Affinity Alliance Gift Card ordering experiences?

illumination on 07/09/2014 - 18:42
Last edited 07/09/2014 - 18:43

Hi all,

Hope this is ok for me to post this as a brand new discussion as I feel the one that I have been reading is getting a little messy.

I am interested in gaining access to the Affinity Alliance, but have a couple of questions before I find an association to join.

From the topic I've linked to above, I can see people who had ordered around May-June had to wait anywhere between 2-8 weeks for their gift cards to arrive.

These are my questions:

  • What associations are there that we can join to get access to the Affinity Alliance membership? At the momoent I know of Kajita ($59/12 months), Lung Foundation Australia ($65/12 months). IAIM is no longer a participant as far as I know?
  • Do Affinity Alliance also offer discount off Coles Gift Cards at 5%?
  • How does the ordering process compare to the ordering process that was in place for Entertainment Book gift cards? I am asking this question for both Coles and WISH. It seems that either a form needs to be filled in, or it must be ordered over the phone.
  • In relation to the point above, I'm looking at a couple of things. For example, WISH Gift Cards with Ent Book: registered post ; Coles Gift Cards with Ent Book: Cards come deactivated - these two things gave you a piece of mind.
  • Some people in the topic I've linked to above mention that if you pay with PayPal, it is free delivery + no credit card fees. How do you pay with PayPal if you have to order over the phone?
  • Does anyone know if you're allowed to share membership w/ household members/friends? Or would this technically be against T&Cs?

Thanks in advance for any responses

General Discussion

Related Stores

affinityalliance.net.au
affinityalliance.net.au

Comments

  • googoogaga on 08/09/2014 - 15:49
    +2

    dont do it. Most definitely some type of ponzi scheme.

    They send you a paypal invoice for you to pay with.

    But really it is not a business model that they can sustain. 12% off + the paypal fees ends up being a lot for them to take in and if they were able to sustain it then we wouldn't have so many people complaining and doing chargebacks / launching disputes.

    Keep away.

  • leeroys_dad on 08/09/2014 - 22:04

    Fiona from AA is useless

  • Reddog888 on 10/09/2014 - 11:50

    The Affinity Alliance site has been taken down. Is this an omen??

    You will receive apologies, excuses and delays.

  • adam on 19/09/2014 - 14:46

    I had a 2 separate $1000 orders go through back in Junish, but still with delays, unfulfilled delivery promises etc. My order at start of July never came through. I eventually filled out the forms for small claims (I'm in Qld and so are AA so it was easy to do).. told Fiona that I would be lodging claim and requested refund. Also put through Payapal claim. Eventually got $1000 refund 21/8 - glad I'm not involved anymore. I feel for those of you who may lose money out of this.

  • acersaurus on 30/09/2014 - 21:42

    I am waiting on a $500 gift card order from August 25. When you order, it says expect it in 8-10 business days.

    I just sent them an email saying if it doesn't come this week, can you refund me. I'm conscious of the 45 day PayPal dispute time window. I have also found Fiona's estimates to be innacurate on two occasions.

    The company isn't necessarily dodgy, more likely struggling severely to keep up with orders. I wonder what arrangement they could have with Woolworths that keeps this company financially viable. I won't be using them anymore.

  • Car-la-la on 30/09/2014 - 21:43
    +1

    Fiona has flat out lied to me multiple times, not worth the hassle

  • acersaurus on 30/09/2014 - 21:57

    Yeh it is a little concerning how a lot of us are reporting that her estimates are highly inaccurate, you would think that there would simply be a queue for orders and that she would be able to give an estimate that is roughly correct.

  • googoogaga on 30/09/2014 - 22:15

    don't deal with affinity alliance. Go ask for a refund now! even when I had a paypal dispute open she still lied about the gift card coming in "anytime now".

    They are definitely doing some type of ponzi scheme where they are using your money for other purposes.. interest free I suppose?

