WARNING—re NCL Gift Cards///read fine print

[phillyguy31]

4 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Here is a perfect example of someone who received a gift card as a present form family too late to use, based on the warning in this thread they probably lost the full value by the time they got to use them.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2348096-ncl-gift-cards/

This is not a case of sitting idle but a case of the card not arriving in time to be used. However I do understand your point. You don't buy a gift card like this unless you know it will be used.

[ziggyuk]

Just now, phillyguy31 said:

This is not a case of sitting idle but a case of the card not arriving in time to be used. However I do understand your point. You don't buy a gift card like this unless you know it will be used.

 

Yes and then having absolutely no way to use them, they are a bit niche with limited spending ability.

It is 100% a money grab, when they know there is such a limited ability to use them, simply unacceptable.

[phillyguy31]

In case anyone is interested here is a link to state laws concerning gift cards.

 

http://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/gift-cards-and-certificates-statutes-and-legis.aspx

[Oakman58]

Gift cards should be worth the face amount until the actual expiration date of the card PERIOD!  Not all gift cards have inactivity fees.  Best Buy gift cards don't have an expiration or any fees.  NCL should be ashamed of themselves for selling gift cards with inactivity fees.

[negn]

The $3 reduction does not go into effect until card has been idle for 13 months

[BirdTravels]

On 10/28/2019 at 4:05 PM, mianmike said:

Wow!  We purchase gift cards ALL the time.  Never seen anything like this.  Good to know NCL uses this underhanded business practice so we can avoid.  Thanks for the warning. 

This is VERY coming with gift cards. The gift cards from my local grocery store does the exact same thing. NORMAL business practice for many businesses. Nothing underhanded. 

[Oakman58]

9 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

This is VERY coming with gift cards. The gift cards from my local grocery store does the exact same thing. NORMAL business practice for many businesses. Nothing underhanded. 

 

Yes, but how often do you go to the grocery store compared to how often you can go on a cruise.  There should be no inactivity fee for a cruise ship gift card.  An expiration day...sure, an inactivity fee...no.  NCL should be ashamed of such a practice.

[mianmike]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

This is VERY coming with gift cards. The gift cards from my local grocery store does the exact same thing. NORMAL business practice for many businesses. Nothing underhanded. 

 

It's all in your perspective.  If you cash your paycheck at payday loans businesses and get addition money at car title loans, you would think it's the norm and they aren't loan-sharks.  If you stick with reputable banks you would think payday loan businesses are predatory.  It's all in your perspective.  I would never use a payday loan and would never buy a gift card that losses value over time.  What a horrible investment.  Like I said I buy get cards all the time (airlines, hotels and restaurants), fortunately for me all of the companies are on the up and up.   Their gift card value is as good as cash. 

[PTC DAWG]

56 minutes ago, mianmike said:

.   Their gift card value is as good as cash. 

How can it be as good as cash?  Can it be spent anywhere like cash?  

[mianmike]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

How can it be as good as cash?  Can it be spent anywhere like cash?  

 

I knew someone would be confused over that statement.  Sorry, my bad.  Should have spelled it out for the unaware.   It's very simple. Gift cards are only good at the business(es) listed on the card.  Their value is equal to cash at those businesses.  To make it easy to understand, a $50 gift card for Marriott is equal to $50 in cash when using to pay at Marriott.  Even a three year old Marriott card retains its $50 value.  

 

Hopefully I explained it well enough.  

[funredhead]

OP I would call the number on the back of the card. Hopefully, you still have it.  Right on the front of the gift card it says funds do not expire.  If funds expire before the expiration date, that is a misleading practice in my opinion.   I would escalate if it were my gc.  Good luck!

[Maere]

My Sister in Law bought them and we never detached them from the letters....

[ray98]

Well....lets not ignore that it costs money for businesses to maintain the database and financial accounts that keeps up with gift card values.  I can certainly see why a charge is appropriate after a card has been dormant for an extended length of time.

 

Gift cards were made to be spent, not to be some life long savings account.

[Oakman58]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

Well....lets not ignore that it costs money for businesses to maintain the database and financial accounts that keeps up with gift card values.  I can certainly see why a charge is appropriate after a card has been dormant for an extended length of time.

