Just before Thanksgiving I went to a Grocery store I usually don't go to. Had a gift card from last Christmas. They charge me a two dollar service charge on a $25 dollar card. The way I see it They charged me 8% for loaning them $25. They said it was for maintenance, since I was in position of the card, kept it clean, away from magnetic sources, free from scratches, etc. I'm like W.T.H.
I got a gift card from work last week, went to use it yesterday, and it wouldn't scan. Waited in line at customer service 20 minutes for them to tell me it wouldn't be activated till Jan. 03, 2004.
Several years ago I had finished working two and a half shifts, went to the local grocery, was so tired I could hardly stand up, the cashier palmed a gift card on me. Caught it just in time, should have heard the excuse the store manager made about it falling on the belt.
I bought a gift card for a lady at work who was having a baby. The card was empty. Went back to the store said they couldn't help me even though I had the receipt. Tracked down an ex employee who said clerk did this all the time. Store finally corrected it to keep me from going to the police and paper.

 

This seems like a system that needs to be improved to prevent these kind of mistakes. But, I'm gonna have to support the "maintenance charge". The databases that contain the info that the card in your possession to prove it exists takes money to operate and maintain. Over time, those databases must be backed up to archived storage. That convenience is costing the companies money. The simple solution is for gift cardholders to actually USE the card(s) that is/are given to them. I saw a news story the other day on this topic, where the cardholder had a 3 year old card he hadn't touched since he received it. Well, 3 years of service charges were deducted, so his $50 card was now worth just over $30. He was upset, understandably, be to his fault, I say if he'd have used the thing, that issue would have never come up.

 

I agree, last Christmas some of my mom's friends got me a Visa gift card from the mall, that was supposed to be able to work anywhere Visa was accepted. I was so glad when the thing was finished, and so was my mom. We went shopping and I got a couple of books, then got to the checkout and the cashier said "Our system doesn't take those" So my mom put it on her charge card and I gave my gift card to her to use on whatever. Even in the mall that it was purchased from, had problems getting it to ring up right. The only type of giftcards that are ok to my knowledge are those from restaurants, where that is the only place you can use them.

 

I don't agree with the practice of charging a service charge on those cards no matter how long you have it. They already have the money it was purchased with and I'm sure it was making money for them during that time. I'm sure that money was used to help purchase more merchandise to sell and make a profit on, or invested in stocks or collected interest on it. I doubt the money you buy those cards with just lies dormant until you buy something with it.

 

I could see them having an expiration date on the card, say five years. Charging me $2.00 on a card thats not a year old yet is wrong. Also there were no signs anywhere on this policy. I think these cards are big money makers, with cards lost, customers going to stores the don't normally use, spending amounts above the card,and a cash advance to the store on purchases. They also wouldn't give me the $2.70 in change left on the card. If I'd gone to the baby store for the lady I probably wouldn't spent as much money as I did on the card that I finally got. Also the card that wasn't active yet, what is the point of that, is so I'll stick the card some where and forget it?

 

I don't think the "service charge" is justified in any way. They should call them $23 cards, and see how many they sell for $25.
As Nightowl said, they have been earning interest on that money. They should give you more than $25, if anything. I think their biggest profit on those things are lost/misplaced cards. It's not like they are doing you a FAVOR by selling you the cards!
I wouldn't do business with a place like that myself. I've recieved gift certificates for the grocery store I go to, and I've recieved most of the amount in change sometimes. I do spend a lot of money there.

 

> They charge me a two dollar service charge on a $25 dollar card

In many states, that is flat out illegal.

> with cards lost,

In many states, the money is suppose to be turned over to the state if it goes unclaimed, not that it usually happens.

> give me the $2.70 in change left on the card.

Again, illegal in many states unless they give you a credit on a gift card for the remaining amount.

 

The only gift cards I use is the Wal-Mart ones. You can buy anything with them including gas at the ones that have a gas station at them and get the three cent a gallon discount. I used one last night and paid $ 1.55 a gal.

 

I've never used these gift card before but I got a $25 one from my work as an "bonus"
I plan on using it for gas so I can just use it up all at once and not have any "change" or have to pay out of pocket if I go over $25. But now that I've read this, I don't know if I get my full $25. It's a Mastercard, will these work at the gas stations with the credit card readers?

 

I say if I bought a gift card and didn't use it for a couple years, I'd expect the store to give me interest - say prime + 1%. Of course I'd be generous with the compounding, probably quarterly.

When I buy a gift card I'm giving them a free loan. If the cards never used, (which I'm both sure happens and sure the corporations know the percentage of the time it does), I'm giving them free money.

What if I used this idea with my mortgage. It takes me 5 minutes/month to write out the check, coupon, do the filing and stuff the envelope for just the mortgage payment. If I figure my time at a generous $25/hr, over thirty years I'd had invested $750 in time and $133.20 in 37 cent stamps. If I just skipped the last mortgage payments or two, to cover the $883.20, would the mortgage company be understanding of my handling fee? I wouldn't tell them about it till they asked for the money - it's what happens with the gift cards.

Sorry about the rant, but I hate when people steal from me and tell me it's OK, because it's reasonable and besides - it's a rant post...

 

That's the probelm with gift cards, is that all stores are different, and all states have different laws about them, I know in most new england states it's illegal for gift cards to have experiation (sp?) dates, and service charges. how ever not all states have laws or requlations on goft cards, I don't agree with experiation dates or service chages, because technically all your doing is trading cash, for product.

 

There was an older man here who was given gift cards to a certain store every year for Christmas and his birthday. The store announced they were going out of business, since they'd been bought out, so the man went in to use up all his cards (a few hundred dollars worth). He was told that for the final two weeks they were open, they were only accepting cash and nothing else, and wouldn't take his cards. It made the papers, and I think it was eventually resolved, but it was quite a hot topic here. Noone had been informed that their gift cards were no good. Some other people got the shaft on that deal too, since it was a chain store. (CT's Farm and Family, which is now Tractor Supply Co.)

 

I was given a $50 Best Buy gift certficate from a customer of mine. I went to use it a few days ago, to buy a new controller for my Playstation 2 for $19.99 plus tax.
When I got to the register, I was told that I should buy something else, because the gift certificate was only good for one use and that the balance of the $50.00 would be null.
I've never heard of anything like this. Any other gift certificate I've ever gotten in the form of a debit-type card carried a balance until it was zero. I've always used them at Blockbuster to rent dvds and can usually rent four or five movies with a $25.00 card over the course of several weeks.
I think this is a scam, because someone has already payed out $50 to Best Buy. I don't think Best Buy should be able to tell the end user they can only use the card one. In my case, I had only chosen to buy the PS2 controller for $20, Best Buy would be $30 ahead of the game.
I know I'll NEVER purchase a Best Buy gift certificate as a gift for someone.
Anyone else ever encountered this annoying situation?

Glenn

 

we give cash change on those one time use gift cards at homedepot. they arent sold anymore though. i hate best buy anyways, i dont go there after reading that article with their ceo.

 

The cashier that rung you out at best buy was full of BS. With a BBY gift card, you can use it until the balance reaches zero. Believe me, I get them all the time for christmas and birthdays. The real reason that stores sell gift cards, is to make money. Nobody here has mentioned that it has been proven that for every one dollar a customer recieves on a gift card, they usually spend one of their own dollars. So, if a person were recieve a 50 dollar GC, they would spend 100 total. That is the money maker. Same with all the frequent shopper programs, and punch cards, and all those types of things. It is to get people in the store.