Be careful ordering gem cards on Amazon

Heads up - The gem cards that are being sent out from the Amazon store are defective as they're missing the redeemable code. Other people have been reporting this issue in reviews for the cards.

Are they being sold by Amazon, or by a 3rd party on Amazon?

In the past the only issues I had was trying to read the bloody code. O and 0, 5 and S... whoever prints them never choose a font that is clear with their dot matrix printing.Fortunately, Anet's CS was willing to work with me to figure out the correct valid number of it.

Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

Amazon Gift Cards and such.

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?

Sometimes Amazon has lower prices than ANet. Also, those with Amazon Credit Cards get benefits (in effect, a modest discount) on every purchase made on their site, making it cheaper still.

Plus, as @Tanner Blackfeather.6509 points out: some people have gift cards from Amazon, probably orders of magnitude more players than are given ANet gift cards.

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

Call it old-fashioned. I want to have my money in my hands, so I see where it goes. I use internet banking because I have to. But whenever it is possible I use solid money made of paper or coins or cards. I see the money, I see how much it is and I think twice if I really need this item. When browsing any virtual store, you just click your stuff and easily lose track. For subscription based games I use pre-paid cards as well and I really hope they never abandon this option in any game.

Also every bigger company with a large database of bank-account data sooner or later gets hacked. Some are brave enough to warn their community, some try to hide the issue. I do not want to risk my bank-account safety due to some convenience issue.

My wife and I got 3 from Amazon after Christmas, cause we didn't know what else to get with stuff we returned. Didn't have any problem.

@OneYenShort.3189 said:Are they being sold by Amazon, or by a 3rd party on Amazon?

Very good question.Stuff sold (and/or fulfilled) by Amazon comes with one type of guarantee. Stuff sold by 3rd parties via Amazon's Marketplace are handled differently. It's always worth checking.(If there's a problem on a Amazon-sold card, they'll make good on it.)

Generally speaking, I wouldn't buy anything with a redemption code from a 3rd Party via Amazon unless that company has a long-term relationship with Amazon (plus, of course, overwhelmingly positive reviews). I've gotten some great products for cheap from 3rd parties... and some products that just barely match the description, if interpreted creatively enough to avoid legal trouble. It's usually easy to follow-up on physical products that don't work properly, but it's often trickier with redemption codes.

For me, it's just easier to spend a very few extra bucks and avoid the risk entirely.

tl;dr check who the seller is before buying gem cards on Amazon

uhmm, the question is more, why amazon when there are so many other alternative and cheaper ones.can't trust them anyway.

I've bought about 20 Gem cards from Amazon without any difficulty except sometimes the printing of O and 0, 5 and S being hard to distinguish. Since I have Amazon Prime and an Amazon Prime Credit card I get 5% off and no shipping charge.

They make nice gifts to others who I know play GW2.

I would NEVER buy something like this from a 3rd Party - only Amazon as the seller.

I haven't bought gem cards in years, but I can see why Amazon: you can tell from the comfort of your computer chair whether they are in stock, click to order, and get them in the mail soon after. I see enough threads from people saying their local brick and mortars don't even carry the cards.

As to the missing codes, yeah -- I have a guildie who ordered some cards with Christmas money. They did come blank, he reported it to both Support and Amazon. Lo and behold, Amazon just sent replacements without checking with him if that was what he wanted (and one of those was also blank, lol), meanwhile Support credited the gems to him. So he told Support he'd gotten more from Amazon and asked them to deduct the extras from his account; Support was super nice, thanked him for his honesty, and let him keep the gems. They did ask him to only report future blanks to them, however, so this duplicate credit wouldn't happen again.

TLDR Amazon does indeed have shippers sending defective cards; if you get blank cards from Amazon, take a picture of them and submit a ticket to Support rather than futzing with Amazon.

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, the question is more, why amazon when there are so many other alternative and cheaper ones.can't trust them anyway.

Where can you get cheaper ones that are more trustworthy than Amazon?

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies.

I purchased from the listing that sells the 2000 gems cards for $25. The item was sold by Amazon.com Services, Inc. No funny business here. The reason I purchased the cards through Amazon is that I had something else I wanted to order and figured I'd throw some money ArenaNet's way. Plus, I like getting packages in the mail. :)

As some other posters suggested, I contacted ArenaNet to see if they can help. If not, I'll just hit Amazon up and see if they can refund or replace.

Buy gems online in the GW2 ingame shop. If I decide to buy gems, I want them NOW. Immediately. I don't want to wait one second. So I buy them ingame with credit card or whatever digital payment is offered ingame. Time to get the gems: 5 minutes. And this is secure: you are guaranteed to get the gems. Via Amazon, I have to wait at least 1 day for delivery, and I have to be home (I'm usually out at work), the key may be defective, and it's not cheaper. It's the same price (1.25 cent per gem). Cheaper offers only come from the marketplace, from some 3rd party seller - not trustworthy for game keys, sorry. Don't want to put my account at any risk.

