Giftcards

In which I rant on why giftcards are actually a bad idea.

Today I remembered that in my wallet (which I got free from the library and has their contact info on it) I had a Simon Giftcard which may or may not still have money on it. So I pull it out to find out where to look that up at and I find 3 other giftcards! No wonder the ID side of my wallet was so thick!
So I looked them up online.
The Simon Giftcard had $1.53
The Kohl's Giftcard had $6.73
The McDonald's Giftcard had $0.18
The Marshall Fields Giftcard doesn't give you the option of looking it up online. Maybe this is because Marshall Field's doesn't exist in Chicagoland anymore?*

Okay, why this sucks:
Simon Giftcard- I found out recently that places won't take these cards unless it's over $7. I have $1.53. That doesn't work very well. I tried donating it to the Green Brothers' Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck, but PayPal doesn't like the card either. So, I can combine it with something else I guess, but as a cashier I can honestly say that cashiers don't like doing this, which means I'd have to do it somewhere I'm not a regular (like say, Amazing Fantasy Comics? or Dominick's grocery?) where they would remember me and hate me for awhile. But, overall, not so bad, but still bad because now the receiver of the giftcard needs to pay money to get their "gift."

Kohl's Giftcard- The amount on this actually doesn't suck all that much because I can get stuff with that. But I know that because I don't have any money to add to it it would end up like the Simon and McDonald's giftcards with low, unusuable (alone) amounts. The thing that actually does suck about this card is that it's excluded to one store. What if I didn't shop at Kohl's? What if I bought my clothes somewhere equally cheap like Target? This would be a problem.

McDonald's Giftcard- What could I possibly use 18 cents for? See this one sucks more than the Simon Giftcard because of three reasons I've already mentioned. 1)It's exclusive (to a place I don't eat!). 2)It's an insanely low amount that will probably never be used. 3)If I were ever to combine it with actual money (which I don't have) it would be a pain in the rear for the chashier (which rhymes btw) and yes, working at McDonald's pretty much means that the cashier already hates me for living and eating at their "restaurant" but now on top of that hate they have reasonable hate! It's just not a good thing.

Marshall Fields- I really don't think I ever used this. It could be expired for all I know. This sucks because it's exclusive to a store I don't shop at (because everything is too expensive)**. And you can't see your balance, how can I buy things if I don't know how much money I have?

In conclusion: give cash. If you absolutely must give a giftcard, give a Simon Giftcard because they can be used anywhere that accepts VISA. Oh, and make sure it's over $7.

So...anyone want 18 cents at McDonald's? If you send me a self-addressed envelope I'd willingly give it to you (hey, I'd even throw in 2 pennies to make it an even 20 cents). Actually, if you send me your address (in an email so you don't have to put it here-- that's lyokofans @ yahoo.com) I'll send you the card + 2 pennies. I'll pay for the postage with any change I find in the couch tomorrow...or on my bed if I ever clear it off.

Really, though. Someone take this McDonald's giftcard from me. I don't eat McDonald's! (for those interested I spent the other $4.82 on ice cream and my mom's lunch)
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*Soon I will write up a blog post on why Macy's is a horrible place (hopefully tomorrow, but I sort of want to include a picture of something)
**You know you're poor when you can't shop at Marshall Fields (I refuse to call it by the evil name)