Gift Cards

[I luv herfrds]

I learned a few things in the last couple of days that I never knew about them.

If you get one that was issued through a bank they can start charging you a fee on this card within a month to 6 months. The charge on the back of my card is $2.50 a month with a $25.00 charge at the end of the cards expiration date.
Never knew that. Do not want one like that again.
The customer service I called to ask a question was rude.
You cannot get the cash off of it. (Told that by the customer service, but think it is bogus.)

 

[TheBullLady]

Gift cards have REALLY gotten to be a joke the past couple of years! A lot of them had expiration dates, that were not realistic (I heard of one that was 30 days!) Then you run across some that charge you for not using it.. draining away the value every day. How crazy is that? I heard on the radio that many issuers of the cards make a LOT of $$ by people not using them, forgetting they have them, or from the charges. You're almost better off to just offer cash for a gift instead.

 

[I luv herfrds]

The only reason I found this all out is I found one that my mother gave my hubby for his birthday. He forgot about it and so did I. No balance on it when I found where he had put it. The bank had service charged it to zero balance.
I did ask her to next time give us a check or cash instead. She was offended. :roll:

 

[chippie]

That is why if we give gift cards, we give store gift cards. Then the person gets the whole dollar amount.

When you think about it, why would a bank sell you a Visa or Master Card gift card for free (the purchase amount). Banks want to make money. When you buy a store gift card, the store is the one who benefits, so you get the full amount purchased.