Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Bankruptcy, it's one of the risks of any gift card. Whether giver or receiver, ending up with a worthless gift card is a scenario you want to avoid.
We've recently written about Sam Seltzer's gift card holders being left out in the cold and while smaller operations may be more susceptible to going out of business, gift cards issued by well know national brands can also end up worthless.
For example, retail giant Circuit City went under for good in March 2009 and if you missed the opportunity to redeem your gift card, tough luck. Even though circutcity.com is up and running with the same logo, the new Circuit City does not accept gift cards sold by the previous operator. (Circuit City's brand was purchased in bankruptcy court.)
Right now, Movie Gallery, the second largest movie rental operation in the US is closing doors. Movie Gallery also owns the Hollywood Video and Game Crazy brands, all locations are closing. If you own a Hollywood Gift Card, Game Crazy Gift Card or a Movie Gallery Gift Card use it today.
No Ordinary Graveyard
We decided gift cards issued by companies which have gone under deserve a special place at ScripSmart. Funds were budgeted, negotiations commenced, agreements redlined...wait...we just created a web page and bought some cool tombstone graphics, never mind
We call it the Gift Card Graveyard and it's not your ordinary cemetery: no lives were lost, no funerals held, no gravediggers, just money sucked out of someones pocket by a business which could no longer sustain itself and a remembrance of a gift card gone worthless.
A ScripSmart Account Can Help
Pointing out problems is easy, solutions is what we really need. ScripSmart was recently mentioned in a Forbes.com article offering solutions to avoid getting suck with a worthless gift card.
If you receive gift cards and tend not to use them right away, open a free ScripSmart Account and add your gift cards. When we catch wind of a company going under and you have that gift card in your account, we'll alert you via email and hopefully you'll be able to redeem it before the doors close for good. Just be sure to enable the Bankruptcy Alerts under your account profile.
