Empty Gift Cards

It’s a bummer I have to post this for an airline that I’ve known and trusted for many years but I spent hours trying to deal with Delta directly and I’ve never felt so unseen and disregarded by a company in my entire life.

I purchased $1,000 in Delta eGift Cards. When I went to use the cards on a booking the website said the balance was empty. This was the first time accessing and looking at the gift cards. I immediately called Delta where a representative looked up when the gift cards were used and what name was used for the booking. It was someone by the name of Ryan Zhang. The representative agreed that it looked like fraud had taken place and filed a claim with the gift card department to reissue my gift cards. She said someone would reach out to me within the week. No one ever called.

I then called to follow up on the claim since I had not heard back. I was told that there was no record of the claim. That there was no one I could talk to on the phone. And the person I was talking to did not even think Delta had a fraud department. I was told to file a complaint through the website which I did that same day. In the email I explained everything I had learned from the first call. A few days later I received a response saying I needed to send the same message to a different email address. Which I did. Here is their response:

Thank you for reaching out to us about your Delta Gift Card. We've reviewed gift card number xxxxxxxxxxxxx and our records show the gift card was redeemed partially redeemed on April 14th, 2025 then in full on the 5th of May, 2025

If you have any other questions or need further assistance, please let us know. We’re happy to help!

Thank you for being a SkyMiles Member, William. We value your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon!

Warm regards, Cassie | Delta Gift Card Team

That was it. No response about this being fraud. No further info about who used the cards. No real investigation.

My response to that email was:

Hi,

The problem is I’m not the one who used the gift cards. You sold me gift cards and when I went to redeem them they were empty. This is fraud.

When were the gift cards first viewed? In what city/country? What tickets were booked with the gift cards? Names of passengers and flight origins and destinations? What platform was used to book those flights? In what city/country was that booking made from?

We should be able to clearly prove who used these cards and that it was not me. There seems to be a breach in your security system for delivering gift cards.

I have been a devoted Delta customer for many years. I fly every year. I’d appreciate some further investigation into this matter.

This was their response:

Thank you for reaching back out to the Delta Gift Card Team.

We apologize, but the Delta Gift Card Team is not authorized to view the information you had previously asked for. We are only capable of viewing the gift card information, the date or dates of exchanges on a gift card, and flight dates. We are unable to view flight cities, ticket numbers, or the names on said tickets. Again, we sincerely apologize that we do not have more information to provide to you.

In order to be fair to everyone, we are unable to replace gift cards that are lost, stolen, or destroyed. Thank you for your understanding.

We are here to assist you with any other questions or concerns you might have. We appreciate you and hope to welcome you onboard soon.

Regards, Wesley | Delta Gift Card Team

My response:

Hello,

Other departments at Delta have all the information. I know because I’ve talked to them and they’ve discussed with me the name of the person who booked flights using the gift cards. I’ve been in contact with a supervisor who should have sent your department info and a request to reissue new gift cards. The fraud is on your side. I never accessed the gift cards so there was no info to steal from me.

No response back from them.

In the middle of this email exchange I had also called Delta again. I tried to follow up with my previous call and they had no record of me calling. I explained my situation again and they once again agreed that this looked like fraud. I was on the phone for a long time while the representative got their supervisor involved. At the end of the call they said all they could do was send this info to the gift card department and they would reissue me the gift cards. I said I was nervous about that because the gift card department wasn’t helping me through email. They assured me this time it would be different because a supervisor was involved. I asked for a reference number for the phone call, and the supervisor’s name. The representative said there is no reference number and they don’t give out names. I asked for his name and he said Travis. I asked for his last name and he refused to give it to me.

I was so surprised that a company of this size and reputation would have no system in place to keep track of who and what their departments were dealing with.

We all know cyber security threats are on the rise and in the near future will be a major burden on us. If this is how Delta plans to handle security then we are all in big trouble.

I have been a loyal Delta customer for decades and spend thousands on flights every year. I am truly shocked I am being treated this way. This is a warning to everyone that Delta gift cards are not safe to purchase. The company does not have your back.

-frustrated flyer