I think I've had it with all the grocery store cards. I have all these things dangling from my key chain so that I can get the best price at the grocery store. Hey, we all know what this is really for, they are keeping track of everything I buy and every nickle I spend. They know when I shop, how often I shop, where I shop and how I pay. For years my wife and I have bought our gas at Ingles Super Markets because (you guessed it), if you buy another card (in this case a prepaid gift card), you get a reduced price.
The gift card industry has netted millions for those who sell them. This is cash in the bank for them whether the cards ever get used or not. And that's the whole idea. I can't tell you how many restaurant gift cards I have in a drawer with too little left on them to buy anything, but the seller gets the left over funds. Indeed, they already have it. Did you ever wonder how many of these things get lost or stolen each year? Oh I know, they tell you treat them like cash, but can you really treat them like cash? I can't fold them neatly into my wallet, and I hardly have room for them in the card slots because they're full of the store cards and other credit cards.
Recently, I purchased an Ingles gift card for gas purchases. It was actually my wife's card and I was renewing it, as we have done for years. But somehow, between the cash register and the car, I lost that card. I panicked. I searched myself, all around me, and in the car. I retraced my steps to the register and asked if, indeed, I was given the card. They took my receipts and looked at the security camera video and saw the cashier hand me the card and I put it into my pocket. Fine, so how about canceling the purchase? I mean, here I stand without the card. Here are the sales slips and charge receipts with all the ID numbers on them, and the transaction is only minutes old, so cancel it before someone tries to use that card. No deal. They're not responsible.
Look, I believe in personal responsibility. I know that if I lose my wallet, it's my own fault. And technically, if I lose a credit card that, too, is my own fault. BUT, the credit card company WILL cancel that card and not hold me responsible for any charges made on it after I lose it. That's part of the beauty and safety of credit cards (unlike debit cards, which unfortunately work like gift cards--like cash). And that's my whole beef with this prepaid gift card business. I think I have decided after this incident that I am through with the card games. Good old cash works just fine. And if some store wants to charge me a few cents extra for paying cash, I guess that's the price I pay for not shuffling all these ridiculous cards anymore. I'm tired of jumping through their hoops, yet when I make a mistake, they just stand there and look at me, offering no help or even any sympathy. Like the government, they say they are doing this to help me, to give me a break. Right. Look, I carry your store card anyway, and I buy the gift/gas card with a credit card, so if you REALLY want to help ME and do ME a favor, then let me simply scan my store card at the pump and pay with my credit card and bypass the whole buying another card business? We all know why.
Boy, this was an expensive lesson to learn. And to whoever found my lost gift/gas card, I hope you really needed it. You could have turned it in, since I believe it was lost inside the store. But that is really asking a lot these days. Sad.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
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