Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have used this product/ feature before with no problems. However, this last time was HORRIBLE. The whole point of these printable gift cards are that they are fast and easy. That was not the case this time. I logged in to Amazon, chose my card, put in all my info, etc. and clicked to purchase the product. It told me an email would appear in my box shortly. It did. It said something to the effect of "This is a confirmation of your order. Another e-mail should arrive shortly with instructions for printing your card." Previously, the second email has appeared nearly simultaneously with the first. Not so this time. I waited and waited. After 15 minutes, when it still had not arrived, I went back to the Amazon site to check the status of my order. It told me that it was still trying to confirm/ verify my credit card. Mind you this is the same card I've been using on Amazon for *years* and it isn't close to expiry, nor is it close to the credit limit, so I didn't see what the problem was, but I waited some more. When another 30 minutes passed and the email still had not appeared I called customer service. (We had reached the point where it was time to leave for the party we'd bought the card for.) The customer service person was not very helpful, and apparently not very bright. I explained that I'd been waiting for 45 minutes, and he said "Yes, I think we can help you within the next 45 minutes." I tried again, saying that I had *already* been waiting 45 minutes, and it was time for me to leave the house, and could he please see what the problem was quickly. He came back and told me that they were verifying my credit card. Again, I explained that I *knew* that from my status check, but I wanted to know *why* they were still verifying. He put me on hold to check on it. About 5 minutes later he came back on the line and told me that the problem was taken care of, and that I would be getting the email with instructions to print the gift card within the next 24 hours. At this point I had pretty much lost my patience. I told him that I didn't need it in 24 hours, I needed it NOW, which was the whole point of the stupid thing. I told him that he'd better put a manager on the phone right away, and that if my problem wasn't fixed they would loose me and my family as customers. Luckily the manager seemed to be a smart person. I was on hold for another 5 minutes before the manager got on the phone. When she did get on, she told me that she'd taken care of the problem, and would I please check my email one more time. Thank goodness the email was there, and I was able to immediately print the gift card, and we were only about 15 minutes late for our party. I do think these printable gift cards are a great idea, and have been happy with them in the past. I don't know what happened that made my "instant" order take over an hour this time, but it will definitely make me think twice before using this product next time. My recommendation to anyone who uses it in the future will be "Don't wait until the last minute." I find this sad, because that is supposed to be the beauty of the thing. Oh well. I hope it was just a one-time fluke. Good luck.