Argh. The 20% off coupon can't be used for Disney Giftcards afterall. :(

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I question the legality of them refusing to honor the discount for what they have always categorized as "entertainment cards." There are only a few listed exclusions and entertainment cards are not listed. By re-categorizing these types of cards without notice to the public in order to not honor the discount, they could be violating truth in advertising laws. It will be interesting to see if anyone contacts their state's Attorney General over this issue. I wasn't planning on getting any Disney cards, but had hoped to get a few restaurant and movie cards.

I highly highly doubt this would hold up in court. The court definition of a reasonable person would consider them to be a form of gift cards, and I bet the case would be thrown out or given summary judgement off the bat.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

It might say "entertainment card" on the price sticker, but the gift card packaging that holds the physical card for sure says "gift card". I am willing to bet if any legality issue was raised, all their legal team would have to do is point to the physical card. Target may label them entertainment cards for their team members merchandising/stocking purposes, but that is just the genre of giftcard, i.e. it's not a visa card, etc., it's for entertainment, but it's still a giftcard.

I was not implying that this labeling would have any legal ramifications, I was commenting on the poster who said it was not Target that labeled them this way.

 

[Angie789]

It certainly is not a legal issue if Target does not allow this coupon to be used on gift cards, but it is completely incorrect to say that the usage of entertainment card is some "cute" justification people use.

When you purchase one of these cards, it says "entertainment card" on your receipt. I have seen signage in some stores (not all) that identifies them as entertainment cards. In the past, they have put them on sale and Target's weekly ad identifies them as entertainment cards. For whatever internal reason, Target has treated cards that could actually be spent in their store (Target gift cards, prepaid Visa & AmEx cards) differently than cards that cannot be spent in a Target. That might be changing, but it wasn't something that people made up to feel better about the process.

 

[AmyAnne]

I am not a lawyer so I have no idea about the legality, but I do agree that it is misleading to exclude "gift cards" AND "iTunes gift cards."

If "gift cards" means ALL gift cards (and not Target gift cards, like it has in the past), then why specifically include the iTunes exclusion?

 

[QVCshopper]

This is just silly. You know they are gift cards. Sure, they may ring up as entertainment cards, but they look, act, and smell like gift cards. Did I want this deal to work? Sure, who wouldn't want a free 20%? But, really, it seemed too good to be true from the beginning. Why should Target give us a free $200 if we buy $1000? It's nice they give us $50 on $1000. I'm thankful for that and moving on...

 

[neg58]

I am not a lawyer so I have no idea about the legality, but I do agree that it is misleading to exclude "gift cards" AND "iTunes gift cards."

If "gift cards" means ALL gift cards (and not Target gift cards, like it has in the past), then why specifically include the iTunes exclusion?

iTunes specifically is excluded because Apple required it, but it is no different from any of the other 'gift cards' for accounting purposes. Target's own cards and the visa/mc/amex cards are different because of how they are handled in accounting/banking and how the income is taken (earned). When Target sells a Target gift card, Target still owes that person $25 or $50 worth of merchandize so it must carry that amount as a debt. When it sells a Disney card or a Chili's card, Target has no further obligation - Target gets to recognize its $1.22 or whatever it is right then and doesn't care if the person who bought it never goes to Chili's or Disney and the card is wasted. For this reason, Target classifies its own cards as a gift card (a debt) and other cards as entertainment cards (sold, a profit to Target). The visa/mc/amex are bank cards, and there are bank rules to govern them.

Many states do have laws about gift cards, and all these cards are covered the same no matter what name they were sold under. In most states now the cards can't expire without notice, do have a cash value (and in some places the merchant needs to give you cash back if the amount remaining is less then $1), etc.

But just because Target calls it an entertainment card doesn't mean the law doesn't call it a gift card.

Nancy

 

[AmyAnne]

Nancy,

That's all well and good. But if I read a coupon that says "gift cards, iTunes gift cards, etc. are excluded," what I think is that there is some difference between "gift cards" and "iTunes gift cards." If "gift cards" means all gift cards, then there would be no need for the mention of iTunes gift cards, because of course they would be excluded, as they are gift cards.

All I am saying is that I should not need a PhD in accounting to understand Target's coupons. They should write them so normal people know what to expect.

 

[omegsmom]

My complaint would just be why do they exclude these under the category "gift cards" this time but other times categorize them differently than traditional gift cards, meaning Target gift cards??? Yes, I'm disappointed, but will certainly save the 20% off something else. Just looking for any good way to save some money for my trip.

 

[Brittmarie04]

I am not a lawyer so I have no idea about the legality, but I do agree that it is misleading to exclude "gift cards" AND "iTunes gift cards." If "gift cards" means ALL gift cards (and not Target gift cards, like it has in the past), then why specifically include the iTunes exclusion?

