I hate gift cards!

[buckler]

One other way to use the credit card gift cards is to make a partial payment on a utility bill. My telephone company, water company and natural gas company will allow you to make several online credit card payments to pay your monthly bill. So, make one $25 payment with the gift card credit card, then pay the balance of the bill with your normal credit card. You would make two seperate payments.

 

[dj2]

DW got a gift card at the holidays. She tried to use it the other day and discovered that the rules for the card state that it can not be used for partial payment. The purchase must be equal to or less than the balance on the card. So for this $25 card, the purchase must be exactly $25 or less. If the purchase is $25.01, she can't use the card and pay one penny extra. Of course, this means that it is virtually impossible to totally use the card's value since with tax, nothing is ever exactly $25. Her coworker said she managed to spend the full amount but only by carefully calculating her purchases to total exactly $25. That's insane. Just give cash next time please.

I used to give my staff gift cards each year but I stopped a few years ago due to all the wacky rules, regulations and restrictions. Now they all get cash and I haven't heard any complaints.

if she has a $25 card and her purchases come to $26.50, she just has to pay $1.50 in cash FIRST. then she uses the gift card for exactly $25. the order matters in the partial payment.

very irritating, but that's what you have to do.

-dj

 

[vhoffman]

Geeeez................

Do Disney Dollars work the same way? I sure hope not! I just bought $100 of Disney Dollars, $50 each for my kids to spend on our upcoming trip. I bought 10 $10 'dollars'. If they spend less than $10, do they get change? If something costs $10.01, can they just give them the extra penny? I could have just given the kids the cash, but last time I did that they had it spent in the airport gift shop!

 

[cats mom]

I just found a GC I purchased about a year ago to give as an end of the year teacher gift, but I went in on a group gift instead, so I tucked the GC away and forgot about it.

They charged me a $2.00 fee to buy the stupid thing in the first place. Then when I checked the balance today I found out that after 6 months of inactivity they started charging a $2.00 maintenance fee every month!

For my initial $27.00 I now have a GC worth $9.00

My suggestion: read ALL the rules very carefully.
(of course the rules on mine were in such fine print that I had no hope of ever deciphering them)

Hey Steve, I think my GC experience trumps your DW's GC experience.


Oops, edited to fix spelling. Darn spelling/grammar rant thread!

 

[buckler]

Geeeez................

Do Disney Dollars work the same way? I sure hope not! I just bought $100 of Disney Dollars, $50 each for my kids to spend on our upcoming trip. I bought 10 $10 'dollars'. If they spend less than $10, do they get change? If something costs $10.01, can they just give them the extra penny? I could have just given the kids the cash, but last time I did that they had it spent in the airport gift shop!

Don't worry. If they spend less than $10.00 they will get change in U.S. currency. So if they buy something for $5 and pay with a $10 Disney dollar they will get back a $5 U.S. bill. You can pay for something using both Disney dollars and U.S. currency (ex. $10 in Disney and an extra penny for $10.01). Or to pay for the $10.01 they could give 2 $10 Disney dollars and get back $9.99 in cash.

 

[TallyLassie]

I am not a real fan of gift cards for myself. I got one for Christmas from my mother-in-law for Christmas, but it is for a store I don't shop at.

My teenage nieces always ask for them, since they like to pick out their own clothes.

 

[PrincessMommyof2]

I can see both sides with GC; they seem impersonal to some but a lifesaver to others. I tend to like GC's because my MIL seems to think that I should wear her style of clothing ( ) and wear her type of perfume. I'm not afraid to admit it, if I've received a GC for a store that I don't shop at, I will recycle it to another friend for a gift if he/she shops there. I like the fact that giving someone a GC gives that person the freedom to buy something that they've wanted, but it wasn't in the finances. We were able to buy a digital camera from saved up GC's. My Mom used to loathe GC's, but recently switched and that's all she buys...welcome to the dark side, Mom.

 

[U Guys Made Me Ink]

This reminds me of a comedian's bit on gift cards vs. cash. He was against them and said it's like giving cash in that it can be impersonal and obvious how much was spent but that it can only be used for limited things. "Here's $50, now go and spend it all in one place!" Isn't this exactly opposite of grandma's advice? ... (I guess you had to see the comedian do it to be funny, but the point is still valid.)

 

[jeancbpugh]

Actually, I read in our newspaper that stores actually LOST money on the gc as they would issue them BEFORE the holidays and then after the holidays is when they were used and consumers got about triple the amount of merchandise, then they would had they used the card PRIOR to XMAS.

This doesn't make sense to me. At least the stores had your money before Christmas. You could have given her cash.

