Several readers in the Oklahoma City area wrote to us about a recent issue with Redbox. Kiosks all over the area were full and unable to accept DVD returns. Redbox made up for the outage by offering area consumers a free rental. Except the free rental code was only good for six hours after the message was sent out.

Reader Jason writes:

I got this email yesterday from redbox apologizing for an issue we were having in our area. Even though I wasn’t affected by the issue, I thought it was really nice of them to extend the offer to their customers in the area. So today when I was going to rent a movie I noticed the footnote. The coupon was only good for less than 7 hours.

What started out as a gesture that I thought was a stand-up move on their part now just seems disingenuous. I was a happier with them before their customer service kicked in. I mean, it’s not a big deal to me, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Would you think better or worse after receiving a self-destructing coupon code? Would you rather not receive a code at all?

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.