Gift card expiration is a pain. It creeps up on you when you least expect it, and takes with it the entire value of your gift card. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know by now that i am an advocate for extending or eliminating gift card expiration (and fees, but that’s for another day).
That is why I am very excited about this story in Business Week stating that the Michigan Legislature has passed a bill requiring stores to accept gift cards and certificates for at least five years after selling them. The measure is expected to be signed by the Governor into law once the House signs off on changes. It will take effect on November 1, 2008.
If you live in Michigan and are interested in having this bill become law, now is a good time to call or email your state representative. The bills also would prohibit inactivity fees and fees related to buying a gift certificate. Bravo Michigan!!
Avis is offering a free $25 American Express gift card when you use your American Express card to rent a car at any Neighborhood Avis location. You also save up to 25% on your car rental. You must pay with any American Express Card to qualify for the savings and rewards card offer. Gift Cards are available while supplies last. Click here for details.
Readers, just wanted to update you on why I have not been blogging consistently the last two weeks. I am putting finishing touches to my new website, Giftcardrescue.com, an online marketplace where visitors can buy, sell and exchange unused gift cards.
The site will launch shortly and once that is complete, i will get back to my regular blogging schedule, which is posting twice a week.
Gift Cards Stolen from the Mail at the Post Office
In case you have not been following this series on Gift Card Fraud and Scams, Part I of the series, which was posted last week, talks about secret credit card recording and how that is used to perpetuate gift card fraud. Today’s post will focus on gift card fraud at the post office.
I posted this article back in march 2008 - Gift Card Alert: USPS may have lost the gift card you mailed alerting readers about the need to properly package gift cards before they mail them since it appears gift cards are being lost at the post office due to improper packaging.
While the post office places the blame for missing gift cards on customers, it appears a few bad apples among the post office employees are taking advantage of the situation and may be going as far as stealing gift cards from mail that may have been properly packaged.
A recent arrest of a McAllen, TX postal worker for stealing gift cards from the mail got me curious. I did a quick search on Google news and came up with similar post office arrests over the last year or so, including the following:
April 24, 2008 - Charlottesville, VA (A Postal worker pleads guilty to stealing mail that contained money and gift cards)
I am sure you have seen variations of the RSS logo on numerous websites and blogs and are probably wondering what this RSS symbol is all about. Look no further!
If you have 3 minutes to spare, the YouTube video below from leelefeverBEST explains RSS in plain English and is worth viewing. RSS can change the way you view new content on the web and save you lots of time. So, take the plunge, and enter the world of RSS.
If, after watching the video, you like what RSS has to offer, consider subscribing to the RSS feed from giftcardblogger.com and get all the latest posts fast and conveniently delivered into your feed reader.
As I mentioned on May 10th, in celebration of the newly redesigned giftcardblogger.com, I will be running a four part series on Gift Card Fraud and Scams.
I will be discussing the major types of gift card scams out there and provide you with tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. Today’s post will focus on credit card skimming and how that is used to perpetrate gift card fraud.
A recent arrest of two men in Herkimer, NY has led police into what could be one of the most sophisticated gift card and credit card schemes out there. According to a story on uticoad.com, police seized about 100 debit and gift cards from the two men, which were apparently used to defraud local Wal-Mart stores.
The case began to unfold as one of the men tried to buy $800 in Wal-Mart gift cards using multiple credit cards that were each denied. Police found that during the two day period, the suspects had purchased $39,000 worth of Wal-Mart gift cards and electronic equipment in Herkimer and Rome, NY. At the Rome, NY Wal-Mart alone, the two men made about $8,000 in purchases in one hour. So how does the scheme work? Read the rest of this entry »
Is there a difference between the Visa Reloadable Prepaid Card and Visa Gift Card? This question was posed on Yahoo Answersrecently and since I have seen the question asked a couple of times already, I did some research on the subject and here is what I found.
While both cards are accepted anywhere visa debit cards are accepted, there are differences between the two cards that should be considered before buying.
The Visa Gift Card is not “reloadable”. Once the initial value on a Visa Gift Card is spent, the plastic becomes worthless. On the other hand, the Visa Reloadable Prepaid card can be reloaded with cash several times over until the expiration date listed on the card.
The Visa Gift Card can be purchased at manygrocery stores or supermarketswithout any precondition, such as age requirement or proof of ID. However, to purchase Visa Reloadable Prepaid Card, you must be at least 18 years of age and must provide a government issued ID.
You can use a Visa Reloadable Prepaid Card to get cash at an ATM while the Visa Gift Card does not allow you to get cash at the ATM.
The Visa Reloadable Prepaid Card also allows you to add money to the card through direct deposit of your wages, tax refunds, or other disbursements, such as social security, child support, welfare or other payments. This feature does not exist with the Visa Gift Card. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to the new and improved Giftcardblogger.com! As I mentioned previously, the redesign of the site was to make it more user friendly and provide easy access to the wide range of content on the site. For your benefit, below are the improvements to the site:
1. I have added the tabs at the top, which are “Featured” (which is a list of posts I am recommending to readers), “Commented” (which lists the posts that have attracted the most comments), and “Emailed” (which lists the most emailed posts).
2. The “Popular post” section on the right sidebar has been enhanced to include “All Time” popular posts (which lists the most popular posts on giftcardblogger.com since its inception), and “This Month” (which lists the popular posts for any given month in time). Read the rest of this entry »
Gift card expiration is a pain. It creeps up on you when you least expect it, and takes with it the entire value of your gift card. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know by now that i am an advocate for extending or eliminating gift card expiration (and fees, but that’s for another day).
Below are stores that carry the Visa Reloadable Prepaid Card. As you can see, it is a much shorter list than the
