I love the fact that Safeway is promoting gift cards so much. It is no secret that I am big fan of gift cards and the convenience and selection that they provide the buyer and the recipient. I am however, a bit concerned about gift cards sold by third party vendors.
The challenge with gift cards sold by safeway and other third party aggregators is that when a problem occurs the finger pointing begins and it is usually the gift card purchaser who is left out in the cold. I just read a story about a man who bought an itunes gift card for his wife at safeway. When she went to use it online the card didn't work. It wasn't recognized by itunes. The family drove to an apple store and was told that the card is bogus and that they should take it up with Safeway. Guess what happened next, the people at Safeway told them to take it up with apple. Long story short, this was a loss of $25 a great deal of time and created a great deal of frustration.
The message I am sending is, save your reciepts and be prepared for a bit of a battle if you decide to buy gift cards from third parties. It certainly is convenient to get your wife a nordstrom gift card as you are buying dinner and some beer but it comes along with a hit of risk!
Added on 04/10/2010
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