Restaurant Refuses To Honor Gift Card -- I'm Still Dumbstruck

[Cathy in Boston]

Make it one more person pulling for you on this one.

I absolutely despise poor customer service. I would rather pay more for something than to put up with any place that has poor customer service, whether it be a restaurant, department store, clothing store or whatever.

And I also make sure I let people know about places that do offer excellent customer service, i.e., I will tell anyone who is willing to listen how terrific the customer service is for LL Bean (probably the most customer-focused company of any I deal with).

Best of luck to you on this, and I hope those idiots learn a lesson!!

 

[Hoc]

Along the same line, do any of your local TV stations have a help line that you could call? And since they seem to be breaking a state law, I agree to contact the AG's office. They might be very interested.

There are some "Ombusdman" types on some of the local news channels. But, as I said, I'd rather not involve the press. I will pursue it civilly, and then, when that's done, I might contact the AG. But in the current economy, I'd rather get my damages first. The AG could very well shut them down, and I really don't want that.

Believe me, just going through the experience in Civil Litigation should make them think twice about doing this kind of thing again.

 

[Hoc]

She didn't stay there long, did she? Did she take them to court?

Isn't this place a chain restaurant?

She stayed there for a year or two, but left after the management started keeping virtually all of the tip money. No, she didn't take them to court -- she's very shy and couldn't have handled that.

And, no, this place is not a chain restaurant, or my tactics would have been different (and they would not have done the stupid things they're doing).

 

[Hoc]

Her response: "I'm not signing nothing." How about her blatant use of poor English?

Yes, that alone should have subjected her to Guantanamo-Bay-type torture.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Yes, that alone should have subjected her to Guantanamo-Bay-type torture.

Yeah, Hoc. I can just imagine you Sprite-boarding her! "Apologize right now or I'll give you a dose of tonic water instead!"

 

[Hoc]

Yeah, Hoc. I can just imagine you Sprite-boarding her! "Apologize right now or I'll give you a dose of tonic water instead!"

Personally, I would find Diet Coke with lime more offensive.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Personally, I would find Diet Coke with lime more offensive.

You sadist!!!

 

[regatta333]

Visa Gift Cards

Speaking of gift cards, my husband got a Visa gift card at work back in March. We received no accompanying instructions other than those on the card regarding how it was to be activated. I used it once and then tried to use it last week at a restaurant. The card was rejected.

When I got home I called the number on the card. Turns out, they not only charge you $0.35 per transaction if you don't use it in one transaction, but after 6 months (most cards allow you a year), they start reducing the value of the card by $2.50 per month! In this case, it hadn't even been 6 full months, as it was purchased sometime mid-March and they deducted $2.50 on Sept 1. The card was rejected because the amount of the restaurant bill was greater than the remaining balance on the card. It turns out, in order to successfully use the card in this instance, you have to know exactly how much is left on the card and then pay down the bill until that exact amount is owed. Then the card will be accepted.

I guess I should count myself lucky that I discovered this before October rolled around, but I will certainly never purchase a VISA gift card and my husband is planning on making sure all future gifts are done in cash.

 

[Hoc]

When I got home I called the number on the card. Turns out, they not only charge you $0.35 per transaction if you don't use it in one transaction, but after 6 months (most cards allow you a year), they start reducing the value of the card by $2.50 per month!

In most states that prohibit an expiration date on the card (including California), the card is allowed to charge a "dormancy fee," like this one. There is usually a cap on the amount of the fee they can charge, and I don't know whether Maryland law requires specification of the fee in order to charge it. The only states I know that have prohibitions on expiration dates for gift cards are California, Illinois, Rhode Island and Delaware. There may be others, but those are the ones I know about.

 

[applegirl]

I hope you get every peeny Hoc! Please keep us posted. What bad management that restaurant must have! Hope they are fired over this. That's just not how you run a business.

Janna

 

[Hoc]

I hope you get every peeny Hoc! Please keep us posted. What bad management that restaurant must have! Hope they are fired over this. That's just not how you run a business.

I don't think it's bad management -- I think the attitude is pervasive. The most offensive things that were said came from the owner of the business. Yes, the manager called the police over my asking them to honor their gift card. But after the fact, when I made demand on the owner to do so, she threatened to have me criminally prosecuted, as well. In other words, she threatened to pursue criminal charges in order to gain a benefit in a civil matter. That's extortion under California law, and both the owner and manager did it. I suspect the manager did it when she called the owner, and the owner told her to call the police.

The owner accused me of digging the card out of the trash, and the owner is the one who blatantly lied and said she never sold a gift card for more than $20.

In other words, because the owner is as bad or worse than the manager, the manager won't be fired over this. They will consistently see me as "the bad guy." So be it.

 

[djs]

The owner accused me of digging the card out of the trash, and the owner is the one who blatantly lied and said she never sold a gift card for more than $20.

Say you had dug through the trash, who's trash would you have gone through? If it wasn't the store's trash then it's none of the owner's business. If it was the store's trash (which I'm only saying here to hurt the owner's argument) then someone should have taken measures to make sure the card was destroyed and not put somewhere where someone could gain access to them.

If it was someone else's trash than it's none of the owner's business.

