I recently opened a card with FirstTech. It took like a month for it to arrive in the mail. They have a SUB of spend 3k in the first 2 months for 20k points.
I called the number on the back of my cc (855-855-8805) to ask for clarification: "Did those 2 months start upon them approving my application, or upon me activating my card? Cuz that's unfortunate they took a whole month just to mail it and I'd hate for it to eat into my time"
Every time I called the help number it just led to a message "Congratulations! You won a $100 Walmart gift card. Please wait while we transfer you to an associate to redeem it."
I assumed it must be real, bc I was the one who initiated the call and every time it just led to that message. I thought maybe no one else was calling, or the message was linked to my phone number.
Our conversation went like---
Rep - Would you like the $100 Walmart gift card or the $50 restaurant gift card?
Me - Uhh Walmart I guess
Rep - Can I get your name, FirstTech credit card number to charge a $4.95 mailing fee, mailing address, etc?
Me - I gave my name and number
Rep - As part of winning, you will receive an annual magazine subscription charged at .... (idk I kind of stopped listening)
Me - I'm no longer interested in the gift card. Please cancel me for this. The magazine subscription sounds too complicated
Rep - It's too late, I already charged you. I just have to read your confirmation number and you have to say yes that you accept it
Me - I'm telling you right now that I don't accept it. If this is on a recorded line, this is me telling you I don't accept the charges, I'm not interested in the gift card and I'm not interested in the magazine subscription. I want to talk to your manager right now
It went quiet a while
Rep - My manager is busy. Tell you what, I'll give you both the $100 Walmart gift card and the $50 restaurant gift card. Now will you accept the confirmation number?
Me - I'm still not interested
We said our niceties goodbye
I tried calling the help number again, but it still just led to the gift card line
I hunted around the FirstTech site for an online chat option but could find none. I didn't want to wait for an email response. I finally found a different phone number - some 888 number
I spoke to the representative and told them what happened. I asked if they were really offering Walmart gift cards and they said no. They tried calling the same number I've been calling, but it led to the legit FirstTech number for them. They canceled my card and issued me a new number
That is, hands-down, one of the most bizarre credit card-related stories I've ever heard! 
So you called the number ON YOUR CARD and ended up in that weird gift card runaround? *SMH*
Curious to see if anyone else reports anything similar happening to them. This is a new one on me!
To be honest, I would've hung up right away if I heard some bogus "You've won!" shpiel. I know you say you dialed the right number, but perhaps you mistyped a digit while dialing which led to that fake call center? I've truly never heard of this.
@SoCalGardener wrote:That is, hands-down, one of the most bizarre credit card-related stories I've ever heard!
So you called the number ON YOUR CARD and ended up in that weird gift card runaround? *SMH*
Curious to see if anyone else reports anything similar happening to them. This is a new one on me!
+1000
And, the first clue for me that something didn't pass the smell test was when they asked for OP's CC info.
@ghost-cell wrote:I recently opened a card with FirstTech. It took like a month for it to arrive in the mail. They have a SUB of spend 3k in the first 2 months for 20k points.
I called the number on the back of my cc (855-855-8805) to ask for clarification: "Did those 2 months start upon them approving my application, or upon me activating my card? Cuz that's unfortunate they took a whole month just to mail it and I'd hate for it to eat into my time"
Every time I called the help number it just led to a message "Congratulations! You won a $100 Walmart gift card. Please wait while we transfer you to an associate to redeem it."
I assumed it must be real, bc I was the one who initiated the call and every time it just led to that message. I thought maybe no one else was calling, or the message was linked to my phone number.
Our conversation went like---
Rep - Would you like the $100 Walmart gift card or the $50 restaurant gift card?
Me - Uhh Walmart I guess
Rep - Can I get your name, FirstTech credit card number to charge a $4.95 mailing fee, mailing address, etc?
Me - I gave my name and number
Rep - As part of winning, you will receive an annual magazine subscription charged at .... (idk I kind of stopped listening)
Me - I'm no longer interested in the gift card. Please cancel me for this. The magazine subscription sounds too complicated
Rep - It's too late, I already charged you. I just have to read your confirmation number and you have to say yes that you accept it
Me - I'm telling you right now that I don't accept it. If this is on a recorded line, this is me telling you I don't accept the charges, I'm not interested in the gift card and I'm not interested in the magazine subscription. I want to talk to your manager right now
It went quiet a while
Rep - My manager is busy. Tell you what, I'll give you both the $100 Walmart gift card and the $50 restaurant gift card. Now will you accept the confirmation number?
Me - I'm still not interested
We said our niceties goodbye
I tried calling the help number again, but it still just led to the gift card line
I hunted around the FirstTech site for an online chat option but could find none. I didn't want to wait for an email response. I finally found a different phone number - some 888 number
I spoke to the representative and told them what happened. I asked if they were really offering Walmart gift cards and they said no. They tried calling the same number I've been calling, but it led to the legit FirstTech number for them. They canceled my card and issued me a new number
If this was from your cell phone, I'd start checking for malware ASAP! Somehow your call was redirected to a different number than what you dialed it seems.
