Customer thinks it's gospel that gift cards get gift receipts

[depechemodefan]

I had a customer that almost sucked as bad as this one, but I'm surprised it took about 2 months to get a bona fide SC.

So one thing about the books store is you can ask for a gift receipt, so if the person who got the gift didn't like the item they can exchange it with the gift receipt. Though I suppose you have to hope the receiver of your gift doesn't ever want to exchange your gift, then they will find out how much you spent on them. One thing you can't get a gift receipt for is a gift card. More about that at the end.

So today a woman comes in, asks where the gift cards are (there is a big fucking display of all our gift cards right at the entrance of the check-out area; but I get that question a lot), I point it out, then she goes to get a gift card. He daughter is putting things on my counter, and I"m hoping the woman doesn't take all day picking gift cards. She picks two and gets her daughter opinion, then sticks the unwanted gift card on the magazine display (why do people stick things they don't want on a place that isn't for the unwanted item?) I ask her to hand me the unwanted giftcard, and I put it on the other side of my till.

So I ask her "do you have a membership" and she says, "I'm not sure." Then she tells me to put the Barbie Doll in a seperate bag, and the other books in one bag, and put the birthday card and gift card ($25; cheap skate...and I call her a cheap skate because she was buying a bunch of other stuff, total was $172...though maybe the gift card is for a cousin's neighbor's birthday kid.) in a seperate bag.

So I tell her the total, and I start telling her about our membership program. She acts like I slapped her, and she tells me, "I told you I have a membership!" Now before that she was acting sane. Also, she was full of shit, I know she said, "I don't know".

Then she pays and gets her bags and without looking at the receipt she says, "and the gift receipt for the gift card?"
So I tell her, "I didn't know you wanted a gift receipt. Let me get the manager, she can get the gift receipt" (once the transaction is over, I need the manager's authorization number on the till)
She says, "Yes, always your suppose to give a gift receipt for a gift card, how else will they know the amount on the card is what I paid for it!?!?"

So manager is called, and the head cashier shows up (ie, sometimes she is useless, like the time a customer was trying to find a book by an author and she was shit at finding the book) and it should have worked with her authorization number, but nope. But the head cashier went on to ring someone up, so she told me to call the manager.

So manager shows up and wants the gift card.

Now my bad, I was confused at this point, I forgot the woman gave me the gift card. In fact, at this point the woman was saying, "do you need the card? Do you need the card?" And I was thinking she was talking about her credit card, and I was telling her, "no". Let's restate this, she gave me the gift card but she forgot she gave me the gift card, kept on asking if we needed the gift card.

Unfortunately, I had in my hand the discarded gift card. So of course it didn't show anything on it. So I tell the lady the gift card was in the small bag, and she was going on about how I don't know how to do my job. And of course she didn't find the gift card and I finally notice it on my counter. So manager gave her a receipt that shows the balance*, she's still bitching, and she leaves.

*Now we can give gift receipts for everything except gift cards. For gift cards we have to go to another function where we scan the card for the balance, which would need an authorization anyway from the manager, since the only way I can look up a balance is by scratching off the security strip on the back of the gift card to get ahold of the pin. So in other words, the woman is full of shit, there was no way I could give her a gift receipt for a gift card, the computer won't let that happen. Anyone who wants the balance will either have to let me scratch the security strip on the back to get the pin, or else the manager would have to over ride it. Maybe other stores give you gift receipts for gift cards, not at the bookstore.

[BrenDAnn]

I don't know that I've seen gift receipts for gift cards, unless those ones that tell you the balance and say they were activated that some stores give you count. I know at C-Store we give them a copy of the regular receipt. As for how the receiver would know how much is on the card? Oh I don't know? She could write it on the card, or write it in the note she'll write on the birthday card. That would make sense, though, and SC's don't make sense.

[depechemodefan]

As for how the receiver would know how much is on the card? Oh I don't know? She could write it on the card, or write it in the note she'll write on the birthday card. That would make sense, though, and SC's don't make sense.

