• CardPool

CardPool

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Overview

CardPool has a rating of 1.9 stars from 761 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about CardPool most frequently mention gift cards, customer service, and phone number problems. CardPool ranks 122nd among Gift Cards sites.

  • Service
    75
  • Value
    71
  • Shipping
    62
  • Returns
    44
  • Quality
    63
30
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How would you rate CardPool?
Top Positive Review

“CardPool Worked Fine For Me! These Other Reviews Are Probably Stupid lol”

John C.
2/13/18

I'm not sure why this site has so many bad reviews. As a person who used to own a survey site, it's probably from people not following directions, or trying to use the card after they sold it. It worked perfectly for me, I sold two cards, a Macy's card that I got from swagbucks and a Victoria Secret card that I gave to a Tinder chick and took it back from her after I found out she got some more side dudes without asking me first. Got my check in about 5 biz days.

Top Critical Review

“Scam! They take your money and take forever IF they send you your gift card!”

Megan P.
4/1/19

I bought gift cards for one merchant and they were electronic but took too long to get to me through e-mail (which should be almost instant)... the item I was trying to purchase went out of stock and then back off sale back to its original price which was double the amount. $300 instead of on sale for $150 when I bought the gift cards. I've been e-mailing for a month now and NO responses, not a single one! Then I purchased a gift card last week and still have not received it. Other sites I've used I get the gift card within 15 mins... this one I'm lucky if I get it at all and definitely no refunds whatsoever... don't waste your money even if they price for a bigger discount it's not worth losing a couple of hundred dollars or more. The screenshot shows their one automated response saying they will get back to me... but when? In a few years?

Reviews (761)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

gift card (481) customer service (161) gift cards (481) phone number (54) business day (81) credit card (76)
Thumbnail of user terris9
1 review
4 helpful votes
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July 6th, 2014

O stars, there is no phone number to reach these people... If you have a problem you are screwed. I've sent two emails with no response... scam!

Thumbnail of user marks318
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 7th, 2016

Submitted Best Buy $50 card on Friday, got e card following thursday for $46.91 as promised. Perfect transaction. A+++++++++++

Service
Value
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Quality
Thumbnail of user adrianh43
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 12th, 2018

Great service, easy to do, fast payment, got the most money for my gift card compared to other sites.

Thumbnail of user lindal280
1 review
3 helpful votes
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October 25th, 2017

Reported a fraud order and the bought card has no money inside! 3 days passed, No response from cardpool!

Thumbnail of user lisag222
1 review
2 helpful votes
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August 18th, 2017

Takes way too long. No working. No customer service number. Respond to emails in a "few" days. Totally ridiculous.

Thumbnail of user cheryll5
8 reviews
16 helpful votes
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June 19th, 2012

This company must be really inconsistent. I have sold several cards to them and have always had good luck!

Thumbnail of user jamiel14
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 14th, 2012

Sold a large volume of gift cards to Cardpool, expecting a quick turnaround on payment like Plastic Jungle, only to find myself at the beginning of what would turn into a TWO AND A HALF MONTH long transaction to get what was owed to me. First off, they do not communicate with their customers which means that when a $240 gift card disappears off of your account without notification, YOU have to follow up with them to get them to mail it back when they decide not to accept it! Yes, that's right - they removed the gift card from my account without notification and did not offer to send it back until I demanded it back! The balance was intact, and whatever reason they chose not to take it after initially accepting it and promising a check - it's more shameful that they surely would have kept the card had I not hassled them.

Then, with this snafu, they'll probably just forget to send you your check. At that point, don't expect any replies to your emails or attempts to contact their parent company BlackHawk. I should have gone straight to the BBB. Which, by the way, took a month on its own because Cardpool ignored the BBB complaint until I threatened them wit a deadline - and they were risking their accreditation. After all of this, barely an apology and I don't doubt that many people like myself fall through the cracks until they get a third party involved liked the BBB. I can't say whether or not Cardpool is a scam or not but the completely negligent and frankly sketchy way this transaction unfolded leads me to believe that it's part of their business model.

Thumbnail of user alenak10
1 review
6 helpful votes
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August 23rd, 2018

Don't waste your time. They are scum bags. I have gift card purchased from them that has 0 balance. They don't answer emails and phone calls!