 

[torinsmom]

IMO, gift cards are a bit personal. Unless you know the person and what they need at that particular moment, it is a gamble. I have had parents(I'm a teacher) give me gift cards from stores in their town, when it is well known that I live in a town 20 miles away! I've gotten gcs to candle stores, when I don't use candles, and spas, which I don't do either. Usually, if its something I can't use, I will sell it at a discount to another teacher who can. Some people think cash or a check is impersonal, but at least you can spend it anywhere and its always the right size and color, LOL.

Marsha

 

[CarolA]

Having had MAJOR problems using Amex gift cards. (Which goes along with Amex's total lack of customer service) I have become a pro. (I get them for work)

For Amex if the total is greater then your gift card give the cashier another form of payment and tell her to post the difference to that payment (cash for example) then put the remainder on your gift card. Bascially it is working like a credit card so if you have a $100 gift card and spend $125 then you are "over your limit" by $25. So just pay the $25 in cash and the remainder on the gift card. Do not try this at Walmart as the cashiers are entirely too poorly trained to figure how to ring up two payment types. (I had THREE cashiers all standing there staring at the register trying to figure this out before I just left!)

 

[anewvance]

Our mall used to have paper gc's. If you had a $100 gc, and you spent $20 at a store, you would get $80 in cash back. I am sure they figured they were losing out that way so they moved to the visa gift cards and now they have the stipulations on it. First when buying it you have to pay for the plastic card itself, only a $1 or so but still! And then you can only spend less then what you have on the card. Can't use it toward the purchase of something bigger.. like the op's problem. I have one with $5 left on it but haven't used it because I haven't bought anything for $4 and change yet.

 

[disneysteve]

If it is a Visa, Mastercard or Amex gift card you can use the gift card to buy a $25 gift card for a store.

That's a great idea. And the card in question was a mall gift card.

Of course, the flipside of this, another reason I don't like GCs, is that unless you use the above tip, you have to spend more than the gift amount to redeem the card. I don't want to give someone a gift that will cost them money to redeem.

 

[disneysteve]

And then you can only spend less then what you have on the card. Can't use it toward the purchase of something bigger.. like the op's problem. I have one with $5 left on it but haven't used it because I haven't bought anything for $4 and change yet.

Yep. That's the exact same situation DW had.

 

[InstImpres]

Those tiny Visa Gift Card "leftover amounts" are great for an online Disney payment. Obviously not much of payment but a good way to use them up.

 

[pearlieq]

Normally I'm a huge fan of gift cards, but I've never heard of one with rules like that. That's nuts!!!

Otherwise, I love store gc's. It's like getting 2 presents. First I get the actual gift of the card, then I get the fun of going to the store to pick out my present. I wish that all I ever got was gift cards! Of course, all of the ones I get to major stores in the area work just like a cc and either have a 1 year term or no expiration.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

Whether one likes the idea of Visa/Amex gift cards or not, back to the original problem--how to use the full value.

You do not have to "lose" a little leftovers. As was stated earlier by dj2 and CarolA, have the cashier apply another form of payment to the total first to bring the total down to the giftcard amount. Then use the card for its complete balance.

And definitely use it up before monthly fees start accumulating. I buy them off my kids, giving them the cash, and use at the grocery store to get them out of the way. Also, that way I can use it all up in one shot and don't have to worry about tracking balances.

 

[Franne]

Those tiny Visa Gift Card "leftover amounts" are great for an online Disney payment. Obviously not much of payment but a good way to use them up.

Great idea! I have 4 of them with a little over $1. I was going to throw them away since I had no idea how to use them! Thanks...any little bit helps!

 

[LizinSTL]

That's a great idea. And the card in question was a mall gift card.

Of course, the flipside of this, another reason I don't like GCs, is that unless you use the above tip, you have to spend more than the gift amount to redeem the card. I don't want to give someone a gift that will cost them money to redeem.

When you have an amex/visa/mall gift card for a limited amount...$25, $50, etc. Then the "trick" is to go to the store that you plan to spend the money and purchase a STORE gift certificate or card for the full dollar amount of the amex gift card. Then you can use that as payment towards your purchase. Most store gc are able to be used for partial payment.

I had 2 $50 gift cards (one amex, one visa) from test drives last winter. I went to the disney store. Bought $50 in disney dollars each time and then used those as payment for my purchase and saved the rest for our trip in June.

 

[nbodyhome]

I really like gift cards, I definitely enjoy receiving them! We get to try restaurants and such that we might not have tried, and it's definitely a low-shipping price way of sending a gift to someone.

Fortunately, most that I've received don't have weird rules, and some do have service fees (which is stupid), but generally at 2 years, not 6 months.