An African-American man in Missouri is considering legal action against Pizza Hut after having his name replaced on a receipt with the words “BIGBLACK.” [More]
gift cards
Judge Censured, Barred For Ordering Lawyer To Be Paid In Gift Certificates
By 2.5.10
A judicial commission for California judges censured and barred the recently retired judge Brett C. Klein for showing bias, abusing authority, and grandstanding to the press. At issue was his January 2009 alteration of a class action settlement, where he ordered everyone, including the attorneys, to be paid the same way: via $10 gift vouchers from a woman’s clothing store. [More]
Update On Woman Sent To Jail For Using Gift Cards At Best Buy
By 2.4.10 — Updated: 3.13.15
Last month, New York City’s NY1 news channel produced a news segment on the woman who was arrested for paying with AMEX gift cards at a Best Buy. If you read our earlier post with Ilona’s email, you already know most of the basics, but you can see the problematic gift cards and hear Ilona describe the experience in her own words. It turns out that after she was released, she went back to Best Buy for either a refund or the DVD player, but had to leave without either one–she was told she’d have to contact American Express to resolve the problem. [More]
Best Buy Sends Customer To Jail For Paying With AMEX Gift Card
By 2.2.10
Update: The news channel New York 1 has prepared a video segment about Ilona’s experience with Best Buy and the NYC police.
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A shopper just told us that last night last month at a Best Buy in NYC, she was taken to a back room, then cuffed by police officers and taken to a precinct for “further investigation,” because she tried to pay with an American Express gift card her father had bought for her.
If You Actually Want What You Ordered, Maybe Best Buy Isn't For You
By 1.6.10
Reader Ryan and his wife tried to order several expensive things from Best Buy. They were not able to actually get any of them. [More]
Stores Worried About Employees Using Gift Cards To Steal
By 12.31.09
Gift cards may encourage spending, but they also make it easy for employees to steal, writes the New York Times.
Among the variations of such crimes, cashiers often do fake refunds of merchandise and then, with the amount refunded, use their registers to electronically fill gift cards, which they take. Or sometimes when shoppers buy gift cards, cashiers give them blank cards and then divert the shoppers’ money onto cards for themselves.
An Incredibly Depressing Last-Minute Gift: Medical Gift Cards
By 12.24.09
What’s this? A gift card? For health care? Oh, you shouldn’t have! Really. You shouldn’t have. Yet, medical gift cards issued by health insurers and hospital systems are increasingly more common. [More]
A Look Back At The Origin Of Gift Cards
By 12.22.09
Sure, we at Consumerist may try to steer people away from gift cards, but they remain the most popular holiday gift. But where did they come from? How did the gift card evolve from its less versatile ancestor, the gift certificate? The Big Money has a retrospective. [More]
Best Buy, Why Have You Sent Me A Random $50 Gift Card?
By 12.19.09
Brian has an enviable but confusing problem. He has received a $50 Best Buy gift card from a mysterious benefactor. Has he done something pleasing to the overpriced electronics gods? Has he received a gift from someone he knows who wishes to remain anonymous? He doesn’t know. But, as a Consumerist reader, he’s suspicious. [More]
I Found It Impossible To Buy A PS3 At Sears
By 12.10.09
If Sears isn’t happy with its sales figures, it can blame itself by looking at the example of the way it treated Teresa — a frustrated would-be customer who tried and failed several times to buy a PlayStation 3 from the store. [More]
10 Reasons Why Gift Cards Suck
By 12.2.09
When we announced the availability of free Consumerist anti-gift cards yesterday, we were surprised to see so many pro-gift card comments. So, we decided to put together a quick list of the reasons we think gift cards are lame — especially compared to cash. [More]
TiVo Sends Me Bill I Don't Owe, Cuts Off My 'Lifetime' Service
By 12.2.09
Lee’s TiVo saga is enough to scare you off from gift cards and lifetime service subscriptions from the company. It’s a long, not easily summarized tale, but as things stand now, Lee is without service, stuck with an unwarranted $97.64 charge and has a gift card that won’t work. [More]
Our Gift To You: The Consumerist Anti-Gift Card
By 12.1.09
Why do gift cards suck? Let’s see, how about expiration dates? Upfront and back-end fees? And, oh, the fact that if a retailer goes bankrupt, that shiny piece of plastic may become worthless (unless you know that fancy trick that lets you use it to pick locks). Yes, we know the government is working on fixing some of the most egregious problems with gift cards. But in the meantime, what can you do if you have no idea what to give someone? We’ve got the answer: It’s called cash, and we’re here to help make it easier for you to give it. [More]
Wow, Wendy's Really Does Take It Seriously
By 11.17.09
We’re always making fun of companies who overuse the phrase “taking it seriously,” but it looks like Wendy’s isn’t playing around. An anonymous tipster found a chicken bone in his Wendy’s sandwich, and got taken very seriously when he reported it.
Barnes & Noble Says They'll Accept Gift Cards For Ebooks Before Christmas
By 11.16.09
Apparently Barnes & Noble meant it when they said that they were looking into the gift card issue for ebook purchases. Currently, B&N gift cards can’t be used to buy ebooks, but a new post on one of the company’s blogs says that should change by mid-December.
Federal Reserve Proposes Rules On Gift Cards
By 11.16.09
Here’s your chance to sound off on another consumer protection issue. In accordance with the CARD Act, today the Federal Reserve proposed new rules that would protect consumers from fees and expiration dates on gift cards, and they’ll soon be accepting comments on the rules.
Reader Says Amazon's Gift Card Rules Are Stifling
By 11.16.09
Patrick says Amazon won’t let you use gift cards to buy items that come with discounts in the form of gift cards.
