Gift Card Scam

April 2, 2010

in Odds & Ends Stories

My daughter, granddaughter and I stopped in for lunch at the “Cafe A” in Lake Jackson, Texas. We had two gift cards, so we ordered a really nice lunch and then a big dessert. Afterwards we paid for our meals with the cards. The waiter came back with the gift cards and said the gift card machine didn’t work and we would have to pay cash. Two ladies at the adjoining table told us that they had just tried to use their gift cards for the second time and were refused. That is really a profit making scam that the restaurant has been using.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Jack April 2, 2010 at 5:38 pm

First I would have asked to speak to the manager, if he wouldn't rectify the situation I would have paid the difference between the bill and the gift cards, and left.

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Peace Lover April 3, 2010 at 1:25 pm

How awful. This goes to show you the terrible things greed can do. I would suggest compaining, no one deserves to get ripped off like that.

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NayNay April 3, 2010 at 9:07 pm

Gift card machine? I thought they ran those things like credit cards. I would have demanded to speak to a manager. Chances are, the waiter charged your gift card anyway and kept the cash to himself.

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Jody April 5, 2010 at 4:46 am

Definitely ask for the cards back and ask for the manager. Some dishonest clerks claim a gift card is no good, then keep the card for themselves.

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Tomasz April 5, 2010 at 3:19 pm

The subways in my city, all 2 of them, both have signs on the door that say "We do not accept gift cards. Our machine is broken." Only thing is, this sign was on the door for over 4 years!

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Peace Lover April 6, 2010 at 1:17 am

It is times like this that I am SO happy being a stinky hippie. I would have excused myself, went to the restroom and defecated into my hand. I would have then painted the bathroom in feces. Then, I would have loaded up again and flung my dung at the waitstaff, manager, and other customers. That would teach them.

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Serenity April 17, 2010 at 5:58 pm

Were they gift cards for the actual restaurant? or those Visa/MC?AmEx cards? because those, even tho they are supposed to run like a regular credit card, for some reason will not go thru the computer in our restaurant, either. We don't know why , and the tech has looked inot it, to no avail. Sucks, but nothing we can do about it…but we don't keep the cards, so no, we're not trying to scam you 🙂

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fuckmytable June 12, 2010 at 3:11 pm

This happened at my restaurant – turns out, the person who activated the gift cards kept the activated card and gave the customer an empty one! This could very well have been the case and is NOT likely to have been an underhanded marketing scheme devised by the restaurant.

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Amber May 11, 2016 at 4:40 pm

If they were store issued gift cards and covered the entirety of your bill and tip, I would have said that's your payment and that's all they get leaving them the cards. If they were a credit card gift card then you pay with an alternative method, as they're not obligated to accept it as payment.

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