Agree. Why wouldn't it just say all gift cards?

 

[smokeyblue]

Like many have said, it sounded too good to be true. I'm happy with the 10% off I'll get with the red/pharmacy rewards cards; I just won't be able to get as many as I was hoping to. I found it hard to believe that there would be any "meat left on the bone" for Target to make a profit on these cards with such a big discount.

However, I can see why many of us saw this as a possibility. The exclusions were not clearly stated. For instance, it did not name phone cards as an excluded item and it explicitly excluded specific card and merchandise. There are often discounts on these cards and I've stacked pharmacy rewards and a 10% phone card promotion and got nearly 20% off.

 

[Sinderelly]

Just wanted to thank the OP for the heads up on the 20% coupon. I really appreciate the info. It would have been nice to get some gift cards as Christmas gifts with the discount but at least I do get the 5% with my Redcard.

Does the 20% coupon include groceries? any other exclusions that you are aware of?

 

[mistysue]

It certainly is not a legal issue if Target does not allow this coupon to be used on gift cards, but it is completely incorrect to say that the usage of entertainment card is some "cute" justification people use.

When you purchase one of these cards, it says "entertainment card" on your receipt. I have seen signage in some stores (not all) that identifies them as entertainment cards. In the past, they have put them on sale and Target's weekly ad identifies them as entertainment cards. For whatever internal reason, Target has treated cards that could actually be spent in their store (Target gift cards, prepaid Visa & AmEx cards) differently than cards that cannot be spent in a Target. That might be changing, but it wasn't something that people made up to feel better about the process.

Just to clarify, I am not saying people say it to feel better. Nobody is doing anything wrong buying a gift card with a discount offered by the store. The cards ring up different in different stores. I don't know who enters names for things in Target's system but what it is called on your receipt means very little. I'm sorry if my use to the word cute bothered you, but I have repeated that explanation to people working at two different local Targets and been told that it is interesting and makes it make sense, but is not an actual Target policy. The use of the wording "entertainment card" rather than "gift card" is a good way to explain the usual loophole, but in fact the cards are still gift cards.

Target offers the 5% discount to use the Redcard because it saves them the % fees on credit card processing and because they can make finance charge money if you don't pay off your bill monthly or are late. It is because it makes them money on average and creates loyalty. They give you 5% off, you buy more. So no, they aren't going to give you money back to buy Target money, but up to this point they have given you that incentive to rack up a huge bill and owe them interest on Disney money, Starbucks money, etc. They have no business incentive to give us all a random discount that has zero chance of making them money.

 

[wendow]

double post

 

[wendow]

Thank you to the OP for posting about this. I appreciate the HU so I don't need to rush up there tomorrow.

Several of us, including myself, posted about our experience in trying to use the 10% mover's coupon on Disney gift cards. it didn't work. I was definitely not optimistic this would work either but was trying to be hopeful. I think Target is changing how their coupons work on gift cards. I just hope we continue to receive the Redcard 5% and the pharmacy rewards.

Also, just want to point something out. Target calls their gift cards "GiftCards" and the coupon excluded 'gift cards' which I think is different from previous exclusions where they just excluded "GiftCards" and you knew that meant the Target gift card.

 

[ABtwinmommy]

That's a bummer. I was hopeful... Thanks for posting.

 

[mgmcpa]

I'm driving down to Disneyland TOMORROW and have planned a stop at Target on our 6 hour drive to pick up cards in the hopes that we'll get more than just the 5% off. Sounds like we will only be getting the 5%, but still ... based on the hit-or-miss results other coupons have gotten in other places in the country ...

If you are on the East Coast and go in the morning, please post ASAP.

 

[Lisa71]

Gift cards are all excluded and I am fine with that..we still get 20 percent off of almost everything ..most electronics and Apple products, and alcohol are excluded..but toys, clothes, groceries are fine....yeah!!!!!!!!!!!x

 

[ibob52]

Maybe ... *If it sounds to Good to Be True* ... applies here.

 

[wendow]

Gift cards are all excluded and I am fine with that..we still get 20 percent off of almost everything ..most electronics and Apple products, and alcohol are excluded..but toys, clothes, groceries are fine....yeah!!!!!!!!!!!x

I agree! It's still a great coupon!

 

[disneychrista]

You do realize that Target pays nearly face value for these so called entertainment cards and only offers them because they are hoping you will buy something else while you are in the store. They would lose way to much money if they allowed them to be discounted 20%. They probably lose money by allowing the Red Card discount on them but again they do so because they are hoping that you will buy something else while you are in the store.