Bonus gift cards - pitfalls

[bcla]

I bought some gift cards for my favorite casual dining restaurant (aka Chili's) when they had a promotion that gave two $10 bonus gift cards (with a limited redemption period) for the purchase of at least $10. So I get them, load them to my iPhone's Apple Wallet, and look for a time to use them. It's really a Brinker International gift card, although I think the bonus ones can only be redeemed at Chili's. I wish I could use it at Romano's (which used to be part of Brinker) but I knew that when I bought it.

I made a mistake with it when I finally had a chance to use them. I scanned one of the $10 bonus ones without fully understanding the terms. Then I scanned the next one by mistake. The terms say that only a single one can be redeemed per check, but it accepted it for the remainder of the payment anyways. Then I realized the terms said that it shouldn't, and also that each bonus can only be redeemed once. But I did a check of the value and found that it still claimed a value for the remainder.

So I had a chance to use it again, and then when I tried to use it it said it was no longer valid. I had the $50 regular gift card and paid for the bill, but sent something to customer service mentioning my mistake. I asked if they can make an exception to maybe restore the balance or whatever (I'm thinking maybe just the value I lost to a regular gift card). But I get that these were meant for a single use since they're freebies without all the rules required for a normal gift card. But yeah I should have looked more carefully at the terms and been more careful about which one I scanned. But then again, their rules said that only a single one could be used per check, and it should have blocked me from using the second one.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't get what you're trying to get out of the company and furthermore why did you try to use it again at a later date when you already saw that it took both cards? Per your comments :"it accepted it for the remainder of the payment anyways" so you knew the value had been used up.

Regardless of a physical system block you suggest vs intended use of the promotional cards (i.e. only 1 per check) you still were able to use both on the same check and you appear to have intended to do that given you scanned both.

It sounds like you're trying to get them to give you another $10 value. From what you say you don't deserve that. You've already used up the $20 you were given. Seems cut and dried to me

 

[bcla]

Regardless of a physical system block you suggest vs intended use of the promotional cards (i.e. only 1 per check) you still were able to use both on the same check and you appear to have intended to do that given you scanned both.

It sounds like you're trying to get them to give you another $10 value. From what you say you don't deserve that. You've already used up the $20 you were given. Seems cut and dried to me

Not really. My check was a bit over $12. I accidentally scanned a second $10 bonus (on one of those tabletop tablets) and it cashed out a little over $2 from it. And when I checked that night it was still listing remaining value on it. I'm just hoping to get the balance back (a bit less than $8) somehow and then avoid making a similar mistake in the future.

But their terms were that no more than one of them could be used on a single check. It should have blocked me from using the second one, and I would have just used the regular gift card.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

All of the promotional cards I've gotten it doesn't function like a gift card where there's value left over for subsequent usage. Once it's used it's used regardless of how much I used of it, meaning if less than the promotional amount I forfeited the rest due to the structure of the promotional card. Reading the T&C of this present promotional card that I believe is what you're talking about it states: "The $10 MDG eBonus Card may be used only one (1) time and applied to only one (1) check." Regardless of you doing something on your part in error you did in fact use it once already, that (if it's the same promotion I found online) is why it said it was no longer valid when you tried to use it a second time.

Chalk it up to lesson learned IMO. You got to use two on the same check, unfortunately for you your check was less than the amount of the whole promotional value. As for a system block? I mean for reals I don't expect every company to build a software block for every little thing. Sometimes we get lucky and we skate by on something that wasn't supposed to occur. This is one of those, so I'd move on not hound the company

 

[bcla]

Chalk it up to lesson learned IMO. You got to use two on the same check, unfortunately for you your check was less than the amount of the whole promotional value. As for a system block? I mean for reals I don't expect every company to build a software block for every little thing. Sometimes we get lucky and we skate by on something that wasn't supposed to occur. This is one of those, so I'd move on not hound the company

Hounding? Nah. They've got customer service to handle this sort of thing, and my message was polite and to the point. I get something back - fine. If I don't - fine. I did find it interesting that it was showing some balance left the same night, but the next day it had completely zeroed out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Hounding? Nah. They've got customer service to handle this sort of thing, and my message was polite and to the point. I get something back - fine. If I don't - fine. I did find it interesting that it was showing some balance left the same night, but the next day it had completely zeroed out.

The fact that you're contacting them in the first place over this and that you keep repeating "but it should have blocked me" is what I mean by hounding. You do you of course but it seems like quite the fuss over it, enjoy your day

 

[bcla]

The fact that you're contacting them in the first place over this and that you keep repeating "but it should have blocked me" is what I mean by hounding. You do you of course but it seems like quite the fuss over it, enjoy your day

I still don't know in what world contacting customer service once is considered "hounding".

 

[Kanga and Roo]

Hounding? Nah. They've got customer service to handle this sort of thing, and my message was polite and to the point. I get something back - fine. If I don't - fine. I did find it interesting that it was showing some balance left the same night, but the next day it had completely zeroed out.

 

[Kanga and Roo]

You made the mistake, they were freebies, move on life is too short and it was only $8 of free stuff, not your own physical cash.

 

[RedAngie]

I usually don’t bother with trying to earn gift cards at restaurant chains, hotels, or elsewhere. The terms and conditions often aren’t worth the effort of obtaining and using them.

I was supposed to earn a $50 gas card back in March at a certain hotel chain by completing two separate stays. I asked the desk clerk about it when checking out after the second stay. He said I’d receive it in the mail in 2 to 3 weeks. By early May, nothing.

I discovered that I had to go into their app to claim the gift card. And, oh yeah, the period for claiming it expired on April 30.

Not worth the effort of arguing with customer service.

Bcla, it $8 worth it???

 

[shh]

I usually don’t bother with trying to earn gift cards at restaurant chains, hotels, or elsewhere. The terms and conditions often aren’t worth the effort of obtaining and using them.

As with almost every lesson in my life, I had to learn this the hard way - through a lot of wasted time and aggravation. I like gift cards in general, but stay far away from those bonus promo cards w/regular gift card purchase that every restaurant offers around the holidays. They have so many annoying exclusions and expirations: just not worth the mental energy.

 

[bcla]

I took advantage of newer offers in Nov and Dec. The standard eGift cards were valid immediately, but the bonuses (two $10 per minimum $50 spend) are only valid for 1/1-2/13. A little bit different since the valid dates were well into the future, but I had an opportunity to use them on New Year's Day while traveling. I played around with them seeing if any might work before their valid dates, and it always got locked out saying they had no value.

Then on New Year's Day I had a bill for more than $20 so I tried using two of them and they worked. So obviously they haven't reprogrammed their software to lock out a second one from being used, even if the terms say that's not allowed. Gave me a chance to try and use them up before they expire.