I have not but come across a sound reason why there should really be charges or expiration on present cards. First, by acquiring gift cards, consumers are essentially giving the card issuers an unsecured loan, on which they earn no interest, even if the card is not redeemed for a year or extra. Second, if the corporation goes bankrupt, there is quite little opportunity the dollars will be returned (except in a handful of circumstances, like lately with Linens and Things).

So, if shoppers are taking on these dangers by buying present cards, why should really they then be subjected to costs and expiration? They may as well change the present card fee disclosures to study like this:

Dear Present Card Buyer,

We genuinely appreciate the unsecured loan you gave us. With each other, you all gave us $97 billion in loans in 2007, up from $83 billion in 2006. You know we could use the further cash, offered all the speak of a recession. simon gift card thank you for not charging us any interest or charges on the loan. We will put your revenue to function straight away and produce terrific returns on it. You could even hear about all the kudos we will get from Wall Street due to our outstanding earnings (which will be helped by the money we get when your present card expires). Heck, our CEO may perhaps even acquire his third McMansion in the Hamptons following we reward him for generating good use of your loan. A handful of home cleaning products:

1. If you bought the present card from our internet site, we may charge you a processing charge, separate from the shipping charge, in order to get you the card that shows that we owe you income. Feel totally free to acquire stuff in our retailer up to the quantity of the loan (present card worth). But if you never hurry, we will punish you each month by charging you ridiculous costs. These costs can get started as soon as six months into the loan. We could even get started your charges as early as a month into the loan if we so wish. And don’t forget, the fees will continue till the balance on your gift card reaches ZERO. Why? Since we can. Yes, your state legislatures are all complaining about this since it is an election year. Do you genuinely consider they will do some thing about this?

two. Also, we have noticed from knowledge that some of you like to wait a extended time, and we imply a long, lengthy time to redeem your present card. It requires a when for us to get your $one hundred gift card to ZERO if all we are charging is $2.50 each and every month. So, we now have a far better thought. We will charge you the $2.50 for sometime and if you still do not redeem your present card by a particular date, say within two years, your card will expire. Once your card expires, we will get all the money left on the card. You are probably wondering if this is legal. Well, no a single has told us it isn’t.

3. And don’t even consider about losing your card. We reserve the ideal not to replace lost or stolen present cards. Yes, we know that if you shed your Savings Account Statement or CD Certificate, the bank will replace it, but we are not a bank, so we can do whatever we want. If we really feel generous, we might replace your gift card, but we will charge you a fee, up to $15 to teach you a lesson.

four. Lastly, if you purchased a bank issued gift card (like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Find out), then you improved study the fine print and become familiar with fees like Transaction or Statement Copy Charge, Foreign Currency Conversion Charge, Check issuance Fee, and Transaction Fee / Balance inquiry Fee. And one particular last thing Do not contact the FTC simply because they may be prepared to push for laws to limit charges on retail gift cards but they have not been prepared to touch us, the bank issued present cards. Why? Because our lobbyists are performing an fantastic job.

We hope you enjoy your present card.

It is my belief that gift card issuers will be better off and make much more funds if they get rid of charges and expiration from gift cards due to the fact the damaging publicity about present cards from each state lawmakers and the news media has led some consumers to keep away from present cards. This is particularly accurate for the duration of the holiday season when just about every neighborhood news station and newspaper appear to run a story about the dangers of gift card charges and expiration.