Warning on using Carnival Gift Cards

[pms4104]

Yes, thanks to the OP for posting this warning. I had no idea Carnival did not require the PIN when they accept the cards for payment.

 

We are new to Carnival, tho not to cruising. After we booked a Journey sailing for early 2017, way back at end-2015, I came to this Carnival forum to learn about the Carnival product and experience. When I found the threads about the discounted gift cards thru AARP, I placed a couple of orders over 3-4 months to cover our fare and grats at the lower rate, as well as omboard spending ... a total of $3700 in cards. Checked the value when we got the cards, and again yesterday after reading this thread... all were fine.

 

By this morning, I decided to use most of them to early-pay much of our balance, even tho final is not due til Dec ... while I liked the 10 percent discount, it could have become quite costly if our cards zeroed out thru either a clerical error or creative criminality. Carnival really needs to update their system to require a PIN ... NOW, NOT OCTOBER.

 

Thank you!!!

[mpdog42]

I used 5 $100 cards on my last Cruise in March. Think I will do some checking before I buy again!

 

Thanks

 

Michael

[vbecky]

I too had this happen to me. My son had purchased for us for Christmas 2 e gift cards from Amazon.com for carnival. When I went to use them there was no pin to ever input. I called amazon they said to call carnival. Carnival did really try to help but was nothing they could do, the certificates kept showing invalid. After about 4 months of fighting with Amazon thry did credit us back in Amazon credit for amts of certifica9. They don't sell them anymore and not sure who was at fault, was just glad got our money back. So maybe keep on with Amazon maybe you will too!

[mistyinca]

Well that was fast!

 

I just purchased an excursion using a carnival gift card, and it asked for a pin. So I checked the make a payment portal, and it asks for a pin as well, so looks like they're tightening it up again thanks to this thread.

[firemanbobswife]

Well that was fast!

 

 

 

I just purchased an excursion using a carnival gift card, and it asked for a pin. So I checked the make a payment portal, and it asks for a pin as well, so looks like they're tightening it up again thanks to this thread.

 

 

Good to know! Now if they would just get it fixed to where you make purchases in the Fun Shops with gift cards, there would be a lot of happy campers including myself.

[mistyinca]

Good to know! Now if they would just get it fixed to where you make purchases in the Fun Shops with gift cards, there would be a lot of happy campers including myself.

 

I know right!

[wemjam]

One thing I don't see anyone mentioning is, why do you not contact your credit card company and dispute the charge? If Amazon sold you these cards, and they are not good, then your credit card company should go to bat for you and issue you credit immediately while they resolve it with the retailer!

 

I too have purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift cards to date to use toward cruises and on board, and have no issue with any of them... but you better believe that if I went to use one and it was a zero balance and the seller (Amazon, AARP, Citibank, whoever) didn't want to deal with the problem, the first thing I would do is be on the phone to my credit card company filling out a dispute and getting credit back!

 

Another word to the wise, ALWAYS immediately check your balance as soon as you receive them and if you pre-buy for down the road, check them before you leave for your cruise... so you don't get blind sided on board when you try to use them... at least then you can start the process of disputing right away...

[Sugaree5335]

One thing I don't see anyone mentioning is, why do you not contact your credit card company and dispute the charge? If Amazon sold you these cards, and they are not good, then your credit card company should go to bat for you and issue you credit immediately while they resolve it with the retailer!

 

I too have purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift cards to date to use toward cruises and on board, and have no issue with any of them... but you better believe that if I went to use one and it was a zero balance and the seller (Amazon, AARP, Citibank, whoever) didn't want to deal with the problem, the first thing I would do is be on the phone to my credit card company filling out a dispute and getting credit back!

 

Another word to the wise, ALWAYS immediately check your balance as soon as you receive them and if you pre-buy for down the road, check them before you leave for your cruise... so you don't get blind sided on board when you try to use them... at least then you can start the process of disputing right away...

 

I was under the impression that the OP tried to dispute via the CC company but because so much time had passed between when she bought the cards and when she discovered that they had been fraudulently used that the CC company wouldn't help. Which is somewhat understandable.

[luv2trvlnow]

One thing I don't see anyone mentioning is, why do you not contact your credit card company and dispute the charge? If Amazon sold you these cards, and they are not good, then your credit card company should go to bat for you and issue you credit immediately while they resolve it with the retailer!

 

I too have purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift cards to date to use toward cruises and on board, and have no issue with any of them... but you better believe that if I went to use one and it was a zero balance and the seller (Amazon, AARP, Citibank, whoever) didn't want to deal with the problem, the first thing I would do is be on the phone to my credit card company filling out a dispute and getting credit back!

