n*******y
发帖数: 3337 | 1 "Mission: consolidate
I returned to Sears last week with a pile of gift cards from the merchandise
returns, and a few others that I had lying around. My mission was to
consolidate all of these gift cards into one.
Since the Sears near me doesn’t seem to have a separate customer service
desk anywhere, I walked up to a regular cashier and asked her to consolidate
my cards into one. “We can’t do that” she told me. I asked to speak to
a manager.
The manager came and gave the same answer, but with a slight elaboration.
“We can’t do that. Security won’t allow you to buy gift cards with gift
cards.” I answered that there must be some way to do this. After all, I
said, I could just use all of these cards to buy something expensive and
then turn around and return it. That would accomplish the same thing, right
? She considered that for a moment and then called someone, presumably “
Security”. She told them what I wanted to do. Security told her it was OK.
I handed the manager my stack of gift cards. She took the first two and
looked up the balances on each. She then rang up the amount on the second
gift card to be moved to the first one. She asked my phone number to find
me in the system and processed the “sale”. I was then asked if I wanted
an email-only or an email + paper receipt. And then she did the same thing
for the next gift card. And then she showed the cashier how to do this
because she had other business to attend to. Each “sale” was taking
several minutes to complete and a massive line was forming behind me. As
the cashier fumbled with my gift cards I became increasingly nervous because
she didn’t seem to know what she was doing. And, it didn’t help that the
line behind me continued to grow. Finally, I gave up and said that I would
deal with the rest of my gift cards later.
I walked across the store to another register to try a different approach.
What if I were to buy a Sears gift card and pay for it with multiple Sears’
gift cards? Would that work? I started with a small test. I would try
buy a $100 gift card with 3 smaller gift cards (including one Lands’ End e-
gift card). The cashier was dubious about whether it would work, but she
was happy to give it a try. As she started processing the purchase, her
phone rang. I was worried that Security was watching. I knew I wasn’t
doing anything wrong, but I could imagine that someone watching from hidden
cameras might be concerned due to my strange behavior. In my mind I begged
her to ignore the call, but she instead ignored my silent plea and answered
it. It was just a customer asking a question. Whew. The sale went through
without a hitch.
I looked at the pile of gift cards I had remaining. I had one large value
gift card from the first attempt at consolidation. I had the $100 gift card
I had just purchased. And, I had a number of miscellaneous gift cards
still waiting for consolidation. I guessed the total value of the
miscellaneous cards at close to $400. So, I crossed the store to find
another register.
In the tools department, I brought a new gift card to the cashier and asked
to load it with $500. Then his phone rang. Again, I hoped he wouldn’t
answer it, but he did. Again, it was just a customer. Whew, again. When I
told him that I would pay with gift cards, he said that buying gift cards
with gift cards was not allowed. I asked if he was sure. I’ve done it
before, I said. He picked up the phone and called Security. “Yes, he just
wants to consolidate cards” I heard him say. He was given the OK. I paid
for the $500 gift card with all of my remaining assorted cards, including
the $100 card I had just bought on the other side of the store. And, I used
a bit of the consolidated card from my first attempt. Ultimately I walked
out of the store having successfully consolidated many cards into two. Good
enough.
" | x****6
发帖数: 498 | | j*****t
发帖数: 2397 | | a*****9
发帖数: 1884 | | n*******y
发帖数: 3337 | 5 "Mission: consolidate
I returned to Sears last week with a pile of gift cards from the merchandise
returns, and a few others that I had lying around. My mission was to
consolidate all of these gift cards into one.
Since the Sears near me doesn’t seem to have a separate customer service
desk anywhere, I walked up to a regular cashier and asked her to consolidate
my cards into one. “We can’t do that” she told me. I asked to speak to
a manager.
The manager came and gave the same answer, but with a slight elaboration.
“We can’t do that. Security won’t allow you to buy gift cards with gift
cards.” I answered that there must be some way to do this. After all, I
said, I could just use all of these cards to buy something expensive and
then turn around and return it. That would accomplish the same thing, right
? She considered that for a moment and then called someone, presumably “
Security”. She told them what I wanted to do. Security told her it was OK.
I handed the manager my stack of gift cards. She took the first two and
looked up the balances on each. She then rang up the amount on the second
gift card to be moved to the first one. She asked my phone number to find
me in the system and processed the “sale”. I was then asked if I wanted
an email-only or an email + paper receipt. And then she did the same thing
for the next gift card. And then she showed the cashier how to do this
because she had other business to attend to. Each “sale” was taking
several minutes to complete and a massive line was forming behind me. As
the cashier fumbled with my gift cards I became increasingly nervous because
she didn’t seem to know what she was doing. And, it didn’t help that the
line behind me continued to grow. Finally, I gave up and said that I would
deal with the rest of my gift cards later.
I walked across the store to another register to try a different approach.
