Gift certificates

[Guest]

.

[ndgaskins]

i gave some certificates to a friend.  they were never used so i redemmed them to make a loan.  Probably without knowing what i was doing.  I tried to make a loan with them andthey say thery are already redeemed.  When do the funds go and how can I loan them> 

[s_shewan]

If you have redeemed the gift certificates yourself, the money will show up as Kiva credit . You can see how much Kiva credit you have on your Portfolio page, It will be near the top right hand corner.

It would be difficult to redeem the gift certificates by accident since you have to enter the email of the person who bought them as well as the gift certificate code.
If you are unsure if you have redeemed the gift certificates you can check on the status of all the Gift certificates by clicking on the gift certificate link on your portfolio page. This will show all the certificates you have purchased and whether they were redeemed or not and the date they were redeemed.

Once you have the gift certificates redeemed and Kiva credit in your Kiva account you can use that credit to make a loan.

Pick a loan, as usual, and when you get to the check out section...choose "use Kiva credit" as the payment option.


Hope that helps you.
Susan

[Bluedurham]

 

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

This topic sorta applies to my question, and since

• Kiva doesn't have an active help function that I can find
• Kiva Friends are listed as the source of all Kiva help
• and I don't know how to start a new topic,

here's my question (and confession of my stupidity).

I sent a gift certificate, then called my friend to let him know to expect it. Everyone uses such draconian spam filters these days that I wanted to be sure that he actually received it. It didn't arrive.

That's when I reread Kiva's confirmation email and saw that I had made a typo in his email address. Is there a way to correct this? Or should I redeem the GC and try again?

I feel really dumb about this.

b

[Diane R]

If you tell your friend the GC confirmation number and the email address you specified as your own email (associated with your Kiva account) when you purchased it, that's all your friend needs to redeem the GC.  Try that before redeeming it yourself.

EDIT:  I've removed ambiguity about which email address to use, sorry for any confusion!

--Diane.
(PS: Welcome to KivaFriends!  There's no such thing as a dumb question here. )

[Bluedurham]

Thanks so much for the answer and for the welcome!

I gave him the certificate number and he's put his 2 cents worth down on 4 loans ... and is already looking for the first repayment. I have a feeling that he won't be able to wait for reinvestment tme, just as I couldn't wait.

Thanks again,
blue

[Gryzio]

   I understand this is an older thread made new again. 

I not know a lot about the GC's (Gift Certificates) and this got me wondering. 

If/When I buy a GC and I send to someone through e-mail, they need more information to use it?

What got me thinking from this thread.     If, we give the wrong e-mail by typo or other ways, then the person that get the GC may not be the intended recipient. 
 
So, they need more information (numbers or whatever) from another e-mail, before they can use the gift certificate?

I hope this question makes sense. 
   

[Sengbe Pieh]

Gryzio,

                                                                                                                                                   

The person you send the GC to needs two pieces of information.

• The Gift Certificate number
• The email address you used when purchasing the GC.

                                                                                                                                                                 

To simplify this process, you can enter the name of the person you are sending the GC to & their email address at the time of purchase & check the box

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

"Email this to the recipient
immediately after purchase:"

                                                                                                                       

The information needed will then be sent to the person you have selected.

                                                   

If you enter the wrong email address for your friend, then they will need your email address & the GC number.

Print the certificate later by logging into your Kiva account and clicking "My Portfolio" and then "Gift Certificates."

                                                                                                                                                             

Redeem your Gift Certificate:

Enter the details below:
Gift Code: _____________________
Email of Purchaser: _________________   

                                                                                     

Hope this makes things clearer for you.

                                                                                                           

Geoff

                                                                                                                                 

EDIT: Thanks Wolfgang 

[wthepoo]

Sam,

it works like this:

Each GC has a unique "code" like "5732778865429" (no need to try it, it's a used one ), and is connected to the giver's e-mail-address. With these two bits of information, it can be redeemed by anyone with a Kiva account.

You can either send "the GC" and this information to the recipient through Kiva, or send an e-mail of yourself, or even give these information to the recipient on paper (like the printed out version of the GC that looks reasonably well) or over the phone...

So it does not really matter whether you enter the correct recipient's e-mail; as long as the "true" recipient gets these two bits of information (code and e-mail of giver), everything is fine. Of course, if you enter a wrong e-mail-address for the recipient, it could happen that someone else gets hold of the information and makes use of it before the intended recipient - I don't know how Kiva would deal with such a case.

Hope to help, best wishes,
Wolfgang.

****
PS: Geoff was faster, and his explanation is better. So - sorry for saying it all again.

[Gryzio]

   I think I understand.
I really would double check all information, but, was curios as to how it actually work before I get into the actual process. Thanks. 

[zekenzoey]

Argh . .. 
I have sent 3 gift certs to my more socially concious friends and they have not redeemed them . . . I have sent them instructions how to redeem, gentle reminders . . . all they have to do is reach out and redeem. . . .its totally low hanging fruit . . . I have even offered to show them personally, how to redeem the cert

One day, somebody is going to redeem one and I am going to faint. There, I have vented and I feel better if nothing else . . .

[wthepoo]

Argh . .. 
I have sent 3 gift certs to my more socially concious friends and they have not redeemed them . . . I have sent them instructions how to redeem, gentle reminders . . . all they have to do is reach out and redeem. . . .its totally low hanging fruit . . . I have even offered to show them personally, how to redeem the cert

One day, somebody is going to redeem one and I am going to faint. There, I have vented and I feel better if nothing else . . .

It's very much the same here... five of the eight GCs I gave away have not been redeemed yet, in one case for over ten months, now - despite constant reminders, offers of help redeeming them, ...

By the way, I just saw that my latest GC has been redeemed ten days ago, but I never received any notification. I thought I had received a notification in the other two cases but am not absolutely sure (?). In any case, such a notification would be nice, I think.

Best wishes,
Wolfgang.

[Alaska Pack]

                

Wow!  I guess we have nothing to compare to, it has only been 5 months.  Besides the GCs went to a pair of less concerned teenage niece and nephew rather than socially conscientious friends.
Whew!      Bernice

[Karoline]

I gave my mom and my dad and my brother GCs for Christmas. My mom and my dad never seem to redeem them so I offered to just redeem them on my account, but let them choose the loan. My brother actually joined and loaned to a man in Tajikistan. Proud of him!