FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU
BUY A GIFT CARD
-PissedConsumer.com Shares the Top Gift Cards Issues
for Givers and Receivers This Holiday Season -
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 29, 2012 - Gift cards may be the easiest option for gift
giving this holiday season, but they are not the safest and carry complicated
penalties. Stores are secretly making a profit off of your thoughtful gifts and
causing many problems for consumers. Before you buy those gift cards, educate
yourself on some of the issues.
Pissed Consumer, the most popular product review and
complaint website, shares 5 tips that every gift card purchaser should know.
1.
THE DOLLAR AMOUNT IS A LIE – The amount on the card will slowly dwindle
as the company will charge you interest on the card. This will range anywhere
between 5-10% of what you purchased. In addition to this, you pay a fee
to activate the card, so the amount of money for both you and the recipient
adds up.
2.
GIFT CARDS EXPIRE - Many gift cards only last for 12 months -- or even
worse, less than that. To prevent all the money from disappearing read
your gift card closely to see if there is an expiration date. If there is,
alert the recipient to spend the gift card as soon as possible.
3.
STORES LOCK YOU IN - Gift cards require you to spend the
set amount of money at that particular store, yet the recipient of the gift may
wish to spend the gift funds somewhere else.
4.
YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS BEING RE-SOLD - Often the
store that you purchase the gift card from will collect your personal
information and use it for their marketing purposes. Some companies will even
go as far as selling your information to other marketers.
5.
SPECIAL DEALS WITH GIFT CARDS - Remember that special
deals with gift card are too good to be true. For example, two massages for the
price of one may be the rate for the introductory massage only. If you are
purchasing the card for a regular customer they will not be able to take advantage
of the introductory rate which was what the card was intended for.
Remember
this holiday season to read all the fine print associated with the gift card to
avoid these headaches.
About PissedConsumer.com
PissedConsumer.com is
a premier consumer advocacy group, featuring consumer reviews and
complaints in a social networking environment. The company uses online tools to
publicize reviews and complaints filed by consumers on the Internet. In
addition, the site offers a set of free tools necessary to bring the dispute to
a fast and successful resolution, including a consumer complaint letter
generator and collection of consumer tips and advice in the site’s consumer
advocacy section.
I'm glad that now in Canada, gift cards have no expiry.
ReplyDeleteStill be sure to check when buying that they are actually charged up with funds. My sister bought a gift card for my grandmother one year and when she went to use it, it said nil. That was a bad situation for my sister to deal with.....
thank you :)
ReplyDelete- Stephanie J