by
Carl Hampton
10/10/2006
Don't know what to buy everyone for
Christmas? Just found out about a birthday
party and need a last minute birthday gift?
The easy solution is to buy a gift
certificates or gift card, especially if the
person you are buying for has a favorite
place to shop. But there are some issues you
should remember before buying that gift
card. Example, some gift cards expire,
others can only be used at the location you
bought them from. There may be activation
fees, transaction fees, inactivity fees, and
replacement fees that can eat up a lot of
the value of the card. Now the gift card
isn't looking like such a good idea, is it?
It's not all doom and gloom, lets have a
look at what you should be looking for
before you hand over your hard earned cash.
Retailers that sell gift cards do not
normally charge for the card itself. Banks
however do for the most part charge a fee
whenever the card is used. Most bank issued
cards come with a Personal Identification
Number (PIN) that can be used like an ATM
card. You should definitely read the fine
print before you buy the card, by law they
have to list all the charges. If you don't
have time to read them you can always talk
to a representative and remember to document
their name. If you are not satisfied with
the terms them buy from somewhere else. You
want to consider the fees because you really
don't want the recipients money wasted on
fees alone. Finally before buying a store
card make sure that the recipient can use
the card in any store or on line.
Your gift card should be treated like cash,
if it is lost or stolen you can report it
but some issuers might not replace the card.
If they didn't use the card and it expired
then contact the issuer of the gift card.
The might be able to extend the expiration
date but they will charge a fee for that. If
you live in California your in luck the by
law that gift cards or certificate can never
expire. So if you find a certificate from
years ago and it has an expiration date most
companies will still take it.
If you, for any reason, have problems with
the card or certificate you should contact
the issuer. If they cannot help you, then
file a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission at www.ftc.gov or call
1-877-FTC-HELP.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer, then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
