Barnes and Noble On Line Gift Card Rip Off Internet
The scratch off PIN on the back of the gift card only showed 3 digits. After several on line purchase attempts I called customer service and was told the PIN was locked because of multiple attempts. While on the call I discovered a fourth digit was hidden by the tape containing the scratch off material. However, customer service would not re-instate the PIN without getting original purchase information from the gift giver. I had already used the card in a store and only had $7.98 left and am not going to ask for personal information from the gift giver to retrieve such a small amount of money. It's a good deal for Barnes and Noble though. If they do this to enough people, it could be a lot of money.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
MochaG
Springfield,Virginia,
United States of America
Agree with Robert
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2012
As Robert said, it is a policy to prevent those who randomly put gift card number to redeem valid cards owned by others. Also, you should be able to use it in-store if you can't use it online. No, not a rip off but the OP needs a better understanding about why the policy is in place.
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Standard
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2012
When there is an issue with a Gift Card every company wants the ORIGINAL proof of purchase. Not sure what personal information you are afraid to ask for because B&N(and others) really only want the original proof of purchase and/or activation codes. It's not like you are asking for their SSN or 10 years of tax returns, you are asking for really nothing more than the receipt.
By the way if you already used it in the store, why can't you just use the remaining amount in the store as well?