The Pitfall of Gift Cards
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American
The Pitfall of Gift Cards
Consumer Reports recently took a full-page ad in the New York Times warning consumers about the pitfalls of giving and using gift cards this holiday season. Their telephone survey found that 27% of all gift cards go unused. They also estimate that retailers took in an extra $8 billion because of unused, lost, and expired gift cards. But depending on the state, unused gift cards may be classified as unclaimed property. The value is then turned over to the state in a process called "escheatment." In WI a gift certificate that expires before it is used escheats to the state. (I have no idea what that means.) However in some states, the stores do get to keep the money.
This PDF gives a breakdown of how the laws generally apply state by state.
Here are tips from Consumer Reports for making the most of a gift card.
- Register it. Some cards must be registered with the issuer, especially if the card is used for purchases online or by phone.
- Spend it quickly. Use the card as soon as possible, especially if it expires or has a monthly maintenance fee.
- Spend it to the last penny. If the card balance gets so low that there's nothing to buy, ask a merchant to do a split-tender transaction. That involves using the remaining card balance for part of the transaction and another form of payment for the rest.
- Hold onto it. Don't throw out the card when the balance is zero. Some merchants require it for returns.
Everything Should Taste Like Bacon
They have a Web site, a blog, a Facebook group, a MySpace page and they're on Twitter. They are J&D's, which produces Bacon Salt, Baconnaise, Bacon Popcorn, Bacon Ranch and now bacon-tasting envelopes called Mmmvelopes. (I just found gifts for all of the "hard to buy for" individuals on my Christmas list.)
You can never have too much bacon. They even have Kosher Certification. Click here to visit their Web site.
Pizza Hut Web Site Doesn't Deliver
Below is a screen shot of the Pizza Hut Web site where a disgruntled customer vainly tried to order a pizza for $6.99 ... as the Web page shows. But to the potential customer's dismay, the page kept magically totaling his one topping pizza at $14.74.
As a result, here's what the disgruntled potential customer posted all over the Internet.
OK, Pizza Hut...I saw your ad about 20 times Sunday while watching football. You got me, I want a pizza. Too bad your site can't make good on the deals in your TV ads.
The deal is supposed to be a large 1-topping pizza for carryout @ $6.99. I went to your site and found the coupon that matched the ad. I added the coupon to my order. I ordered a large 1-topping pizza for carryout.
No matter how I tried the order (pizza first then coupon, coupon first then pizza), it would not work properly. I went all the way through the checkout process and still no love for your own coupon. The confirmation email about my order didn't even mention the coupon! (The cost for the pizza kept showing as $14.74.)
I thought about emailing you, Pizza Hut, to complain about your site, but you don't provide an email address for doing that. You want me to fill out a form on a webpage and there's no place for attachments. Sorry, but I don't have time to debug that part of your site, too.
The moral of course is to always provide a way for your customers to contact you directly with their complaints or else they're likely to contact the world via the Internet. After a lot of on-line coverage Pizza Hut announced that its web site is now working correctly.
Strip Poker
From our buddy, Mark Mosio: This 20 second commercial for Centrum Silver is a little old ... but still funny.
Nordstrom Does it Right
This sign in the window of Nordstrom seems rather refreshing.
How Much?
I couldn't pass up this photo from a Walgreen's store. Un-alert buyers may not notice that the bags of Cheetos are printed with .99, while the store's price is $1.29. Nice profit.
