why gift cards suck

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Judge Says Customers Won’t See One Red Cent Of Unredeemed Borders Gift Cards

Ineffective rectangular frisbees? Tiny coasters? Better start thinking of some ideas for any of those unredeemed Borders gift cards you may still have lying around: A judge ruled this week that customers won’t see a nickel of a total of $210.5 million in remaining balances on gift cards they failed to use before Borders bit the big one and went off to that great mall in the sky. [More]

Banana Republic Register Mishap Leaves You With Neither GIft Card Balance Nor Clothes

Banana Republic Register Mishap Leaves You With Neither GIft Card Balance Nor Clothes

The good news: There is a store that will accept American Express gift cards without even trying to throw you in jail. It’s Banana Republic. The bad news: A still-unexplained register problem left Andrew without the $90 remaining balance on his card or the items that he tried to purchase. [More]

Someone At Duane Reade Needs To Learn How To Activate AmEx Gift Cards

Someone At Duane Reade Needs To Learn How To Activate AmEx Gift Cards

Stephanie did a wonderful thing, and bought a $100 American Express gift card as a gift for her assistant this past Christmas. Unfortunately, she tells Consumerist that the Duane Reade store where she purchased the card did a terrible thing, and failed to actually activate it for her. Twice. Now her assistant was embarrassed when she tried to use the card at a spa and it was rejected, and Stephanie has had to pay $11.90 in card-loading fees with no working gift card to show for it. [More]

My Friend Gave Me A Completely Useless AmEx Gift Card

My Friend Gave Me A Completely Useless AmEx Gift Card

Have you ever exchanged an American Express gift card for goods or services? Luke writes that he received one as a gift, but hasn’t been able to use the card to make any purchases. All he’s managed to do is prove the futility of giving people credit card-branded gift cards as presents. Cash, my friends. Think cash. [More]