Use Caution - Live Aquaria Does not know how to properly process Gift Certificates online.

[blstravler]

A cautionary tale for all people using a Gift Certificate (GC) for an on-line purchase....

I recently used a $100 GF - my order total was $138. Instead of being billed $38 to my PayPal account I was billed the full amount of $138.

I contact Customer Support (CS) and was told by a CS rep that in order for that not to happen you have to call them to place your order and that I would receive a refund within a few business days. It's been more then a few and I have yet to get that refund.

I don't understand how any on-line retailer in 2020 doesn't know how to properly bill a customer when there is a GC involved.

So make sure you call them to use a GC or you will be billed the full amount!!!!

 

[LiveAquaria]

Hello @blstravler. We sincerely apologize for the matter of applying your gift certificate to your order. When a gift certificate is applied during the online checkout process, the amount of the gift certificate is deducted from the amount to be charged. We apologize if you were informed differently. We will be reaching out to you privately to ask if you could please provide us with your order information for us to look into this further.

Thank you,

LiveAquaria

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Since you mentioned gift certificate. How about GC from LA during promotion extends from 30 days expiration to 6 months to a year.

I am pretty sure most here agree and your sale will increase. It’s not like we can use the GC elsewhere, you will get the business anyway. Expires in 30 days just not convenient

 

[LiveAquaria]

Since you mentioned gift certificate. How about GC from LA during promotion extends from 30 days expiration to 6 months to a year.

I am pretty sure most here agree and your sale will increase. It’s not like we can use the GC elsewhere, you will get the business anyway. Expires in 30 days just not convenient

I have passed that concern along and will push for a longer validation period. Thank you for the feedback.

 

[blstravler]

For full transparency this is what I received via Live Aquaria CS -

“Thank you for your recent order. We are contacting you regarding your Bizrate comments. We sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding regarding the use of your gift certificate. When you place an order using PayPal, the authorization is for the full amount of the order. PayPal does this to ensure payment in case some certificates or credits used are not valid. When this order was placed on 1/1/20 PayPal authorized the full amount of $133.24. When the charge for the order went through on 1/6/20 it was only for $28.24, which is $133.24 minus the $100.00 gift certificate and $5.00 Loyalty Rewards that were applied to the order. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”

This is a Live Aquaria Issue.
Customers are not placing orders using PayPal - they are Paying for orders placed on Live Aquaria with PayPal. Nor is PayPal managing your GC’s.

When you create the invoice you are subtracting the GC amount and that Invoice amount is what needs to be populated to the PayPal transaction - not the full amount. Just as it does in the UI to the user.

No other online Aquarium retailer does this with their GC’s when PayPal is used for payment. Could you imagine walking into a store and using a GC but then having a credit hold out on your credit/debit card for the full amount then having to wait to have that hold released - this is the exact same thing.

The laws governing EFT’s are clear on what notifications you need to give the user on that transaction amount and processing PRIOR to executing the transaction. It just so happens I work in this business and I will check with our CA in the morning to see if I am correct. If I am I will place a formal complaint as I am pretty sure this falls into Reg E of the EFTA and Live Aquaria is in violation.

And yes you still have $128 dollars of my money and I also lost out an a $100 GC.

 

[LiveAquaria]

For full transparency this is what I received via Live Aquaria CS -

“Thank you for your recent order. We are contacting you regarding your Bizrate comments. We sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding regarding the use of your gift certificate. When you place an order using PayPal, the authorization is for the full amount of the order. PayPal does this to ensure payment in case some certificates or credits used are not valid. When this order was placed on 1/1/20 PayPal authorized the full amount of $133.24. When the charge for the order went through on 1/6/20 it was only for $28.24, which is $133.24 minus the $100.00 gift certificate and $5.00 Loyalty Rewards that were applied to the order. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”

This is a Live Aquaria Issue.
Customers are not placing orders using PayPal - they are Paying for orders placed on Live Aquaria with PayPal. Nor is PayPal managing your GC’s.

When you create the invoice you are subtracting the GC amount and that Invoice amount is what needs to be populated to the PayPal transaction - not the full amount. Just as it does in the UI to the user.

No other online Aquarium retailer does this with their GC’s when PayPal is used for payment. Could you imagine walking into a store and using a GC but then having a credit hold out on your credit/debit card for the full amount then having to wait to have that hold released - this is the exact same thing.

The laws governing EFT’s are clear on what notifications you need to give the user on that transaction amount and processing PRIOR to executing the transaction. It just so happens I work in this business and I will check with our CA in the morning to see if I am correct. If I am I will place a formal complaint as I am pretty sure this falls into Reg E of the EFTA and Live Aquaria is in violation.

And yes you still have $128 dollars of my money and I also lost out an a $100 GC.

@blstravler Good morning and thank you again for bringing this situation to our attention. Our IT department is looking into the behind the scenes processes involved with transactions on combination forms of payment, specifically with PayPal debit. We have discovered that Credit Card/Gift Certificate combinations are working properly and are not authorizing for the value of the Gift Certificate. We apologize for the delay with the authorization dropping.
Please understand, we are not placing blame on PayPal and this not an intentional Live Aquaria process. The customer experience is of utmost concern and we will make sure this is resolved to your satisfaction.
Thank you for your patience as we work to address your concerns. Please be watching for replies to your private message as well. Have a great day!

 

[Jason mahnke]

I have passed that concern along and will push for a longer validation period. Thank you for the feedback.

Since you mentioned gift certificate. How about GC from LA during promotion extends from 30 days expiration to 6 months to a year.

I am pretty sure most here agree and your sale will increase. It’s not like we can use the GC elsewhere, you will get the business anyway. Expires in 30 days just not convenient

Are stating that there is an expiration date on the gift certificates? Because there was nothing stated when we received it and not only was it a Christmas gift I’ve been waiting to use it to set up my 125 gallon tank! If they don’t honor it I won’t do business with them ever again!

 

[Jason mahnke]

I just tried to use it today and it says the information for that certificate can’t be found! It’s a 200 dollar certificate there shouldn’t be any timeline on it if it’s been paid for! I told my gf and she said if that’s the case and it’s not honored she will contact the BBB!

 

[LiveAquaria]

I just tried to use it today and it says the information for that certificate can’t be found! It’s a 200 dollar certificate there shouldn’t be any timeline on it if it’s been paid for! I told my gf and she said if that’s the case and it’s not honored she will contact the BBB!

@Jason mahnke Good evening. We sincerely apologize for the difficulties in using your gift certificate. Please send a direct message with your gift certificate number and, if possible, the order number under which it was purchased so we can review.