| Gift card ripoff (5) | Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 1:08 pm |
Wendy received a gift card for Christmas that cost $35: $25 for the gift, $5 for the card, and $5 to activate it. That's called a ripoff. Just give cash.
Wendy received a gift card for Christmas that cost $35: $25 for the gift, $5 for the card, and $5 to activate it. That's called a ripoff. Just give cash.
Hello
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Care to share the vendor or bank? Always good to know.
Interesting I came across this today:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22342090/
I believe it was a generic Visa gift card. It wasn't for a particular store, so the giver said, "You can use it anywhere." That's true, and it was a nice gift, but what a ripoff. Paying money so you can pay money. It would be a ridiculous business model if it wasn't so successful.
I'm a friend of Dana's who's been lurking on your blog for a few months...i always feel a bit strange, like i'm stalking, but i can't help coming back b/c the content cracks me up.
anyhow, couldn't resist commenting here, to "amen". We received 3 credit/gift cards this year (2 amex & one discover) & there are so many stipulations! You can't use them at gas stations & a few other places i can't remember & at least on the amex you can't use up the remaining balance & then pay the rest w/cash if it wasn't enough. So we have 3 cards with like $.08 on them. ridiculous. i had no idea. i won't be buying them for others anymore.
Hi Jenn. Thanks for lurking.
Yeah those last few cents are annoying. The rule says something like you have to make a purchase of the exact remaining balance. So if you have $0.08 left, you have to buy something that's exactly $0.08, which is impossible because nothing costs $0.08. I can just picture a meeting of men in suits around a table, mwuhaha-ing because they were able to figure out another way to rip people off.
I think my genius wife figured out a way around this. That's why I give my almost-empty gift cards to her. Maybe she'll chime in.
Since I was a clerk at a local department store I know something about those registers. I know this worked at Target, but I can't promise you can convince other store clerks to do this...it's worth a try.
Basically, ask them to put pay amount instead of hitting the "total" button. If the clerk can figure this out, you're in good shape. It should just charge the card the and then you can pay your balance, using the pay total button, with another form of currency.
Let me know if it works. It's worked a few times for me.