Visa Vanilla Visa Possible visa gift card scam? Internet

My Visa gift card had $150.  When I went to use it, there was nothing on it.  I called Visa and they gave me the runaround.  I finally reached the lost/stolen card section and they gave me such a hard time, but admitted the cards they issued in my batch were faulty.  Since it was bought months ago, my mom didn't have the receipt and without a receipt Visa won't even look at it even thought they admit it's their fault.  

The Visa people were so adamant and rude, I was in tears at the end of hours on the phone.  This was not what my mom wanted when she bought me the gift card.  Not only was I embarrassed when I tried to use the card, I'm left feeling totally frustrated when Visa didn't honour it.

I dislike gift cards, yet I constantly get them as gifts.  This is the second time this has happened to me with a gift card and I can't believe a company as big as Visa is able to screw up on a product like these gift cards and have the customers pay for their mistake.

I wonder how many other people are stuck with a card that cost $150 and got absolutely nothing in return.  Visa made an incredible profit on us last Christmas.