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Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

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Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#51

Post by tesseract »

smnrchrds wrote: post #12

It's one of those things that consumer protection laws should fix. By law, most gift cards cannot expire in my province in Canada. > Gift cards purchased in Alberta are not subject to expiry dates and fees that lower their value over time. This includes cards purchased in Alberta on the internet. https://www.alberta.ca/information-about-gift-cards.aspx

I think that's also true in most of the US for first-party gift cards like Starbucks.

The typical offenders for expiration dates and/or fees are bank-issued gift cards that run via a credit card network. Does the Alberta regulation cover those?

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#52

Post by prirun »

jstarfish wrote: post #34
hammock wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>delayed billing, which converted multiple separate song transactions into one bundled transaction to save on credit card transaction fees. Uber and Lyft do it now. It ought to be illegal, or opt-in (with a discount to the customer). Delayed billing wreaks havoc on the majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck

It is a discount to that customer demographic. For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee. Accounting for the fees, would you rather have 5 immediate charges of $1, or 1 delayed charge for $5? For credit cards, there's no overdraft, just a hard cutoff.

> For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee.

Everyone using a debit card, especially if poor, should disable overdraft protection at the bank. The fees will eat you alive otherwise.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#53

Post by smnrchrds »

tesseract wrote: post #51
smnrchrds wrote: post #12

It's one of those things that consumer protection laws should fix. By law, most gift cards cannot expire in my province in Canada. > Gift cards purchased in Alberta are not subject to expiry dates and fees that lower their value over time. This includes cards purchased in Alberta on the internet. https://www.alberta.ca/information-about-gift-cards.aspx

I think that's also true in most of the US for first-party gift cards like Starbucks. The typical offenders for expiration dates and/or fees are bank-issued gift cards that run via a credit card network. Does the Alberta regulation cover those?

No. Those are unfortunately exempt.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#55

Post by varispeed »

I found myself in an interesting predicament. I got given a £100 gift card to spend in a well known department store for my birthday.

I got this card 3 years ago and I have not used it yet, because I found that there is nothing really in that store that is worth below £100 that would compel me to go there or order online and items that interest me but are far more expensive, even considering the voucher I could buy cheaper elsewhere or even find such item used in as new condition.

So while I appreciate such gift, probably if someone scribbled £100 on a piece of paper it would have the same effect to me, but they wouldn't have to spend any money.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#56

Post by baremetal »

prirun wrote: post #52
jstarfish wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a discount to that customer demographic. For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee. Accounting for the fees, would you rather have 5 immediate charges of $1, or 1 delayed charge for $5? For credit cards, there's no overdraft, just a hard cutoff.

> For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee. Everyone using a debit card, especially if poor, should disable overdraft protection at the bank. The fees will eat you alive otherwise.

be careful I disabled overdraft protection and my bank had an additional layer "courtesy pay" that also changed an overdraft and they didn't tell me about it. I found out the hard way.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#57

Post by tempoponet »

ProAm wrote: post #33
JohnFen wrote: post #16

Every so often, companies I've worked for have given me Starbucks or Amazon cards as rewards. I have no use for either of them, though, so typically I give them to someone else. Amazon cards are easy -- they go to my (adult) children. Starbucks are more difficult, though. I sometimes have trouble giving them away, then they get lost or accidentally thrown away. I bet Starbucks has made more money off me from that tha…

Gift cards from work always go in the trash, they are a hassle to remember you have one, tote it around or redeem it at a place I probably don't frequent enough.

Both Amazon and Starbucks gift cards can be credited to your account balanced and be redeemed via the app.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#58

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

hoschicz wrote: post #44
hammock wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>delayed billing, which converted multiple separate song transactions into one bundled transaction to save on credit card transaction fees. Uber and Lyft do it now. It ought to be illegal, or opt-in (with a discount to the customer). Delayed billing wreaks havoc on the majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck

Do they? Only in the US? I ride with Uber in Europe and always see the charge from them immediately on my card.

Most of the processing fees are capped by law in Europe. They are far lower (and I mean far - something like six times lower) than in the US and the cap is a percentage of the transaction so there is little point in bundling.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#59

Post by el_benhameen »

nicenewtemp84 wrote: post #37
el_benhameen wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems deeply unethical and, at least in California, illegal. Not something I’d brag about in any case.

Is it really illegal that for a discounted fee you get access to a hotel room during the next year? If that's the agreement you make? If I could pay $100 now to get my whole family into Disney land any weekday in 2024, I'd pay for that. That's not the same as putting $100 on a hotel gift card which you can use anywhere anytime at the hotels many properties, maybe to cover a pet fee or cleaning fee or parking, or to r…

I’m not really clear on what you’re saying, but it seems like you may have misunderstood the original post. In any case, the illegal part, at least in CA, is having an expiry date on most types of gift certificates/gift cards.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#60

Post by ProAm »

tempoponet wrote: post #57
ProAm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gift cards from work always go in the trash, they are a hassle to remember you have one, tote it around or redeem it at a place I probably don't frequent enough.

Both Amazon and Starbucks gift cards can be credited to your account balanced and be redeemed via the app.

I dont really shop at either often enough to make this worth it.
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