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Warning about Joann Gift Cards


LaurieE

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I used to own a retail store, and I know how gift cards work in the most general sense. Gift cards are generally kept at the register unactivated. When someone buys a gift card, the cashier is supposed to activate it, and if it's not a fixed amount card, put funds on it. This involves swiping it through the credit card terminal and keying in the value (assuming it's not a fixed initial value card). If the credit card terminal is not directly linked to the register (ours wasn't), you get a separate receipt for the gift card showing the activation amount. If the terminal is linked to the register, the information should show up on the register receipt. If the card isn't activated, then the cashier that sold it goofed. When you buy a gift card, watch to make sure that the cashier activates it. When we set up with gift cards, we made a point of getting cards that didn't charge fees or expire. MC/Visa cards are particularly notorious for that.

 

Something that happened much more rarely was that the card would fail to scan at all. If this happened during activation, we'd just use a new card. If it happened to an activated card, we could hand key in the card number which was printed on back. It was a sixteen digit number, just like a credit card (if the credit card isn't Amex which has 15 digit numbers).

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I got two gift cards for Hobby Lobby for Christmas. I hope I don't have any problem using them. We used to have a JoAnn's here but it closed down several years ago. I wish we still had it, Hobby Lobby here does not carry as much yarn as they used to, and Michael's only has a limited supply. I can't order online as I don't use credit cards.

I agree that it should not have taken so long to resolve the problem with your gift card though. And the managers should know how to resolve it without having to go through a bunch of red tape.

These discount cards for our local grocery store are nice, I usually save a LOT of money on groceries with them.

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Several years ago I gave a Target gift card, and found out after my nephew tried to use it, that it didn't work. The store was no help, but they did give me the 1-800 number to call. When I called (three times to talk with different people) I was told it was reported stolen. It was reported stolen two weeks before I even gave the card to my nephew. Then they told me they issued a new replacement card. Of course, they refused to tell me to whom the new card was issued due to privacy laws. I no longer buy gift cards from Target and rarely buy them from anyone else. (I also had a card from Toys R Us fail to work...and the recipt showed it was activated). Moral of my story: write a check!

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