Archived free gift cards

[pellinore]

When guests get free gift cards does your store let the guest use the gift card in their next transaction....or must you tell the guest that they have to use it on their next visit to the store?

Our store allows guests to use the cards only if they specifically mention that they are going to use it right away.

We've got a GSTL who now is trying to force us to tell the guest that they have to come back in order to use the card. This "new rule" is not settling well with either the guests or TMs.....especially siince all the other GSAs and GSTLs continue to do it the same way as before. It is only this one GSTL that is trying to get us to "change" our ways.

Is there a hard and fast rule written somewhere that says that the guest "must" use it at another trip to the store?

I know that the idea is to have the guest use the card at another time so that they'll spend more money at the store. However, I don't want to have to be the one to tell guests that "No, I'm sorry, you cannot use your $5.00 gift card on a separate transaction to buy your $14.99 bottle of TIDE.........yes, I know we've done it before.....but we're not allowing it anymore...why?.....oh...the rules have changed."

 

[BoxCutter]

With me, this really only comes up on Black Friday. If the company doesn't want it done then they can program the POS system not to accept them until the next day. Until then I still would let the guest do it.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

That's stupid. I would be talking to the Lod, if I was guest or call Corp.

 

[masterofalltrades]

The gstl is on a power trip. The etl just needs to bring them back to earth.

 

[squirrely]

We don't allow this at my store. The purpose of the gift card is to get the guest back in the store. Using it immediately defeats the purpose. Not only that, it takes longer to do multiple transactions.

 

[Infinim]

I was always under the impression you couldn't use the gift card on the transaction you gained it from.

 

[HRZone]

We don't allow this at my store. The purpose of the gift card is to get the guest back in the store. Using it immediately defeats the purpose. Not only that, it takes longer to do multiple transactions.

My thing is why go out of your way to enforce it? Whats to stop a guest from saying this is a giftcard I had, not the one you just gave me?

 

[HRZone]

I was always under the impression you couldn't use the gift card on the transaction you gained it from.

You cant but the issue is people buying some items, putting down the red divider and having a second transaction where they use the gift card they got in the first.

 

[HRZone]

Fyi the new scam is where we have items like dishwasher detergent and diapers and if you get 3, you get a 15 dollar gift card.

People are now returning the 2 or 3 diapers or detergents and saying i dont have a receipt.

We give them store credit and they keep the gift card since its a non receipt return. We are essentially us giving them a free 15 dollar gift card.

 

[queencat]

There are typically two types of people who do this: they either buy their diapers or tide and then use the giftcard for the rest of their groceries, or they'll set aside a $5ish item and use it for that. That we don't really care about, and I can't fault someone already buying $200ish worth of groceries for trying to save $5.
Then there are people who buy 2 tides (usually with coupons), get the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card...so on. That I don't approve of but I haven't been told it isn't allowed.

 

[aj76257]

We don't allow this at my store. The purpose of the gift card is to get the guest back in the store. Using it immediately defeats the purpose. Not only that, it takes longer to do multiple transactions.

True, but to me it doesn't seem like people come back simply because of a giftcard. Usually the people who split transactions say they'll forget about the giftcard if they don't use it now. And the ones that buy a ton of giftcard-getting items also tend to have Redcards, so they'll be coming back anyway.

 

[masterofalltrades]

There are typically two types of people who do this: they either buy their diapers or tide and then use the giftcard for the rest of their groceries, or they'll set aside a $5ish item and use it for that. That we don't really care about, and I can't fault someone already buying $200ish worth of groceries for trying to save $5.
Then there are people who buy 2 tides (usually with coupons), get the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card...so on. That I don't approve of but I haven't been told it isn't allowed.

Doing it like that with tide or any proctor and gamble product is not allowed. P&g restricts all thier coupons to 4 like coupons per household per day, so that maxes them out at 2 transactions.

 

[BrohemianRapcity]

Then there are people who buy 2 tides (usually with coupons), get the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card, buy 2 more and use the gift card...so on. That I don't approve of but I haven't been told it isn't allowed.

This we don't allow at my store. We see them already setting up their multiple transactions and we have to let them know that they can't do what couponers call "roll a gift card." Hell, just google that term and the only store that pops up is Target to where it's easily done.

Doing it like that with tide or any proctor and gamble product is not allowed. P&g restricts all thier coupons to 4 like coupons per household per day, so that maxes them out at 2 transactions.

And then there are those couponers who travel in packs and say "What if she buys those with the coupons? We don't live together so we can use all 8 coupons." God, do I despise couponers.

***I had to delete my previous comment and repost it because I forgot to quote queencat.

 

[LUR99]

Fyi the new scam is where we have items like dishwasher detergent and diapers and if you get 3, you get a 15 dollar gift card.

People are now returning the 2 or 3 diapers or detergents and saying i dont have a receipt.

We give them store credit and they keep the gift card since its a non receipt return. We are essentially us giving them a free 15 dollar gift card.

Ugh, I hate scammers. Luckily they do get cut off at some point. It's around $230-$250 but a lot of them bring their grandma, aunt etc and have them use their ID .