rebates for iPhone, Blackberry, or other mobile phone purchases are a raw deal! AT&T advertises prices for popular mobile phones that include $50 or $100 off in the form of a Visa gift card that the customer must apply for after the purchase. But…most customers will never get to use the card for the full $50 or $100.
How the Rebate Works
After purchasing a qualifying phone from AT&T Wireless, the customer receives paperwork to apply for a rebate in the form of a Visa debit gift card. As with most rebates, the customer must complete a form and mail it in along with the receipt and the applicable codes from the new phone’s packaging. Then, the customer waits. And waits.
My wife and I both purchased new phones from AT&T within the last year, and we both waited about six weeks to receive our $100 rebate gift cards. That’s not unusual for mail-in rebates, and the waiting period is fully explained in AT&T promotional materials. The problem with this rebate offer, however, isn’t the wait. It’s the form of the rebate: The Visa debit gift card.
Unlike a cash rebate (that comes as a check for the rebate amount), the AT&T rebate comes on a preloaded Visa gift card. The card can be used anywhere that accepts Visa. Almost as good as cash, right? Not quite.
My Wife’s Experience
My wife decided to use her AT&T Visa rebate card last weekend to make a couple of purchases. She actived the card and went off to the mall. She made her first purchase for $41 without trouble. The problems, however, started when she tried to use the card to make a second purchase.
Her second purchase was going to be about $100—more than the remaining value ($59) on the gift card. She carefully explained to the clerk that she’d like to charge the AT&T rebate card for exactly the remaining balance, and pay the balance on the item with another card. “No problem,” the clerk said as she ran the gift card through for the exact amount of the remaining balance.
To my wife’s surprise, the card was declined. The clerk tried again. Declined.
My wife called the number on the back of the AT&T rebate Visa card from the store. That’s when things got interesting. The woman who answered the phone told her that when she used the gift card the first time, the company put a hold on the card for the amount my wife charged plus twenty percent (to allow for a potential tip). Of course, my wife used the card in a clothing store, not a restaurant, but the card must do this for all transactions. That hold stays on the card for a few business days.
Not only did that hold prohibit my wife from using the full value of the card, but since she had attempted a purchase the caused the card to be declined, the woman told her that the card’s value would now be “frozen” for ten days! There would be no way to use the card for any reason until the freeze expires after ten days. Talking to the company and explaining the situation did nothing.
Obviously, AT&T/Visa puts these restrictions on these gift cards to prevent a cardholder from overcharging the card’s value. Because the card is not reloadable and not a credit card, Visa would have no way to recover any charges that exceed the gift card’s initial value.
Unfortunately, the restrictions also make it very difficult for the consumer to use the card for its full value. My guess? That’s what AT&T is counting on. By issuing gift cards instead of cash, they know that some people may forget about the card altogether, others won’t use it before it expires (it’s only valid for a few months), and most others will only use a fraction of the balance. Instead of paying out rebates of $100 per phone, AT&T probably pays back, on average, a much lower amount.
One final frustration: You can’t use the rebate Visa cards to pay your AT&T Wireless bill.
Buyer Beware!
So if you buy an AT&T Wireless phone and receive a Visa rebate gift card, beware! There may be no way to use the full value of the card. If somebody knows how, please share!
If you wish to voice complaints to AT&T Wireless regarding these Visa rebate cards, call one of their executive customer service numbers (attached to their corporate offices). Phone numbers courtesy of Consumerist, where you can find these number for all the big wireless carriers.
AT&T Executive Customer Service
- Eastern States: 877-707-6220
- Western States: 800-498-1912
Of course, you can also feel free to share your story and/or complaints about these rebate cards here in a comment.
Related Posts
- Unembossed Visa Cards Coming to a Wallet Near You
- Will You Get Your Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Check?
- Creative Yankee Swap Gift Ideas
- The Better Deal: Cash Back or Miles Credit Cards?
