Gift Card Fiasco

Before the holidays, I won a few gift cards in a Holiday party raffle to Best Buy. I was so ecstatic because my boyfriend and I share a birthday that was only a few days later. I gave him these gift cards (totaling $600) on our birthday, and he was overjoyed! We both skipped on over to our Local Best Buy and he purchased a PS4 and a game, leaving a little left over. We were in the process of remodeling and therefore left the PS4 unopened. Once the holidays arrived, not even two weeks later, he received more gifts cards to Best Buy. He really wanted a MacBook so I told him that he should return the PS4 and buy a MacBook for himself and I'd pay the difference. Again we visited Best Buy, and the representatives were wonderful in helping him find the perfect MacBook. We made the exchange, and thought that would be the end of it. Little did I know at the time that Grandma, who lives out of town had purchased the same MacBook for him as a belated Christmas gift. Not too long after, he received the gift, and we made yet another visit to Best Buy to return the MacBook. The representative was super nice about it and issued the bulk amount onto a gift card ($1,006 I think) and we decided that nothing says remodeling like a new TV! I like to do research before making pricy purchases and we came back with our gift card in hand and an informed decision a couple days later. Once we went to pay for our TV we were informed that our gift card HAD NO BALANCE. Well my boyfriend lost his mind. The representatives did their best to figure it out. He showed them the receipt we got last showing the amount of the gift card. They said to call corporate and they would help us. He did and they said they would investigate and call him back...they never did. He called back a few days later and a representative told him that the store we visited had put a freeze on it, and to go back to get it lifted. We did and they informed us they had no clue what we were talking about so we called corporate back. This representative also said they would investigate and call back. You guessed it....they never did! He literally began panicking and called at least 3 more times. That was weeks ago. Now in January we have been told quite a few things, all of which are different, and all of which aren't helping us get our whopping $1,006.00 gift card back. I freaking LOVE Best Buy. They have always been my go to, but seeing my significant other so saddened and stressed by all of this is beginning to change my mind. He's not even acting like himself! I am beyond exasperated and highly aggitated at this whole experience. I have no choice but to refrain from purchasing at Best Buy at least until someone with a brain figures this out. Even if that happens, which I'm starting to think is impossible, I'd be so scared to ever purchase or use a gift card here again. I'm upset that a store that used to consume so much of our extra earnings has let us down MAJORLY. Disgruntled doesn't begin to describe our feelings and now we have a wonderfully remodeled home with no freaking TV. Thanks Best Buy...ever so much.

Hello SBentley22,
I can only imagine how upset I would be to discover that over $1000 in gift card funds seemed to be missing. I certain that I would not do well with the additional complications that you've described either. I apologize for you and your boyfriend having to cope with this situation. Certainly this was never our goal.
I was unable to locate the purchases or returns that you mention using the information you provided when you signed up for Best Buy Unboxed. I would very much like to look into this situation for you and do what I can to help, but I will need more information to begin. If you will please send me a private message that includes your full name, telephone number, and the Customer Service PIN from the receipt where the gift card was issued, I'll get started with my research.
Please know that I'm extremely grateful that you took the time to bring your situation to our attention. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
John|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message

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HT201209 I went onto my computer and set up an account...I entered my gift cards where it said redeem and there is $40 on my account. However,I have no idea how to use it. I read that I can take my credit card out and just use the itunes card but again

I went into the computer and set up my account, I then went to where you enter the gift card info to redeem the money and my account says I have $40...however, when I go and try to use it I can not figure out how to do so. I also read that I can remove my credit card info and just use Itune cards...but again i can not figure out how to do this.
This is very frustrating because something so simple is turning into an all day fiasco!

