they've been doing this for quite some time... what really pisses me off is that they dont let you do cash advances. i think theyre hoping that you dont spend all of it and then they get to keep some of your rebate anyway. (ie they envision you being embarrassed to split a purchase amongst two cards).

i hate cingular. it took them 6 months to send me my rebate. and when they finally did send it they sent it to the wrong address and i had to call and get another one sent to me. jerks.

I love that with most debit cards, YOU have to know how much is on the card before you use it if you are going to spend more than the amount on the card. I'm sure a high percentage of these cards have captive cash because they were declined at the register.

most places these days as long as the reader is built into the register can do it so that if you spend more than is on the card it just shows what you owe. It's the same for MC and AMEX gift cards. Even if not, you can call the TOLL FREE number on the back of the card, with your cell phone, and find out how much is left on the card, and split the tender for that much. In the long run it might even be easier than going to the bank and cashing a rebate check, which may bounce, or not be available immediately.

They're jerks for this. They did something, can't remember what, that was shitty, and gave me a $50 gift card for merch as recompense. Never used it. It expired.

I recieved a gift card. I went to the bank and asked if I could make a cash withdrawal against the card. It worked. They gave me the $50 cash. It was just a visa gift card. Try it next time.

Can they legally do this? Is there any way to get a standard check instead of the debit card?

They were kind enough to send me their vibrant blue and orange debit card. I hated having to carry around another piece of plastic and trying to recall how much I had left to spend or calling the number in line while waiting to make a purchase.

As to splitting the tender, most cashiers look at you funny when you tell them that you only want to put $5.32 on one debit card and you'll pay for the rest with another card.

They specifically say on the documentation that you can't do a cash advance on those cards...

but I might try it anyways if you said it worked for you with another gift card.

ugh. this post just prompted me to see what was left on my nearly 2 month old debit card... and the answer is $0.45. now what place of business am i going to ask to run 45 cents on one card, and the rest on another card or pay in cash? effin' cingular!!

I'm with Nifle. We are talking retail cashiers here. The same kind of folks who called the cops when someone tried to pay with a $2 bill.

Waah, it's a pain to spend the money I got back as a rebate. If we were intelligent consumers in the first place, like we profess to be by reading and commenting here at the consumerist, we would know not to buy things with rebates, or to treat them like bonuses if/when they do come.
If that were the case it wouldn't matter what form they came in as long as they were spendable. Shit send my rebate in Sacagawea dollars and I'll take it.

In CA, at least, gift cards with cash value never expire.

Give me a good old fashioned check any day of the week. I've received several hundred rebate checks and never had one bounce.

Really, Hassan? Is there law on that somewhere?

How am I to buy a cell phone without a rebate? This is standard practice now to get a phone for "free" from many retailers. I am a long time Cingular customer and don't plan on leaving because my family and boyfriend are all consumers of their services and I can't afford to pay for the 5,000+ long distance minutes I use a month. (Yes, Ben...I called my mother with at least 5 of those minutes)

So, that leaves me stuck when it comes to upgrading my phone and dammit, I want my money! If that entails me jumping through hoops to get it back then I will, but at least they should give me a choice on how I want my refund. Too bad that they sold their soul to Visa.

I'm on hold with Cingular now...have been talking to a rep named Chris Slagh. She told me I'm her first call of the day mentioning this (that it's illegal for them to have expiring gift cards in California), but they do get calls about this.

Chris told me "I'm sorry, but I can't do that for you today."

Um, yeah. I ask her, "Oh, does that mean you can do that for me tomorrow?"

She said no.

She didn't know anything about the California law. I suggested she simply google "against the law for gift cards to expire in California." I asked if they have access to Google. Apparently, they don't.

I told her I wasn't going to go away. I asked to speak to somebody else. I also explained that it became against the law for gift cards to expire in California in 1997.

She put me on hold.

