Melbourne mum issues warning to Australians after she lost $2,000 buying Apple gift cards from Coles

A Melbourne mother has blasted Coles after spending $2,000 on Apple gift cards, only to discover the cards had already been scratched and the redemption codes were missing, leaving her unable to use them.

Georgia Perry, 40, bought four $500 Apple gift cards from her local Yarraville store on May 19 to take advantage of a promotion offering thousands of bonus Flybuys points.

She said the offer, which promised customers 20 times the usual Flybuys points, was the only reason she decided to buy the cards, with plans to use them to purchase a new iPhone.

But when she later tried to redeem the cards and complete the purchase, she discovered the codes on the Apple gift cards had already been scratched off and could not be used.

‘I had the phone in my cart and opened the gift cards to enter the redemption codes and that’s when I discovered they were missing completely,’ she told the Daily Mail.

‘My initial thought was I’d accidentally scratched it as I was opening the package but I realised that wasn’t the case when I opened the next one and it was identical… it was like a nightmare unfolding.’

Ms Perry said she immediately went back to the store she purchased the gift cards from in hopes of receiving a refund, however it fell on deaf ears.

‘They said they’d seen similar things happen before and kept saying there was nothing they could do as it is a third party product’ she said. 

‘But if you buy a loaf of bread and its completely moldy and you took it back, well isn’t that a third party product they’ve got from somewhere? 

‘As far as I know, I’m at the checkout giving them the money – if it’s a deal they have with these gift card providers, then they’re obviously getting something from it.’

To make matters worse, Ms Perry said she’s received a ‘lacklustre’ response from Coles after only receiving automated messages and emails from them so far.

Frustrated by the ordeal, Ms Perry took to social media to share her experience and said she’s been overwhelmed by the response.

‘Since I posted about this, hundreds of people have messaged me with tales of similar things happening for months, even years. So if this is a known issue, and they are so easily tampered with or made defective, then why are they not behind the counter?’ she said.

‘Why are the cards not where they sell the cigarettes? Why are they so blasé about it?

‘Coles makes record profits every year- if this is such a rampant issue, why not use some of that money to have a department that investigates this type of fraud.

‘Also, if you can’t guarantee a product, don’t sell it!’

It comes just days after Coles was found to have misled shoppers with illusory discounts in a landmark case brought by the consumer watchdog.

‘They use all this advanced AI technology and surveillance for all of us, so why are they not closely monitoring these card stands and why are they not interested in trying to (work out) who is doing this?’

A Coles spokesperson told the Daily Mail the supermarket was aware of the matter and has been in ‘regular contact’ with Ms Perry to investigate the issue. 

‘We are also working closely with our supplier as part of our investigation into the gift cards involved,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Gift cards are managed through a specialist support process, which is why the customer was directed to contact our Customer Care team so the matter could be formally reviewed and investigated.

‘We understand how frustrating situations like this can be and we take reports involving gift cards very seriously. Protecting our customers and investigating suspected tampering or scam activity is extremely important to us.’

The Daily Mail understands gift cards are treated as cash equivalents and cannot be refunded or replaced in store.