Hello Brod1,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing. The iTunes Store will automatically recognize the credit you applied. You can find the details of how iTunes Store purchases are billed below:
Order of iTunes billing methods
When making purchases, content credits are used first, followed by Gift Certificate, iTunes Card, or Allowance Account credits; your credit card or PayPal account is then charged for any remaining balance.
When you buy individual songs from the iTunes Store:
Free song credits are redeemed first.
If you have no free song credits, gift certificate, prepaid card, and allowance credits are used next.
If your gift certificate, prepaid card, and/or allowance credit is less than the total cost of the purchase, your credit card is billed for the remaining balance.
If you have no free song credits or gift certificates, prepaid cards, or allowance credits, your credit card is billed for the songs you buy.
When you buy an album on the iTunes Store:
Gift certificate, prepaid card, and allowance credits are used first.
If your gift certificate, prepaid card, or allowance credit is less than the total cost of the purchase, your credit card is billed for the remaining balance. Note: Free song credits cannot be used for album purchases.
If you have no gift certificates, prepaid cards, or allowance credits, your credit card is billed for the albums you buy.
You can find the full article here:
iTunes Store: How iTunes Store purchases are billed
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5582
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

How do I transfer a gift card balance to family members in family share

Ok well I just realized that the account associated with my Family share will only access my credit card and not my gift card balance.
I had two $100 gift cards which I redeemed into my account thinking we could all share the gift card. Little did I know that only I can use the balance.
I know I can just purchase the app or the song and then they can download it for free but it's a pain in the butt if I'm not home to do this. Is there anyway I can transfer the funds to my wife and kids?? Oh and to top it off I've since thrown away the original gift cards so there is no way to remove the funds and place them back on the cards. Thanks in advance!

Open the App Store on your iPad. Scroll all the way to the bottom in the "Featured" tab. You should see your Apple ID there. It may indicate that you have that credit balance. If not, click the Apple ID button you see there and sign in if necessary and then click "View Apple ID". You should see the credit balance.
It will apply to your app (or iTunes music) purchases automatically.

How do you add an iTunes Gift Card so that all purchases of any members of a Family Sharing Group can use the credit?

How can all family members of a Family Sharing Group use a gift card that has been been applied to the iTunes master account? I added a gift card to our master iTunes account for my grandson, and even though he's a family sharing group member, none of the purchases I have approved from his requests have used the gift card credit. A search of the iTunes support site failed to turn up anything that even remotely addresses this topic. It would seem reasonable to assume that any purchase made by any family member should be able to use the gift card credit since all purchases go through the master account, but this does not appear to be the case.

Regarding your statement about the gift card balance being used if redeemed to the organizers account - http://www.apple.com/feedback.
Regarding redeeming the gift card to the child's account, it is the same as redeeming to yours. You have to be signed in to the iTunes store using the child's apple ID, then redeem the gift card there. If you already redeemed the card on your ID, you won't be able to redeem it again.
Redeem and use iTunes Gift Cards and content codes - Apple Support

Multiple users/gift cards on one account

I have what I would imagine to be a common scenario but not sure how to handle. Before yesterday, we had one teenager using the home PC on a iTunes account linked to our CC for any purchases she needed to pay us back for. We now have 2 more teenagers who need to do the same with their new iPods and all 3 kids have gift cards. How do we ensure they can all use their gift cards separately, but still link any additional purchases back to our common account linked to our CC? I have seen several posts about how to use multiple iPods on the same PC but not how to manage iTunes accounts in relation to multiple gift cards and a common iTunes account for billing purposes which should be common. I want to make sure I set this up properly from the start so any aasistance is appreciated.

I would suggst creating a new iTunes accounts for each user using their own gift cards. You don't need a CC if you use a gift card.
Go to the iTunes store screen and click Redeem at the top right under *Quick Links*.
Enter the gift card number then select *Create new account*. At the CC details scene, select None.
but still link any additional purchases back to our common account linked to our CC?
You cannot. They can all be on the some computer.
Any gift cards put onto a single iTunes store account are put into that one account. Anything purchased by anyone will be deducted from the total.

How can I change my apple ID region after reedeeming a gift card from USA, since I want to use my visa which is from canada?