What's Next?
Reading this site, you're already ahead of most people when it comes to your finances. Why not keep going? Help secure your financial future. Take action today:
- Get help with your debts
- Check your credit report and score, free
- Open a savings account
- Open an individual retirement account (IRA)
- Budget with Quicken
Join the Conversation!
What's your take on this story? Have a related question or comment? Share it now in a comment:
I have an Amex clear card that rewards me with a $25 amex gift card based on points. It works very similarly to a Visa gift card. Instead of dealing with the hassle of having people split payments up among different cards, as soon as I get a rewards card in the mail, I instantly buy myself a gift certificate from Amazon for the entire value of the card. No dealing with fees, penalties, whatever.
I’ve always just used the rebate cards to apply the amount to my next cell phone bill. Has worked every time and I get the full value.
I would think that Samir’s gift certificate method would work normally, and my initial reaction was to do something like that, but it’s the 20% over charge that concerns me. If you tried to use the $100 card to charge $100 in gift certificates, wouldn’t the card decline because it couldn’t take a $120 authorization on the account? How would you possibly get all of the money off unless you made a $80 transaction, then 5 days later a $16 transaction, and so on?
There must be some way to get the total amount off in one transaction.
I work at a bank and we have done cash advances on these cards for the exact amount on the card with no problem…you can then deposit the money or take the cash.
I have a Visa gift card from a Swiffer rebate from earlier this year and haven’t been able to use the last $3 + change – it keeps getting declined. And I’ve waited more than those periods so that’s not really the issue. I may try Jacqueline’s suggestion and just cash it at the bank, thanks!
I have an easy approach to these things. I just use the full amount all at once. For example, a $50 card I will take to the grocery store and then just use it all at once. $50 is taken of what would have been an $80 bill. I have never had a problem doing this.
The extra 20% authorization. depends on the vendor. Some vendors are designated as restaurants or some other tip related industry. I know this because I thought I was overcharged by one place but when I called my credit card company, they explained there was a 20% authorization added to the amount charged. That was for a bar. But I have found that grocery stores normally work just fine and don’t get the extra 20% temporary authorization.
if the ammount of the card is less then the total bill you pay the difference FIRST. only when using the promotion card at a retailer that accepts tips does the20% surcharge apply and if you ar getting a stupid answer from a rep at the crad centre on the back of the card ask for a supervisor they WILL know the correct answer
I have a large business account with AT&T and my biz rep told me that the reason they do rebated this way is because, statistically, only about 15% of rebates are used and that the excess money goes back to AT&T. It’s a huge fraud to their customers.
Wow, I figured that they were counting on some of the rebates never being used, but that’s incredible if only 15% ever get used! That’s nuts.
You really do have to push to talk to a supervisor. We just got off the phone with at&t and the lady would not accept our card for our bill and said we could not use it for gas or any other shopping. She told us the rebate is only for at&t accessories. I wonder how much commission she gets?
She had no idea what she was talking about. But, imagine how many people end up believing her…
i have never had a problem with rebate cards…..the thing to do is…..
50.00 rebate card -41.50 purchase=leave 8.50 on card. Next purchase is 10.00. you have to pay balance down to exact amount or less left on card….in this case i would pay 1.50 on my debit card, and the final payment would be with the rebate card for 8.50
the rebate has to be the final payment, you can’t use it to bring the balance down to 1.50, and then pay that with debit, it worn’t work.
I can’t even find how to activate the stupid card. It is from AT&T.
Any advice?
I have returned the documentation and my original IMEI (cut from the box). Folowing week I got an SMS from ATT rebates stating that they are processing my rebate. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail: “we are unable to process your request because you did not meet the requirements: Receipt and no IMEI bar code” I have sent both IN ORIGINAL, because that what they said, and no I ended up with no paperworks and a big hole in the original box with no serial and IMEI. What can be done, this is crazy! I’m gonna call first thing in the morning.