Thumbnail of user christinef58
1 review
2 helpful votes
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December 3rd, 2017

I sold an Apple store card yesterday and opted for the Amazon gift card. I had my payout by late last night. Very happy with cardpool.

Thumbnail of user johnw1533
1 review
2 helpful votes
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January 22nd, 2019

I sent them a card and they said there was a problem with the PIN. No, you just dont want to pay the $25.

Total scam.

Thumbnail of user kevinw126
1 review
6 helpful votes
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June 18th, 2016

Purchased a Red Lobster gift card and order was cancelled because it was not available. Just look again and there are over 300 still for sale?

Tip for consumers:
Caution

Service
Value
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Quality
Thumbnail of user mikes1743
1 review
3 helpful votes
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April 25th, 2019

The cards are empty! They never answer the phone! Try calling customer service before you buy a card

Thumbnail of user jacobj68
1 review
5 helpful votes
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April 29th, 2019

Dont sell your card. They dont pay. This company is a total scam. Worst experience i have ever had in my life. What a nightmare

Thumbnail of user chloel3
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 12th, 2015

Just purchased 1500$ best buy e-gift card for 1440$ for the first time at card pool yesterday. And got it today! I read those reviews after i purchased the card so i was really worried for being scammed. I ordered them yesterday 5pm and this morning around 11am i got a phone call for verification, i was really suspicious about the verification calling guy so i looked up online for cardpool reviews and it made me even more worried. But then 3 hours later i got the card thru my email! :) just used them all right away at bestbuy "just in case" though. It was within 24hours and im very relieved since i used them all lol whew. No hassle for me :) the only reason im giving 4 stars is, since it was bulk order, it came with 20 different cards and by using them at the store i still had to pay 30 some dollars at the store. Which means some of those cards were missing total of 15$ish all together. I didnt have patience to go thru them and how many cards were missing a few bucks. And it was only 15$ so i gave up. Lol at least it came and i bought the product i wanted.

Thumbnail of user roshandrab
1 review
2 helpful votes
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July 30th, 2017

Avoid this company at all cost! This is a complete scam! I advise everyone to file a complaint with the better business bureau immediately!

Thumbnail of user tavians
1 review
2 helpful votes
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July 15th, 2017

I saw everyones reviews on this sight AFTER i sent them a 150$ gift card for babies r us. So I got furious and thought i wouldnt recieve it and stopped looking for it. On the 7TH DAY I GOT A CHECK FROM CARDPOOL. Once again this is not fake or made up because i careless about any of you on here lol but i can send you a picture thru *******@AtSideshowTrasii of the check. I was shocked i got it

Thumbnail of user kimb1847
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 30th, 2017

Customer service email is slow and not helpful. Cannot use moblie cards. Register at lowes says nothing in cards.

Stay far away

Thumbnail of user markd591
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 15th, 2019

Let me start off by saying that I write very little reviews, but Cardpool's service thus far has been so bad I am compelled to. I purchased 3 separate sets of gift cards on 1/4/19.2 of 3 orders were fulfilled by 1/6/19. The remaining order is still open as of 1/15/19 and I have no way to get a hold of Cardpool. This is highly unacceptable and a far cry from what their website says (often within 10 minutes, but typically within 3 business days). Mind you these were e-cards as well. This order says pending review. What are they reviewing?! If they don't have the cards cancel the order? It is a very simple transaction so I personally wonder if there pending review category just buys them time for inefficiencies in their process and/or issues with the card balances you purchase. I heard they manually validate the card balances after you order them and before they ship them. I suppose that may be good, but if they are worried the value doesn't match what they purchased (eg has changed since their acquisition of the card - how are they certain it wont change after you receive it?). Anyways, I just need to order something online and now I am stuck in a catch 22. Move ahead without the gift cards and risk being stuck with unused gift cards or wait to resolve this and risk the items I want to order go out of stock. Cardpool accepts emails and I have emailed them 2x (1/8 and 1/11) with no emailed responses. The did call me on 1/11 and left a VM (before my second email) stating that they need some additional verification from me. What could they possibly need? My name, address, CC info? This is a simple transaction folks. They should have an option to cancel order that drags on this long. The VM left a phone number (alas), but after a few greetings, which implies someone may answer (which I question the validity of), you get a VM. I have called at various times of the day and no one ever answers! I am done with Cardpool.

