Wyze gift cards are useless - don't accept them as refunds

Watercooler
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Long-time user of Wyze products back to their debut. Have dozens of their products.

Purchased an outdoor v1 cam on October 9, 2023 and on November 11th, the camera would no longer accept a charge from USB or solar cell, and I noticed the camera was getting extremely hot. So hot that I immediately brought it outside in fear of the battery exploding.

Contacted support, and they said they would replace it. They later said they had no more V1 cameras in stock, so they would issue a gift card by email. That gift card disappeared in the 2,000 emails I get daily, and I just found it 3 weeks later. Awesome, except there are NO outdoor cameras available on their website.

So, I went to their Amazon store, and found them there however the gift card is USELESS and not accepted by Amazon. Even if purchase one (again) using my own money, it will not be delivered for another TWO months it says.

This is fraud - they will not refund the original card (I’ve called them back after discovering the gift card doesn’t work on Amazon). They’ve said they would replace the camera, and then failing that said they would give a gift card that I could use to purchase another one but that also is not possible (they cannot provide a date when they will have them available). Their card does not work in their Amazon store.

HIGHLY illegal. Not honoring their replacement policy I understand as I was a few days outside of the time limit. Fine… but then they are refusing to honor their refund policy by giving useless gift cards.

Not happy with Wyze for the first time since they began as a company. If I were a lawyer, this would be an immediate lawsuit and notification whatever federal agency goes after companies who perform deceptive business practices.

SO DON’T ACCEPT A GIFT CARD as they are WORTHLESS. INSIST ON REFUNDING THE ORIGINAL PAYMENT METHOD.

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@williampierce1, it is unfortunate that you had to experience this. I have been recommending to all users here in the forum to refuse the Gift Card and demand a Warranty Replacement instead. But, if the cam you are replacing is out of stock or no longer sold, that creates a problem. Certainly does not reflect well on Wyze.

Wyze has been using the gift card option more and more recently rather than replacing cams. It seems to be a cost saving measure. The gift card does not cover shipping, it will expire, and it can only be used in the Wyze.com store.

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Where did you order your Wyze Cam Outdoor v1 from? They haven’t manufactured those for years now. I’m guessing you bought it from a 3rd party and not from Wyze directly?

I don’t like gift cards in general, and I was contracted to help gift card marketplace connect companies’ digital gift card systems together a few years ago, so I do have a good deal of experience with them behind the scenes.

With that in mind, I don’t blame Wyze for the fact that Amazon won’t accept their gift card. This is the case for every single business. Wyze would be happy to accept their gift cards on their Amazon store, but Amazon doesn’t ALLOW it. …actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that, it would be extremely difficult for Amazon to allow it, but even if it were easy, they still wouldn’t allow it because they benefit A LOT from only allowing us to use Amazon Gift Cards on Amazon. From my perspective, Wyze can’t reasonably be criticized for that particular aspect. They don’t allow ANY company to do this on Amazon.

While I don’t like gift cards in general, and while I am not a lawyer (this is not legal advice), I will say that I did work in a law office for multiple years, and have owned multiple businesses, so I feel fairly well experienced and educated with matters like this and I am quite reasonably confident that none of this would be considered fraud or illegal or deceptive, particularly given the circumstances of the product in question not even being manufactured since multiple years ago and thus not in stock.

To be clear, I am NOT saying I disagree with the frustration here. The posted frustrations make sense, so don’t misunderstand what I am saying…I am just addressing the allegation of fraud, illegal, or deceptive from a potentially legal point of view. Wyze’s publicly posted and linked to Warranty policy has expressly outlined the fact that they can choose at their sole discretion to issue store credit or a gift card in lieu of a replacement or refund to the Credit Card, etc. If something like this did get to court, the court would almost assuredly side with Wyze, particularly due to that model Wyze Cam Outdoor v1 not having been in production for multiple years now, which indicates it was likely purchased either from a 3rd party (including a random supplier on amazon) or refurbished. Either way, a court will conclude that it is not reasonable to expect or force a company to provide a new copy of a model camera that they stopped producing years ago. They also can’t control if other people sell them online.

Having said that, while it might not be fraud, illegal, or deceptive, or any of that (I realize the point of most of that was to make it clear how frustrating, upsetting , and dissatisfying the situation is) , I think the main thing here is that Wyze says they have chosen to adopt a core value of “be friends with users” and you feel like you were not treated in this manner because you want a WCO v1 that works well, and they did not provide you an adequate way to accomplish that in this case, and that does not feel like a friendly solution.

I think their intent was probably a good one. Many of their customers buy things off their website, and even if the thing they want isn’t currently in-stock, they will offset the price by using it toward something else the next time they want to order something, and it works out fine for most people. But in this case, it is not working out well because you don’t care about the other alternative newer cameras, you care about getting a replacement of the exact model you had, and Wyze is unable to accomplish this, and you can’t easily offset the cost with a different product, because it seems you have no plans to order a bunch of other stuff, so in your experience it feels like you just lost out on the money and a replacement and that is insanely frustrating and feels extremely unfriendly. I totally get that. Your post is really helpful feedback for us to point out to employees why giftcards aren’t always a great solution.

