Important Warning about Holiday Gift Cards

[bleedingheart]

There is a brand new method of screwing over people who buy gift cards for loved ones so read the fine print on the agreements.

Basically you buy a $50 gift card and there are now charges of anywhere from $2 and up a month until the card is redeemed. Sometimes the charges don't start until a few months after purchase but you never know.

So please read the fine print before buying into these cards...they have have hidden surprises.

[BiggJawn]

1. This "fee" is deducted from the value of the card?

So if i buy someone a $50 card, and they sit on it for 2 years, they get an unpleasant surprise ("Hey, you SCHMUCK! you gave me a USED-UP CARD!!!")and I get screwed?

Why can't these retailers make money the honest way? Yeah, I know, happens everytime we get stuck with a "busness-friendly" ReTHUG administration, but this is the worst one yet.

[bleedingheart]

2. Yep that is basically the deal. I will find the article in the post

and send it... I read it in the newspaper not the online site.

It seems to be a Mall gift certificate issue ...but I suspect it will grow in popularity along other methods of screwing consumers.

...remember Mall certificates are favored since Grandma doesn't know what to buy...so she buys something that can be used at any store in the mall...

[bleedingheart]

3. Here is a link about the story!

http://kdka.com/consumer/local_story_288163138.html


Now I know that this isn't going to be limited to the Pittsburgh area because any opportunity to screw people is always popular with stores...

[Kat45]

4. I think the mall gift cards are like that

You know, the cards you get at a mall that you can use at any store in the mall.

[bleedingheart]

5. well apparently a lot of people never noticed the rules

so now they are all yipping to the TV and papers in my area.

Personally why not give cash... at least the recipient gets the entire gift amount.

[OldSoldier]

6. Why would anyone do that?

Retailers make their gift card money in two ways:

a) The obvious way: you can't spend a Home Depot gift card at Lowe's.

b) The one we don't tell you about: We make money on the float. Float is the unredeemed balance on all of these gift cards. We deposit the cash in some sort of interest-bearing account and just let it hang out until a store redeems it.

[amazona]

8. a third way they make money

The third way they make money is because the entire card often doesn't get used up. For instance, I was recently given a large number of $10 gift cards. Let's say I bought something for $26.89. Then I would hand over three gift cards. THEY DO NOT MAKE CHANGE AS WITH OLD-TIME GIFT CERTIFICATES. They just leave the "extra" on the card. Now they know well and good that a large proportion of these cards with just a couple dollars on them will never be used. Better yet, out of three registers where I used the gift cards, at only ONE of them did the clerk return my card with the "leftovers" on it. At the other two registers, the clerk started to sweep ALL of my cards into the trash can, so I had to stop her and make her find the card which still had $4 left on it. It was clear that the store made a practice of not returning gift cards with only a few dollars left on it unless you asked -- just in those three transactions, if I had not gotten my cards back, they would have made $10 for nothing, just for stealing the minor amount on each gift card and throwing it away.

For the love of Pete, if you don't want to shop, might I suggest the green rectangular gift that is always in style?

The other nuisance about gift cards is you have to go that particular store -- in my case, over an hour drive one way from my home. Gift cards can be convenient for the sender but they are a true nuisance for the receiver. That's why so many break down and sell their GCs on Ebay for half of what they're worth.

[northzax]

10. green rectangular gift?

you mean an AMEX card?

[gbwarming]

12. cash dollars, greenbacks

[Richardo]

11. Barnes & Noble gives you change in cash when the card < $5.00

As info.

[populistmom]

7. Sleazebags!

Is this legal? Must be I guess, but it would be nice to see a lawsuit to challenge this.
Corporate f___ing weazels!

[wysimdnwyg]

9. This is expanding already

I got a card with $40 towards gas last week that does the same thing. If the card is not used for 12 months, they'll knock $2 per month off the value until it's used up.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. That sucks!

Someone explain to me why these kind of businesses need help, when they make a point of helping themselves????

Thanks for the warning!

[geniph]

14. There are a few retailers who don't do that

Target doesn't. Some don't start deducting until after two years of unuse. However, most start deducting "service fees" and "administrative costs" after six months. If you give gift cards, warn the recipient that they have to be used within six months.

This has really bitten some kids in the butt - people give them to kids for a gift, and the kids are HEARTBROKEN when they go to use them a year later, and they're worthless. Not nice.

The stores like them better than gift certificates, because they're easier (administratively) for them, and harder to forge, but gift certificates don't get "fees" deducted from their face value. Stick to gift certificates, or only buy cards from retailers that don't do this.