 

Another word to the wise, ALWAYS immediately check your balance as soon as you receive them and if you pre-buy for down the road, check them before you leave for your cruise... so you don't get blind sided on board when you try to use them... at least then you can start the process of disputing right away...

 

I have been following this thread. Some people did check when they first got the cards. They had the correct balance. But when they went to use them a few months later the balance was zero. Someone used them.

 

Also a lot of the credit card companies won't help you if the purchase was more than 90 days ago. So if you purchased them in December and it is now August the 90 days is past and they don't help. If you check post #52 on this thread you see someone did file with their credit card company but was denied.

Edited August 26, 2016 by luv2trvlnow

[JROBTX]

If these were eGift Cards, I'm thinking you need to go back to your Amazon. Check your order history. My guess is the email address was changed. This happened to me on some work Amazon gift cards. I sent out some spot awards gift cards. The receivers didn't go in and redeem the cards for a few months (they were waiting on Black Friday). And when they went to redeem them they were already used.

 

After investigating, I found out my account had been hacked, they changed the email address, sent the cards to themselves and used the value. We caught it too late. Amazon kept telling us that they were investigating. That they would refund me in 10 days. We finally had to take the hit and reorder the gift cards. Since it's a large corporation, there was a lot of paperwork to deal with and interviews by controllers. :eek:

 

PS. I would also change your Amazon sign in and password. You can also set it up where you have to put in a numeric code that is sent thru text or an app. (I have an app). I use this at work. You can set it so that computers you use frequently are exempt.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[sturderick]

I'm sure everyone's cards are fine :cool:. If you want to check just to make sure, here is the link:

 

https://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/BalanceInquiry.aspx

[JROBTX]

They went thru my whole account. There was one from about 4 years ago for a smaller amount. I think it was an inside job but I couldn't get ahold of anyone high enough to do anything. My corporation didn't think it was enough to go to the police. But if I were you and you find the email address have been changed, I would file one.

[cruzelover55]

I LOVE Amazon, super great prices and I have always had great customer service and returns. I have never bought a gift card through them though. BUT, I think that their security is a lot sketchy. I have received email that has the amazon logo, and thought nothing about opening it up, as I was expecting a shipment from them and thought it pertained to that. It looked legit, but, when they started asking social security numbers and other info, knew it was not. I clicked out of it and called them and they had me forward the email to abuse. That made me worry, so I change my password every month. That happened about a year ago. Then just yesterday, I got an email from Chase/Amazon, I had applied for the card to get $50. off my purchase. Paid it and never planned on using it again. I thought from the subject line that they were offering me some sort of deal to get me to use the card again. I didn't remember my password so clicked on, "forgot password", instantly I was asked for my S.S.# Again, got off and called Chase, and the ironic part is I got the phone # from the bogus email! Sneaky, scary, stuff!:eek:

[JJALMM]

I made a payment with a Carnival gift card last night and the Carnival web site is now requiring a PIN.

Edited August 26, 2016 by JJALMM

[kctwinmommy]

I made a payment with a Carnival gift card last night and the Carnival web site is now requiring a PIN.

 

I remembered seeing this thread the other day and had actually gone to make my payment. Now I ordered our GC's through AARP a few months ago. I thought I would do a partial payment with the GC's I had in my possession already. But then I realized I needed to pay all at once (or I couldn't figure out how to do partial payment, which was fine). I could wait until today, hoping to receive the other 3 GC's I ordered earlier this week. Anyway, when I was doing it at the beginning of the week, I KNOW I didn't need to put in a PIN because I entered them all and never scratched off the PIN. Today, having all 8 GC's in my hands, I made our final payment. And lo and behold, I had to scratch off all the PIN's in order to enter them! I was shocked to see that had changed so quickly! But that's how it should be for sure!!

[ddlb]

The truth is this is Carnival's issue. The gift cards are produced with a pin for a reason. Anyone can get the numbers off the back of the cards. Watch for someone to buy them and then use them. The PIN number with the scratch off is suppose to be a security feature to protect the buyer. A simple change in software would require the PIN number in addition to the serial number. If it starts happening more and more someone who sue Carnival. Their gift cards are not secure.

 

You are absolutely correct. I have read most of these posts and am astounded when people say it is not Carnival's fault! Of course it is for not demanding the pin # when they apply the funds to a purchase. On the other hand when the card was purchased if it never had the correct amount on it to begin with that would be the seller's fault and they should be held liable. Surely Amazon woud have some recourse in a situation like this (I love Amazon). I was going to get some Carnival gift cards and now I do not want to risk it. $10 savings per $100 is just not worth it to me in spite of "thousands" of people not getting taken. I feel so sorry for the OP and what she had to go through. I would be beside myself!