I think the ideal solution here would be for Wyze to implement a way for them to be able to cancel or revoke a giftcard. If someone in your situation could tell them the giftcard doesn’t work for them, it would be nice for Wyze to be able to cancel it and implement a different warranty option that is more friendly for your individual needs here. I am not sure whether they currently have the ability to revoke gift cards once issued. They might be afraid someone will say they no longer want it, then sell it or use it anyway after they issue a different refund. IDK.

Either way, the feedback will be helpful to point out to them that this is not a friendly solution for every situation and they should probably re-evaluate it more.

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Well, it’s strange that the V1 camera hasn’t been made in years, yet I purchased it directly from the Wyze site in October of 2023. The premise of their gift card and any refund is that the consumer is either refunded their money or they are able to purchase a replacement (via a Wyze gift card). That means that they need to keep ample stock on their site - which they have not as I’m not able to use that gift card to purchase a new camera. They cannot promise when any will be available.

The ones on Amazon (which are fully in stock) all say that they won’t arrive for another 2 months, so even if Amazon’s Wyze store did accept their gift cards… that solution is ridiculous.

Strangely enough, on their eBay site they sell re-certified V1 models but alas, the Wyze gift card does not work on their eBay store either…

So… they basically just sent me monopoly money and I’m out the money I paid for the camera. That is akin to fraud, or whatever sinister term, and if it walks like a duck… any judge will agree that it is a duck. Regardless of what is written in their policy, and especially if the spirit of their policy is to make the consumer whole for a faulty product they sold directly to the consumer… they are epically failing to do exactly what they say they will do. They won’t refund the card used - I asked.

They are extremely lucky that the unit did not blow up… when I brought it inside to charge, I noticed it got so hot that I could not touch the brass plate on the bottom and immediately placed it into a plastic bag and ran outside with it. It took hours to cool down. If my house would have burnt down, or anyone would have been injured by that camera… I would be the new owner of the company and some major changes would be in order…

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I’ve been down this road with them as well. Purchased an outside camera in October 2023, and it would not work. Returned it and was issued a gift card instead of a refund. I was told the gift card had no expiration date. I just went to use the golf card and it says expired. I reached out to support. If they don’t make this gift card good I will not purchase another Wyze product.

PS - A major Wyze user here having spent $$$$ on their products to date.

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@rip, please keep us updated on the Customer Support response to your recent ticket about the Expired Gift Card. This isn’t the first time we have read of Gift Card refunds expiring. Not a good look for Wyze.

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I agree this is a bad look. Gift card refunds should never expire, ever.

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Issuing gift cards rather than a refund or replacement is a bad look. If you’re going to issue gift cards then shipping for the replacement should be included. Otherwise, make the refund. The customer shouldn’t have to argue this…they should be offered options without having to argue with customer service.

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About those gift cards…mine never came. I believe my service agent was honest when she promised this, just Wyze chose not to be honorable.

  • Also, 2 out of the 5 cameras I bought fail to charge after 2 years.
  • I purchased a yearly Cam+ plan for multiple cameras at a discount, was charged 1 time on the card and the system worked perfectly…for 1 month. Then the deal was cancelled with no recourse. I wasted way too much time showing them the proof that the deal was accepted, proof of payment, etc. because of the principle of the situation. Completely wasted time.
    Moral of the story is: Wyze customer service folks seem to be honest and well meaning, but the company simply doesn’t follow through with what they promise in writing, no mater how you try to remedy the situation. Sigh
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Do you have a Support Ticket number? One of us volunteers can have someone look into seeing why your gift cards didn’t come as you were told, or if they were just delivered differently than you expecting. I assume they are usually digital gift cards. It could even just be a credit balance on the account or something. It’s worth having someone check if you post your support ticket number.

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Hi carverofchoice - Thanks for offering to help.

Here is a copy of my chat with Marian on 8/9/2023, who seemed genuinely happy to help resolve this situation. It is also interesting to note that this is the 2nd time a discount offer was aborted by Wyze cancelling the order. This Wyze gift card never came.

Hi Micheal! Thank you for reaching out to Wyze! My name is Marian. Happy to help! I have read that you have some concerns about your Wyze order was cancelled. No worries, I definitely want to help you with this and we’ll work this out together.

May I have the order number, please?

Coming up

Marianie

Sure

Order US-4515388 was canceled

Marianie

Thank you, please allow me 3-5 minutes to check this one here.

sure

Marianie

Hi there, thank you so much for staying on the line, I just want to inform you that it looks like the order was declined due to the information provided on the transaction. Please review your payment details and/or speak with your bank. In order to try again, you will need to place a new transaction, the previous transaction attempt is void. Please note - sometimes your bank may have released funds, but they are withheld in our payment gateway for the verification process and released back to your bank if the order is declined. Your bank can take 2-5 business days to process and return that to your account.