Thumbnail of user elliottt4
1 review
8 helpful votes
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June 18th, 2016

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. After placing an order over a week ago for an electronic gift card, they just called me to "verify" my information. The person doing this verification was extremely rude, and frankly, I do not think questions like "what cross street are you near", and "what is the telephone number for your credit card" are necessary at all. When have you ever had to give that information to place an order? I hesitantly gave them my information, and still have not received the electronic gift card I purchased from them over a week ago, and cannot get in touch with anyone over the phone. Never mind that the item I initially wanted is no longer in stock, and the gift card is useless to me. It states on their site with regards to electronic gift cards that:

"We'll typically email you with your electronic or mobile gift cards within 1 business day. During peak holiday periods, please allow 1 additional business day for processing transactions and also consider the USPS holiday delivery schedule."

My credit card has been charged, and no one is giving me any information regarding my order. Between the sketchy verification process (that everyone seems to go through), the horrible customer service, to the fact that it's been over a week and I still haven't received an_electronic_ gift card - AGAIN, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND STAYING AWAY FROM CARDPOOL.COM.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
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Thumbnail of user rachelt62
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 16th, 2016

So I bought a JCPenney giftcard today for a pretty good deal $30.81 for $22.50 (that was with their current promo running NewUser5 code) So that was great now 30 minutes later I was wondering where the electronic giftcard was and they sent a email wanting me to confirm the order and my link didnt work so I went to google and typed in CardPool order verification phone number and saw a number *******787 and this is where is all turned around. Guy that answered was very professional he said he just had a few questions to verify my identity, odd question but ones that I would only know so that was reassuring. I do appeciate the level of security they obviously offer but I do think it may be to much especially for those used to other discount card websites. After the phone call he said he would put my order to processing and that I would recieve ny gift card within 24 hours about 3 houra later I recieved my giftcard and was able to make the purchase I wanted from JCP for a steal! Overall I would use them again. That phone number though was probably a big factor in my transaction going smoothly. Hope it and this review can help you out! Thanks

Thumbnail of user brittanys91
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 21st, 2017

Did a best buy giftcard.It was accepted as a e-giftcard. I recieved my check within 3 business days.No hassle!

Thumbnail of user wayneg29
1 review
4 helpful votes
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June 29th, 2016

Bought a $102.00 gift card for $76.00 and when I went to use it, it had a ZERO balance. These people are crooks!

Thumbnail of user pauln33
1 review
2 helpful votes
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April 10th, 2014

They took my gift cards never received my money, it has been 2 months and no check, they will not even return emails, I was scammed.

Thumbnail of user nommed
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 15th, 2012

I recently sold a 200.00 dollar Lowes Gift Card to Cardpool and BOY was I shocked at how terrible their service was. First of all, they say mailing time (First Class) takes 3-7 days, which is true. However when payment was not received in three to seven days I emailed them (BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO PHONE NUMBER) asking where my check was, they forwarded me to the fine print at the bottom of the page that says it could actually take up to THREE WEEKS for me to receive my payment.
Two weeks later I email them again curious as to where my check was, and for three days I didn't get a response, so I emailed them again and finally got the response I was looking for. Apparently my check was "Lost in the mail" so they were going to send another one. Finally, after waiting over a month, I've received my check. But I'll never use them again. I've sold gift cards before through Plasticjungle.com and it was MUCH EASIER. The only downside is they put a hold for the value of the card on your account while they check on the cards validity, but they immediately deposit the money into your account afterward, which is awesome.

Thumbnail of user barrys21
1 review
2 helpful votes
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March 27th, 2014

Promised delivery of Wall Mart e-card in 24 hours. Seven days later no e-card and no response to my e-mails. Will charge back on my credit card!

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Buy discount gift cards up to 35% off. Sell gift cards for cash at Cardpool - the most trusted and popular gift card exchange. FREE USPS Shipping.

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Candice B.

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