GIFT CARD PURCHASES...

I don't know how anyone shops at Macy's anymore anyway.
The stores in my area are just plain dirty. I don't mean messy either,
everything is covered in dust and forget the carpeted areas. Yuck!! I
don't even like walking through the store to get to the other stores
in the mall.

Not to mention that everything they sell there is garbage now. (I had
really never been to Macy's untill Filenes sold out to them so maybe
it was always garbage)

I hope everyone knows that the "$500" set of cookware that they have
on sale for $79.95 is still making them money

I was talking to my friend about the same situation a few days ago.
The rules are ridiculous. The whole piont of them is to convince you
to get a Macy's credit card to recieve rewards. After you use your 15%
of cupons your now in Debt!!!! They're charging you 26% on the card.

You can't use the Macy's gift cards in a machine that doesn't belong
to Macy's. That would be like trying to use a Macy's gift card to
purchase something at Sears.
As far as using the gift cards to purchase the pantsuit goes, there
was nothing prohibiting her from using the gift cards as payment. The
only thing she couldn't do was use the coupon (which can only be
applied when a Macy's credit card is used). Unfortunately, your
sister does not have the "right" to use coupons however she wishes.
She has to follow the rules stated on the coupon. She does, however,
have the freedom to spend her Macy's gift cards on merchandise in
Macy's stores or on the Macy's website, including the pantsuit that
she, for some reason, chose not to purchase.

I would never buy a high-tech piece of merchandise from a vending
machine. Snacks. Sodas. An emergency aspirin.

Never an iPod.

Gift Cards are simply not the stores credit card. Two different
vehicles of purchase. They make no interest off your gift card as you
so clearly put it since it is prepaid.

Of course one could purchase a Macy's gift card with a Macy's credit
card.

The coupon offer clearly stated save on store credit card purchase.
It did not say gift card purchase.

As far as the vending machine I am guessing it was privately
installed. Unless the vendor made it an option to link in your gift
card you are probably out of luck, but who knows your request for that
portion of your letter might lead to that in the future.

They obviously have a online link for the credit so I would think they
would be able to program it for the gift card. Only thing I see as a
problem is if you were short the entire amount on your gift card you
would have to be able to make a second tender. I am guessing the
machine would not allow this. I bet it is limited to one tender.

I used to work for Macy's, and though I have no idea about the vending
machine, I know if the coupon came in the mail to your sister, then
she is a Macy's card holder, and the coupons that are mailed out are
only to be used on a Macy's card purchase. I'm sure Macy's isn't the
only company that does that. It encourages people who only open up a
store acct. to receive the first day discount to use their card in the
future. Plus, it's an extra thank-you to Macy's card holders, because
they are the only ones who are receiving those coupons. As for not
using Gift Cards to pay on your acct, retail studies have shown that
people spend about 60% more than the value of their gift card when
shopping with a gift card. So Macy's, which is a business that wants
to make money (sounds negative, but it's not, that's what businesses
are in business to do) would rather see you spend your gift plus some
extra money, than apply, say, that $25 gift card towards your Macy's
bill. I have to say though, this letter was one of the most
well-written I've seen on this site!

I have never seen a Macy's coupon that doesn't state right on the
front "Save 15% on your next purchase...WITH YOUR MACY'S CARD." The
whole point of the Macy's coupon is to get a discount when you use
your Macy's card! Otherwise, no discount. Sorry you don't like it.

As for the vending machine - as you stated in your own letter, the
machine doesn't belong to Macy's!!! How would they be able to change
machines that don't belong to them just to accept gift cards? Ain't
gonna happen.

Sorry Terri, but I don't think you are going to get anywhere with your
arguements.

Typical retail "I Want" letter.
1.) I want them to change the rules for me - Vending machines that
don't belong to Macy's. Here's your reasonable explanation - The
vending machine doesn't belong to them.
2.) Change your coupon rule's - even though it's clearly stated on the
coupon.
3.) I want to discuss your rules - because I want what I want . . . .
. .

I don't know if I'd trust a vending machine with a $149 purchase! I
get P.O.ed enough when I lose $0.75 to a vending machine which fails
to dispense my can of Coke.

Consider yourself lucky, Terri. Imagine what kind of letter you'd be
writing on here had you lost your $149 to a vending machine, only to
be told by Macy's that the machine is not their responsibility, and
you had to write to the company who owns it!

