dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
- 25,054
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It isn't opinion. It is fact.
It is a fact that a gift card is NOT the ideal gift in any situation. The ideal gift would be an item the person actually wants. An ideal gift would not:
[*]have little thought put into it,
[*]have little if any effort in purchasing it,
[*]have purchasing fees,
[*]have expiration dates,
[*]have inactivity fees,
[*]have restrictions on store location,
[*]etc.
Gift cards are simply NOT in the spirit of giving (putting the time and effort into getting to know someone so that you can give them exactly what they want) and are not the best gift to receive (the list of problems above plus many more). That is undeniable fact.
No, actually...it isn't. You can list out as many reasons as you want in that ultra boring, over analyzed posting method you use, but it still does not make it a fact.
You are trying to say a abstract description like "Horrible rude gifter" is a fact, and yet, a lot of people give them. Then in your post you put a whole list of reasons why it's not an "ideal" gift...which is not what you originally posted. I don't see anyone calling it a "ideal" gift.
Feel free to post another bullet list and over analyze my post to make it sound like your opinion is a fact.
dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
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Do the one step better. Ask instead for a shopping trip from your family. You go out on the town with your family member. You pick up the items you want, and you have a day discussing them. Put the spirit of gifting (getting to know someone better) back into gifts. They still spend the amount of money they want to spend, you still get the items you want. But, you get to spend time with the people that are most important.
And if you are about to reply that it is inconvenient to see your family member, then my idea is all that more valuable. Spending time with someone you rarely get time with is then the gift.
Again, cards show more thought than cash... and short of the person outright asking me what I would like, I would rather get a gift card than a gift I don't care to have or need. But, you're right, the best gift is when someone surprises you with something you truly love. Popular gifts for me are often books, movies, games, and pretty much any sort of electronics. That's the stuff I love. But unless the person has been to my house recently to browse my game/movie selection it can be hard to buy me a gift because I often buy the items I want on the day they are released. The problem is that even if someone knows I don't have a certain book/game/movie, all those items come down very much to personal taste, so who knows if I'll even want/like it? So I can't really blame people when they fall back on a Best Buy gift card. In fact, I prefer that to a game I hate or already have.
Nice sidestep dullard...
You posted...
That is an opinion...you stated it as a fact.
I posted..
You respond with a claim it is a fact, and post a whole bunch of reasons that you think makes it a fact, but in your list, you say they prove they aren't the ideal gift....which is not what you originally posted, or what I was commenting on. I agree it's a fact they aren't "ideal" gifts, but that is not what you posted.
Then you completely avoid what I posted and throw in a case closed like you won some debating match in high school.
:roll:
My mom gets gift cards because nothing we ever buy is just right. It ends up being exchanged/returned for cash anyway. That, and considering she often doesn't go out much, it gets her to go out to the mall and get out of the house for something aside from work. It also ensures that she gets some new clothes and such that otherwise she wouldn't get because she doesn't want to spend the money, or what we get her is just slightly wrong.
dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
- 25,054
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So you will never ever see these people again?
If you will see them again, do it then. No extra trip necessary. You win.
If you will never see them again, then yes, making them drive 4 hours can be considered rude. But hey, you get to see long lost family. You win.
dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
- 25,054
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Except, as the OP's article states, you don't get a gift card that you will use.
A gift card for you to a store that only sells a ballet tutu for cats won't show any thought.
Many gift cards are unused because people don't need the stuff from that store. That is because the gifter didn't use any meaningful thought when buying it. In that case, with no meaningful thought, get cash instead. I'm sure you'd rather have a movie than a cat tutu.
dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
- 25,054
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What I originally posted included the implied facts. Plus it got attention, thus it is better than that dry bullet list of facts. Thus, I stick by my one liner. True + effective always wins. That stands, even if all the reasons for the true isn't explicitly stated.
It seems like the stores or bank companies issuing the gift cards will always win.
With cards that are locked down to a store like Best Buy or Circuit City you spend more to finish off the gift card. You get a $50 gift card and buy something worth $49.99 and you end up spending $54 with tax. If you don?t spend it all whatever left over you will have to pay over it to finish it or if you don?t care about the 30cents left over the store wins again.
With open cards like Simon Malls Visa cards it?s the same thing. These cards also have fines after certain amount of months. I also had issues wasting small amounts of money online with them. I once had $1.50 left on a card, went to purchase a 99 cent item on Staples.com with free shipping. The transaction was declines because Staples did a pre-authorization on the card for $1 to verify the card, lowering the amount to 50cents. Card was rejected and it took a week for Staples to finally fix it. That kind of stuff deters you from using the card with a low amount of money left.
With cards that are locked down to a store like Best Buy or Circuit City you spend more to finish off the gift card. You get a $50 gift card and buy something worth $49.99 and you end up spending $54 with tax. If you don?t spend it all whatever left over you will have to pay over it to finish it or if you don?t care about the 30cents left over the store wins again.
With open cards like Simon Malls Visa cards it?s the same thing. These cards also have fines after certain amount of months. I also had issues wasting small amounts of money online with them. I once had $1.50 left on a card, went to purchase a 99 cent item on Staples.com with free shipping. The transaction was declines because Staples did a pre-authorization on the card for $1 to verify the card, lowering the amount to 50cents. Card was rejected and it took a week for Staples to finally fix it. That kind of stuff deters you from using the card with a low amount of money left.
LOL... well, true. But that's exactly the same situation as a bad gift. Even if well intentioned, a gift you don't like really doesn't do you much good. And since you place actual gifts at the top of the list it's not really a good mark against gift cards as it would seem to place cash, the most impersonal gift, at the top. I still say cash is clearly the most impersonal and generally makes gift cards better. With gift cards you just need to know, in general, what a person likes. If you really don't know a person well enough that even a gift card doesn't cut it then I have to wonder why you are exchanging gifts with that person at all.
So it's outright false to say gift cards equals a rude gift giver. It clearly depends on the situation and the person. If I knew someone like you that was insulted by gift cards I would definitely avoid them. It's your problem if the gift I give you is worthless to you. Personally, I don't mind gift cards at all. All my friends and family know me well enough to know I'm not insulted by gift cards and they know what I like. As a result I generally wind up with several hundred dollars worth of gift cards to Best Buy and Barnes & Noble... which is alright with me.
Demon-Xanth
Lifer
- Feb 15, 2000
- 20,551
- 2
- 81
<-- has $2.13 left on an AmEx gift card. Because of taxes, I'm waiting to run across something that costs $1.97 to buy.
redgtxdi
Diamond Member
- Jun 23, 2004
- 5,463
- 8
- 81
IIRC, the state of California passed some law saying that gift cards/certificates can never expire. That once the cash is spent, it's cash.........indefinitely.
BUT..........I've also heard of some tricks where cards can depreciate and/or ????
Is this true??? (even in California?)
BUT..........I've also heard of some tricks where cards can depreciate and/or ????
Is this true??? (even in California?)
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