 

[Hoc]

Say you had dug through the trash, who's trash would you have gone through?

The owner said she threw out a bunch of cards six months ago, and my card could have been one of those. Yeah, she was acting pretty ridiculous on the whole thing.

 

[3kids4me]

I can't wait to see how this turns out. I suppose they will offer to settle with you? If so, will you accept a settlement?

 

[ladycody]

The owner said she threw out a bunch of cards six months ago, and my card could have been one of those. Yeah, she was acting pretty ridiculous on the whole thing.

Any restaurant owner that disposes of gift cards or gift certificates without properly destroying them needs a smack for stupidity on that count alone...

 

[Jya-Ning]

I don't know whether Maryland law requires specification of the fee in order to charge it.

Hoc got me look for what my state actual do, http://www.oag.state.md.us/Press/2006/120506.htm.

Jya-Ning

 

[cerralee]

I had a similar situation with the local blockbuster video store. When my kids were smaller they would often get gift cards as presents as the one size fits all is an easy one with the blockbuster stores.
Pennsylvania also has a law that says gift cards don't expire. The cards my daughter used were slightly over a year old and the store refused to accept them. The cards had numbers on the back that supposedly if you called and typed in the number it would give you the balance. Since they were over a year old, the recording said the cards were no longer valid.

She had several $50 cards she had not used. She came home very upset that she was not allowed to use the cards. I printed her off a copy of the PA law that outlined the non-expiration of gift cards and we went back to the store. At the time she was around 15 and quite capable of arguing her case. She had management call the main office, and presented the copy of the state law.

She was quite impressive, got them to issue new cards and then quickly spent the value of the cards. It was a learning lesson for her.
She is now well into her Junior year of college and wants to be an advocate. She is always taking up one cause or another and has become quite versed at fact finding and then argumentation. I know I haven't won an argument with her in several years!!

She has helped several of her friends get the value of their gift cards also. Many people still believe that the old forgotten gift card found in their sock drawer is worthless. Not here in PA if you know your stuff!!

Good for you HOC, it's a shame that people let restuarants and stores sell you those cards and then refuse to honor them. Give em !!!!

 

[Hoc]

I can't wait to see how this turns out. I suppose they will offer to settle with you? If so, will you accept a settlement?

I offered to settle with them before I even filed the lawsuit. The response was to threaten "to pursue criminal charges" agaisnt me. If there is a settlement offer during the litigation, it will have to be for more than I offered prior to the litigation, and I will first decide whether I think that the offer that they make, plus the fees they have spent up to the date of the offer, seems like they got the message. Ultimately, I will continue to make settlement offers for less than the full amount up to the trial. My guess is, if it's been eight months to a year, they will have spent a few thousand in legal fees and I might make a statutory settlement offer of $72 to them. If they accept, I will also get back around another $400 in costs. If they reject it (more likely), I will probably do better at trial and get a lot of other things in addition to the $400.

So, the answer is, yes. I will always consider settlement offers. Just remember that this litigation is going to be exponentially more expensive for them than for me. I have already spent the bulk of the money I will have to spend. The rest is my time, so my incentive to settle is much lower than theirs.

 

[pjrose]

At the time she was around 15 and quite capable of arguing her case. She had management call the main office, and presented the copy of the state law.

She was quite impressive, got them to issue new cards and then quickly spent the value of the cards.

Nice! I'd be the proud parent too!

 

[dmharris]

Cerralee,

I live in PA and did not know that about gift card not expiring. Thank you for that info. Ironically my children went through the EXACT same thing at Blockbuster from a measly $5 gift card she earned from some volunteer work. So she threw it out. DARN, a day late and a dollar short AGAIN!

 

[caribbeansun]

This would be the same card that said to treat it like cash - maybe you SHOULD dumpster dive this place as they may be tossing out greenbacks.

The owner said she threw out a bunch of cards six months ago, and my card could have been one of those. Yeah, she was acting pretty ridiculous on the whole thing.

 

[cerralee]

Cerralee,

I live in PA and did not know that about gift card not expiring. Thank you for that info. Ironically my children went through the EXACT same thing at Blockbuster from a measly $5 gift card she earned from some volunteer work. So she threw it out. DARN, a day late and a dollar short AGAIN!

I only knew about the law as the local paper had ran an article on the state law about two days before she went to blockbuster. It was good timing and luck on her part.

 

[M. Henley]

Love It!!

I love it.

I remember one when using a coupon and the restaurant owner made a small scene about it, I asked why he would pay to distribute coupons so that he could bring in new cusomers to insult.

Successful business owners know that word of mouth is the best advertising available, and the most succedssful.

 

[Amy]

Hoc, Any update on this?

 

[Darlene]

Here in Salt Lake the local TV station has a guy who will help people in cases like this. He's called "Get Gephardt." I don't know if you have a "investigative reporter" like that in your area, but it might be worth a couple of calls to the local TV stations. He has helped people here with everything from cell phone company bills to exposing scam artist, anything where companies are taking advantage of a person and giving them the run around. I don't think this restaraunt would like the negative press. If that doesn't work, just call the health department, anonymously of course, and ask them if restaraunts are allowed to keep mice as pets. Darlene