If I have some credit at Amazon, I keep it until I buy some real stuff from them. Books, computer equipment, whatever. Amazon even sells underwear. The credit doesn't expire any time soon. It waits.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"sorudo.9054" said:uhmm, the question is more, why amazon when there are so many other alternative and cheaper ones.can't trust them anyway.

i buy them here but it's dutch:https://igiftcards.nl/guildwars/

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, the question is more, why amazon when there are so many other alternative and cheaper ones.can't trust them anyway.

You think Amazon doesn't have issues.. try telling my daughter that when I bought a brand new laptop for her last year.. the seller had a decent review, the laptop was a good price, good brand.. money was transacted and then the scam hit.. the seller, via Amazon apologised as they were unable to fulfil the order, in fact they didn't even sell laptops and Amazon acknowledged that the advert and their portal were compromised.. I eventually got my money back 28 days later from Amazon... I actually got the same HP laptop for her from an actual store outside of town for less so the deal on amazon wasn't that great afterall... of course I actually had to leave the house and get in the car to go get it so that was a bummer :)That said it's the only time I have had an issue with Amazon.. paypal/ebay.. now that's another cuttle of fish entirely.I have bought a few game cards from G2A.com without the slightest issue, but mostly I just buy gems via the gemstore.

@Bloodstealer.5978 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, the question is more, why amazon when there are so many other alternative and cheaper ones.can't trust them anyway.

i would disagree about paypal, it's saver then a credit card and accepted around the world.that, and the security is so tight anyone even trying to login has quite some balls to do so, they are not so nice towards unauthorized logins.

yeah tell that to my bank.. used in once on ebay a few years back .. went to new York for a break with the kids... mysterious 3p reverse transaction had apparently been made then.. bamm £1200 taken of my bank out then £700 before I even knew it... paypal's answer was yeah this happens sometimes.. no apology just totally acceptance they had a problem... never used it since. thankfully my bank credited money back in my account within 24hrs.. we enjoyed our Christmas break in the big apple and cancelled paypal account and never went back.Heck I still remember the scums name ...Al-Khatoubi

I've purchased two gem cards from Amazon (directly from them, not a third-party seller). One worked without issue, the other didn't. It just immediately returns an error when attempting to use it.

I reached out to support and hopefully they can fix it, otherwise I'm probably looking at an extensive hassle with Amazon. I don't think I'll be going the Amazon route for gems again.

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

This is precisely why I buy my gems cards from a physical store.

Perhaps that's why I always by my gems in-game.Never had any issues.

@Endless Soul.5178 said:

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

Buying directly from Amazon has always been fine (.ca ) for me until amazon canada quit stocking them. Now it's 3rd party resellers only, that sell them for 2-3xs over face value! It's the 3rd party resellers that are the problem that amazon allows to sell things at ridiculous prices through their site. Perhaps complaining to Amazon about the sale would be a better option. BTW there is no longer any 'physical stores' where you can buy cards up here in Ontario. They are not supplied by Anet. Its' ANets loss in the long run.

@Blude.6812 said:

@Endless Soul.5178 said:

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

@Zedek.8932 said:Just out of curiousity, why would you want to buy them off Amazon in the first place?I could understand buying them in a store when you are below the age to have any virtual payment options. But buying it via Amazon defeats that point.

Yes, the sources for buying physical cards are drying up in my area too (Southern California). I used to be able to get them at Target, Best Buy, and GameStop, now I can only find them at Walmart. ~eww~

@"Chickenooble.5014" said:Hey everyone, thanks for the replies.

I purchased from the listing that sells the 2000 gems cards for $25. The item was sold by Amazon.com Services, Inc. No funny business here. The reason I purchased the cards through Amazon is that I had something else I wanted to order and figured I'd throw some money ArenaNet's way. Plus, I like getting packages in the mail. :)

As some other posters suggested, I contacted ArenaNet to see if they can help. If not, I'll just hit Amazon up and see if they can refund or replace.

next time don't waste your time and contact Amazon directly. I am sure others have had different experiences but I have never in years had a bad experience with their customer support and they ALWAYS resolve the issue. Often they just refund my money or send me a new item.

They will make it right for you just give them a chance. For the volume of sales they are doing they really have great customer service.

@jbrother.1340 said:

@"Chickenooble.5014" said:Hey everyone, thanks for the replies.

I purchased from the listing that sells the 2000 gems cards for $25. The item was sold by Amazon.com Services, Inc.

No funny business here. The reason I purchased the cards through Amazon is that I had something else I wanted to order and figured I'd throw some money ArenaNet's way. Plus, I like getting packages in the mail. :)

As some other posters suggested, I contacted ArenaNet to see if they can help. If not, I'll just hit Amazon up and see if they can refund or replace.

I'd guess the issue was resolved months ago.