Posted on 12/25/2006 9:13:03 AM PST by rellimpank
He says expired gift card money should flow to treasury
Incoming freshman Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, a Las Vegas Democrat, would like to see expiring gift card money flow to the state treasury by defining it as abandoned property. Photo by Jeff Scheid.
CARSON CITY -- Incoming freshman Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen went out to dinner with a friend recently, planning to use a $100 gift card he had received last year as a Christmas gift to pay for the meal.
To Kihuen's dismay, the gift card had expired, meaning the high-end restaurant that issued the card had received a $100 windfall at the expense of the gift card giver.
Kihuen, a Las Vegas Democrat, said he would like to change this practice and instead have expired gift card money flow to the state treasury by defining it as abandoned property.
If a merchant has no address
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I think gift card expirations should be outlawed. They get cash...you should get a service, no matter how long it takes. Why the government should get it instead of you is absurd. Just shows you how politicians are always thinking about how to grab more of your money.
I have a hell of a time throwing away an empty coffee can. The traditional metal ones, the newer plastic ones, it doesn't matter. They are useful for so many things.
How about coupons? They usually expire after a year, or six months. Not in California? Hm.. Road trip!! /s
Checks usually go stale after a time period, even government ones at 6 months. I got a refund from a well-known coin hobbyist magazine once, whose checks had no expiration date. I thought that was pretty cool.
Gift cards can be donated to service personel if you do not want it. Just give it to the cashier and tell them you want to donate it to a service person. They will get it to them.
People of Las Vegas: Why did you vote for this Communist? ... was it that "D" behind his name?
Now THAT'S what I call an endorsement!
MA too. Restaurants get around it by calling it an appreciation card.
I cannot disagree, but that leaves this question out there: why do they push the use of these cards so heavily?
I have a Starbucks gift card in my wallet. I received it just about the time I went on an Atkins diet. Most Starbucks stuff is loaded with sugar, so I didn't do anything with the card. I really couldn't do anything with the card anyway because the only time I saw a Starbucks was at airports. There wasn't one in the town where I live. That is finally changing. Fred Meyers just added a Starbucks inside and the first standalone Starbucks has been built in Chubbuck. Due to open soon. I have no idea if my card will be honored.
The bottom line with respect to "expiration" is that there is a level of cost to the merchant to maintain the records of the gift card. It isn't reasonable to force them to maintain such records in perpetuity. Banks put 6 month limits on cashing checks. Accounts that aren't used start getting "service fees" to cover the cost of maintaining the records because the bank can't make enough money on the remaining amount to cover their costs. The credit union in San Diego that holds my IRA is perfectly happy to sit on that large wad of cash. No fees. It just keeps growing.
If I can find that thing, or get anything similar in the future, I'll do just that.
Thanks for that info!
The proof is that there are more than a few businesses which offer gift cards with no expiration dates. Staples is one and, as such, I buy and gift their cards without reservation.
I stand by my statement that businesses with expiring gift cards are greedy-- they are getting something of value up front and then taking it away in what may or may not be a reasonable time frame.
Yeah, in the list of irritations, this type of greed ranks well behind the government thinking they own it, but it is greed nevertheless. By engaging in this type of greedy activity, businesses condone and invite government intervention and, therefore, a "solution" which is worse than the problem. Businesses who have their workers labor under unsafe conditions, do not deliver a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and concentrate on what they can legally get away with rather than what's morally right do likewise.
Conservatives need to be equally loud in advocating ethical behavior among businesses as they do among governments. Winking at, nodding at and excusing unethical business behavior empowers liberals to apply their phony solutions with the iron fist of government which, coincidentally, always result in problems worse than what they set out to cure. I'm reasonably sure that the gentleman who's birthday we celebrate today would agree.
The gift cards should never expire.
LOL Everyone having the same tastes would make this a boring world.
Nope Coupons are not covered. The idea that you or someone gave a company money and received an in-kind card/slip or whatever for the cash. Your "whatever" in your hand is the same as cash to that company.
A coupon is not that type of instrument.
Gee, nothing socialistic, predatory, confiscatory or anti-American about this . . . . . .
Banks don't "store" your money, they SELL your money.
I don't know what you're drinking but it isn't Starbucks coffee. And I can't imagine where you get the idea that a cup of coffee at Starbucks costs four dollars.
I think you just like to piss and moan because it reflects your personality.
Working people are lackeys? When did that take place. Aren't you really just pissed at life and Starbucks is an easy target for your anger.
You sound like the guy in high school who pronounced the pretties girl in school a slut, the smartest guy a dumb ass and the nicest person a suck up.
Nothing can satisfy dicks like you.
Only a Marxist homosexual would buy Starbucks' coffee!
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