Does this mean the “special” $20 coupon will no longer be offered/

Marianie

May I know if during you purchase the item has a promo on it?

Yes, I thought it was $20 off, but it turned out to be a $20 coupon, which i already had a use for…

And I will also say my Discover card hasn’t been declined in…maybe never

Marianie

Alright, Once moment I will try to ask my Wyze order team bout this one. Please allow me another 3-5 minutes.

Hi there, thank you so much for staying on the line, Can you please try to re-purchase the item now and try to use the same code you have, and if ever the discount code doesn’t work, we will make the adjustment.

I will try now

Marianie

Sure, once you are done placing the order and it doesn’t work please send me here the order number.

Hi are you still there?

In addition to the following offer, there was a free shipping discount for ordering more than $100. I don’t know how to access that now…*$20 credit promotion only available on Wyze Battery Cam Pro purchases through 8/7/23 11:59 PM PT. Credit will be sent via email as soon as your Wyze Battery Cam Pro order ships.

Marianie

May I know if you now purchase the item?

I will purchase it now. Here was my previous total: Wyze Battery Cam Pro 1 Pack + Solar Panel 1 pcs $118.98 Cam Plus Monthly License Billed every 1 Month FREE 30-DAY TRIAL (-$2.99) 1 pcs $2.99 Free Subtotal: $118.98 Shipping: $5.99 Tax: $8.33 Total: $127.31

Marianie

May I have the order number that you purchase now, so I to inform my Wyze order’s team?

Order US-4528270

This time I was charged $133.72

Marianie

May I know if during you purchase this item the code doesn’t work?

it didn’t

Marianie

Alright, please allow me another 3-5 minutes to check this one.

otherwise the total would have been the same, and there would be a $20 credit coming

Marianie

Hi right now, I’m still waiting for the response to my Wyze order’s team

Thank you for checking in.

Onc this is done I have 1 more item to discuss

Marianie

Sure

Hi there, I just want you t know that the discount for the declined order was 2BWIREFREE for $5.99. The additional bonus of $20 credit will be given once the order ships.

That’s helpful to know - can you apply the $5.99 to this order, and insure the $20 credit is sent?

Marianie

We will assure you that the gift card will receive your $20.00 discount once the order will shipped.

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That is helpful. I would like to escalate your situation to a Wyze employee, but I am required to have the exact support ticket number in order to do so. Can you check and find that Support Ticket number so I can pass that on for you? I’ll then submit that to someone who should be able to review it and help.

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Hi Carverofchoice ~

Thank you for suggesting there might be a resolution for this if I tried again. I spent another 90 minutes on chat and managed to get Wyze to promise to send another gift card, and the agents were both very nice, as before. I also received a follow-up email within 24 hours this time as they promised, so now I just have to wait “at least 3-5 business days for us to generate this gift card for you” … to see if it works this time.

My take-away for this (so far) is if you have the time and perseverance to spend several extra hours (over 3 hours and counting for this issue) one might actually get the items promised. This is time investment is quite the negative, but the genuine attempts by the… 6 agents so far to create a resolution is positive enough that I will remain a WYZE user if my next order goes as promised. It also helps that the agents were all very easy to understand. I will update this thread after the “3 to 5 business days” has passed.

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Once the proper time has passed this time, if you still don’t get it by then, please send me your Support Ticket Number(s) (whether posting them in here or DM-ing them to me) so I can escalate this for you and make sure it gets the proper attention and oversight so we can ensure you are properly taken care of.

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Thanks for the follow-up

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Hi Carverofchoice ~

It has now been 9 days (7 working days) and no sign of the promised gift card :disappointed:

Support Wed, Jan 31, 10:22 AM (9 days ago)

to me

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Your ticket (3629108) has been updated. To add additional comments, please reply to this email.

Jan 31, 2024, 7:22 AM PST

Hi Jia,

Thank you so much for hanging in there. My name is Hope, your Wyze Wizard for today. This is a follow-up email regarding the issuance of your $20 Wyze Gift Card. Please allow me to take over my colleague so that I can personally assist you with your concern.

We truly appreciate your patience in this. We have put in the request for your Wyze Gift Card! Please allow at least 3-5 business days for us to generate this gift card for you.

I will be very grateful for your help bringing this ordeal to a satisfactory ending :crossed_fingers: :pray: Carverofchoice!

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Got it, I sent an escalation for this. Since it’s after hours already today and the weekend just started, we might not hear anything back until early next week though.

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Thank you!

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Sorry for the delay. I followed up on this, I expect to hear more early next week. Just wanted to let you know I didn’t forget about you and I am following up. There are just a few critical things that came up lately.

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Thank you Carverofchoice. :pray:
Have a good weekend.

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