I once had a Target gift card that I used part of and then tucked back into my wallet. Months later, I pulled it out, not knowing what the remaining balance was, and offered it to my mother to apply towards whatever she was picking up on that trip.
With Jeff Bezos’ billions, he could afford to hire support people in America instead of India. As bad as Amazon is for support, United Airlines’ India-based customer support is worse. Calling customer support there is a nightmare. I had a problem when a country I was visiting for three days on my way to somewhere else temporarily revoked all visas, which would have left me stranded for those three days, unable to leave that country’s airport. I literally spent six hours on the phone trying to get help from United. Hours trying to understand what they were saying and hours on hold, only to be mysteriously disconnected and having to start all over again and again and again. Thankfully, they did finally agree to change my flights without charge.
l don’t understand why such large, successful American companies can’t have American-based support. KitchenAid and my cable company have U.S. support people, I am happy to say, or at least they did last time I called.
My sis is just like Opal’s. she takes care of everything technological in our house. She’s tried explaining things to me, but I had to finally be really honest with her: I don’t CARE how it works. Just fix it. . .Now she just grins when I ask her about anything technological: You wouldn’t understand. . ." Sigh. Hoist on my own petard. . .
Many years ago, Disney World used to have a deal where you could buy never-expiring tickets. You bought them for how many days you wanted, and it got cheaper to add days, so four days might cost a lot, but adding day five was very cheap, and day six just a few dollars and day seven next to nothing. I bought a ticket for quite a few days, thinking I would be going back. I used it, then forgot it for years and years and years, but then found it. It was just a little heavy paper thing that looked like a ticket stub. I called Disney (and got someone right away) and read them the numbers on my ticket. They said, yes, it’s good, you’ve got three days left and they would honor it. I wasn’t planning a trip and put it away somewhere. Now if I only could remember where I put it this time.
I make it a point to carry physical gift cards w/ me until I use them, then transfer them to my other pocket and shred the suckers when I get home. Of course Amazon gift cards can be entered into your Amazon account immediately, so I never have them longer than a day or maybe two.
I had a sizeable gift card from IKEA (It was a special offer when I bought all my kitchen cabinets.) The card disintegrated in my wallet while I was still using it!
I don’t get it. What’s the joke? Is it that Opal is really, really stupid so that she can’t remember she already used the card and can’t even understand an explanation of that simple fact by Amazon customer service? Because it’s pretty normal to forget you used a card 5 years ago, so there’s not much humor there. Or that Amazon customer service was so poor (maybe because of an accent) that Opal couldn’t understand a really simple explanation, and her sister has some kind of power to understand?
I hate gift cards. I think that they are a major con. If one has one, one has to go to the store that they are from (unless they are something like a Visa gift card) whether one ever shops there or not in addition to keeping track of them. If the store goes out of business – toss the card and it’s value away.
My niece when she was a teenager could not decide what she wanted as gift and her mother suggested a gift card good at all the stores in the mall near them. I went to mall near me from the same chain – they were going to charge me $5 for the card and there was fee each time it was used and another fee it was not used by a certain time. I gave her cash instead. (She was and is a sensible person, good with money.)
An in- law of my sister-in-law gives us a $25 Visa or MC gift card every year for Christmas. She should not give us a gift in general and she is rather lacking in funds and we do not reciprocate in an attempt to stop her from doing so. The only thing we have found we can use the card for is my husband’s insulin. It costs more than $25 so I don’t have to try to keep track of the balance and we don’t have to worry about needing to return the purchase. The card from last Christmas has not been used yet. Apparently the company she got this one from will not allow it to be used for anything over $25. So we have to find something for exactly $25 – including sales tax which means that it will never be dollars with no cents – to use it up. If we buy items for lesser amounts to come to it not only do we have to kept track of the balance, but the total purchases have to work out to exactly $25 in the end or the crooks keep whatever balance is still on it as it cannot be used unless more money is added to it and then that has to be exact amount spent to use it up….
Yes, I know – be glad that she gives us the gift. But we rarely find it terribly awkward that she does and as a gift to us – she should keep it and pay some of her debt.
jpkansas78 over 4 years ago
Hate when that happens.
Templo S.U.D. over 4 years ago
makes you wonder what did Opal buy on Amazon.com five years ago
sirbadger over 4 years ago
Is Opal going to turn into one of those people who calls the help desk because she’s lonely?
dadoctah over 4 years ago
I once had a Target gift card that I used part of and then tucked back into my wallet. Months later, I pulled it out, not knowing what the remaining balance was, and offered it to my mother to apply towards whatever she was picking up on that trip.
It had a residual value of one cent.
iggyman over 4 years ago
Some customer service people are hard to understand! Especially the automated ones!
jagedlo over 4 years ago
the look on Earl’s face says it all!
Breadboard over 4 years ago
Well Opal usually you don’t forget about cash … when spent tis gone and not hanging around .
J Short over 4 years ago
Stick it in the desk and repeat again in 5 years.
The few times I remember I have a coupon; they’ve expired.
Zebrastripes over 4 years ago
Opal needs to cut used cards in half….and she makes remarks to Earl?
