Coles investigating 'weird scratching' Apple gift card scam claim

Georgia Perry bought four Apple gift cards worth $2,000. (Supplied: Georgia Perry) A Melbourne artist's Instagram video complaining about buying faulty $2,000 worth of Apple gift cards at a Coles supermarket has gone viral. Georgia Perry says the cards' redemption codes were scratched out. Coles is now refunding the amount and says it is investigating the matter and working with the supplier of the Apple gift cards. Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian supermarket giant Coles is investigating concerns about tampered gift cards purchased instore, after a customer's social media video about "fraudulent" Apple vouchers went viral. Melbourne-based illustrator Georgia Perry posted to Instagram last night, claiming she had bought four Apple gift cards worth $500 each from Coles in the inner-west suburb of Yarraville. When she attempted to use the gift cards online, she found the redemption codes had been scratched out. "They're all ******* fraudulent," she said in her social media video. "No redemption code, but just like weird scratching and like glue where the code should be." Warning: this video contains coarse language. Ms Perry raised a complaint with the ASX-listed company, but told ABC News that Coles' initial customer response was "very lacklustre and uninterested and unaffected". Ms Perry said she was refused a refund by store staff, with the company's head office later offering her one on Thursday after she made direct complaints to Coles and went public with the case. In a statement, a spokesperson for Coles said the company was "working closely with our supplier as part of our investigation into the gift cards involved". It also defended its customer service processes. Global company InComm, which is understood to have supplied the gift cards to Coles, has been contacted for comment. Apple has not replied to the ABC's queries. Ms Perry said she bought the Apple gift cards at Coles on Tuesday night to purchase a new iPhone. She said there was an instore offer to receive 20 times the usual Flybuys points when purchasing Apple gift cards. "Sounds like a good deal, right?" Ms Perry told her Instagram followers. Have you had issues with gift cards? Email our journalist on terzon.emilia@abc.net.au or em.terzon@proton.me Gift cards for major brands like Apple sold in major retailers usually come as plastic cards that are glued onto a cardboard swipe. The codes to redeem the voucher appear once the card is pulled off the cardboard. The paper cardboard on the Apple gift cards that hid the scratched codes on the card until it was taken off. (Supplied: Georgia Perry) Ms Perry said she took the $2,000 worth of vouchers to the Coles check-out, where she purchased them and a staff member activated them. Activation is a step enforced to ensure people do not use vouchers instore without paying for them. She went home and took the first card off the cardboard casing. Ms Perry then realised the one she had bought had "no code" and looked like it had been scratched or peeled off. Ms Perry feared she had accidentally damaged the gift card, so she moved on to the next one she had bought. It had the same issues, as did the final two gift cards. Ms Perry said she took the gift cards back to Coles but the staff "could not care less", and said there was "nothing they could do apparently because gift cards are a third-party product". Ms Perry also raised a complaint with Apple. She said their helpline asked her to send in photos of the gift cards, including serial numbers, which led her to realise these had also been scratched out. "The last like three numbers on each card, I can't really see," she told social media. Georgia Perry says she found the codes on the back of the card were also scratched. (Supplied: Georgia Perry) Ms Perry then made a formal complaint to Coles, which the supermarket giant confirmed it received yesterday morning. It has defended its escalation of the case through its channels. Ms Perry posted her video last night. By this morning, it had amassed more than 150,000 views and hundreds of comments, including from people concerned about gift card scamming and consumer rights. Today, at lunchtime, a Coles staff member left Ms Perry a voicemail, confirming a refund was coming. Emails seen by ABC News indicates Coles is giving Ms Perry a refund, after the supplier of the gift cards "deactivated" the $2,000 worth and "returned the money to Coles". "Therefore you are eligible for a refund," the email stated. "Once again, we sincerely apologise for the poor experience," it added. Ms Perry said the refund was clearly because of the "pressure" on Coles. The ABC contacted the consumer watchdog, ACCC, about the issue, asking if there was a known problem with gift cards in Australia and whether it had received complaints. "Consumers are able to return such gift cards to the retailer they purchased from, providing proof of purchase, to seek a refund or replacement gift card. "How

Coles investigating 'weird scratching' Apple gift card scam claim

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