What Do I Want for My Birthday?

glatt · 01-03-2006, 01:42 PM

Speaking of gift certificates, I got an American Express gift card several months ago. What a royal pain in the ass they are! They act as a credit card, which sounds great, but if you have a $100 balance on the gift card, and the total purchase is $102, the card will be declined entirely because there are insufficient funds to cover the transaction. You have to keep the balance of the card in your head (it's not written on the card and the cashier can't tell you what is on it), and tell the cashier to ring up just that amount first. You pay that amount with the card, and have the cashier ring up the rest of the transaction to pay with your own cash. I think American Express hopes you won't deal with the hassle and will just leave a small balance on the card and forget about it.

Skip the gift cards, just write a check or give cash.

01-03-2006, 01:42 PM	#17
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Speaking of gift certificates, I got an American Express gift card several months ago. What a royal pain in the ass they are! They act as a credit card, which sounds great, but if you have a $100 balance on the gift card, and the total purchase is $102, the card will be declined entirely because there are insufficient funds to cover the transaction. You have to keep the balance of the card in your head (it's not written on the card and the cashier can't tell you what is on it), and tell the cashier to ring up just that amount first. You pay that amount with the card, and have the cashier ring up the rest of the transaction to pay with your own cash. I think American Express hopes you won't deal with the hassle and will just leave a small balance on the card and forget about it. Skip the gift cards, just write a check or give cash.

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