Quote from: J N Winkler on Today at 01:31:04 PMIf I had my druthers, merchants would not be allowed to sell anything with a deferred-redemption component unless the full value of said component were kept available to the customer without expiration. This would mean:
* Store gift cards and gift certificates would never expire.
* Stored-value debit cards would never expire. (I believe federal regulations already require this.)
* Loyalty points would remain permanently available to the customer until used up.
* At any point, the customer could demand the full face value in cash.
If this forced supermarket chains to phase out loyalty programs, I would not shed a tear.
Quote from: J N Winkler on Today at 04:22:45 PMQuote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 03:18:17 PMWhat do you have against supermarket loyalty programs?
They undermine price transparency. I prefer to shop by value as measured against net price, and loyalty programs--especially ones based on points that do not have an explicit and easily found dollars-and-cents value--introduce an added layer of calculation.
For similar reasons, I support legislation that prohibits perpetual sales and requires display of unit cost for every price level accessible to the customer. (With digital coupons, it is not uncommon to see three price levels: without loyalty card, with card but without digital coupon, and with card and digital coupon.)Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 03:18:17 PMAnyway, I am with you until the last point. Why should the store have to redeem the card for cash?
Vdeane mentions one of the reasons--the value of the card should not be tied to the issuing establishment in any way. Another is that a redemption requirement serves as a check on loyalty programs in general. If it makes such a program uneconomic for a store to pursue, that is a benefit to the consumer.
I have read that one of the rationales for giving a gift certificate instead of an equal amount in cash is to ensure that the money is spent on items the store actually sells. While I understand the appeal of this in the case of, e.g., a black-sheep relative who might otherwise spend cash on street drugs, the reality in economic terms is that buying a gift certificate amounts to setting some of the money on fire since the loss of convertibility equates to a reduction in the face value.Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 04:09:05 PMSo because someone bought a bad gift, a card to "a place they aren't interested in shopping at", the store is now responsible for making it right? People get bad gifts for one another all of the time.
Yes, absolutely. Having to refund unwanted merchandise is a normal commercial risk.
Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 03:18:17 PMWhat do you have against supermarket loyalty programs?
Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 03:18:17 PMAnyway, I am with you until the last point. Why should the store have to redeem the card for cash?
Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 04:09:05 PMSo because someone bought a bad gift, a card to "a place they aren't interested in shopping at", the store is now responsible for making it right? People get bad gifts for one another all of the time.
Quote from: vdeane on Today at 03:39:47 PMWhat if the person has a gift card for a place they aren't interested in shopping at? Or wants to change grocery stores without leaving a rewards balance (essentially impossible where I shop, as you can't redeem and earn points in the same transaction).
Quote from: Great Lakes Roads on April 24, 2024, 01:56:44 PMI think that's actually pretty neat. It's funded by Cavenue, not taxes, and regular cars can still use the lane (except for dedicated testing times, which, as noted in the video, only happens when the loss of the third lane isn't an issue). It's also now a unique little stretch of freeway which is cool to see.
Cavnue: We want to test out some automated car stuff on a public roadway.
MDOT: Wanna take a GP lane on I-94 between Detroit and Ann Arbor to test out said features?
Cavnue: YES!
MDOT:
Quote from: wanderer2575 on Today at 04:11:58 AMMore irritating to me are store gift cards, i.e. actual cash, that expire (how the fudge does cash expire?) or deduct a monthly "maintenance fee" after some number of months after purchase, like they have to take my card balance out for a walk or something.I remember reading about those in the book Gotcha Capitalism (which has a lot of very, very good advice on avoiding BS fees and the like). Gift cards even have a whole chapter in and of themselves.
Quote from: SEWIGuy on Today at 03:18:17 PMWhat if the person has a gift card for a place they aren't interested in shopping at? Or wants to change grocery stores without leaving a rewards balance (essentially impossible where I shop, as you can't redeem and earn points in the same transaction).Quote from: J N Winkler on Today at 01:31:04 PMIf I had my druthers, merchants would not be allowed to sell anything with a deferred-redemption component unless the full value of said component were kept available to the customer without expiration. This would mean:
* Store gift cards and gift certificates would never expire.
* Stored-value debit cards would never expire. (I believe federal regulations already require this.)
* Loyalty points would remain permanently available to the customer until used up.
* At any point, the customer could demand the full face value in cash.
If this forced supermarket chains to phase out loyalty programs, I would not shed a tear.
What do you have against supermarket loyalty programs?
Anyway, I am with you until the last point. Why should the store have to redeem the card for cash?
Quote from: oscar on Today at 04:27:04 AM^ Yukon and NWT max out at 90km/h, and Nunavut's roads (the few it has are all locally-maintained, except in territorial parks) even less. AFAIK (haven't been there lately), in Newfoundland the speed limits tend to be 10km/h lower than for comparable highways in Quebec.None of the territories have freeways, and 90 matches the maximum MTQ will post on anything that isn't an autoroute or QC 175 between Québec and Saguenay. And Nunavut doesn't have long-distance rural mileage.
Quote from: J N Winkler on Today at 01:31:04 PMIf I had my druthers, merchants would not be allowed to sell anything with a deferred-redemption component unless the full value of said component were kept available to the customer without expiration. This would mean:
* Store gift cards and gift certificates would never expire.
* Stored-value debit cards would never expire. (I believe federal regulations already require this.)
* Loyalty points would remain permanently available to the customer until used up.
* At any point, the customer could demand the full face value in cash.
If this forced supermarket chains to phase out loyalty programs, I would not shed a tear.