The Shaper Image says that it will resume redemption of gift cards, but there’s a catch.
gift cards
Which Is More Thoughtful, Cash or Gifts?
By 3.7.08
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.
9 Confessions Of A Former Sports Authority Manager
By 2.24.08
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.
The Sharper Image Suspends Acceptance Of Gift Cards Due To Bankruptcy
By 2.22.08
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.
Barnes & Noble Error Leaves Gift Card Unused, Doubles Charges On Credit Card
By 2.21.08
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.
Gas Station Attendant Busted For Re-Using Customers' Credit Card Numbers
By 2.16.08
A 23-year-old gas station attendant in Massachusetts has been charged with identity theft after a customer noticed that her card was used to make additional purchases a few hours after she’d been at the station.
By 2.16.08
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S.F. writes back in to let us know that another restaurant in the Bel Air area, Freddies, will accept those suddenly-worthless Crackpot gift cards at 50 cents on the dollar. Thanks, Freddies—your skull logo rocks.
Crackpot Restaurant Closes Abruptly After Selling Thousands In Gift Cards
By 2.15.08
Neil Smith, owner of two Crackpot Restaurants in Maryland, recently shut down one of them and left employees without pay and gift card holders without compensation.
Dear Sur La Table: It Has Been 42 Days Since You Stole $100 From My Bank Account
By 2.9.08
Rachel used a $100 gift card to pay for her Christmas gifts, but Sur La Table decided to take the funds directly from her debit card. Sur La Table apologized for the error, but instead of overnighting Rachel a refund check as promised, they inexplicably charged her an additional $31.89. Now Rachel is angry and wants an explanation.
Happy Ending To Best Buy Refuses To Honor 2 for $25 DVD Sale Story
By 1.31.08
A few days ago Jason’s story about Best Buy’s bait-and-switch shot to internet prominence (137,166 pageviews on Consumerist and 4668 diggs), and now he’s happy, has a $200 gift card to Best Buy, and a free copy of Saw IV. Let’s recap: Jason went to Best Buy and saw a tag in-store advertising 2 DVDs for $25. He chose to buy two copies of 3:10 to Yuma. At checkout, it rang up for $19.99 a piece. When contested, the clerk pulled out a different circular that said “Buy Saw IV with any of these 3 movies for $25.” Jason and a series of store employees disagreed for a long time about whether the circular applied to the tag, and Jason left the store with a $19.99 copy of 3:10 to Yuma, and a story, which he sent to The Consumerist. Then the internets happened. How did he go from screwed to elated? Find out in the exciting conclusion to his customer service misadventure, inside…
How States And Companies Make Money Off Of Unspent Gift Cards
By 1.28.08
In the last three years, New York has collected $19 million in unused gift card balances under the state’s unclaimed-property laws. Best Buy added $135 million in unspent gift cash to its total operating income over the past two years. “For individual retailers, unspent balances can range anywhere from 2% to more than 10% of all gift-card sales,” notes BusinessWeek.
Best Buy Refuses To Honor 2 for $25 DVD Sale
By 1.26.08
Silly Jason. He thought a Best Buy sign reading “2 for $25” meant he could buy two DVDs for $25. He obviously didn’t read the part of the sign that requires customers to buy Saw IV.
Highmark "Healthcare Gift Card" Usable To Buy Cigs, Junk Food
By 1.10.08
A health insurance company is touting what some might think sounds like a great idea, a gift card that can “cover out-of-pocket expenses related to personal health and wellness.” Perfect for sick friends and ailing relatives, right? Well a Pittsburgh paper got one of the Highmark-branded cards and was able to buy from Rite Aid: cigarettes, chewing tobacco, Doritos, fudge brownies, Butterfingers, Hot Pockets, Mountain Dew, and a plastic World Wrestling Entertainment World Championship belt.
Best Buy: $50 SIRIUS Gift Card For $55. What?
By 12.29.07
Best Buy is selling a $50 SIRIUS gift card for $55. Rather, that is the “national internet price” at BestBuy.com—Best Buy stores may sell the $50 gift cards for $50. Any idea what is going on here? We chatted with a surly Best Buy representative who offered one explanation.
Use Your Gift Cards Immediately!
By 12.29.07
The Dallas Morning News and Consumer Affairs both say you should use those gift cards as soon as possible—otherwise you risk losing them, forgetting about them, or having them decline in value due to maintenance fees or expiration dates. We know this isn’t new news, but the idea that “$7.8 billion in gift card value will go unused this year” makes us cringe. If you really don’t want the card, consider selling it online, or giving it to a shelter or other charity that can make use of it.
Returning A Defective Home Theater To Circuit City Makes You Bang Your Head Against A Wall
By 12.28.07
“On November 29th, 2007, I purchased a Phillips HTS3544 HTIB (Home Theater in-a-box) online at circuit city.com for $197.47. This included the extra that I paid for expedited 3-day shipping. Done. I thought with the weekend coming up I would receive it around December 3rd-4th. And thats when the problems started rolling on it. The first problem was that the circuit city warehouse didn’t even notify FedEx until December 4th, and I didn’t receive the item until December 7th (which is 3-day on FedEx’s part). Okay, fine, I think Ill just call and have the extra charges refunded. But no way did I know this would spiral into what it has become.”
Wal-Mart Gift Card Servers Malfunctioning Day After Christmas
By 12.27.07
John wrote in yesterday to tell us, “I just got back from Wal-Mart trying to buy stuff with my gift cards, but the employees told me that they gift card servers were down across the country. I waited for about 15 minutes as cashiers and managers tried to get my gift card to go through and nothing occurred.”
Police Pulling Over Good Drivers And Giving Them $5 Starbucks Gift Cards
By 12.18.07
Out of a misguided sense of goodwill, Rancho Cordova police officers will be pulling over citizens who aren’t doing anything wrong and reward their good driving with $5 Starbucks. While nice in theory, it would be a pain in the butt if you were running late for work. I wonder if, just like when you get pulled over for speeding, they’re going to make you wait in your car for 10 minutes first. I also wonder why they couldn’t just take people’s license numbers down and mail them the gift cards. I also also wonder if it’s legal for a police officer to detain someone who isn’t breaking the law. N doubt such irritating questions will disappear the moment the free Mocha Frappacino hits your brain nerves.