 

Gift cards were made to be spent, not to be some life long savings account.

 

Oh yes, I can see all those clerks sitting at their desks with their ledgers trying to keep track of all those gift cards...yes that costs a lot of money.  Oh wait, we now have computers that can track changes to a database automatically with negligible cost or human interaction.

 

As I said before, I can understand a cruise line gift card having an expiration date but not an inactivity fee.

[ray98]

36 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

 

Oh yes, I can see all those clerks sitting at their desks with their ledgers trying to keep track of all those gift cards...yes that costs a lot of money.  Oh wait, we now have computers that can track changes to a database automatically with negligible cost or human interaction.

 

As I said before, I can understand a cruise line gift card having an expiration date but not an inactivity fee.

 

As someone who spent many years in IT, a good bit of it in the financial district, I guarantee there are costs involved with the infrastructure to maintain databases that size and the cyber security needed to keep it secure.

Edited October 31, 2019 by ray98

[KarlChilders]

1 minute ago, ray98 said:

 

As someone who spent many years in IT, a good bit of it in the financial district, I guarantee there are costs involved with databases that size and the cyber security needed to keep it secure.

I'm sure there are, but wouldn't they be more than offset by the interest earned on all that money, plus the forfeitures of all the cards lost or never used?

[ray98]

1 minute ago, KarlChilders said:

I'm sure there are, but wouldn't they be more than offset by the interest earned on all that money, plus the forfeitures of all the cards lost or never used?

 

I am sure it does offer a level of return.  However, if you have no expiration dates you never realize the funds from cards that are lost or unused.....the money just sits there needing to be managed forever.  

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

 

I am sure it does offer a level of return.  However, if you have no expiration dates you never realize the funds from cards that are lost or unused.....the money just sits there needing to be managed forever.  

 

Most posts are advocating an expiry date, no problem there,  just not a non usage clause on a card that by it's very nature can't be used regularly.

[Liljo22]

Companies can not recognized the revenue of the gift cards until they are used.  Until that point, its just a liability sitting on the balance sheet.  Almost all gift cards have the inactivity clause in its terms but not all choose to use it.  

[newmexicoNita]

On 10/28/2019 at 9:33 AM, Maere said:

We just found out the reason our 2 gift cards (Expiration dates of 12/2023) totaling $100 were not accepted on the ship (Escape—-this past week) was because after a certain amount of non use the card loses $3 a month...so even though I have been on 3 NCL cruises in 2.5 years, I didn’t use the cards until this cruise and we have lost $100. Please learn from us.🤯🤯🤯🤯

thanks so much for the warning. I am sure many will appreciate it and sorry for your loss. 

[ColeThornton]

1 hour ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Most posts are advocating an expiry date, no problem there,  just not a non usage clause on a card that by it's very nature can't be used regularly.

 

Then it doesn't really make sense to buy one for cruises then or to gift one unless you know when the person is sailing,  does it?

Edited October 31, 2019 by ColeThornton

[richstowe]

It is no longer NORMAL business practice . Many jurisdictions have correctly viewed this as a predatory business practice and most businesses have halted the practice .

As others have pointed out , many gift cards are never redeemed . It's a standard accrued liability and businesses deal with these issues all the time . Standard accounting . It's "free" money.  No need to charge an extra inactivity fee on top of it . But of course NCL does .

[ColeThornton]

2 minutes ago, richstowe said:

It is no longer NORMAL business practice . Many jurisdictions have correctly viewed this as a predatory business practice and most businesses have halted the practice .

As others have pointed out , many gift cards are never redeemed . It's a standard accrued liability and businesses deal with these issues all the time . Standard accounting . It's "free" money.  No need to charge an extra inactivity fee on top of it . But of course NCL does .

 

Perhaps in Canada it has changed Rich, but in the U.S. there is barely a handful of states where the practice isn't legal.   Still in the U.S the federal laws regulate and allow it.

 

A story from last year showed that almost 1 billion dollars went unused from gift cards.  Here is the link if anyone is interested.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/1-billion-in-gift-cards-go-unused-every-year-heres-how-to-avoid-that-2016-12-30