Experience buying a 1000$ VISA at AllArk complete email history no other form of communication occurred paid 6.17213867 (1040), refunded 2.9650 (=495) total loss 3.20713867 XMR (=545 USD) --- **2022-08-18 AllArk:** Hi, Thank You For Your Support! Your gift card is attached. Regards The AllArk Team PS: Reply to this email for any questions or comments. **2022-08-19 gunmetal1:** Hi, the card doesn't seem to work. A hotel couldn't charge ~380 USD from it. Now I tried another payment of ~110 USD and I get the attached error. **2022-08-19 gunmetal1:** (attachment added) Hi, the card doesn't seem to work. A hotel couldn't charge ~380 USD from it. Now I tried another payment of ~110 USD and I get the attached error. **2022-08-19 AllArk:** Hi there, This usually happens because the paymentprocessor is not based in the US. In these cases the card will decline the charge. We can ask our card issuer further but this is usually the case. And most stores are not aware of the backend. Most cards have worked so far so let us know. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-08-19 gunmetal1:** What am I supposed to do now? **2022-08-19 AllArk:** Hi, The best thing is to keep it around and try itwhenever you need to at different merchants. A lot of US merchants use Canadian or other payment processors in the back end. But a lot also do not. This can also be used online to pay bills, rent, online shopping (US merchant) etc. The balance will not expire. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-08-19 gunmetal1:** What will happen when in two months the card's expiry date comes around? **2022-08-19 AllArk:** Hi,If you haven't used it, just drop us an email and we'll issue a new one with any remaining balance. :)Regards The AllArk Team **2022-08-20 gunmetal1:** It? The entire card or any remaining balance at expiry date? Can I check the balance somewhere? Can I swap to a card that works in Europe? **2022-08-20 AllArk:** Hi, 1. Any remaining balance at expiry date. 2. When we introduce European cards then yes.You can also use the following codes for simple information. 1. Balance 2. New Card $(Amount) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-08-20 gunmetal1:** Codes? **2022-08-20 AllArk:** Hi, You can email the codes to us. Short and sweet. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-08-20 gunmetal1:** balance **2022-08-20 gunmetal1:** You respond as if all these things were obvious, but there isn't even any documentation at all on your site. Again, doing the guesswork here, I just sent an email saying "balance", even though it doesn't make any sense. As for the other "code" I also have no idea as to how that would work ... Also, the HTML in your email doesn't work and is strainful to decipher as you can see below. **2022-08-20 AllArk:** Card:Visa 0281 Balance:$1000 Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-09 gunmetal1:** balance Paypal reports: "Check your account balance before retrying this card." **2022-09-09 AllArk:** Hi, What amount was the card for and the last 4 digits? :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-10 gunmetal1:** Hi, it's -0281. Amount roughly 550 dollars. I tried to pay the shop directly and when that didn't work went on to try paypal. **2022-09-10 AllArk:** Not a problem,We will escalate to the card issuer and wait for their response. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-12 gunmetal1:** News? **2022-09-13 AllArk:** Hi, It usually takes 48-72 hours for them to verify and respond. We will update you ASAP. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-13 AllArk:** Hi there, A new card has been issued to fix your issues. Please note that we are updating our support terms for Prepaid cards as well. We do our best to support these but some of the issues are merchant specific and out of our control. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-13 gunmetal1:** The new card says only 300$, not 1000$? What are the new support terms? **2022-09-13 AllArk:** Hi, Seems like the original was for $550 and not $1000 as stated in previous emails.We will get in touch with vendor and find out why only $300 was issued. We are providing support only for unused cards as a few merchants are blocking the cards with Visa and in this case we cannot pay out of pocket. This is not a common issue but it does happen and there is nothing that we or the vendor can do in these cases, unfortunately. We will still try our best but this has been our experience so far, Visa refuses to reissue new cards for cards flagged by minority of vendors. We are given no further details. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-13 gunmetal1:** Hi, the AMOUNT was 1000$. You had asked how much "the purchase" was for. Since we were talking about the issue, I told you the amount that failed for my purchase in the shop. That was roughly 550. So: VISA value was 1000$ (unused) Tried to shop for roughly 550$ at merchant (failed) Tried to shop for roughly 550$ at merchant via paypal (failed) Balance should still be the original value of 1000$ **2022-09-13 AllArk:** Hi, Thanks for the clarification. We will escalate to provider and wait for their response.. 1. So you're saying you were unable to use a $1000 card at all? 2. Or were you able to use it before it stopped working? If the card was used twice and rejected there is a fair chance either PayPal or another merchant flagged it with Visa and rendered it unusable. In that case, the appeal process will be lengthy and require KYC which we do not support or ask for. We will wait for the response from our provider. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-13 gunmetal1:** Exactly. Whenever I tried using it, it failed, even with Paypal. Balance should be $1000. I just checked the Paypal dashboard where the card still is shown as linked, without any hint about it being blocked. **2022-09-14 AllArk:** Hi, In this case it is much clearer. May just be a simple misunderstanding. We will forward updated info to the provider. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-09-15 gunmetal1:** Hi, any news? **2022-09-16 AllArk:** Hi,He's escalated it to Visa as they said it was flagge= d by a merchant and blocked. Visa takes anywhere from 21-90 days to get back to us with a resolution. It should turn out OK but it's definitely not an issue with your usage, more with Visa's policies. Regards The AllArk Team **2022-10-23 gunmetal1:** 90 days feels like eternity for a thousand dollars. Is there any update yet? **2022-10-25 AllArk:** Hi, We agree. With Visa it usually is. Haven't heard back anything and we just sent another update to them. Will get back to you as soon as we hear from them. We've recently introduced direct cash outs to bank using Zelle, Wire, Venmo, PayPal etc as well to mitigate these issues with Visa and random flagging of prepaid cards. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-12-16 gunmetal1:** 90 days have passed. I expect an immediate solution. And PLEASE get your emails fixed. They're barely readable. **2022-12-16 AllArk:** Hi, We sent an email a while ago but did not get a response. We can reissue the $50 Visa that did not work. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2022-12-16 gunmetal1:** Are you kidding me? It's a 1000 dollar VISA **2022-12-16 gunmetal1:** ?? **2022-12-17 AllArk:** It seems there was another issue. Anyway, for a $1000, Visa has not resolved this.We canissue 2 $500 cards. One now and one in a few weeks, if Visa has not replied then we will stomach the loss.We appreciate politeness as we are polite, in further communication bear that in mind. Is the solution acceptable or not? Regards The AllArk Team **2022-12-17 gunmetal1:** I do appreciate politeness myself, actually very much so and, for me, being polite includes keeping word. In this case you clearly stated "21-90 days" time for a resolution. I patiently waited out the maximum time you provided (with only one reminder sent at around day 30) to then find myself confronted with an email speaking about 50 dollars. Please put yourself in my position. Keep in mind that I bought the card mid-August and wasn't able to use it even once. **2022-12-17 AllArk:** Understandable, Please bear in Mind that Visa has just stopped replying. Which means that the merchant that flagged your card through no fault of ours has now ledTo a $1000 loss for us. It is not ideal and we are not a huge organization. Regardless we shall do what we can. :)Here is the first of your cards. Please download within 24 hours as this encrypted link expires. Regarda The AllArk Team **2022-12-17 gunmetal1:** Is there list outlining where the card works? I just tried Hotels.com ("Unfortunately, we are unable to process your Card purchase") followed by Paypal ("Your card was declined by the issuing bank Try a different card or contact your card issuer with questions.") **2022-12-17 AllArk:** Hi, Some merchants charge the card and then refund it in some time. Buying gift card with prepaid cards does not work. Paypal usually works. If Hotels.com charged then declined then we have to wait until they reverse the charge. If there was any balance left on the card after the charge it should still be available. Regards The AllArk Team **2022-12-17 gunmetal1:** Is there any interface where i can check the balance myself? Is there any other way of getting the money out, so we may progress towards closing this issue? Are you open to refund Monero? **2022-12-19 AllArk:** Hi, YOu have to monitor the balance yourself. It seems that Hotels.com has indeed charged your card for the full amount. Now it is up to them to refund it to the card which is usually possible but if they do not, we cannot help. In future, we advise doing a test transaction before trying to max out cards. We will keep an eye on the issue and coordinate with Visa and of course, take care of the remaining balance as soon as we can. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2023-01-02 gunmetal1:** Is the amount back on the card yet? **2023-01-05 AllArk:** Hi, That depends on Hotels.com not us.If it does not work then it isn't. Again, please do not use prepaid cards to buy gift cards. It will almost always lead to loss of funds. Regards The AllArk Team **2023-01-16 gunmetal1:** Can you issue the 1000$ card now? I want to close this issue once and for all. **2023-01-23 AllArk:** Hi, We'd be happy to issue one more $500 card in a few days. The earlier card worked and that issue has nothing to do with using neither can we influence Hotels.com on the natter. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2023-01-23 gunmetal1:** I specifically bought a 1000$ gift card. No shop will allow to split a large payment across two cards, hence two 500$ vouchers aren't useful. Hotels was an attempt to get away from you. They refunded the entire amount which, again, leaves me looking for means to spend the 1000$. **2023-02-03 gunmetal1:** I just attempted and got declined with yet another business - a US-based domain registrar. So far the credit card has not worked once. Let's please do a refund in Monero. **2023-02-04 AllArk:** Hi, We can refund you the outstanding amount in Monero. These cards are not refundable by merchants once they charge and block the whole amount. We've already sent $500 which was charged to Hotels.com and is an issue on their end not ours but we are happy to just refund the rest. If this is not acceptable we have no further solutions for you. Again, apologies for the inconvenience but we cannot keep giving refunds when such situations arise that are completely out of our hand. :) Regards The AllArk Team **2023-02-06 gunmetal1:** Hi, this is my Monero address 86..y Please let me know once you sent the funds. Can you also explain the issue with the other half of the money because I do not yet understand? **2023-02-06 AllArk:** Hi, We've sent the remaining balance. The issue is this:We've emailed Visa multiple times about this and it seems that Hotels.com charged the card in full before deciding to reject the order. This destroyed the card. From then on, depending on Policy, Hotels. Com can take up to 180 days to refund through their payment processor.. If the card expires or is completely used then its entirely upto Hotels.com to follow up with Visa to reinstate the card and credit it which they have not done and Visa has stopped trying after 3 requests. We are out of the funds, Visa has done all they can, Hotels.com is MIA and incommunicado. We really have tried to set it right but that's the most we can do. Regards The AllArk Team **2023-02-06 gunmetal1:** Thank you I will see if I can get help from Hotels.com about this. Can you send a screenshot to support me explaining the card's destruction? **2023-02-07 AllArk:** Hi, We are not sure what screenshot would be useful and available but we will look into it. Regards The AllArk Team **2023-02-07 gunmetal1:** I remember a reddit-thread a while back where they said that you were proxying a third party service. I was thinking maybe a screenshot from them with the balance in zero or card destroyed. **2023-02-08 AllArk:** Hi, We haven't used that provider for a long time. Currently we purge all records and send info over encrypted channels only. All we can do is escalate the last 4 of csrd to Visa and explain issues, we do not interact, are aware of or monitor user charges on card. We are currently in the process of completely outsourcing this to the end user as well further removing us from the equation apart from initial fees. Regards The AllArk Team **2023-02-08 gunmetal1:** So if Hotels has already refunded or manages to refund within this month while the card is still valid, where would the funds end up at? **2023-02-10 AllArk:** Hi, If they refund on an already destroyed card it is up to them and visa to hash it out. They have to request Visa to reinstate the used up card. It is totally up to Visa's discretion as they consider these transactions and reversals as a misuse of the NO-KYC prepaid cards. At least that's the information from our providers. Regards The AllArk Team **2023-02-10 gunmetal1:** Hotels responded that no blocking had occured from their end, adding that everything is up to the card issuer: > Your card issuer may have placed your funds on a pending hold, in anticipation of a purchase. Pending holds do not represent charges that need to be paid. Their only impact is to occupy some of your available credit. Your card issuer will expire the pending hold according to their timeline. Who would the issuer be in our case? **2023-03-12 gunmetal1:** Hello?