She says her supervisor is busy. I said he can call me when he's done being busy. She says, get this, they're only able to take incoming calls. Well, isn't that convenient! Was I just supposed to play supervisor availability like lotto? What if I called the next time and her supervisor was busy?

She kept telling me the card had expired and there was nothing she could do about it. I explained again that it was AGAINST THE LAW IN CALIFORNIA for gift cards to expire, and because they broke the law, they needed to rectify this, and without me calling and hanging on the phone for a long period of time. She's going off to do something. I suspect she thought it would be wise to find somebody to intervene.

I've now been on the line with them, mostly on hold for the past ten minutes, for 24 minutes and 23 seconds.

Okay, now this "floor manager" comes on. His name is Tom Matthews. I must be lapsing into Swahili again, because after I explain the law to Tom, he says, "If there's an expiration date, it doesn't matter whether it's a gift card, a bank card or a debit card, it does expire."

I explain the law again. Tom has never heard of this law, and he "grew up in California." I thought that was kind of quaint. Hmm, I guess that makes me something of a transplanted savant! Here I am, a girl who suffered through childhood in unsunny, unsurf-y suburban Detroit, and look at how well-versed I am (well, thanks to Consumerist) in California gift card law!

I told him I wanted to talk to a supervisor. He told me the only way to resolve this was by mail. No e-mail, just mail. "It has to be in writing to be legal." I ask him what law says this. Tom just repeats that I have to mail in my complaint.

The address:

Cingular Corporate Headquarters
PO Box 755
Atwater CA 95301

So, wait...Cingular broke the law, and they're jacking me out of $50 because of it, and *I* have to do all this work to rectify it? Nuh-uh.

I tell him I want to talk to his supervisor. He tells me he's the floor manager. Nobody else for me to talk to. Unfortunately for Tom, this does not make me go away like it would most people. I press on. Finally, he says he will have a supervisor call me back at home. "Within 24 hours."

Why is it that so often, the people in "customer service" have so little knowledge that would actually...serve the customer?

The law is here. http://www.dca.ca.gov/legal/s-11.htm

P.S. Cingular's expiration date is on the back, not the front! And it's in miniscule type. I'd guess three-point.

Q.2. Can a gift certificate or gift card contain an expiration date?

A. No. However, this general rule is subject to the following exceptions:

* A gift card that can be used with multiple sellers of goods or services that are not affiliated may contain an expiration date. If so, the expiration date must be printed on the card.
* A gift certificate or gift card that is sold to the purchaser as a gift for another person (the "recipient") may state a date by which the recipient must redeem the certificate or card. Since this is an exception to the "no expiration date" rule, a seller that chooses to state a redemption date on a gift card or gift certificate must give the purchaser a full refund of the amount paid for the certificate or card if the recipient does not redeem it by the redemption date6.
* Certain gift certificates or gift cards sold after January 1, 1998 are not subject to any of the rules discussed under "Frequently Asked Questions." To be exempt, these gift certificates or gift cards must contain an expiration date in at least 10-point type on the front and must be either:
o Distributed by the issuer to a consumer without charge under an awards, loyalty or promotional program7; or
o Sold below face value at a volume discount to employers or to nonprofit and charitable organizations for fundraising purposes, if the expiration date is 30 days or less after the date of sale8; or
o Issued for a food product, such as a grocery item9.

The passage above is applicable for gift cards (in California) from 2004 on. Here's more about gift certificates from 1997 on.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/press_releases/2000/20001214.htm

Is It Timeless? Most gift certificates cannot contain an expiration date, and are valid until redeemed or replaced. (The only exceptions are certificates issued prior to January 1, 1997; distributed under various awards programs; sold to employers or to nonprofit and charitable organization for fundraising purposes; and for food products.)

Further links to the law in California are here:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/cgi-bin/htsearch?config=&restrict=ht...

Well, well, Hasan...look what you started!

I'm just tired of companies taking advantage of people because they can. I hope a lot of people will hit up Cingular to make good on their cards.

***Story to be continued after I hear from Tom Matthews' supervisor.