Between being an asshole and being a sensible person, an SC will always be an asshole. Also, gift receipts don't tell you how much the item is, just make it possible to do an exchange. Though once you do the exchange, then is when you find out how much the gift-giver thought about spending on you.

[Becks]

At the Lounge, the register automatically prints out a receipt (actually two, the regular one and a much smaller one) every time someone buys a gift card.

The EES store, too.

[Monterey Jack]

At the Lounge, the register automatically prints out a receipt (actually two, the regular one and a much smaller one) every time someone buys a gift card.

The EES store, too.

Same thing at my store...even if a customer buys multiple gift cards in one transaction, they will receive separate activation receipts for each one.

[depechemodefan]

At the Lounge, the register automatically prints out a receipt (actually two, the regular one and a much smaller one) every time someone buys a gift card.

The EES store, too.

Ok, that makes sense...

or would make sense if I wasn't dealing with an SC. If she said something like, "every other store prints out a separate additional receipt for a purchase of a gift card," I would have said, "oh, our store doesn't." And the way she was acting, like it's by God's law that a gift receipt gets printed out for a gift card, that's what I disliked about her. She was also acting like every *name of my store chain* prints out a gift receipt...though technically we can't print out a gift receipt for a gift card. Print out a balance for the gift card, yes, but I would either have to scrap off the security strip or get a manager to override, so either she doesn't rememeber that is the procedure or she confuses our store for another store.

Maybe our store should be more like Becks or Monterey Jack's. Or like BrenDAnn said, maybe she should just write the amount on the card for her friend.

[notalwaysright]

I'm trying to remember the last time I bought a gift card, and I think there was a separate receipt, but it wasn't a gift receipt. It was just another receipt. I don't understand the idea of a gift receipt for a gift card because stores don't return gift cards, do they? (Fraud is big with gift cards) Isn't the point of a gift receipt that it doesn't have the amount on it? But this person wanted specifically a GIFT receipt, to show the amount of the card.

The whole thing sounds weird and annoying. Though anytime I read about people wanting all these separate bags it makes me smile. If they tried that at my store we charge for each bag, most people end up carrying stuff out in their hands rather than part with an extra five cents.

[Food Lady]

As for how the receiver would know how much is on the card? Oh I don't know? She could write it on the card, or write it in the note she'll write on the birthday card. That would make sense, though, and SC's don't make sense.

Exactly. At my store the only thing you can get back with a gift receipt is a gift card, so of course the register isn't going to print a g.r. for a gift card. The authorization is on the original receipt. I tell people that but sometimes it isn't good enough. I don't know what they want. Get a real gift, then.

[Racket_Man]

I'm trying to remember the last time I bought a gift card, and I think there was a separate receipt, but it wasn't a gift receipt. It was just another receipt. I don't understand the idea of a gift receipt for a gift card because stores don't return gift cards, do they? (Fraud is big with gift cards) Isn't the point of a gift receipt that it doesn't have the amount on it? But this person wanted specifically a GIFT receipt, to show the amount of the card.
.

In all the years I was with GF before she passed away her daughter would give us as part of our Xmas present a movie chain gift card and for me a gift card for Barnes & Nobel. Both gift cards came with a "gift receipt" of sorts stating the amount that was initially on the gift card.

As I understand it these days most gift cards are "universal" meaning that for the most part there are few specific $5 $10 $25 $50 etc. cards anymore (yes I know there are iTunes and Xbox Live ones like that). Most of the time you have a "generic" looking card and the amount loaded onto them is whatever the customer decides to put on them. So it is nice to know how much is initially on the card. Yeah it is up to the spender of that card to know how much is left on that card after a purchase BUT that amount is usually now printed on the receipt after the card is used.

[Cia]

I've never received nor asked for a 'gift receipt' for a gift card. If there is an activation number then it is listed separately on a gift card receipt. As for the dollar amount you write that on the gift card holder unless the card itself states how much the card is for.