Enoi over 4 years ago
Or Sister just got herself some cool new stuff!
Diat60 over 4 years ago
When I can’t understand the accented reply I say “I..am..very..old..please..speak..very..slowly” . It works.
JLChi over 4 years ago
With Jeff Bezos’ billions, he could afford to hire support people in America instead of India. As bad as Amazon is for support, United Airlines’ India-based customer support is worse. Calling customer support there is a nightmare. I had a problem when a country I was visiting for three days on my way to somewhere else temporarily revoked all visas, which would have left me stranded for those three days, unable to leave that country’s airport. I literally spent six hours on the phone trying to get help from United. Hours trying to understand what they were saying and hours on hold, only to be mysteriously disconnected and having to start all over again and again and again. Thankfully, they did finally agree to change my flights without charge.
l don’t understand why such large, successful American companies can’t have American-based support. KitchenAid and my cable company have U.S. support people, I am happy to say, or at least they did last time I called.
Linguist over 4 years ago
One of the major sales points that IBM/Lenovo used to boast about was that their tech-support was all U.S. based. Not Anymore!
1953Baby over 4 years ago
My sis is just like Opal’s. she takes care of everything technological in our house. She’s tried explaining things to me, but I had to finally be really honest with her: I don’t CARE how it works. Just fix it. . .Now she just grins when I ask her about anything technological: You wouldn’t understand. . ." Sigh. Hoist on my own petard. . .
Al Nala over 4 years ago
My memory is kinda like that.
sarahbowl1 Premium Member over 4 years ago
I have cards that are embarrassingly old!
JLChi over 4 years ago
Many years ago, Disney World used to have a deal where you could buy never-expiring tickets. You bought them for how many days you wanted, and it got cheaper to add days, so four days might cost a lot, but adding day five was very cheap, and day six just a few dollars and day seven next to nothing. I bought a ticket for quite a few days, thinking I would be going back. I used it, then forgot it for years and years and years, but then found it. It was just a little heavy paper thing that looked like a ticket stub. I called Disney (and got someone right away) and read them the numbers on my ticket. They said, yes, it’s good, you’ve got three days left and they would honor it. I wasn’t planning a trip and put it away somewhere. Now if I only could remember where I put it this time.
Homerville Premium Member over 4 years ago
….and so, Sweetie, Darling, I had to buy a credit card.
erin.adamic Premium Member over 4 years ago
Well … OK. That was anticlimactic. I hope Earl’s asleep behind that newspaper.
zeexenon over 4 years ago
Happens to me too when I talk to that East-Indian guy Billy-bob.
Concretionist over 4 years ago
I make it a point to carry physical gift cards w/ me until I use them, then transfer them to my other pocket and shred the suckers when I get home. Of course Amazon gift cards can be entered into your Amazon account immediately, so I never have them longer than a day or maybe two.
JP Steve Premium Member over 4 years ago
I had a sizeable gift card from IKEA (It was a special offer when I bought all my kitchen cabinets.) The card disintegrated in my wallet while I was still using it!
Bryan Henderson over 4 years ago
I don’t get it. What’s the joke? Is it that Opal is really, really stupid so that she can’t remember she already used the card and can’t even understand an explanation of that simple fact by Amazon customer service? Because it’s pretty normal to forget you used a card 5 years ago, so there’s not much humor there. Or that Amazon customer service was so poor (maybe because of an accent) that Opal couldn’t understand a really simple explanation, and her sister has some kind of power to understand?
mafastore over 4 years ago
I hate gift cards. I think that they are a major con. If one has one, one has to go to the store that they are from (unless they are something like a Visa gift card) whether one ever shops there or not in addition to keeping track of them. If the store goes out of business – toss the card and it’s value away.
My niece when she was a teenager could not decide what she wanted as gift and her mother suggested a gift card good at all the stores in the mall near them. I went to mall near me from the same chain – they were going to charge me $5 for the card and there was fee each time it was used and another fee it was not used by a certain time. I gave her cash instead. (She was and is a sensible person, good with money.)
An in- law of my sister-in-law gives us a $25 Visa or MC gift card every year for Christmas. She should not give us a gift in general and she is rather lacking in funds and we do not reciprocate in an attempt to stop her from doing so. The only thing we have found we can use the card for is my husband’s insulin. It costs more than $25 so I don’t have to try to keep track of the balance and we don’t have to worry about needing to return the purchase. The card from last Christmas has not been used yet. Apparently the company she got this one from will not allow it to be used for anything over $25. So we have to find something for exactly $25 – including sales tax which means that it will never be dollars with no cents – to use it up. If we buy items for lesser amounts to come to it not only do we have to kept track of the balance, but the total purchases have to work out to exactly $25 in the end or the crooks keep whatever balance is still on it as it cannot be used unless more money is added to it and then that has to be exact amount spent to use it up….
Yes, I know – be glad that she gives us the gift. But we rarely find it terribly awkward that she does and as a gift to us – she should keep it and pay some of her debt.
mafastore over 4 years ago
That was really not rarely find…