I've bought Vanilla gift cards for a while now, even before VRs went out at CVS. But in the past month, I've experienced the following problems:

OV: Wrong card in package (card expiration date didn't match package) -- called Incomm, still waiting on the replacement a month later although it's "in the mail."

OV: 2 cards out of 5 did not activate, created a ticket, 1 card was activated the next day but not the other, waiting on the 2nd card to be activated.

VGC (Gold Bow): 2 cards ($20-$500) today did not properly activate, one card had "$100" written on the top right making me believe it's mismatched to the package. Immediately called InComm and created a ticket.

And others ....

US Bank MC: 1 card out of 2 at a Kroger-affiliate didn't properly activate, had to call Kroger to activate it after GC company took its time.

Makes me feel better that I keep good track of my cards, when I open a package, I write down the last 4 of the VGC number next to the activated number on the receipt. But I'm floating a couple grand which is annoying.

Question I have is --- is it just me/my area, or are a lot of people having problems with gift card activation? Don't want to bug CVS/grocery cashiers around me, so I've been dealing with the GC companies.