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

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Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
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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!

.

Link?

Also, most cards only have a fee of between $1-2.50. It's still crap, but I think you don't really know what you're talking about here.

Edit:
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?

They do charge a fee to the card that reduces your balance, but it isn't charged typically for a month or so after you activate the card. You activate the card just by using it - there's no way the card provider has your address on file so there's no way they can bill you anything.
 
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Future Guy

Member
Jan 2, 2006
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All stores will (they should if they don't) allow you to use multiple gift cards/payment options to pay for your purchase because the whole point of gift cards is to get you to spend MORE than what the gift card is actually worth. You have a $20 gift card but there is a $30 item you want. Well, go ahead and use the gift card plus your own money to get it. I have yet to have a store deny me the use of multiple gift cards (I've used 4 gift cards plus my own credit card once just to use the gift cards up when buying stuff). If a store denies the use of multiple payment options then they have some big problems. As I said, the whole point of the gift card is to make you spend MORE than what is actually on the gift card, they make more money this way. The only downside is it slows down the checkout line but if you have multiple gift cards with small balances, it's the easiest way to use them.
 

ravana

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2002
2,149
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Make a donation to any of the organizations that accept donations online.

Even after fees that dollar will make a difference.
 

blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
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i always thought it would be funny to throw them in the fountains where other people throw coins. or you could put them in the tip jars at the local deli/dunkin donuts/pizzeria.
 

KMc

Golden Member
Jan 26, 2007
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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.

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.

Wrong. I did exactly as guyver01 suggests just yesterday using 2 Visa gift cards on the same purchase. I had no idea how much the cards had on them, but I knew they were only a few bucks each. I just swiped each one and it deducted the remaining amount on each card from the balance. I then paid the final amount.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
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Wrong. I did exactly as guyver01 suggests just yesterday using 2 Visa gift cards on the same purchase. I had no idea how much the cards had on them, but I knew they were only a few bucks each. I just swiped each one and it deducted the remaining amount on each card from the balance. I then paid the final amount.

Where was this? Last time I tried to do that at Target, they told me that there was insufficient funds. I had to tell them what was remaining and they were able then to deduct the remaining funds from my Visa gift card.
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,867
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Where was this? Last time I tried to do that at Target, they told me that there was insufficient funds. I had to tell them what was remaining and they were able then to deduct the remaining funds from my Visa gift card.

same here. i had to be specific on the balances, which was really annoying.
 

palswim

Golden Member
Nov 23, 2003
1,049
0
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www.palswim.net
Solution: Go to bank and deposit it.

Most banks will take them...

Not quite. There is a difference between pre-paid debit cards (which I dislike) and Visa/MC/Amex gift cards (which I detest). I did some research and found some of the same things which this author posted. But, in short, I couldn't just cash out my Visa gift card at a bank (even though a Bank of America program issued it to me, Visa originated from Bank of America, and I tried to deposit it at a Bank of America!).

California Gift Card Law

I have, on occasion, just charged myself through my Google Checkout account to absorb the fees but access the money. Other times, I call the company who issued the card and tell them that I received their rebate in an unacceptable format.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
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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?


Like I said, I've read stories about this (don't remember where...maybe it was FatWallet Finance). Have not verified this in any way for myself. As for the legal, you use the card and agree to any legal stuff that is sent with it when you use it the first time. It would not surprise me in the least if banks of these cards tried this (again, no verification from me and I wouldn't pay them anyway). I have thrown cards out with small balances on them ($0.05 or so).
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
They do charge a fee to the card that reduces your balance, but it isn't charged typically for a month or so after you activate the card. You activate the card just by using it - there's no way the card provider has your address on file so there's no way they can bill you anything.

Why not? They issue the rebate cards with your name on them and send them to your address. I have one right in front of me. Was sent directly from Citi. Has my name on the card itself.
 

rockyct

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2001
6,656
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Why not? They issue the rebate cards with your name on them and send them to your address. I have one right in front of me. Was sent directly from Citi. Has my name on the card itself.

That still doesn't mean they are going to send you a bill for the usage fee. Typically, the wording says they will charge the usage fee until the balance is zero.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
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I've got a couple of VISA gift cards, one with $1.26 on it, the other with $0.31, how the hell do you spend these?

Uh, seriously?

"I'll apply this *hands cashier gift card* and pay the rest with cash/my card".

Yep, you heard it here folks. It's that easy.