• Mr Fish@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    6 months later, all three cards have expired, so all three companies get $25 of free revenue, and no one really got anything for Christmas.

    Gift cards are a fucking scam

    • JimVanDeventer@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Gift cards expiring isn’t legal in Canada. We just expect you to lose them, and there is still plenty of profit in that, apparently.

      • misophist@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        They don’t expire here, 3ither, but I found a 10-year-old gift card after a move and the company had switched to a new gift card system, so I had to spend an hour calling around to get my ancient gift card converted to modern store credit. It was not worth it for $20.

    • thetreesaysbark@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      I wonder if prices being 24.99 makes a difference here too.

      That would mean that for each gift card where the full amount is not spent, the company keeps 0.01. That 0.01 is technically owed but it doesn’t prevent the company from earning interest on the unspent cash (I don’t think).

    • runner_g@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      If you are in the US, gift cards are required to be valid for at least 5 years (federal rule) and many states have longer rules. Also some states require unspent money to be paid back to the card holder as cash. There was a thread a couple of days ago on Lemmy all about gift cards and relevant consumer protections.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      I hate them.

      They basically force you to go to a specific store after the holidays before the allotted time expires. What if I don’t have time to go to that store? What if I don’t need anything from that store? What if I don’t like the store?

      I’d rather they give me something useless than a gift card that is going to expire anyway.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        What if I don’t have time to go to that store?

        How short is the time in your gift cards that you can’t find the time to use it??

    • Sprokes@jlai.lu
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      11 months ago

      Another story of Americans (or from countries following American model) getting screwed? Where am I gift cards can be used for multiple purchases.