Dear Mr/ Mrs:
I am pooria, my apple ID id **********@*****.com
well actually I have a problem, I have a Visa card and as I recieved a gift card from my friend from USA, aftrer redeeming the card and spend it through app strore, now, I have 0.98$ and I can't spend for other apps since there is not any app which is exactly 0.98$ . So I've tried several times to get back to my visa card to go to appstore and buy my favorate apps, but the matter is that my visa is from Canada and I recieved a notice in which untill I didn't spenc the 0.98$, I'm not able to change my location and this really is a big problem for me. Would you please fix the problem that I can change my apple ID location to use my visa card?
Moreover I have to say that as I go to a trip several times a year, I prefere to use giftcards insted of my visacard specially when I'm not in canada, and most goftcards sold in these countries are from US. So It would be a big problem that I always should email apple support inorder to do sth to allow me to change my location scince I would like to have my visa also.
would you please help me with this matter?
sincerely
Pooria
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Pooria
Contact Apple. Before you do, think about telling the story in order
I travel a lot
I have a balance that prevents me from transacting with Apple... please help me.
I prefer to use Gift Cards, is this wise?
What would you suggest to achieve my goal of [ whatever your reason may be for your current methods ] ?

How can I delete credit card from account to use gift card redeemable credit?

I cannot use my gift card $20 because my declining credit card refuses my purchase. I don't want to **** thing to use my credit card, I want to use my redeemable gift card **** it, so why won't it let me. And I cannot delete my credit card becase there is NO WHERE to get rid of it!!! Frustrating!!!

Moorside01 wrote:
I have the same issue. My son has an iPod Touch, but it seems that he has to have a credit card associated with the Live ID
Live ID is for Microsoft.
Are you saying you do not have the None option when you review his payment info?

How should I give itunes autonomy to my children now that they are in high school and have used my Mac and my itunes account to buy music for years, including all gift cards given to them. They now both have their own computers.

When my children were younger, and needed more help and oversight, I had them purchase songs with my permission, often with gift cards that they had been given on various occaisions. Now, however, they both have laptops, they would like to split out "their" music and books, sync their Itouches to their own system, and I would love to have 9000 less Taylor Swift songs stored on my hard drive. Also, it seems that I can't set up independent Itunes accounts for them without a credit card, however they both get gift cards several times a year. A suggestion for this? It must happen to a lot of families. Thanks.

Unfortunately you cannot split (nor merge) items purchased with an AppleID. I am not clear on what you will have to do to allow them continued access to their music on your account. Apple no longer has DRM protection in its music but then I also hear people have all kinds of authorization issues when trying to synch so it sounds like they still keep restrictions on what you can do with the music when trying to move it about. I'll let somebody more experienced with syncing answer this part. You may have to authorize their computers and devices to your AppleID to allow them all functionality with the music.
Ideally you would have set them up with their own AppleIDs years ago but...
Creating an iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store account without a credit card - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2534 - only works for new accounts!

My 2 children share an itunes account. now that they are older and receive lots of itunes gift cards, it's very difficult for them to each redeem cards fairly! how do i set up separate accts

can anyone tell me how to go about setting up a separate account for one child without messing up the original account? or can anyone give suggestions about redeeming gift cards so each child does not have to keep track of the others purchases. its' causing a lot of stress around here and potential inequity. my daughter wants her own acct. i assume i would set that up under a separate email and will she lose everything?

You will indeed need another email address, but you just then set up the account as you did your current one. You can use your daughter's gift card to set up the account. I'd suggest you give each child his/her own user account in Windows, if you haven't already. That will give them each their own iTunes library and keep each child's purchases completely separate.
As to the existing content, once you've set up the user account for your daughter, just copy the content you want your daughter to have from your current iTunes library to a shared location (either on the computer or on removable storage such as a USB flash drive or an external hard drive), log into your daughter's user account, launch iTunes, and drag the content into the iTunes window. Then just authorize that copy of iTunes to that iTunes Store account (Store menu -> Authorize) and she'll be able to continue to play and sync that content. Log her into her own iTunes Store account for future purchases.
Regards.

How does my child use an existing iTunes gift card now that we have family share?

My son has a balance on iTunes from a gift card, we have added family sharing to our devices and now we can't seem to use his gift card for his purchases. How do I fix this?

