Gift card & NH law

Customer service representatives are there as a go-between. I know; I
work in a call center. I take calls from customers who are either
upset or just placing an order everyday. Don't expect the CSR to be
able to do everything. We're not there to make the decisions. We're
there as liasons between the corportaion and the customer. We're only
doing OUR job.

You're complaining about waiting after you have retained a gift card
for four years? On top of that you want people fired?

With such requests, your first request of replacing the gift card is
not likely to happen. What are they going to do? Lose a customer
after not seeing you for four years anyway.

It's my understanding that certain companies charge a monthly
maintenance fee on usused gift card balances after 6 months or a year
due to the costs to the company. Some gift cards even expire. I
remember this subject got a lot of press around Christmas time last
year.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/consumeractionguide/
P66191.asp

It's possible that the value of the Blockbuster card was eaten up by
these fees or that the card expired.

Actually, after I typed this, but before clicking "post" I went to the
Blockbuster website which said:

"BLOCKBUSTER GiftCards expire after 24 months of non-use, except where
prohibited by law. This includes purchases made in CA, CT, LA, MA,
ME, NH, RI and WA."

At my job when someone has a gift card/certificate that's most than
3-4 years old the system "forgets it." It's still valid however we
have to send it in to order processing and they have to issue them a
new one. It usually takes about 10 days. It's a pain but at the same
time, it's been 4 years!!!

There have been some good replies. My experience with BB is that
their computers have a short memory. I didn't go for a year, and IIRC
the OTHER stores no longer recognized my membership (but I think they
said where I registered would know me for longer). Now, THAT seemed
strange at the time. The solution was for to fill out an app for a
new account. Maybe they handle gift cards in a similar irrational
manner. A CSR may not be able to handle a complaint like this - they
may not have the resources or authority to check your card out beyond
swiping it. I don't think anyone will be fired. It may be a stupid
situation but it won't result in a stupid response. So I think it
boils down to your first request - they should give you a new card.

Where was the card purchased? If it was purchased in another state
(and sent to you as a gift), then the laws of the state it was
purchased in would apply.

What was NH law at the time the card was purchased? You say the card
was 4 yrs old, is it possible that 4 yrs ago, the law was different
and did allow for gift cards to expire? If so, the law in effect at
the time of purchase would apply.

Useful reading:

http://www.nh.gov/nhdoj/consumer/sourcebook/extra_gift.html

Interesting to note that applies only if the GC is under $100.
Otherwise, you have 5 years and it becomes subject to the unclaimed
property law.

http://www.nh.gov/nhdoj/publications/nreleases/080206simon.html

Interesting to note that "banking products" are not considered part of
the law. So, some gift cards might be considered "banking products"
and therefore might not apply.

http://www.newhampshire.com/shopping/nh-gift-certificate-law.aspx

Interesting to note that "even chain stores that may issue gift
certificates from out of state must comply with New Hampshire's law."

Some other things...

* The 1997 law does allow for fees to be charged. The 2003 law
forbids fees.

* Your recourse is small claims court. Is it worth it to you?

* There remain ways for a store to get around this. In addition to
the "banking products" issue, stores are allowed to charge an up-front
"card fee." For example, they can charge $10 to buy a "blank" gift
card. And then, on top of that, you can put money on the card.

* The courts have not ruled (as far as I can tell) on 2 key issues:
retroactivity and interstate commerce. In the first case, a store can
claim that cards purchased prior to 2003 can have fees. The second
issue deals with cards purchased out of state. The cards were
purchased under the rules that say expiration is legal. On the flip,
cards puchased in NH, but used elsewhere, are subject to the using
state's laws, not NH. Similar to "glass bottle deposit laws,"
technically you are not supposed to drive (a la Seinfeld) your bottles
purchased in a non-deposit state to a deposit state in order to get
your deposit back. You cannot ask a non-deposit state to return your
deposit on on a bottle purchased in a deposit state.

* If the GC was never paid for in the first place, it doesn't count.
For example, if you got the GC as a customer-service freebie, it can
expire.

*

Would this still apply? What if it was mailed to her by her great
Aunt Sally who lives in Texas or something?

How would this work? Never really pondered this before....Hmmmmm

Do you have confirmation that they took money from the account? If it
hasn't been used, the problem may go back to the card never having a
value put on it. Not that this helps you any, but it's a possibility
that doesn't violate the NH law you cite.

An, no, they will not fire the programmer or the legal staff. It's
offensive of you to even suggest this. Really, it is.

It stinks that you have to wait 3-5 weeks for them to figure out the
problem. But accusing them of violating the law and then demanding
that people get fired is not right.

I'm sure that you've NEVER made a mistake on your job. Right? Or
have you been fired for every small mistake you've made?

This may be beside the point, but how much was the gift card worth?

For what it's worth, I can't imagine waiting 4 years to use a gift
card.

New Hampshire law states that gift certificates may not expire, and
that such service charges, dormancy fees, or other administrative
charges that reduce the value of the gift certificate are forbidden.

They also stated that gift cards are considered gift certificates.


To the OP: It does suck that you have to wait for them to reinstate
the card when they were the ones in the wrong in the first place. Does
your local news have one of those shows where they bust people and
help consumers? You may want to report it to them if there is one.
They tend to get things done a lot faster!

The law may keep them from charging a fee, but does the law keep them
from cancelling out the card after X amount of time? That'd be
different. And sneaky.

Also, could it be that something happened to the magnetic strip on the
card after all this time, like it was left next to something magnetic,
by accident?