Diane received a merchandise voucher from Radio Shack as part of a class action settlement. It has the very nice feature of being usable on “any merchandise” in the store, but in this case “any merchandise” means “anything in the store except for that thing you wanted to buy.”

That thing Diane wanted to buy was a prepaid phone card. We can see how that might not count as “merchandise,” but at the same time no one will answer class members’ questions about the suit: not Radio Shack, not the court, and not anyone.

Diane writes:

Radio Shack just recently settled a class action lawsuit relating to their collecting personal information from their customers. An $11 merchandise certificate was mailed to everyone in the class and it was recently activated.

I went to a Radio Shack in San Diego today (4/18/13) to redeem the certificate. The certificate and the settlement explicitly states you can use this on “any merchandise” in the store. (See attached photos) However, it turns out the $11 certificate is coded like a Radio Shack coupon on the Radio Shack cash register and Radio Shack refused to redeem this for a prepaid phone card for sale in their store. Their regular coupons have multiple restrictions on what you can and cannot buy. Doesn’t this violate terms of the settlement????

As a sad (but not surprised) consumer I searched the web for more info and found some typically unhelpful help. The web site charmingly states: PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT RADIOSHACK OR THE COURT ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT… Well….who do I contact if not them?

We contacted Radio Shack’s media relations department about the coupon to see whether they can answer questions about it, and will update this post, and Diane, with what we find out.

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