Regarding your statement about the gift card balance being used if redeemed to the organizers account - http://www.apple.com/feedback.
Regarding redeeming the gift card to the child's account, it is the same as redeeming to yours. You have to be signed in to the iTunes store using the child's apple ID, then redeem the gift card there. If you already redeemed the card on your ID, you won't be able to redeem it again.
Redeem and use iTunes Gift Cards and content codes - Apple Support

How many times can you resend an iTunes Gift Card?

Tried sending an iTunes gift card to a @facebook account but the recipient hasn't received it.
Is it possible to send to another of their @facebook accounts and if that also fails then to a conventional account?
I guess my question is how many times can you resend on Gift Card and to how many different email accounts?

To use an iTune Gift Card to buy books...
Open iTunes on your computer and click on the iTunes Store.
You'll need to be signed in...
Click on the little House icon in the dark gray bar across the top. (or Shift+Command+H)
On the right side of the page under Quick Links click Redeem and enter your code.
Then it will show your credit balance in the dark gray bar across the top next to your account name to let you know how much you have to spend.
Then as you buy books, it'll deduct from the credit balanace.
There is a distinction between, iTunes Gift Card and Apple Gift Card.
Apple Gift Card: can be used to purchase Apple hardware and accessories at any Apple Retail Store, the Apple Online Store...
iTunes Gift Card: To give music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, or anything on the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBooks Store or the Mac App Store, select an iTunes Gift Card

Is there another way of getting apps from the appstore without putting your credit card number in, ive heard about the itunes gift card thing can anybody just give me more info about that and how i can buy free things free things from the appstorepls help

Is there another way of getting apps from the appstore without putting your credit card number in, ive heard about the itunes gift card thing can anybody just give me more info about that and how i can buy free things free things from the appstore...pls help as im only a teenager and have no credit credit and my parents dont trust me with theres and they dont care about the fact that you can set up a password/.... PLEASE SOMEONE HELP I WILL BE SO GRATEFUL... And i would really like to get the iphone 4 but if there is no way of etting apps without your credit number then i would have to get a samsung galaxy s3 maybe ...

You can set up an Apple ID without a credit card.
Create iTunes Store account without credit card - Support - Apple - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534

If I wanted to exchange my iPhone 5 for the new iPhone 6 (no additional cost after $199 gift card from selling iPhone 5) do I have to pre-order online or do I just have to show up at a Verizon store Sept 19th?

If I wanted to exchange my iPhone 5 for the new iPhone 6 (no additional cost after $199 gift card from selling iPhone 5) can I pre-order online now or do I just have to show up at a Verizon store Sept 19th?

scodaddy, that is a wonderful question. We are super excited about the new iPhone. You can always pre-order your new iPhone online and then start the mail in rebate by following this link: http://bit.ly/GGnDDC Or you can always go into the store location and do it all in store on the 19th when the phone is launched. That would depend on if the store has them in stock when you go in. I hope that this was able to address your concern.
KevinR_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

My ITunes gift card I brought, the Reemdem code had bin wide out so I can no longer see that code what do I do

My ITunes gift card I brought, the Reemdem code had bin wide out so I can no longer see that code what do I do?

"bin wide out"?
If you mean you cannot read the code on the back of the card take it back to the store you purchased it from. If the numbers are not visable because you scratched them out I don't know if the store will replace or refund that. If you can read some of the numbers you could just keep trying a combination of letters and numbers to replace the missing ones. This will take a while depending on how many inputs are missing. You will have to use 0 through 9 and I am guessing A through Z.

I can no longer see the account balance on my iTunes gift card. Why?

Where can I find the account balance from my iTunes gift card, on my macbook pro, in the iTunes store?

Thank you responding. (you're the only response I received). I did, and was doing, as you suggested. Before the latest iTunes update, I was able to see my account balance (a whopping $9.98), but can no longer see the amount. I've tried logging out and back into iTunes to no avail. Same goes on my iPhone and iPod, and iPad. The system keeps asking for credit card info, but I'm hesitant to do that. (That's why we purchase iTunes gift cards, isn't it ?) !
Anyway, Thank you for your assistance. Next stop is the local Apple Store and see what the Genus bar can do. !!

Gift Card Fiasco

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