Dh received gift card, now store refuses to take it.

[morrow]

Every year for Christmas dh receives several gift cards for Sportsmans Warehouse. (sporting good store) He went in today to use them and found out the hard way that Sportsmans Warehouse had been bought out by another company on the 11th of March and they are no longer honoring those gift cards in the stores.

The lady told him he could order something over the phone and then have it shipped to the store but it would cost an extra $10 for shipping.

I asked him if he got mad and threw a fit in the store....he said "No, I was kind of hoping you would". (evidently im meaner and more scrappy)

I called a number, which gave me another number, which gave me a recorded message saying they were trying to resolve the issue and if I would leave my name and number they will call me back when they have reached one.

How crappy is this?

[cap1kid]

I do not RECCOMMEND THROWING A BRICK THROUGH THE STORE WINDOW.

[Dre]

As Whitney Houston said once, "OH HELL TO THE NO!" I would've been angry!!!

"Leave your name and number..." Right...how about you just honor my GC and call it a day? Or better yet, give me the dollar amount...

...why can't they just give him a giftcard to use at the new store? Hassles, hassles everywhere!!!

[skywench]

I'd be hot! And what it cost the new store in goodwill for not honoring the old owners gift certificate? You gotta wonder what some retailers are thinking?

[OMGWhatHaveIdone]

Morrow,

I found this... hope it helps:

Chapter 19.240 RCW

Gift certificates

19.240.005

Intent.

It is the intent of the legislature to relieve businesses from the obligation of reporting gift certificates as unclaimed property. In order to protect consumers, the legislature intends to prohibit acts and practices of retailers that deprive consumers of the full value of gift certificates, such as expiration dates, service fees, and dormancy and inactivity charges, on gift certificates. The legislature does not intend that chapter 168, Laws of 2004 be construed to apply to cards or other payment instruments issued for payment of wages or other intangible property. To that end, the legislature intends that chapter 168, Laws of 2004 should be liberally construed to benefit consumers and that any ambiguities should be resolved by applying the uniform unclaimed property act to the intangible property in question.

19.240.090

Value of gift certificate held in trust by issuer — Bankruptcy.

(1) A gift certificate constitutes value held in trust by the issuer of the gift certificate on behalf of the beneficiary of the gift certificate. The value represented by the gift certificate belongs to the beneficiary, or to the legal representative of the beneficiary to the extent provided by law, and not to the issuer.

(2) An issuer of a gift certificate who is in bankruptcy shall continue to honor a gift certificate issued before the date of the bankruptcy filing on the grounds that the value of the gift certificate constitutes trust property of the beneficiary.

(3) The terms of a gift certificate may not make its redemption or other use invalid in the event of a bankruptcy.

(4) This section does not require, unless otherwise required by law, the issuer of a gift certificate to:

(a) Redeem a gift certificate for cash;

( Replace a lost or stolen gift certificate; or

© Maintain a separate account for the funds used to purchase the gift certificate.

(5) This section does not create an interest in favor of the beneficiary of the gift certificate in any specific property of the issuer.

(6) This section does not create a fiduciary or quasi-fiduciary relationship between the beneficiary of the gift certificates and the issuer unless otherwise provided by law.

(7) The issuer of a gift certificate has no obligation to pay interest on the value of a gift certificate held in trust under this section, unless otherwise provided by law.

19.240.900

Application — 2004 c 168 §§ 1-12.

Sections 1 through 12 of this act apply to:

(1) Gift certificates issued on or after July 1, 2004; and

(2) Those gift certificates presumed abandoned on or after July 1, 2004, and not reported as provided in RCW 63.29.170(4).

[Aerovette]

OMGWHID - The problem is the new owner is NOT the issuer.

[Denita]

But the new owner bought the store right? Bought the name of the store, the "goodwill" that the store name has built up over the years. Bought the inventory and the location. Yes, the owner maybe new....but there must be some protection for the consumer for these gift cards. Otherwise the 'new' store owner could cancel other liablities too (gift cards represent a liability to the store because the customer can turn in or use the card at anytime).

It is not a reasonable expectation that the 'old' store owner got the asset ($$ for gift cards) and the new store owner can cancel that liability.

[morrow]

Thank you everyone for your input. We received a call yesterday that they are now accepting the gift cards till the end of the month. Dh is racing in there sometime this week to use it up.

What a mess though!!