Consumerist
follow ups
Posts Tagged “
Gift Cards
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follow ups
follow ups
Best Buy Responds (Partially) To $100 Gift Card Story
When Cliff sent us his story about the denied $100 gift card from Best Buy, he also sent it to over a dozen addresses at Best Buy HQ. A few hours ago we got this email cc'ed to us from a VP of Executive Customer Care:
Hi Cliff, My name is Lisa Smith and I am responsible for Customer Care at Best Buy. I want to apologize to you for what happened in our Pasadena store on Thursday; I completely understand why that was a perplexing a frustrating situation. You had “done your homework” and chosen to give us your business and we disappointed you. I certainly appreciate the efforts you made and also appreciate you taking the time to let us know what happened. Someone from my team will be in touch with you on Monday in effort to make things right. Best Regards, Lisa Smith
Hey Cliff! Let us know what happens.
Store promotions
Best Buy Ignores Internal Memo, Doesn't Honor $100 Gift Card Promo On Metal Gear Solid Bundle
According to this conversation over at the SlickDeals forum, Wal-Mart was offering a $100 gift card with any Blu-ray player purchase, including the PS3—and Best Buy Corporate issued a memo saying they would match Wal-Mart's deal and offer $100 gift cards as well. Cliff tried to take advantage of this unadvertised special when he purchased a Metal Gear Solid PS3 bundle a couple of days ago, but the manager of the store refused, saying the bundle was off-limits: "You can buy any other Playstation and you can get the gift card, but not on that one." Oddly, though, other members of SlickDeals were reporting success with the very same bundle around the country.
Update: Best Buy's VP of Executive Customer Care has emailed Cliff saying someone will follow up with him on Monday. What will happen? We hope Cliff lets us know...
Update 2: Best Buy has contacted Cliff! Find out what they said.
More »
fail
The ever-thoughtful economists over at Freakonomics are stumped by eBay member lpinok, who bid $55.71 for a $50 Target gift card.
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Why Would Anyone Bid $55 For A $50 Target Gift Card?!
The ever-thoughtful economists over at Freakonomics are stumped by eBay member lpinok, who bid $55.71 for a $50 Target gift card.
More »
rejection
Apple Escorts You From The Store For Trying To Purchase An iPhone With Cash
As loyal readers already know, Apple doesn't accept cash for the iPhone — a policy they say is designed to discourage resellers from getting their grubby little hands on the precious cellphone. This policy does have a tendency to backfire every now and then when a legitimate customer wants to purchase an iPhone with cash. Meet Alex Palen— he was refused an iPhone because he doesn't have a credit or debit card and was escorted from the store when he asked another customer to accept cash in exchange for charging the phone to their card. More »
dell hell
"Dell Is Chasing Me Into The Arms Of Steve Jobs"
Reader Julia writes in to say that Dell owes her a $70 gift card and when she didn't get it they simply told her "too bad." She's wondering if any other Dell customers were similarly "cheated." She sent an EECB to Dell and a quick summary of her problem to us: More »
stimulus
Kroger is getting into the stimulus bonus action! Unwilling to be outdone by Sears, Kroger is offering a bonus if you put your stimulus check on a Kroger gift card. They have Kroger gift cards? My what a sexy gift. Honey, you shouldn't have.
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Trends: Kroger Offers You A Bonus If You Put Your Stimulus Check On A Gift Card
Kroger is getting into the stimulus bonus action! Unwilling to be outdone by Sears, Kroger is offering a bonus if you put your stimulus check on a Kroger gift card. They have Kroger gift cards? My what a sexy gift. Honey, you shouldn't have.
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economics
Sears Offers 10% Bonus To People Who Convert Stimulus Checks Into Gift Cards
Sears is pretty desperate for that stimulus check money. They're offering a 10% bonus to anyone who converts their stimulus check into a Sears Gift Card. More »
economy
Retail Bankruptcies Threaten To Wreck Economy, Empty Your Local Mall
As the cost of food and gas begin to crowd out other expenses, and access to credit is limited by the mortgage meltdown, a "widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing" is threatening the economy, says the NYT. More »
marketing
On The Radio, FiOS Free TV Promotion Changed To Free Gift Cards
Further distancing itself from its problematic free TV promotion (which for some customer has so far been lacking in free TVs), a reader in the Bronx reports that Verizon FiOS triple-play bundle ads on the radio are now offering $200 gift cards for Circuit City. As previously noted, the TV ads are now touting free Samsung digital cameras.
apple
UPDATE: Apple Will Sell You A Computer If You've Got Too Many Gift Cards
Here we go again! Rhys wrote back let us know that Apple says that its system can handle 7 gift cards in one transaction. It just took a little effort. More »
sad
Apple Still Won't Sell You A Computer Because You've Got Too Many Gift Cards
Do you remember Charlie? About a year ago, Apple refused to sell her a computer because she had "too many gift cards." The story became very popular (thanks, digg!) and Apple eventually let Charlie buy her computer.If you thought this meant that you could use as many gift cards as you wanted in order to buy a computer from Apple, you'd be wrong. Rather than correcting the problem, they simply changed their gift card FAQ. It now reads:
Can I use multiple gift cards when making a purchase?That's too bad for reader Rhys. Rhys, like Charlie, has 7 gift cards and no access to the Apple Store. More »
Yes. You can use up to six cards when making a purchase at a retail Apple Store and up to four cards at the online Apple Store
bankruptcy
Brookstone Will Let You Use Your Sharper Image Gift Card As A 25% Off Coupon
Brookstone says they will accept your Sharper Image Gift Card. Sort of. More »
bankruptcy
Shaper Image Will Accept Gift Cards Only If You Buy Something 2x The Card's Value
The Shaper Image says that it will resume redemption of gift cards, but there's a catch. More »
manners
Which Is More Thoughtful, Cash or Gifts?
Over at Wise Bread blogger Xin Lu has posted her thoughts on cash verses gifts or gift cards:Cash gifts are the best - On every new year or birthday, Chinese children usually get cash gifts that they end up saving. This sounds pretty sad, but I remember being quite excited about visiting all the relatives and receiving red envelopes with cash in them. Red envelopes are the standard gift for any celebration, and they are considered the best gifts because the recipient can do anything with the money. In America it seems that cash is a less common gift because it is considered to be less thoughtful. Instead, cash is converted to gift cards or useless trinkets that are probably less appreciated by the recipient.We really have to agree with this. Gifts can be very thoughtful, but in some cases gift cards are capitalizing on people who feel insecure about giving cash. More »
insiders
9 Confessions Of A Former Sports Authority Manager
A former Sports Authority manager came forward to explain why their coupons are so damn useless. According to our tipster, "the coupons are always a sham," but apparently, gift cards worth less than $10 can be redeemed for cash. Read his other nuggets of knowledge along with zesty executive customer service contact information, after the jump. More »
bankruptcy
The Sharper Image Suspends Acceptance Of Gift Cards Due To Bankruptcy
Despite issuing a press release claiming that they will "continue to conduct business as usual," The Shaper Image has suspended redemption of all gift certificates after filing for bankruptcy late on Tuesday. More »
billing errors
Barnes & Noble Error Leaves Gift Card Unused, Doubles Charges On Credit Card
It's bad enough when a glitch on a retailer's side screws up your method of payment, but Barnes & Noble took so long to investigate and respond to one customer's emails that by the time they acknowledged they'd made a mistake, they said it was too late to do anything about it. Now the customer is left with an unused $25 gift card and a $50 charge on his credit card, twice what he'd approved at check-out.More »