What if I were to buy a Sears gift card and pay for it with multiple Sears’
gift cards? Would that work? I started with a small test. I would try
buy a $100 gift card with 3 smaller gift cards (including one Lands’ End e-
gift card). The cashier was dubious about whether it would work, but she
was happy to give it a try. As she started processing the purchase, her
phone rang. I was worried that Security was watching. I knew I wasn’t
doing anything wrong, but I could imagine that someone watching from hidden
cameras might be concerned due to my strange behavior. In my mind I begged
her to ignore the call, but she instead ignored my silent plea and answered
it. It was just a customer asking a question. Whew. The sale went through
without a hitch.
I looked at the pile of gift cards I had remaining. I had one large value
gift card from the first attempt at consolidation. I had the $100 gift card
I had just purchased. And, I had a number of miscellaneous gift cards
still waiting for consolidation. I guessed the total value of the
miscellaneous cards at close to $400. So, I crossed the store to find
another register.
In the tools department, I brought a new gift card to the cashier and asked
to load it with $500. Then his phone rang. Again, I hoped he wouldn’t
answer it, but he did. Again, it was just a customer. Whew, again. When I
told him that I would pay with gift cards, he said that buying gift cards
with gift cards was not allowed. I asked if he was sure. I’ve done it
before, I said. He picked up the phone and called Security. “Yes, he just
wants to consolidate cards” I heard him say. He was given the OK. I paid
for the $500 gift card with all of my remaining assorted cards, including
the $100 card I had just bought on the other side of the store. And, I used
a bit of the consolidated card from my first attempt. Ultimately I walked
out of the store having successfully consolidated many cards into two. Good
enough.
" | x****6
发帖数: 498 | | j*****t
发帖数: 2397 | | a*****9
发帖数: 1884 | | n*******y
发帖数: 3337 | 9 "
So, I like the improved redemption value given by the Premier card, but I
don’t like the annual fee. I called to cancel. I figured that if I
cancelled the card, I could easily sign up my wife for the card so that she
would get get a sign-up bonus and the first year free, and we’d still be
able to book flights with ThankYou points for 1.25 cents per point.
Fortunately, ThankYou points can be transferred at no cost from one person
to another (but they must be used within 90 days of transfer).
My call went something like this:
Me: I’d like to cancel my account
Rep: I see that you have XXX,XXX ThankYou points. Would you like to
downgrade to the no annual fee ThankYou Preferred card so that you can keep
your points?
Me: No, thank you. I already have the Preferred card.
Rep: I see. Would you like me to conference in a ThankYou
representative to find out how many of your existing ThankYou points were
earned with the Premier card since those points would go away if you cancel?
Me: No, thank you.
Rep: Since you’ve been an outstanding customer and have had this card
for two years, we can offer to refund your annual fee if you spend $4500 in
3 months with this card. Would you be interested in this offer?
Me: Hmmm, let me think about that. Are there any other offers available?
Rep: Yes, if $4500 is too much to spend, we can offer you $75 credit
after spending just $1000 on the card.
Me: Hmmm, let me think about that. Are there any other offers available?
Rep: Yes, [he described the next offer]
Me: Hmmm, let me think about that. Are there any other offers available?
Rep: Yes, [he described the next offer]
Me: Hmmm, let me think about that. Are there any other offers available?
Rep: Yes, we can refund the annual fee with no spend requirement and
give you a 500 point bonus for every billing cycle in which you spend $500
or more, for 16 billing cycles.
I was pretty happy with that last offer, but I continued to ask him about
other offers until he ran out of them. The next offers were not as good as
the last one described above, so I ultimately accepted that one.
Thanks to this phone call, I can keep my Premier card for free for another
year, plus I can earn 500 bonus points each month. If I spend exactly $500
per month on the card, I’ll earn an extra 1 point per dollar over the base
earning rate of the card. Base earnings are: 3X dining and entertainment;
2X airfare and hotels; and 1X elsewhere. If I didn’t already earn 5X for
dining with my Citi Forward card (a perk which is no longer offered for new
applicants), I’d be pretty happy about the idea of earning 4X in that
category. As things stand, though, I can do just as well with other cards
even with this additional 1X perk, so I’m unlikely to go for this 500
points per month bonus.
Lesson learned
When calling to cancel a card, don’t accept the first retention offer given
to you. Instead, ask if they can do more. I had a similar experience in
March with Chase where I called to cancel my Ink Bold card. I was first
offered $95 to offset the annual fee, but when I asked about other offers, I
was told that I could get 20,000 points instead!
" | b***k
发帖数: 1661 | 10 Hmmm, let me think about that. Are there any other offers available?
she
【在 n*******y 的大作中提到】
: "
: So, I like the improved redemption value given by the Premier card, but I
: don’t like the annual fee. I called to cancel. I figured that if I
: cancelled the card, I could easily sign up my wife for the card so that she
: would get get a sign-up bonus and the first year free, and we’d still be
: able to book flights with ThankYou points for 1.25 cents per point.
: Fortunately, ThankYou points can be transferred at no cost from one person
: to another (but they must be used within 90 days of transfer).
: My call went something like this:
: Me: I’d like to cancel my account
|
|
