Melbourne Mother Issues Cautionary Tale to Australians After Disturbing Apple Gift Card Incident

A Melbourne resident has expressed frustration with Coles after spending $2,000 on Apple gift cards, only to find they were tampered with and unusable.

Georgia Perry, a 40-year-old from Yarraville, purchased four $500 Apple gift cards on May 19, motivated by a promotion that promised a significant boost in Flybuys points.

The deal, which offered 20 times the regular Flybuys points, was what prompted her to buy the cards, intending to use them for a new iPhone purchase.

However, when she attempted to use the cards, she discovered that the redemption codes had already been scratched off, rendering them invalid.

“I had the phone ready to purchase, and as I opened the gift cards to enter the codes, I realized they were missing,” Perry recounted to the Daily Mail.

“At first, I thought I might have accidentally scratched them off while opening the package, but then I found the same issue with the next card… it was like watching a nightmare unfold,” she added.

Ms Perry said she immediately went back to the store she purchased the gift cards from in hopes of receiving a refund, however it fell on deaf ears.

‘They said they’d seen similar things happen before and kept saying there was nothing they could do as it is a third party product’ she said. 

‘But if you buy a loaf of bread and its completely moldy and you took it back, well isn’t that a third party product they’ve got from somewhere? 

‘As far as I know, I’m at the checkout giving them the money – if it’s a deal they have with these gift card providers, then they’re obviously getting something from it.’

To make matters worse, Ms Perry said she’s received a ‘lacklustre’ response from Coles after only receiving automated messages and emails from them so far.

Frustrated by the ordeal, Ms Perry took to social media to share her experience and said she’s been overwhelmed by the response.

‘Since I posted about this, hundreds of people have messaged me with tales of similar things happening for months, even years. So if this is a known issue, and they are so easily tampered with or made defective, then why are they not behind the counter?’ she said.

‘Why are the cards not where they sell the cigarettes? Why are they so blasé about it?

‘Coles makes record profits every year- if this is such a rampant issue, why not use some of that money to have a department that investigates this type of fraud.

‘Also, if you can’t guarantee a product, don’t sell it!’

She said she will never shop at Coles again after the frustrating ordeal

It comes just days after Coles was found to have misled shoppers with illusory discounts in a landmark case brought by the consumer watchdog.

‘They use all this advanced AI technology and surveillance for all of us, so why are they not closely monitoring these card stands and why are they not interested in trying to (work out) who is doing this?’

A Coles spokesperson told the Daily Mail the supermarket was aware of the matter and has been in ‘regular contact’ with Ms Perry to investigate the issue. 

‘We are also working closely with our supplier as part of our investigation into the gift cards involved,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Gift cards are managed through a specialist support process, which is why the customer was directed to contact our Customer Care team so the matter could be formally reviewed and investigated.

‘We understand how frustrating situations like this can be and we take reports involving gift cards very seriously. Protecting our customers and investigating suspected tampering or scam activity is extremely important to us.’

The Daily Mail understands gift cards are treated as cash equivalents and cannot be refunded or replaced in store.