Maybe Macy's will send her a letter of apology and a free iPod.
(Sarcasm intentional)

On a more serious note, reading between the lines, I suspect that the
sister is a minor.

Macy's has vending machines that sell iPods. Wow. Here in the upper
Dakota, the only vending machines I can find are the ones with
three-week-old Snickers bars in them. You big city folks sure do live
the fancy life.

Did the coupon state that it was only to be used with a Macy's credit
card purchase?

that the Macy's gift cards are set up to ONLY be read by the Macy's
POS machines. (If you took it to Dillard's or Nordstrom's, it
wouldn't work) Thus, a general credit card reader (all of which have
to go through an authorizing bank) merely approves or denies those
credit cards as opposed to reading pre-programmed data on a gift card
and applying that amount.

Secondly, whether you believe the use of the coupon is fair,
ridiculous or irrelevant is also, frankly, irrelevant. As others have
pointed out, that particular coupon had a stipulation that it had to
be used with a Macy's charge. Some require you to spend a certain
minimum amount. You weren't using a Macy's charge, so you didn't meet
the criteria.

They don't want you to use the gift cards on those purchases -- they
WANT you to put it on a credit card, because they make more money that
way.

Macy's does issue coupons during the year that don't require you to
use a Macy's card in order to get the discount. They also have ones
exclusive to using your card.

You are using flawed logic when you mention these economic times.
Macy's already has someone's $200 (whoever purchased the gift cards).
They could care less if your sister actually exchanges those cards for
goods. It's actually in their favor if she doesn't.

If the vending machines aren't Macy's, then you're giving your payment
to whoever owns the vending machines.

There's a system set up for the vending machine owner to accept credit
cards. For them to accept Macy's gift card would be basically the
same thing as for any store to accept another store's gift cards. I
know that you can do that sometimes when the stores are different
brands from the same corporation, but that's unlikely to be the case
here.

Since the gift card is worth the same amount of money as you paid for
it, it would cost one or both companies money that they would never
get back from you in order to transfer the funds.

Someone else has already addressed why Macy's doesn't want to let you
use a coupon with a gift card, so I won't. I can certainly see why
your sister would be frustrated and annoyed, but I don't think they're
likely to make these changes, because it would hurt their bottom line.

Their coupons are an incentive to use their credit card. If you don't
like this rewards program, use another card. My card has cash
rebates, and of course you can use that anywhere.

Your sister lost out also. Passing up on a $25 discount isn't smart
in these economic times. Why not use the gift cards + a little cash
to pay for the pantsuit, and then use the $25 coupon for a smaller
purchase?

All coupon rewards I have had said they could no be used towards the
card's balance.

The vending machine is set up to accept credit cards. Macy's card is
accepted because it is also a credit card. Nothing special had to be
done to allow that. However, a gift card is company specific and
can't be used just anywhere. Some special programming would be
required to allow gift cards, even if Macy's runs those machines.
While it would be nice, it is a feature that would have be added.

You're not the first person who has been frustrated a about the
difference in gift cards and credit cards. Probably won't be the
last.

It's really a different technology than the credit card (not to
mention very vendor specific), which is why the vending machines don't
currenlty accept them. If you take time to think about all of your
gift card transactions, you'll realize that either the person at check
out rang the card differently than a credit card (if it's live) or
that you put it in a different place than the credit card (if it's
online).

As for the coupon having to be used with a Macy's card, I'll bet money
that it was specified as such somewhere on that coupon.

And while your sister may have walked away from this purchase, I'm
also betting that she'll be back to Macy's -- as it's the only place
to use those $200 in Macy's giftcards.

By the way -- this is kind of your sister's issue, isn't it? Why
should Macy's justify their position to you on this one?

Macy's issues those coupons to encourage people to use their Macy's
charge. Why? Because in many cases, they earn interest on those
purchases and that offsets the discount. Gift cards are just like
cash and don't generate any interest income for them.

The vending machines must be something new, they didn't have them when
I worked at Macy's but I can also understand not being allowed to use
gift cards in them. Macy's probably only gets a small percentage of
the sale and the rest goes to the vendor so you are not technically
using your gift card at Macy's.

It's not a good idea to post your phone number on a public forum even
though you used the wrong area code. It wouldn't take someone long to
find out the correct area code. I suggest you e-mail
greg@planetfeedback.com and ask him to remove it.