    I highly doubt anyone has received any of their orders from August onwards.

    Just stick to the 5% off wish cards.

  • acersaurus on 01/10/2014 - 21:16

    Fiona said that my cards were posted today and that I should receive a tracking number via text (I haven't). I doubt it is a ponzi scheme, but maybe they are running low on money and need to delay orders.

    You do wonder where/how they can be profitable. The membership fee that companies pay affinity alliance per member is from $5 according to the Affinity Alliance website, which, you'd imagine wouldn't even cover their costs such as preparing and sending out a membership card. Perhaps Affinity Alliance get these Wish cards for a 20% or so discount, and then sell them for a 12% discount. That's the only way I can think of. Why would Woolworths give them such a spectacular deal/arrangement though? Them and as far as I know, only them. I reckon it would be a bad commercial decision for Woolworths to do that. So there are some question marks over this company but it's not conclusive that they are dodgy IMO.

    • googoogaga on 01/10/2014 - 21:49
      +2

      why would they post? last time i received my order it was an e-gift card so it was via email. I think it is another stall tactic.

      I think you just need them to break a few more promises before you are in the position where you won't want to deal with them anymore.

      If everything was legit, they wouldn't need to hold your money for over 30 days especially since they are now offering e-giftcards.

      • acersaurus on 06/10/2014 - 14:52
        +1

        I'm not sure why they would post. Anyway the parcel never arrived, I wasn't sent the tracking number and just now I lodged a paypal dispute requesting a refund. Fiona is extremely rapid to respond. She has already responded to the dispute with another apology saying that the parcel I was sent was returned to them "due to insufficient addressing", but if that was the case shouldn't I have still been sent the promised tracking number?

        Anyway, within the dispute she has agreed to the refund. Seems like something is really wrong at that company and Fiona must be spending a dramatic amount of time dealing with disputes.. I am thinking about seeking a refund from Kajita Candles because I purely became a member there to access 12% off Wish gift cards.

  • tutututu on 07/10/2014 - 03:34
    +1

    my first order take 2 months to arrive after so many promises and emails. than Fiona offered me an 17% discount to make it up, i took it an place a $5000 order :( … waiting for another 2 months, than has to log in paypal to get my money back . never ever do any more business with them, especially with Fiona, the so called managing director.

  • acersaurus on 08/10/2014 - 13:22
    +1

    Affinity Alliance seem to be in trouble, because they attempted to issue me a refund of $440 but the refund didn't go through as the funds didn't clear from the sellers bank. I assume PayPal will cover me if I can't get it back from affinity.

    • Marky66 on 09/10/2014 - 16:02

      I was in a similar situation. 7 weeks after ordering $1000 of Wish cards and nothing but apologies about the delay. Opened a Paypal dispute - Fiona agreed to refund, Paypal closed the claim in my favour.

      Paypal refund failed due to no funds in the account. Paypal can't pursue any further if there are no funds. Fortunately Fiona refunded the $880 (after 12% discount) a few days later thru Paypal.

      Until people have experienced satisfactory orders - stay clear.

      I get 5% off Wish Cards thru RACQ / Woolworths Bulk Order Process - pay by Amex, no fees, no charge for registered mail. Turn around is about 1 week. I have no idea why it takes Fiona 2+ months.

      • acersaurus on 10/10/2014 - 21:53

        That's right I'd stay clear, but to be fair I should clarify that Fiona also ended up refunding me through Paypal even though the initial attempt from their account failed.

  • treeman on 10/10/2014 - 23:28

    Stay clear people, something dodgy going on, if you don't believe it just read the responses from the IAIM thread. People being too lenient on the company. When you speak to woolworths you ask about affinity alliance and they categorically say that no one should be offering better than the 5% so how does that make sense?

    Lucky I stayed out of it.

  • grasstown on 11/10/2014 - 12:55

    Mlc super and union shopper have 5 % off Coles still I think

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join