Help! I redeemed Marriott points for $800 in gift cards and now they're lost
Quick summary
TPG reader Deborah Myhand recently redeemed over 400,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a variety of gift cards. She received most of her order, but $800 in Lowe's and Amazon gift cards got lost in the mail. Twice.
Marriott reissued the missing gift cards the first time, but the second time was a different story.
Now, with Marriott unwilling to refund the 240,000 points Myhand redeemed for the missing cards, or the cash equivalent ($800), she's asking TPG for help. She doesn't think it's fair that Marriott wants her to accept the loss as her own.
What happened to those gift cards, and does Marriott really expect its customer to take the $800 hit?
That's what TPG wanted to find out.
Redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points for gift cards
When Myhand discovered that she could cash in her Marriott Bonvoy points for gift cards from her favorite merchants, she was thrilled.
"We had so many points and thought that it would be a great idea to redeem them for gift cards," Myhand told me. "I ordered gift cards from Amazon, PetSmart, Buffalo Wild Wings and Lowe's."
For a variety of reasons, this decision would turn out to be a bad idea. For starters, for anyone looking to get the best value for their Marriott Bonvoy points, redeeming them for gift cards is not the way to go.
TPG currently values Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.84 cents per point. But exchanging those points through the Marriott site for gift cards reduces their value to just about 0.3 cents per point.
Myhand hadn't done the calculations before her shopping spree, or she might not have been so thrilled to spend 420,000 of her Marriott points for just several hundred dollars' worth of gift cards. But the points were spent, and she was looking forward to the purchases she was planning to make with her cards.
The gift cards never arrived
Initially, things went as planned and Myhand started receiving some of the physical gift cards that she had ordered in the mail.
But soon she noticed a problem. The deliveries stopped coming and she still had not received $800 in Lowe's and Amazon gift cards.
"I was keeping careful records since I ordered so many cards," Myhand assured me. "Suddenly, I realized I was missing $200 in Amazon gift cards and $600 in Lowe's cards."
When Myhand alerted Marriott of the problem, an agent confirmed that the gift cards had been mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to her home address. But he agreed that it seemed the cards had been lost somewhere along the way and quickly issued new ones.
But the replacement cards would go amiss, too.
Marriott: 'We can only replace your gift cards one time'
Myhand waited two weeks for the replacement cards before she contacted Marriott again. But this time, the friendly customer service agents told her that there would be no further resolution.
"They said the policy was to replace only one misdirected gift card. There was nothing further they could do for me," Mehand related. "I couldn't believe it! I did nothing wrong. But I should lose $800?"
Myhand tried multiple times to reason with Marriott agents, but they remained firm: There was nothing more that could be done on their end.
Feeling frustrated and confused, Myhand thought of one more place she might be able to find help: The Points Guy.
She sent her request for help to tips@thepointsguy.com and crossed her fingers.
"I hoped TPG could help me!" she told me later. "I was desperate."
Asking Marriott to look into the gift card issue
When Myhand's case landed on my desk, she was extremely desperate. She had no idea how Marriott could wash its hands of her complaint.
"I just redeemed my Bonvoy points and hoped to get some gift cards. I never received them. How is it my responsibility for Marriott to deliver those gift cards?"
It appeared that Marriott had, in total, sent over $1,400 in gift cards to Myhand in the mail without any insurance or tracking.
When I read through her experience, I also wondered why Marriott would have sent such a high-value envelope to Myhand without any way of confirming delivery.
As a consumer advocate, I know that gift card theft is rampant. This was clearly a fiasco just waiting to happen.
It was time for me to ask Marriott about its gift card delivery system.
Should a Marriott customer be responsible for a gift card interception?
I found it hard to believe that Marriott would truly expect its customer to accept an $800 loss after it had casually dropped those gift cards in the mail, so I reached out to our executive contact at the company. This is a representative that I can contact as a member of the media and a consumer advocate, not a public-facing customer service agent.
I wrote:
Hi *****,
Deborah Myhand and her husband are "Lifetime Elite" and "Ambassador Elite" Marriott members [Myhand did not specify which tier of lifetime status she and her husband hold]. She has been busy redeeming Marriott points for various gift cards during the past several months. She ordered six Lowe's ($100) gift cards (180,000 Bonvoy points) which she never received. They appear to have been mailed via the U.S. Postal Service with no tracking code.
She filed a complaint, and a Marriott representative said that she could send "one courtesy replacement order." This replacement order was apparently also sent out with no tracking number and no delivery confirmation required. Deborah says she never received this replacement order, either. And now Marriott is saying there is no way to track the cards to see if they've been used or if they were sent in the first place. She says Marriott told her the case is closed now that there is nothing else that can be done.
