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What to do with a VISA gift card with a ~$1 balance?

I fucking hate gift cards for precisely this reason. If you know the balance, go to a major chain, like WM or Target or pennys or macy's, ask to do a "split tender" and put exactly the amount on the gift card.
 
Can't stores just take the exact balance remaining, and then prompt the remaining balance of the purchase for another means of payment?

I've always done that to wipe out an unknown amount on various gift cards.

How much is on it?
"I don't know"
Okay. Swipe. Your new amount due is "X".
"Thank you"
 
use it the next time you go shopping? buy stuff... then swipe it to pay.. it will deduct what's left from the balance.

i swear.. sometimes i wonder how people on ATOT survive day to day activities.
 
destrekor said:
Can't stores just take the exact balance remaining, and then prompt the remaining balance of the purchase for another means of payment?

I've always done that to wipe out an unknown amount on various gift cards.

How much is on it?
"I don't know"
Okay. Swipe. Your new amount due is "X".
"Thank you"
Click to expand...
That's how it always worked when I was a cashier at Kmart.

- "Your total is $10."
"I have $X on this gift card."
- "Ok...*swipe* Your remaining total is now $10-X."

You could pay a bit with a gift card, then some cash, then some check, then more cash, then a credit card, then with some cash you got from mugging the guy behind you, and so on. The register would simply deduct each payment from the total, until it was all paid.

I would expect it to work similarly at other chains.


bobdole369 said:
I fucking hate gift cards for precisely this reason. If you know the balance, go to a major chain, like WM or Target or pennys or macy's, ask to do a "split tender" and put exactly the amount on the gift card.
Click to expand...
I hate gift cards because you take perfectly good, perfectly liquid money, place heavy restrictions on where it can be used, place an extra burden on the recipient, and (possibly) put an expiration date on the money - and for some stupid reason, this is viewed as a good thing.
 
Last edited:
guyver01 said:
use it the next time you go shopping? buy stuff... then swipe it to pay.. it will deduct what's left from the balance.

i swear.. sometimes i wonder how people on ATOT survive day to day activities.
Click to expand...

Actually, you need to specify how much to deduct on a Visa gift card. If you request for over the balance left, it will just say that you don't have sufficient funds on the card.
 
Whatever you do, don't take it to a gas station and fill up your tank by paying at the pump. It's a dirty dirty lie that most gas stations just do a pre-authorization for $1. It's also a lie that as long as the $1 is approved, you can pump as much as their pay at the pump credit limit allows, sometimes like $75.
It's also a lie that I've done this several times with my debit card when I only have a few dollars in my account... day before payday I need some gas, so I'll just fill up my tank and since it won't go through for at least a day, everything works out A-OK.

Again, this is all a lie and you should never do it.
 
I buy Amazon email gift certificates to myself with the balance. I then redeem them into my account and the next time I purchase from them they automatically deduct from there first. I use to dread the split tender thing trying to use up the balance on a card but not now. I think the lowest I have went is 26 cents but I imagine you could go to a penny.
 
Target will let you use multiple credit/gift cards to pay at the checkout
so you can just use it as part of a purchase at Target
 
iamanidiot said:
you throw it out, that's how companies make money. Whether you comply is another issue
Click to expand...

Maybe you've not read stories in which they are now sending you a bill for these. After a few months, there is a "per month" fee of about $10. After the first fee, you have a negative balance. Because they have your address on file for the rebate card, they have been sending bills out for the remainder of the fee. Talk about shitty!

By the way, Walmart employees generally don't have a clue when you try to do a split payment on a transaction. I tried it several times and they don't have a clue how to set it up or get it to work. I finally just ask the gas station to do a prepaid amount of gas at the pump. The pump will stop when it gets to the prepaid amount.
 
Engineer said:
Maybe you've not read stories in which they are now sending you a bill for these. After a few months, there is a "per month" fee of about $10. After the first fee, you have a negative balance. Because they have your address on file for the rebate card, they have been sending bills out for the remainder of the fee. Talk about shitty!

By the way, Walmart employees generally don't have a clue when you try to do a split payment on a transaction. I tried it several times and they don't have a clue how to set it up or get it to work. I finally just ask the gas station to do a prepaid amount of gas at the pump. The pump will stop when it gets to the prepaid amount.
Click to expand...


Are you sure you got that right? So someone gives me a Visa gift card, I use it and it has a $1 balance. I throw it out and 6 months later, they charge me a fee? How is that even possible? It's not like I signed a contract or agreed to anything, the card was given to me and I used it like cash. How could it even be legal?
 
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