A Peninsula woman is raising concerns about the issues she's having with Apple gift cards.
“I'm out $200,” said math teacher Jill Sebben.
Jill Sebben said that's a calculation she's been frustrated about lately.
According to Jill, it all started when she bought a $100 Apple gift card for her daughter Samantha Sebben at a Safeway near her San Mateo home. Her daughter scanned the card numbers with her phone and it came back invalid.
That’s when Jill called Apple.
“Apple told me that the card had suspected fraud. And that I should go back to Safeway, talk to the management at Safeway and tell them that I should get another card,” she said.
Jill went back to the Safeway and they said it was Apple's problem. But they opened up a case with their gift card department.
She went to a nearby Rite Aid to get another Apple gift card for her daughter. It turns out that one was invalid as well. Then, she returned to the Rite Aid and they told her the same thing.
“No one's taking blame, and I don't know who's to blame,” Jill said.
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Unfortunately, the scammers are to blame and turns out there are lots of scams involving Apple gift cards and others.
NBC Bay Area reached out to Safeway and to Rite Aid about the issues with the gift cards, but they haven't responded.
Jill and Samantha ultimately decided to go to their local Apple Store to buy a gift card.
“I wanted to go directly to the store. So I knew I wouldn't have a problem, and I wasn't out any more money,” said Samantha.
Jill said she buys gift cards a lot and she's not sure how scammers swiped the value of the two Apple cards she bought.
But from now on, she said she'll steer away from cards that are hanging in supermarkets and other stores and buy the ones that are locked up behind a counter instead.
“That might be a good idea. You know, cigarettes are locked up. $100 gift card is worth a lot more than a pack of cigarettes,” Jill said.
