Buying gift cards at grocery stores..be careful

[LadyyRedd]

That is true. Unfortunately, my DD did not realize that she needed to keep the exact amount with her and ended up losing money on the deal. I think it is a hassle to have to keep track of the exact amount for the cashier to key in. Not a very smart system if it can't detect the amount left on the card...or is it? Think of the money that Visa gets to keep because people don't know the exact amount and things get rounded.

But you wouldn't lose the balance.
Say your purchase is $90 and you have $83.96 left on it, but don't know. The cashier tries $90 and it declines. The cashier tries $80 and it goes through. You still have $3.96 left on it. How do you lose out on that? You just keep the card, check the balance, then you know how much is there.

Now...a disclaimer...I'm not saying it SHOULD be this way. As a cashier, I absolutely despised this and as a consumer, I will NOT buy a card that works this way, as it is way too much hassle for the recipient. But....if you do have one, you don't lose any money on the deal. Just check the card for the balance.

Kimya

 

[LynnTH]

Thank you for the advice! We were trying to use them at a restaurant and the total was $90, but I think that restaurants put a "hold" or something on more than the total, so that might explain the problem.

I'll try again at the hair salon tomorrow. The total should be around $50, so we'll see if it works.

I tried this once at a Restaurant also. I knew there was money on it and how much so I called the card # on the back from the Restaurant. Apparantly, in Restaurants they will automatically add 20% tip on it until it is verified for the correct amount. So, even though your meal was $90 - it didn't go through because it added $18 onto it making it over the limit. Not sure if this is the case everywhere but I know it is some places. So, you have to watch out for that if using these to eat out.

 

[Feralpeg]

But you wouldn't lose the balance.
Say your purchase is $90 and you have $83.96 left on it, but don't know. The cashier tries $90 and it declines. The cashier tries $80 and it goes through. You still have $3.96 left on it. How do you lose out on that? You just keep the card, check the balance, then you know how much is there.

Now...a disclaimer...I'm not saying it SHOULD be this way. As a cashier, I absolutely despised this and as a consumer, I will NOT buy a card that works this way, as it is way too much hassle for the recipient. But....if you do have one, you don't lose any money on the deal. Just check the card for the balance.

Kimya

That is true, but a lot of people (me included) are not going to go to the trouble to find out the balance for a couple of dollars. Visa must love people like me. Those few dollars times the people who don't follow through give Visa a lot of money.