SoapZone Community Message Board

* in my neck of the woods--and Capricorn's--many people who know they're buying something at a specific store buy the gift card for that store at Giant Eagle as it contributes to their perks, which leads to either money off gas at GetGo or money off a future order at GE. I had a co-worker once buy $500 worth of gift cards for Home Depot at GE before she went to HD to buy a fridge. She got her fridge AND she had enough perks for a free tank of gas.

Anyways...I think I mentioned in last week's PP that my good church friend bought me a gift card for Target for my birthday. When I went to use the gift card, it didn't work. The cashier told me I had two options: check with the store that sold it or call the customer service number. I try to avoid talking on the phone to strangers/businesses whenever possible, for a myriad of reasons, so I asked gcf where she bought the gift card...it was at the very store I tried to use it at. So today, after a very nice cup of coffee and pastry with my neighbor (who paid, since I'd collected her mail and checked on her house last week when she and her hubby were on vacation), I went back to that Target to see if I could straighten this gift card mess out. Customer service didn't even really try to help me; they immediately gave me the number to call when problems with gift cards arise and sent me on my way. Thanks for nothing! So I went to my car and called and of course got the menu with options, none of which were for trouble with a gift card that was never activated. That took me to a person who I could barely understand unfortunately (my hearing isn't great, which is one of the reasons I don't like talking business on the phone, and I have trouble understanding most accents, which is another reason I don't like talking business on the phone). She got my info, put me on hold...came back 5 minutes later only to say she was having some trouble on her end and put me on hold again. That happened three more times, then she sent me over to someone else...who proceeded to do the same thing. Finally, after about 30 minutes on the phone, the woman told me unless I have a receipt, there really wasn't anything they could do. That's fine--I somewhat expected that to be the answer--but you couldn't have told me that 15 minutes and at least 3 holds earlier?

When I texted gcf last Friday after the gift card didn't go through, she said she *thought* she put the receipt in my gift bag (the gift cards--one for Target, one for Panera--were in my birthday card in the envelope). I found a receipt for Dollar Tree, where she got the Panera gift card, but none for Target. I'm going to text gcf again to see if maybe she has the receipt somewhere, but I doubt it...and I'm guessing she paid cash for the gift card, so probably no checking with her credit card company. Last Friday, gcf apologized and told me if I couldn't get the gift card situation straightened out, she would buy me another one...but she's severely underemployed and has nobody helping her with the bills so I absolutely don't want her spending any more money on me.

But seriously, folks...always get a receipt when purchasing a gift card!