OMAHA, Nebraska (WOWT) – She couldn’t put her finger on it, but nail technician Melissa Greenwell says she had concerns about a man purchasing gift cards.
“It seemed odd to us at first because he was buying so much,” Melissa said. “(He said) he just wanted to treat the women in his life to something special. We don’t hear that very often, so it was automatically suspicious.”
Wendy Lamb owns Artistry Nail Spa in Omaha. She says Trevion Chandler purchased several hundred dollars worth of gift cards from her website using a credit card.
Wendy says at least half a dozen women came in and used varying amounts of gift cards purchased by the same suspect to get their nails done.
However, after many of the gift cards were used, Chandler claimed his credit card was used without authorization, so Wendy was shocked when the money paid to her spa was withdrawn after a dispute was decided in favor of the buyer.
“The financial institution, his issuing bank, ruled against me,” Wendy said. “There’s no reason why they would have ruled against me. I had all the proof that he was here and used the services. Even a Google review.”
Prosecutors charged Chandler with theft of services, but nail technician Ashley Andersen reported that someone was still trying to use one of the gift cards.
“They were mad at their boyfriend for giving them a stolen gift card and putting them in this situation when they didn’t know about it,” Ashley said.
After 6 News contacted Paypal, which acted as an intermediary between the nail salon and the credit card company, Wendy received a message stating that Paypal had issued a credit to her account as a one-time goodwill gesture.
“My reaction is: Thank you, Paypal, for giving me my funds back after it took a journalist to step in and sort things out,” Wendy said.
Gift card purchases are finally covered, giving small business owners some financial relief.
Chandler’s court date was scheduled for Monday but was postponed until next month. His attorney says Chandler is behind bars because court records show he faces additional charges, but he declined to comment on the alleged gift card fraud.
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