Edited September 10, 2016 by ddlb

[southbayer]

Mine that I bought from Lowes had pin numbers on them, that I had needed, to check my balance.

 

Certain things you don't want to buy from Amazon, like any type of cards, anything gold or jewelry items - basically items you would receive and then say somethings wrong with no way to prove it.

 

I know, I know, someones gonna say I'm hating on Amazon, I'm not, I'm a Prime Member... And someones gonna say, I buy those things all the time with no problem. Well, the OP had a problem. Buyer beware.

[picomullet]

I'm sure everyone's cards are fine :cool:. If you want to check just to make sure, here is the link:

 

https://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/BalanceInquiry.aspx

 

Thanks for the link!!

[brianjardin]

There are a computer program that Will continually enter gift card numbers into the what’s my balance section on a companies website. These numbers are then sold online as digital gift cards for a discount. THese people buying assume they have the only version of this card #. But there’s is a physical card also purchased at a store or website.

The person whom uses the balance first gets the good end of the deal leaving the other purchaser with a zero balance. This happens with all sorts of businesses.

[MARK AND GARRY]

I hate Amazon!!!   I have worked next door to the new Amazon here in Baton Rouge La.  I have watch the employees steal packages off the banks and put them in their cars.  I have recorded this and reported to a manager on duty.  I have seen them put packages in bushes and come back later for them.  If you think this is a great company you better wake up and stop using them. 

[buckeyefrank]

On 8/18/2016 at 11:25 AM, TerReuv said:

All the Carnival gift cards I have gotten through Kroger, AARP, Citibank and Verizon all have had pins that I had to scratch off on the card. Very strange that ones from Amazon have no pin. I would check again with Amazon about why they didn't have a pin number.

Just because it was sold on Amazon, doesn't mean Amazon actually sold it.  They are becoming more and more like Ebay on a daily basis.  Virtually anyone can sell anything on Amazon.  I am going to assume that the cards were sold on the site by a 3rd party vendor, who happens to be a scammer.  Either that or the cards were valid when issued, but scammers were able to figure their way into the balance.  Without a pin, I would lean toward the first case.

[Organized Chaos]

Back when the OP started this thread in Aug., 2016, they said their cards didn't have PINs. I didn't bother with Carnival cards until I learned about the discount cards from AARP. Started buying them in early 2017. Those have always had PINs. It sounds like the OP got a hold of some fraudulent gift cards. I would assume that legitimate Carnival cards had PINs less than a year before I started buying them.

 

If you're going to buy them online, it's very important to make sure they're coming from a reputable, reliable source. Sometimes that's not always easy to determine, as the OP found out. Most would think Amazon is a reputable source, and that's normally true, but since they allow independent sellers to sell goods on the website, you run the risk of dishonesty. ALWAYS read reviews on Amazon. If there aren't a lot of reviews, I don't buy it. I don't know if the OP's listing had reviews or not, but I'd bet if more people got the same result as they did, the reviews would reflect that.

 

Never buy Carnival cards from an individual seller on eBay. There is way too much risk for the cards to be empty. That's not to say there aren't legitimate sources of these cards on eBay. A couple years ago, a thread popped up on this forum about a company selling Carnival cards for 15% off. Understandably, people were skeptical, but from all the research I had done, the company was reputable. Turns out they're owned by PayPal and they have a division that sells nothing but gift cards of all kinds. Occasionally, they'll run a sale and sell them at a discount. They have an eBay store and that's what the person found back then. It's called PayPal Digital Gifts, it's on the up & up, and you can only pay through a PayPal account. I've kept an eye on their eBay store ever since then, but haven't seen the 15% off Carnival cards. But they are a legit source of gift cards on eBay (it also has its own wesite as part of PayPal's site).

 

If you ever have any doubt about a source of these gift cards, search around on the internet. You can even post a thread here and get the collective power of multiple cruisers to help find answers.

[Joe817]

Excellent advice Organized Chaos! Thank you. [ I think you should change your screen name to  VoiceOfReason. 

[JaniceB]

Make sure you keep your cards after you use them.  I had an issue and they wanted the gift card numbers, thankfully I hadn't thrown them away.  

[Mad Jayhawk]

Please be aware that Carnival cards are only good for Carnival Cruise Lines and not Princess, Holland America, and other cruise lines owned by Carnival.  I am out $90, unless I can sell them, because we do not cruise on Carnival Cruises Lines.  We normally cruise on Princess or Holland America.