A Maple Ridge woman who bought three $50 gift cards that contained zero funds has been frustrated in her attempts to get her money back.
“I’m out $150,” Lorraine Comeau complained.
She purchased two Starbucks cards worth $50 each as Christmas gifts, and learned one of them was already empty.
Her daughter asked where she bought them and Comeau responded the Shoppers Drug Mart on 240th Street, near the junction with Dewdney Trunk Road.
Her daughter asked whether two Lululemon cards were bought there as well. Comeau had given them to her son-in-law back in August as a birthday gift, and learned they were both pre-drained of their $50. They came from the same store.
Her daughter and son-in-law hadn’t wanted to tell her about it, because they didn’t want her to feel bad.
“They would have never told me,” she said, but for the second instance of getting a worthless card.
She said the cards were wrapped in packaging when she bought them, and did not appear to have been tampered with.
Comeau has had no success in getting her money refunded.
The retailers tell her it’s an issue for Shoppers, who took her money. The local Shoppers gave her a customer service number, but she has not been able to get her money back.
She has provided receipts, card numbers, and whatever data they have requested.
“I’ve given them everything, and they just wash their hands of it,” she said. “It is not good customer service.”
There have been similar complaints from customers of Shoppers Drug Mart in Aldergrove. Cards purchased and activated at the store showed zero balance or appeared to have already been redeemed.
Mission resident Dan Frederick said he and his brother each received $100 Amazon gift cards purchased by their mother at the Aldergrove Shoppers.
“When I went to redeem it, it said the card had already been redeemed,” Frederick said. “My brother had the exact same message come up on his end.”
Frederick said the packaging was intact and receipts showed the cards had been activated.
When he contacted the store, he was sent back and forth between the front counter and the store owner, before being told Shoppers could not help ,and that he needed to contact head office. Through a series of email exchanges over the course of several days, Frederick said he was redirected to Amazon, then back to Shoppers.
“I’ve been bounced back and forth — phone calls and emailing,” he said.
After a story appeared in the Aldergrove Star, the Loblaw PR team did compensate Frederick on Jan. 16.
“Unfortunately, gift card fraud is an issue impacting the retail sector as a whole,” said the PR team. “Our store teams are trained to recognize tampering and other fraudulent situations involving gift cards, doing their best to intercept suspicious transactions before purchase. That said, we understand this is a frustrating experience for customers.”
A separate situation with longtime Aldergrove resident Chrissy Chin occurred during the 2024 holiday season. Chin said she purchased Visa gift cards at Shoppers to give employees for Christmas. Although the cards were activated and handed directly to staff, employees later reported there was no money on them.
She also has not been able to recover the funds.
Federick and Comeau both say the best option is to purchase a gift card directly at the retailer named on the card, or avoid gift cards altogether.
The News reached out to Loblaws, the parent company for Shoppers, who have so far provided no statement, but said they would deal with Comeau directly. They were provided her phone number, with Comeau’s agreement.
– With files from Saman Dara