I'm not sure why she redeemed more points for more cards. She also ordered four Amazon gift cards ($100 each), and she only received two. Again, Marriott told her that there is no way to track these transactions.
So now she has redeemed points for $800 worth of gift cards she never received. Is it typical to send out such high-value gift cards in a way that can't be traced? Without confirmation?
Would you be able to see if your team could review this case and see what's going on? Thank you!
After my outreach, good news came very quickly for Myhand.
The good news: Marriott will replace those gift cards
Marriott agreed that it wasn't fair that Myhand should be responsible for the missing gift cards, which were likely intercepted. Because there was clearly someone or something preventing the cards from being delivered to Myhand, Marriott proposed a new resolution.
"Hallelujah," Myand wrote me. "As you can see ... Marriott gave us a new option to pick up the reissued cards at a local Marriott. We picked up our $800 of Marriott gift cards today that we would absolutely not have received without your expertise and leverage. They had said, 'It's our policy, our hands are tied.' No replacement at all. Basically ... too bad!!!! You are amazing. We'll tell everyone being mistreated by a business to definitely give TPG a 'call.'
"You made them honor their gift card program. I'm so proud of you. Beyond thank you."
And with that, we can successfully close one more case in favor of consumers and TPG.
How to protect yourself when buying gift cards
Unfortunately, gift card theft and fraud are common. Many consumers who contact me are unaware of the pitfalls of ordering gift cards through the mail.
Here's what you need to know about buying, storing and using gift cards to protect yourself.
Be careful where and how you buy your gift cards
Scammers love gift cards because they're just like cash — once stolen, they are nearly untraceable. Protecting yourself from becoming a victim of gift card theft begins at the point of sale.
One particular gift card scam happens when thieves remove a pile of cards from the rack at a store, peel back the covering and scan the numbers. Then they will return the cards to the display stand for an unsuspecting consumer to purchase. When a customer buys the gift card and the cashier activates it, the criminal is alerted and quickly spends the value — often before the victim even leaves the store.
Always carefully inspect the packaging if you purchase gift cards inside a brick-and-mortar store. If there appears to be any tampering, do not buy that card. Instead, report it to the cashier so no other consumer becomes victimized.
It's best to do your gift card shopping elsewhere if you find any compromised cards since thieves rarely contain their scheme to just one item on the rack in a particular store.
If you buy your gift cards online, as Myhand did, you should only do so if the seller will ship the items to you with a tracking number. Sending high-value gift cards through the mail without any means of tracing or insuring them is a recipe for disaster, as we saw in this case. You wouldn't dream of mailing an envelope stuffed with cash and dropping it off in a mailbox. Sending an envelope full of gift cards is the same thing.
Likewise, never buy gift cards online from a merchant who won't provide a means to protect your purchase should someone intercept it along the way.
Always treat your gift cards like cash
Once you have your gift cards in hand, make sure that you treat them like cash — because that is how the issuers of the cards view them. If you lose your cards or they're stolen, it is not likely that the merchant will replace them or honor their value. Read the terms and conditions of your gift card to be certain that you understand how to use it and if there are any restrictions or expiration dates.
Spend your gift cards quickly
The longer you hold on to a gift card, the more likely you will lose it, forget about it or have it stolen. The best way to avoid this outcome is to spend those cards as quickly as possible.
Alert the gift card provider
If you discover a problem with your gift card, it's crucial to alert the issuer ASAP. In some cases, if you inform the gift card issuer quickly enough, it may be able to cancel the card and any pending transactions. There is typically a number on the back of your card that you can use to check the balance and report problems.
If you're unable to reach anyone who can help at the provided number, my advocacy organization, Consumer Rescue, provides an executive customer service contact finder. You tell us what company you've got a problem with, and we'll give you the name and email address of a real person who we know can help you there.
Bottom line
We're happy we were able to help sort out this problem for Myhand. She won't have to bear the $800 loss because she contacted TPG. But if she hadn't, she may just have been out of luck.
Consumers should always approach the purchase, storage and spending of gift cards cautiously. Most gift card loss can be avoided by taking the steps outlined above.
And in general, you'll get more value from your Marriott points by redeeming them for travel rather than merchandise, including gift cards, so think about saving them for a trip instead.
If you have a problem with a credit card company, airline, cruise line, car rental agency, hotel, or tour operator, you can send your request for help to tips@thepointsguy.com, and I'll be happy to investigate and hopefully help you, too.
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