Pay Power Reviews 17

Don’t use this company, received a prepaid card as a gift, when I went to use it the card was declined, I reached out to paypower and was informed the card was locked due to suspicion of fraud. 3 wks later emailing back and forth resending information I sent two weeks ago still no further ahead. Pretty lax customer service, stay away!

I received a PayPower reloadable prepaid Mastercard as a gift from coworkers while recovering from major surgery. Unfortunately, the card is completely unusable.

The 1-800 number printed on the card doesn’t even connect to PayPower — it goes to a MedicAlert phone line. That alone is extremely concerning and immediately made the whole thing feel like a scam.

After searching online, I eventually found a different number for PayPower and called for help. I was told to email them to resolve the issue. I sent the email and never received any reply.

When I called again today hoping to get help, the customer service representative simply hung up on me.

To make matters worse, I found out that these cards were apparently discontinued in 2024, yet they are still being sold in stores. How are discontinued cards still being sold to customers?

So at this point I have a card that cannot be activated, incorrect contact information printed on it, no response to emails, and customer service that hangs up on customers.

This was supposed to be a thoughtful gift during a difficult time while I was recovering from surgery, but instead it has been a frustrating and disappointing experience. I would strongly recommend avoiding this company.

**UPDATE** conversed with these folks for several days via email. Was assured everything would be fine. Received an email from these folks today saying that the case has been resolved and “For further support and to explore available options, we kindly recommend contacting our dedicated support team at 1‑888‑677‑3299.” Well, I called and spoke to a very arrogant Phillipe who would not help me at all and told me to email the same people who told me the case was resolved. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said he doesn’t have one??
This is far from over!!

Just read a lot of other reviews, and you would think that after 8 years of the same problem they would have fixed it by now. Kind of reeks of incompetence. Purchased some cards as gifts over Christmas and can’t register them.

My cards expired and almost a year ago and twice since sending them the required information their representatives lied about sending me refund cheques.
CON JOB BASTARDS !!!!!
FU to every lying bastard I've spoken with there.
Yours truly
Don Stanich
Alberta, Canada

Here's a rewritten summary of my experience:

My PayPower card got hacked, and discovering three mysterious charges from Vietnam was a rough start to my day. When I tried to report the fraud, I was stuck calling their customer service, only to be told to wait for an email. It quickly felt like PayPower couldn't care less about its customers.

Eventually, PayPower did confirm the fraudulent activity and agreed to a refund. But their proposed solutions were baffling. Since my "Single Load Payment" card couldn't receive the refund directly, they told me I had two choices: either **buy a new reloadable card** or accept a check for the balance, **minus a $10 processing fee.** My immediate reaction was disbelief—I'm a fraud victim, they admit it, so why should I have to pay just to get my own money back?

I tried to get a new reloadable card through their app, but hit a "FATCA reporting requirements" error. Apparently, due to U.S. tax regulations, they can't issue reloadable cards to Canadians, which left the **$10-off cheque as my *only* option.** I promptly replied, challenging their logic and suggesting they simply mail me a new card with the refund.

Ultimately, despite my card being hacked and PayPower acknowledging the fraud, I'm forced to pay a fee to reclaim my own money. This whole ordeal left me feeling like PayPower are the actual scammers, not just the criminals who stole from me. I strongly advise against using this product.

Pay no attention to the automated reply below from Maurice V at Paypower.ca. It's all lies.

**UPDATE FROM PAYPOWER.CA 07/05/2025:**
We're sorry we couldn't contact you. - They did get in contact with me.
We sent you an email asking for your contact information - Yes, they did and promptly received all that.
However, we did not receive any response. - Yes, they did, and we bounced several emails back and forth from July 1st to July 8th.

So, all lies and automated B.S...

convenient way to make online payments as well as in store purchases also you can withdraw cash out of bank machine

Thiefs, scammers and worst customer service ever. Dont ever do business with them.
They robbed me on holiday time, and they make it very hard for you to get a refund.

Avoid trusting this company with your money or personal data. Their system is severely outdated—they frequently block your card and hold your funds without any explanation, requiring three business days to resolve the issue. Even when you email them, they take three business days just to respond. This level of service is unacceptable, and they shouldn’t be in business. Keep your money safe and choose a more reliable option.

Scammers! Beware!

Honest, Helpful, and Constructive

I had ordered a gift card for my friend's wedding early November for his wedding and learnt he had not received it. I hadn't received a confirmation email either.

Sent them 4 emails (complete with screenshots of my purchase and order number) and there is still no response from them!

This is highly embarrassing as it was supposed to be a wedding gift.

The couple would probably have come back from their honeymoon and still not have received their gift card.

Very very disappointing. Wish I read these reviews before I made this purchase.
I'm hoping I will at least get a response here!

Purchased a gift card for $100 and gave it as a gift. Before the recipient was able to use the car it had been hacked and half the money spent. We now have to wait 90 days for this to be resolved. DO NOT USE THEM!

STAY WELL CLEAR!!!! THEY ARE AWARE AND SO ARE THE EMPLOYEES, DON'T SPEND A PENNY WITH THEM AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE!!!

I purchased a giftcard for myself custom made with a picture I took. The amount was fairly large, $500. This card sat in my wallet for a considerable amount of time unused. Three years passed, and I accrued $123.75 in dormancy fees and $376.25 was escheated (reported to my state of residence as abandoned property if proper procedures were followed- more on this later). The business graciously and immediately refunded my $123.75 in dormancy fees. I was instructed to contact my state treasury department to recover the confiscated funds, but I was informed by my state they had no record of monies belonging to me being turned over to them. I was then assigned a "level II review", and now have a second reviewer. It has been three weeks now with no resolution. I have been in contact with this company at least a dozen times both by phone and by email. My train of logic is:
* The escheatment should not have happened in the first place. The card was purchased in Oct 2013. I signed into the account on 8/14/2014 to personalize the pin number, as evidenced by the account activity log. The 3 years for counting inactivity should have started then.

* Blackhawk DBA giftcards.com did not do due diligence by notifying me the escheatment was going to occur, as required. My address on record with you is where I am still at, there is no reason I could not be reached. I was both purchaser and receiver.

* Not knowing where your business is holding or has sent the funds does not absolve you the holder and issuer from returning the funds to a rightful claimant. You are withholding my property from me. At no time, in any of my communications with anyone from this company, has it been disputed that I am not the rightful owner. In fact, I have an email from them referring to this money as " your (my) funds". They were not sent to my state of residence, which is where they should have gone if proper escheatment procedures were followed. If you sent them elsewhere, then that is your mistake. It is also your mistake if my funds were distributed as part of an aggregate instead of having my name attached to them. I do believe that it is actually federal governance that over a certain value, $50, property or money that is escheated must have the name of the individual attached to it so they can make recovery.
*** It is time that my problem is sent far enough up the chain that someone can actually do something about it. I cannot believe that a company that deals specifically with financial instruments is taking longer than three weeks to trace a single transaction.

After buying a prepaid Visa card from my local grocery store, everything was activated and successfully prepared for online registration. I went to paypower.ca, the Canadian version of the PayPower website, and attempted to register my card for online use. No good. The card didn't 'exist'.

I e-mailed the customer service e-mail 3 times, each time waiting a week between e-mails. They have a 48 hour reply guarentee, which obviously wans't followed.

I also called their toll free number three times, staying on hold for an hour each time as the 'next in line customer'. No answer.

I have bought from this company before and it worked, but this is my second time buying, and it seems like I shall never buy from this retailer again. Deal with caution!